Citing Sources

1. Author(s). [Last Name, First Name]. Author names after the first are written First Name Last Name after the word "and". Up to six authors can be included, separated by commas. If more than six authors, list the first three, followed by “et al.”
2. Year of Publication followed by a period.
3. "Title of the Article." Capitalized and in quotation marks with a period before the closing quotation mark
4. Title of the Journal Capitalized and in italics and followed by no punctuation
5. ## Volume number of journal followed by no punctuation
6. (##): Issue # in parentheses followed by a colon
7. Page range Starting page to ending page followed by period.
8. DOI or name of database. If online, include full DOI, not hyperlinked, followed by period]. If no DOI, include name of database followed by period.

Ilesanmi, Alaba. 2023. "Songs as Archives: Multi-Layered Histories and Meanings in the Music of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti." Popular Music History 16 (1-2): 38–60. https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.27630

Tiffany, Rafael, and Susan Moffat. 2016. "Monumental Hydraulics: Diego Rivera’s Lerma Waterworks and the Water Temples of San Francisco." Boom: A Journal of California, 6 (3): 40–49. JSTOR.

See additional examples of journal article source citations using the the Author-Date system and further guidance at the Chicago Manual of Style Citation Quick Guide.

1. Author(s). [Last Name, First Name]. Author names after the first are written First Name Last Name, up to six authors, separated by commas. If more than six authors, list the first three, followed by “et al.”
2. Year of publication followed by a period.
3. "Title of the Article" Capitalized and in quotation marks.
4. Title of the Newspaper or Magazine or Blog, Capitalized, in italics, and followed by a comma,
5. Month and day of publication Written in full and followed by a period.
6. (If online) URL or database name. Full URL, not hyperlinked, or database name, ending with a period.

Badger, Emily. 2018. "San Francisco Restaurants Can’t Afford Waiters. So They’re Putting Diners to Work." New York Times, June 25. Proquest U.S. Major Dailies.

Strong, Robert A. 2025. "George Washington’s Worries are Coming True." The Conversation, September 8. https://theconversation.com/george-washingtons-worries-are-coming-true-263240.

To see more examples of news/magazine/blog source citations using the the Author-Date system, visit the Chicago Manual of Style Citation Quick Guide

With the 18th edition, the place of publication is no longer required for books.

1. Author(s) or Editor(s). [Last Name, First Name]. Author or editor names after the first are written First Name Last Name, up to six people, separated by commas. If more than six, list the first three, followed by “et al.”
2. Year of Publication. [####] followed by period.
3. Title of the Book. Capitalized and in italics, followed by a period.
4. Ed. [if any]. Edition number, if any, followed by a period.
5. Publisher. Capitalized and followed by a period.

Carroll, Michael, and Rosaly M. C. Lopes. 2019. Antarctica : Earth’s Own Ice World. Springer.

1. Author(s) or Editor(s). [Last Name, First Name]. Author or editor names after the first are written First Name Last Name, up to six people, separated by commas. If more than six, list the first three, followed by “et al.”
2. Year of Publication. [####] followed by a period.
3. Title of the Book. Capitalized, in italics, and followed by a period.
4. Ed. [if any]. Edition number, if any, followed by a period.
5. Publisher.followed by a period.
6. URL or Database name. Full URL, not hyperlinked, or database name in which eBook was accessed.

Houston, Stephen D., Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos, and David Stuart. 2001. The Decipherment of Ancient Maya Writing. University of Oklahoma Press. EBSCOhost.

To see more examples of book source citations using the the Author-Date system, visit the Chicago Manual of Style Citation Quick Guide

With the 18th edition, the page range of a book chapter and the place of publication are no longer required.

1. Author(s). [Last Name, First Name]. Author or editor names after the first are written First Name Last Name, up to six authors, separated by commas. If more than six authors or editors, list the first three, followed by “et al.”
2. Year of publication. [####].
3. "Title of the Chapter" In Capitalized and in quotation marks, followed by the word "In"
4. Title of the Book, Italicized and followed by a comma,
5. edited by [First Name Last Name]. the words "edited by" and the Editor(s)'s Full Name(s) followed by a period].
6. Publisher, Publisher's Name, followed by a period.

Cavalier, Beth. 2017. " 'Skate Fast, Hit Hard': San Francisco Bay Bombers and Bay Area Roller Derby." In San Francisco Bay Area Sports: Golden Gate Athletics, Recreation, and Community, edited by Rita Liberti and Maureen M. Smith. University of Arkansas Press.

