How to Cite a Journal Article in Chicago 17 — Free Generator
- Chicago 17 journal format (bibliography): Author. "Title." Journal Name vol, no. X (Year): pages. DOI.
- Volume number immediately follows journal name — no "vol." prefix
- Chicago 17 uses colon before page range
Table of Contents
To cite a journal article in Chicago 17 (notes-bibliography) bibliography: Author Last, First. "Article Title." Journal Name vol, no. X (Year): pages. DOI. Example: Lee, Sarah J. "Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Academic Performance." Journal of Educational Psychology 45, no. 3 (2022): 12–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000123.
The free citation generator handles this. Below covers the Chicago-specific formatting quirks (volume number without "vol." prefix, year in parentheses, colon before pages).
Chicago 17 journal article bibliography format
Author Last, First. "Article Title." Journal Name vol, no. X (Year): pages. DOI.
- Author: Last, First.
- Article title: In quotation marks, title case.
- Journal name: Italicized.
- Volume: Just the number — no "vol." prefix. Different from APA and MLA.
- Issue: "no. X" after volume, separated by comma.
- Year: In parentheses, after the volume/issue.
- Pages: After a colon. Use en-dash (12–28).
- DOI: Full URL format.
Example: Lee, Sarah J. "Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Academic Performance." Journal of Educational Psychology 45, no. 3 (2022): 12–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000123.
Footnote format for journal articles
1. First Last, "Article Title," Journal Name vol, no. X (Year): page.
Example: 1. Sarah J. Lee, "Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Academic Performance," Journal of Educational Psychology 45, no. 3 (2022): 18.
Shortened subsequent form: 2. Lee, "Sleep Deprivation," 19.
Differences from bibliography:
- Author first-last (not inverted).
- Commas instead of periods.
- Specific page number after colon (the page you're citing, not the range).
Multiple authors in Chicago 17
Bibliography:
- 2 authors: Lee, Sarah J., and Robert T. Smith. "Article Title." ...
- 3 authors: List all with commas and "and" before last. Lee, Sarah J., Robert T. Smith, and Karen Brown.
- 4–10 authors: List all in bibliography.
- 11+ authors: Bibliography lists first 7 + "et al."
Footnote: Use "et al." for 4+ authors. 1. Lee et al., "Article," 18.
Chicago author-date format (less common)
If your discipline uses Chicago author-date instead of notes-bibliography:
Reference list:
Author Last, First. Year. "Article Title." Journal Name vol, no. X: pages. DOI.
Example: Lee, Sarah J. 2022. "Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Academic Performance." Journal of Educational Psychology 45, no. 3: 12–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000123.
In-text: (Lee 2022, 18) — Author, year, page.
The generator produces notes-bibliography format by default. To convert to author-date: move the year to right after the author, remove the parentheses.
Cite a Journal Article in Chicago 17 — Free
Author, title, journal, volume, issue, year, pages, DOI — complete bibliography format.
Open Free Citation GeneratorFrequently Asked Questions
Why doesn't Chicago use "vol." before the volume number?
Chicago 17 uses the bare volume number immediately after the journal name — "Journal of Educational Psychology 45" rather than "Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 45." This is different from APA and MLA, which both use "vol." prefix.
Is the issue number required?
Chicago 17 recommends including issue numbers when available. For journals with continuous pagination, some styles allow skipping issues — Chicago 17 says include them when you can.
What about articles accessed through a database like JSTOR?
Prefer DOI over database URL. If no DOI exists, use the database URL. Don't include "JSTOR" as a separate element in Chicago 17 — the URL covers it.
How do I convert bibliography format to footnote?
Reverse the author name (first-last), change the period-separated elements to commas, add the specific page number after the colon, end with a period. Quick manual conversion once you know the pattern.
