LibAnswers

This question has been updated to the 18th edition of Chicago Style. If you are using 17th edition, see this Library Handout, Purdue OWL, or contact a librarian.
 

To cite sources with one to three authors, write out all the authors’ names in the order they appear in the source with the first author listed last name comma first name and the next author listed first name last name for the bibliography. For footnotes, list them first name followed by last name separating each with commas.

One Author:

 

Footnote

Author First Name Last Name,

 

Tom Smith,

 

Shortened note: Smith,

 

Bibliography

Author Last Name, First Name.

 

Smith, Tom.

 

Two Authors:

 

Footnote

Author1 First Name Last Name and Author2 First Name Last Name,

 

Tom Smith and Steven Jones,

 

Shortened note: Smith and Jones,

 

Bibliography

Author1 Last Name, First Name, and Author2 First Name Last Name.

 

Smith, Tom, and Steven Jones.

 

 

Three Authors:

 

Footnote 

Author1First Name Last Name, Author2 First Name Last Name, and Author3 First Name Last Name,

 

Tom E. Smith, Steven T. Jones, and John D. Doe,

 

Shortened note: Smith, Jones, and Doe, 

 

Bibliography

Author1 Last Name, First Name, Author2 First Name Last Name, and Author3 First Name Last Name.

 

Smith, Tom E., Steven T. Jones, and John D. Doe.

 

Four to 6 authors:

For four to six authors, write out all the names in the bibliography, but in the footnotes, list only the first author followed by et al. 

 

Footnote 

Author1 First Name Last Name et al.,

 

Tom Smith et al.,

 

Shortened note: Smith et al.,

 

Bibliography 

Author1 Last Name, First Name, Author2 First Name Last Name, Author3 First Name Last Name, and Author4 First Name Last Name.

 

Smith, Tom, Steven Jones, John Doe, and Robert Williams.
 

Six or more authors
For six or more authors, list the first three authors followed by et al. In the footnotes, list only the first author, followed by et al. 

Footnote 
Author1 First Name Last Name et al. 

Zaina Arafat et al. 

Shortened note: Arafat et al. 

Bibliography
Arafat, Zaina, Mohammed El-Kurd, Isabella Hammad, et al. 
 

If you need further help, contact a librarian.