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APA to Chicago A-D converter

Paste APA references, get Chicago A-D. Free, no sign-up.

Paste references written in APA and get them back in Chicago A-D, ready to copy into Word or Google Docs. The main changes: titles switch to title case, author names are written as in Chicago A-D (first author inverted with full names, the rest in normal order) and the date moves (after the authors, followed by a full stop). CiteSwap looks each reference up in the open Crossref catalogue, so authors, years and page numbers come from the publisher’s record rather than being rewritten by hand.

APA vs Chicago A-D: the same sources side by side

Each example below was formatted by CiteSwap’s engine, exactly as the converter outputs it.

Journal article

APA

Suri, T., & Jack, W. (2016). The long-run poverty and gender impacts of mobile money. Science, 354(6317), 1288–1292. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309

In-text: (Suri & Jack, 2016, p. 1290)

Chicago A-D

Suri, Tavneet, and William Jack. 2016. “The Long-Run Poverty and Gender Impacts of Mobile Money.” Science 354 (6317): 1288–92. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309.

In-text: (Suri and Jack 2016, 1290)

Book

APA

Achebe, C. (1958). Things fall apart. Heinemann.

In-text: (Achebe, 1958, p. 1290)

Chicago A-D

Achebe, Chinua. 1958. Things Fall Apart. Heinemann.

In-text: (Achebe 1958, 1290)

Web page

APA

World Health Organization. (2023, December 4). Malaria. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria

In-text: (World Health Organization, 2023, p. 1290)

Chicago A-D

World Health Organization. 2023. “Malaria.” December 4. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria.

In-text: (World Health Organization 2023, 1290)

Key differences between APA and Chicago A-D

10 of 12 rules differ; they are listed first.

RuleAPAChicago A-D
In-text citationsauthor and year in parentheses, e.g. (Suri & Jack, 2016), with a page number for quotationsauthor and year in parentheses with no comma, e.g. (Suri and Jack 2016, 1290)
Author namesSurname and initials for every author, e.g. Suri, T., & Jack, W.First author inverted with full names, the rest in normal order, e.g. Suri, Tavneet, and William Jack
Many authorsList up to 20 authors; for 21 or more, give the first 19, an ellipsis, then the last authorList up to six authors; for seven or more, the first three followed by “et al.”
DateStraight after the authors, in parentheses: (2016).After the authors, followed by a full stop: 2016.
Title capitalisationSentence caseTitle case
Article titlesPlain text, no quotation marks, sentence caseIn quotation marks, title case
ItalicsJournal name and volume number; book and report titlesJournal and book titles
Journal namesFull journal name in title caseFull journal name, volume and issue without labels: 354 (6317)
Page rangesFull page range, e.g. 1288–1292Shortened range after a colon, e.g. 1288–92
DOIs and linksDOI as a link: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309DOI as a link: https://doi.org/…
Reference list heading(same)ReferencesReferences
List order(same)Alphabetical by first author’s surnameAlphabetical by first author’s surname

When to use Chicago A-D

Chicago author-date suits the sciences and social sciences when your department wants Chicago but with in-text citations instead of footnotes. It is published by the University of Chicago Press; CiteSwap follows the 18th edition (2024).

APA is more common in psychology, education, nursing, while Chicago A-D is usual in the natural sciences, the social sciences, geography. If your department or journal names a style, always follow it.

APA to Chicago A-D: frequently asked questions

How do I convert APA citations to Chicago A-D?

Paste your APA reference list into the box above (one reference per line, numbered, or separated by blank lines), check that “From” says APA or Auto-detect and “To” says Chicago A-D, then press Convert. You can also paste DOIs, BibTeX or RIS. Copy the result or download it for Word.

How do in-text citations change from APA to Chicago A-D?

APA uses author and year in parentheses, e.g. (Suri & Jack, 2016), with a page number for quotations. Chicago A-D uses author and year in parentheses with no comma, e.g. (Suri and Jack 2016, 1290). For the same article and page: APA gives (Suri & Jack, 2016, p. 1290), Chicago A-D gives (Suri and Jack 2016, 1290).

Do titles need different capitalisation in Chicago A-D?

Yes. Chicago A-D uses title case for article and book titles, so words like “Poverty” and “Gender” are capitalised. CiteSwap applies this automatically.

How are author names written in Chicago A-D?

Chicago A-D: First author inverted with full names, the rest in normal order, e.g. Suri, Tavneet, and William Jack. APA: Surname and initials for every author, e.g. Suri, T., & Jack, W. When a reference is matched in Crossref, CiteSwap uses full first names from the publisher’s record, so it can produce either form.

How are DOIs and URLs written in Chicago A-D?

Chicago A-D: DOI as a link: https://doi.org/…. APA: DOI as a link: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309. The converter rewrites DOIs in Chicago A-D format for you.

Is the APA to Chicago A-D converter accurate?

Each reference is matched against the Crossref catalogue (over 150 million records) and only accepted automatically when the title, year and first author agree. Anything uncertain is marked “Needs review” so you can pick the right match, and references that aren’t in the catalogue, like websites or local journals, are parsed from your text and marked so you can check them.