How to Alphabetize a Bibliography in Chicago Style

To alphabetize a bibliography in Chicago style, sort every entry by its first element (the first author's surname, or the title when there is no author) and compare word by word, which is the system the Chicago Manual of Style prefers as of its 18th edition (2024). Several works by one author then go in alphabetical order by title, and the author's name is repeated in each entry. The 3-em dash is no longer the recommended practice.

That covers a short list. Longer lists turn up a surname with a particle, a title that starts with "1939," an author who appears alone and with coauthors, and a reference list in author-date style, which orders one author's works by year. Each case is below, with the section of the manual it comes from.

The Chicago 18th edition rule for alphabetizing a bibliography

Chicago spreads the rules for alphabetizing across two chapters. Chapter 13 covers bibliographies and reference lists, and chapter 15 (indexes) holds the mechanics of alphabetical order, which a bibliography borrows. The parts that decide where an entry goes:

• First element. Entries are arranged alphabetically by the first author's last name, or by title when a work has no author. The University of Queensland Library's Chicago 18th bibliography guide summarizes this and the two rules that follow.
• Same author, several works (section 13.70). Titles by the same author are normally listed alphabetically.
• Repeated names (section 13.72). The 18th edition no longer recommends the 3-em dash for a repeated author. Write the name out again in every entry.
• Initial articles (section 13.100). An initial "A," "An," or "The" is ignored when you alphabetize successive works by one author. The equivalent article in another language, such as "Le" or "Un," is not ignored. The University of Portland's list of 18th edition changes notes this change along with the others above.
• Word by word (section 15.66). In the manual's own Q&A, Chicago says it "now prefers the word-by-word system (as of the 18th edition; see CMOS 15.66)."

The rest of this guide applies those five rules. If you are still building the entries themselves, the guide to citing in Chicago notes-bibliography style covers what goes in each one. This page assumes the entries are written and only their order is in question.

Word by word: the 18th edition default

The two systems Chicago describes differ in one point: whether a space counts.

Word by word treats a space as a stopping point. "New" is a complete word, so everything that begins with the word "New" files before anything that begins "Newb..." or "Newt...". Letter by letter ignores spaces and reads "New Deal" as "newdeal," so "newborn" comes before it.

Both systems treat a comma the same way. The Chicago Manual of Style Q&A on alphabetizing explains that "a comma 'interrupts' alphabetizing in both systems," so the words after a comma only matter when the text before it is identical. Chicago's own example list, which follows section 15.69, runs:

New, Arthur New, Zoe New Deal news, lamentable News, Networks, and the Arts news conference

"New, Zoe" sits above "New Deal" because the comma stops the comparison at "New," and "New" alone comes before "New Deal." For a bibliography this means an author named New files above a no-author entry whose title starts "New Deal."

Most entries sort the same way in either system. The two only part company when a first element contains a space: a surname with a particle (da Rosa), an abbreviation followed by a space (St. James), or a no-author title. Those are the cases in the examples below where the system changes the answer.

A rule that holds in both systems: nothing comes before something. "Brown, Jane" files above "Browne, Lucy," and both file above "Browning, Alan," because "Brown" runs out of letters first.

Worked examples

The entries in these examples are illustrative. Names, titles, and publishers are invented to show the sort, and every entry follows the 18th edition book pattern (Lastname, Firstname. Title. Publisher, Year.), which no longer needs a place of publication for books published since 1900 (section 14.30).

1. Different surnames

Sort by surname, letter by letter within the word, stopping at the comma.

Brown, Jane. Harbor Towns. Northfield Press, 2018. Browne, Lucy. Salt and Iron. Kestrel Books, 2020. Browning, Alan. The Lighthouse Keepers. Northfield Press, 2016.

"The Lighthouse Keepers" keeps its article in the entry. You only ignore the article when the title is the thing being sorted.

2. Two authors with the same surname

When surnames match, the first name decides. Massey University's Chicago 18th reference list guide puts it plainly: "If 2 authors have the same surname, alphabetise them according to their first name."

Lee, Daniel. Coastal Weather. Kestrel Books, 2019. Lee, Hannah. Tidewater Farming. Northfield Press, 2014. Lee, Marcus. A Short History of Ferries. Kestrel Books, 2022.

3. Several works by the same author

In a notes-bibliography bibliography, one author's works go in alphabetical order by title (section 13.70), ignoring an initial A, An, or The (section 13.100). Publication year plays no part in the order, and the name is repeated each time (section 13.72).

