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Chicago N-B to Chicago A-D converter

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

Paste references written in Chicago N-B and get them back in Chicago A-D, 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 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.

Chicago N-B 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

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.

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

Chicago N-B

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

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

Chicago A-D

Achebe, Chinua. 1958. Things Fall Apart. 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.

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 Chicago N-B and Chicago A-D

4 of 12 rules differ; they are listed first.

RuleChicago N-BChicago A-D
Reference list headingBibliographyReferences
In-text citationssuperscript note numbers linked to footnotes or endnotes that give the sourceauthor and year in parentheses with no comma, e.g. (Suri and Jack 2016, 1290)
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 without labels: 354 (6317)
List order(same)Alphabetical by first author’s surnameAlphabetical by first author’s surname
Author names(same)First 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, e.g. Suri, Tavneet, and William Jack
Many authors(same)List up to six authors; for seven or more, the first three followed by “et al.”List up to six authors; for seven or more, the first three followed by “et al.”
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
Page ranges(same)Shortened range after a colon, e.g. 1288–92Shortened range after a colon, e.g. 1288–92
DOIs and links(same)DOI as a link: https://doi.org/…DOI as a link: https://doi.org/…

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).

Chicago N-B is more common in history, the arts, philosophy, 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.

Chicago N-B to Chicago A-D: frequently asked questions

How do I convert Chicago N-B citations to Chicago A-D?

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 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 Chicago N-B to Chicago A-D?

Chicago N-B uses superscript note numbers linked to footnotes or endnotes that give the source. 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: 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., Chicago A-D gives (Suri and Jack 2016, 1290).

What is the reference list called in Chicago A-D?

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

Is the Chicago N-B 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.