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Chicago N-B to ASA converter

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

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

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

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

Journal article

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.

ASA

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)

Book

Chicago N-B

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

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

ASA

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

In-text: (Achebe 1958:1290)

Web page

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.

ASA

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

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

Key differences between Chicago N-B and ASA

8 of 12 rules differ; they are listed first.

RuleChicago N-BASA
Reference list headingBibliographyReferences
In-text citationssuperscript note numbers linked to footnotes or endnotes that give the sourceauthor and year, with a page number after a colon, e.g. (Suri and Jack 2016:1290)
Author namesFirst author inverted with full names, the rest in normal order, e.g. Suri, Tavneet, and William JackFirst author inverted with full names, the rest in normal order
Many authorsList up to six authors; for seven or more, the first three followed by “et al.”All authors are listed in the reference list
DateNear the end: in parentheses after the issue for journals, after the publisher for booksAfter the authors, followed by a full stop: 2016.
Journal namesFull journal name, volume, then “no.” for the issueFull journal name, volume and issue with no space: 354(6317)
Page rangesShortened range after a colon, e.g. 1288–92Shortened range after a colon with no space, e.g. 354(6317):1288–92
DOIs and linksDOI as a link: https://doi.org/…DOI written as “doi:10.1126/…”
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 ASA

ASA is the house style of American sociology journals and many sociology departments. It is published by the American Sociological Association; CiteSwap follows the ASA Style Guide, 6th/7th edition.

Chicago N-B is more common in history, the arts, philosophy, while ASA is usual in sociology, social work, criminology. If your department or journal names a style, always follow it.

Chicago N-B to ASA: frequently asked questions

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

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

Chicago N-B uses superscript note numbers linked to footnotes or endnotes that give the source. ASA uses author and year, with a page number after a colon, e.g. (Suri and Jack 2016:1290). For the same article and page: Chicago N-B gives 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., ASA gives (Suri and Jack 2016:1290).

What is the reference list called in ASA?

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

How are author names written in ASA?

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

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

Is the Chicago N-B to ASA 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.