1. Author or Organization name. Full name of author or, if no author, the organization name.
2. Year of publication or update. [####] followed by a period. If no date of publication or revision, use n.d. as the year of publication.
3. "Title of webpage, section, or document." In quotation marks with a period inside the quotes.
4. Website name. followed by a period.
5. Date of access [if no year of publication available]. If there's no date on the webpage, include the full month, day, and year [####] that the page was accessed, followed by a period.
6. URL. Full web address, not hyperlinked.

Cultural Survival. "The Issues." Accessed September 23, 2025. https://www.culturalsurvival.org/issues.

Germain, Thomas. "Best Headphones for Under $50." Consumer Reports. Updated May 6, 2022. https://www.consumerreports.org/headphones/best-headphones-for-under-50-dollars/.

1. Creator Name, role (e.g., director or producer) or Organization. [Last name, First name], followed by a comma and the role they played in the creation of the film/video.
2. Year of release. Year of production or release, followed by period.
3. "Title of Film or Video" Capitalized and in quotation marks, with a period inside the closing quote.
4. Title of website where it was viewed, Capitalized and followed by comma,
5. Month and day of release [if available]. Full month and day of release, if available, followed by period.
6. Format, such as Podcast or Video or Virtual Lecture, followed by comma,
7. Running Time. Written as 34 min., 14 sec. (for example) or 2:05:36 if longer than 1 hour.
8. URL. Entire URL, not hyperlinked.

Schwartzberg, Louis, director. 2019. "Fantastic Fungi." YouTube Movies & TV, Documentary, 1:20:01. https://youtu.be/C7abxMxL4so?si=IUH8BZG9Y9Vskmbp.

Films Media Group. 2021. "Signing Black in America." Films on Demand, August 12, Video, 27 min., 21 sec. https://fod-infobase-com.ccsf.idm.oclc.org/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=207032&tScript=0.

1. Artist or Creator Name. [Last name, First name, followed by a period. If no artist, leave blank].
2. Title or Description of Image. Capitalized and italicized, followed by a period.
3. Date of Creation or Completion. followed by a period.
4. Information about the medium, dimensions, and location of artwork, if available. If an artwork, include the type and size and institution where it is located (including a museum accession number, if available), followed by a period.
5. (if online) URL. Full web address, followed by a period.

Mucha, Alphonse, White Star Champagne by Moet and Chandon. 1889. Poster. Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal. Erich Lessing Culture and Fine Arts Archives. JSTOR Images. https://jstor.org/stable/community.18147694.

Stela with Ix Mutal Ahaw. 761. Limestone, object no. 1999.42, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. https://www.famsf.org/artworks/stela-with-ix-mutal-ahaw.

1. Image generated by [AI name and version], followed by a comma,
2. Date image was created, followed by a comma,
3. Name of Publisher, followed by a comma,
4. Description of the prompt with quotation marks around it and with a period inside the closing quotation mark.

Image generated by Nano Banana, OpenArtAI, Sept. 8, 2025, from the prompt "A group of dogs riding in a driverless car near the beach with their heads poking out of the windows and their tongues hanging out."

When you are quoting the exact words of someone else, introduce the quote with an in-text citation in parentheses. The in-text citation includes the author's last name and the year of publication along with the page number where the quote came from.

There are several ways to introduce and cite a source in-text. Here are a few examples:

• According to Ilesanmi (2023, 41), social media "complicates constructing and retrieving historical facts, where 'alternative facts' are presented as truisms."
• Ilesanmi (2023, 41) writes that social media "complicates constructing and retrieving historical facts, where 'alternative facts' are presented as truisms."
• Fela's "songs, covering a broad spectrum of social and political issues, are useful for understanding the African past in relation to the present." (Ilesanmi 2023, 42).

Tip: Use direct quotes sparingly! Research cited in a paper is focused more on the synthesis of findings from a variety of research studies, and less about the exact phrasing or argument of an individual.

Use the author's last (family) name followed by a space and then the year of publication.

(Strong 2025)

Use both authors' last (family) names joined by the word "and" followed by a space and the year of publication.

(Carroll and Lopes 2019)

If there are three or more authors, use only the first author's last name followed by "et al."

(Houston et al. 2001)