AAA Style Guide

As of September 2015, AAA style (for all publications) follows the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, particularly in regard to reference citations, which are summarized below.

In-text citations

  • Place citations in parentheses and include the author’s name and the source’s year of publication, with no intervening punctuation, at the end of a sentence or before a comma or semicolon, whenever possible: (Herzfeld 2005).
  • Always include page numbers for quotations or extensive paraphrases, using an en dash for page ranges: (Herzfeld 2005, 146–47). (Note: they are preceded by a comma, not a colon; this is a major change from the AAA Style Guide.)
  • Use semicolons to separate two or more references in a single parenthetical citation and list them alphabetically: (Bessire and Bond 2014; Comaroff 1996; Daser 2014; Foucault 2000).
  • Do not include “ed.” or “trans.” in citations (and in the case of books that have been reprinted or updated, do not include the original publication year), as this information will be included on the reference list.
  • Use the first author’s last name and et al. for works with four or more authors.
  • You may use the following abbreviations: , e.g., and i.e. Do not use ibid., passim, op. cit., and so on. Only very rarely would we use ff., “when referring to a section for which no final number can usefully be given” (CMS 14.156).

Reference list

  • Do not embed the reference list in the endnotes.
  • Include every source cited in the text and no others, listed alphabetically by author.
  • When including multiple works by the same author, list them chronologically, from oldest to most recent.
  • For works published by the same author in the same year, add a, b, and so on, and list them alphabetically by title.

The following examples, which illustrate a number of citation scenarios, may serve as a guide for formatting your entries.

For additional examples and information, please review Chapter 15 in the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, or the Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns please contact gro.orhtnanacirema@sbup.