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APSA to Chicago N-B converter

Paste APSA references, get Chicago N-B. Free, no sign-up.

Paste references written in APSA and get them back in Chicago N-B, ready to copy into Word or Google Docs. The main changes: author–date in-text citations become footnotes, your “References” list becomes “Bibliography” and author names are written as in Chicago N-B (first author inverted with full names, the rest in normal order). 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.

APSA vs Chicago N-B: the same sources side by side

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

Journal article

APSA

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

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

Chicago N-B

Suri, Tavneet, and William Jack. “The Long-Run Poverty and Gender Impacts of Mobile Money.” Science 354, no. 6317 (2016): 1288–92. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309.

Footnote: Tavneet Suri and William Jack, “The Long-Run Poverty and Gender Impacts of Mobile Money,” Science 354, no. 6317 (2016): 1290, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309.

Book

APSA

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

In-text: (Achebe 1958, 1290)

Chicago N-B

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

Footnote: Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (Heinemann, 1958), 1290.

Web page

APSA

World Health Organization. 2023. “Malaria.” https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria (October 1, 2026).

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

Chicago N-B

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

Footnote: World Health Organization, “Malaria,” December 4, 2023, 1290, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria.

Key differences between APSA and Chicago N-B

8 of 12 rules differ; they are listed first.

RuleAPSAChicago N-B
Reference list headingReferencesBibliography
In-text citationsauthor and year, with a page number after a comma, e.g. (Suri and Jack 2016, 1290)superscript note numbers linked to footnotes or endnotes that give the source
Author namesFirst author inverted with full names, the rest in normal orderFirst author inverted with full names, the rest in normal order, e.g. Suri, Tavneet, and William Jack
Many authorsLong author lists are shortened following Chicago’s rulesList up to six authors; for seven or more, the first three followed by “et al.”
DateAfter the authors, followed by a full stop: 2016.Near the end: in parentheses after the issue for journals, after the publisher for books
Journal namesFull journal name, volume and issue: 354(6317)Full journal name, volume, then “no.” for the issue
Page rangesShortened range after a colon and space, e.g. 354(6317): 1288–92Shortened range after a colon, e.g. 1288–92
DOIs and linksDOI written as “doi:10.1126/…”DOI as a link: https://doi.org/…
List order(same)Alphabetical by first author’s surnameAlphabetical by first author’s surname
Title capitalisation(same)Title caseTitle case
Article titles(same)In quotation marks, title caseIn quotation marks, title case
Italics(same)Journal and book titlesJournal and book titles

When to use Chicago N-B

Chicago notes and bibliography is the standard in history and much of the humanities, where footnotes let you comment on sources as well as cite them. It is published by the University of Chicago Press; CiteSwap follows the 18th edition (2024).

APSA is more common in political science, international relations, public policy, while Chicago N-B is usual in history, the arts, philosophy. If your department or journal names a style, always follow it.

APSA to Chicago N-B: frequently asked questions

How do I convert APSA citations to Chicago N-B?

Paste your APSA reference list into the box above (one reference per line, numbered, or separated by blank lines), check that “From” says APSA or Auto-detect and “To” says Chicago N-B, 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 APSA to Chicago N-B?

APSA uses author and year, with a page number after a comma, e.g. (Suri and Jack 2016, 1290). Chicago N-B uses superscript note numbers linked to footnotes or endnotes that give the source. A first footnote for the Suri and Jack article reads: Tavneet Suri and William Jack, “The Long-Run Poverty and Gender Impacts of Mobile Money,” Science 354, no. 6317 (2016): 1290, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah5309.

What is the reference list called in Chicago N-B?

In APSA the list is headed “References”; in Chicago N-B it is “Bibliography”. Change the heading when you paste the converted list into your document.

How are author names written in Chicago N-B?

Chicago N-B: First author inverted with full names, the rest in normal order, e.g. Suri, Tavneet, and William Jack. APSA: First author inverted with full names, the rest in normal order. 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 N-B?

Chicago N-B: DOI as a link: https://doi.org/…. APSA: DOI written as “doi:10.1126/…”. The converter rewrites DOIs in Chicago N-B format for you.

Is the APSA to Chicago N-B 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.