Okafor, Grace. Bridges and Ferries. Riverbank Press, 2021. Okafor, Grace. The Canal Age. Riverbank Press, 2015. Okafor, Grace. A History of River Trade. Riverbank Press, 2009.

"The Canal Age" files under C and "A History of River Trade" under H. The result runs 2021, 2015, 2009, which looks backwards and is correct.

An older guide may tell you to replace the second and third "Okafor, Grace" with a long dash. That was the 17th edition's recommendation. Under the 18th edition, repeat the name, and use the dash only if your instructor or journal asks for it.

4. The same author alone and with coauthors

A work by one author alone files before any work that author wrote with others. Massey's guide states it directly: "a single-author entry should come before a multi-author entry beginning with the same name."

Okafor, Grace. The Canal Age. Riverbank Press, 2015. Okafor, Grace, and Tomas Lind. Locks and Weirs. Riverbank Press, 2023.

This is the nothing-before-something rule again. After "Okafor, Grace" the first entry ends, and the second carries on with "and Tomas Lind."

5. The same lead author with different coauthors

When two multi-author entries share a first author, the second author's surname decides. If that matches too, use the third.

Okafor, Grace, and Tomas Lind. Locks and Weirs. Riverbank Press, 2023. Okafor, Grace, and Priya Nair. Mapping the Delta. Kestrel Books, 2017.

Lind comes before Nair, so the 2023 book is first. Massey's 18th edition example list does the same thing with "Johnson, Ian, and Candie Chen" filed above "Johnson, Ian, Tran Nguyen, and Candie Chen."

The author list itself follows section 13.78: the 18th edition lists up to six authors in a bibliography entry, and for seven or more it lists the first three followed by "et al." Sort on the names that appear in the entry.

6. Mac, Mc, and M'

File these names exactly as they are spelled. Chicago does not treat "Mc" as if it were "Mac." Massey's example list places "MacArthur, Arthur" above "McAllister, Cate," and a longer run sorts the same way:

MacArthur, Arthur Macdonald, Fiona Machin, Owen McAllister, Cate

"Macd" comes before "Mach," and every "Ma" name comes before "Mc." A name starting with O' follows the same logic. Chicago's Q&A says names like O'Shaughnessy are alphabetized as if the apostrophe were absent, so O'Shaughnessy files as "Oshaughnessy," after "Omartian."

7. Hyphenated and compound surnames

The surname is the last word of the name, or the last hyphenated group. Chicago's Q&A works through one name in three forms:

• Kimberly Bowen-Smith Rinehart files under R: Rinehart, Kimberly Bowen-Smith.
• Kimberly Rinehart Bowen-Smith files under B: Bowen-Smith, Kimberly Rinehart.
• Kimberly Bowen Smith files under S: Smith, Kimberly Bowen.

A hyphenated surname is one unit, sorted by its first part. When an author's preferred form is unclear, check how the name appears on the title page and in library catalogs, and use that form every time it appears.

8. Surnames with particles

Particles such as de, da, van, and von go with the surname unless the author is normally known without them. The Q&A on particles cites section 15.79 and gives Simone de Beauvoir as the standard case: she files as "Beauvoir, Simone de," under B, because the surname is usually written without the particle.

When the particle is part of the name in use, it stays at the front and the system matters. Chicago's example is "da Rosa" against "Dario":

Word by word, "da" is a complete word and files before "Dario." Letter by letter, "darosa" is compared with "dario," and "i" comes before "o."

Author-date reference lists sort by year

If your paper uses Chicago author-date style, the list at the end is a reference list, and one rule changes. The University of Queensland Library's author-date reference list guide summarizes the 18th edition sections:

• Section 13.112. Entries are alphabetical, except that multiple sources by the same author go in chronological order, oldest first.
• Section 13.113. Repeat the author's name for successive works rather than using a 3-em dash.
• Section 13.114. Two or more works by the same author in the same year get a, b, c after the year.

The three Okafor books from example 3 reverse their order:

Okafor, Grace. 2009. A History of River Trade. Riverbank Press. Okafor, Grace. 2015. The Canal Age. Riverbank Press. Okafor, Grace. 2021a. Bridges and Ferries. Riverbank Press. Okafor, Grace. 2021b. Mapping Old Ports. Riverbank Press.

The two 2021 books are ordered by title (B before M), which is what assigns the letters. Massey's guide adds that the same-year titles are alphabetized "according to the first word of the title" with "A," "An," and "The" ignored. Your in-text citations then match: (Okafor 2021a) and (Okafor 2021b).

Everything else in this guide (single before multiple authors, Mc as spelled, particles, word by word) applies to reference lists unchanged. The Chicago author-date guide covers the entry format.

Special cases

No author

A work with no author starts with its title, and that title takes the author's place in the alphabet. UQ's reference list guide cites section 13.81: the entry "should normally begin with the title." Ignore an initial A, An, or The when you sort it, so "The Atlas of Small Harbors" files under A for Atlas.

Do not put "Anonymous" in the author slot unless the work itself is signed "Anonymous." A web page that simply lacks a byline is a no-author work.

An organization as author

Reports from agencies and institutions file under the organization's name, as written. Massey's example list files "Ministry of Health" between McAllister and Singh. If the organization's name contains an ampersand, read it as "and": Chicago's Q&A, citing section 15.72, treats "H&MN" as "H and MN" when sorting.

A title that starts with a number

Chicago's Q&A answers this one directly for bibliographies: a title such as 1939: The Beginning of the End is usually filed as if the number were spelled out, so it goes under N for "nineteen."

Nichols, Paul. Winter Roads. Kestrel Books, 2012. 1939: The Beginning of the End. Northfield Press, 2005. Norris, Ella. Field Notes. Riverbank Press, 2020.

"Nic" comes before "nin," and "nineteen" comes before "Norris." A list with many numeric titles, such as a bibliography of annual reports, can instead group them in numerical order at the start. Pick one approach and use it for the whole list.

St., Saint, and other abbreviations

Chicago sorts "St." as written. It does not expand it to "Saint." The Q&A on the surname St. James is short: "Having the surname St. James doesn't make one Saint James," so the entry is "St. James, Bertha," filed under S. Where it lands among the S names depends on the system. Word by word, "St" is a complete word and files before "Stack"; letter by letter, "stjames" comes after "stack."

Names written family name first

Chinese names usually put the family name first. Chicago's Q&A on names without a "surname, first name" structure points to section 8.16 for this and advises following the author's own preference. If an author publishes as Wang Hui with Wang as the family name, the entry begins "Wang Hui" with no comma and files under W. Writers who publish in Western order are inverted like anyone else. When you cannot tell, check the author's own publications or a library catalog record.

The same word as a name and as a title

When an author's surname and a no-author title start with the same word, the comma rule settles it. "New, Zoe" comes before "New Deal Murals in Small Towns," because the comma ends the comparison at "New."

Checking a generator's or word processor's sort

A citation generator or a word processor's A to Z sort gets most of a bibliography right, and gets wrong exactly the cases above. A plain text sort compares characters. It files "The Atlas of Small Harbors" under T and has no idea that "Beauvoir, Simone de" belongs under B unless the entry was written that way. Chicago's own Q&A says something similar about titles that begin with dates: human indexers use judgment that software lacks.

AllCitations' Chicago 18th edition styles sort notes-bibliography entries by author and then by title, sort author-date entries by author and then by year, repeat the author's name for successive works, and list up to six authors before switching to three plus "et al." The 17th edition styles, which are still available for instructors who require them, print the 3-em dash instead. The guide to using a Chicago 18 citation generator covers how to pick the right edition.

Whatever produced your list, check these by hand before you submit:

1. Any no-author entry whose title starts with A, An, or The.
2. Any surname with a particle, a hyphen, or a family-name-first order.
3. Any author who appears in more than one entry, alone or with coauthors.
4. Any title that starts with a numeral.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

• Ordering one author's works by year in a notes-bibliography bibliography. This habit comes from APA and from author-date style. Under section 13.70, notes-bibliography entries by one author go by title. Only author-date reference lists use year order (section 13.112).
• Using the 3-em dash because an older guide shows it. Many library guides still show the dash from the 17th edition. The 18th edition prefers the repeated name (13.72 and 13.113). If your instructor requires the 17th edition, follow that edition consistently.
• Filing "The" titles under T. Ignore the initial article when sorting a no-author entry or one author's titles. The article still appears in the entry.
• Treating Mc as Mac. Chicago-based guides file both as spelled, so every Mac name comes before every Mc name.
• Splitting the list by source type. A standard bibliography is one alphabetical list, with books, articles, and websites together. If an assignment asks for sections, the instructions will say so.
• Listing a coauthored work before the same author's solo work. The solo entry is shorter and comes first.

Quick-reference table