So You Want to Cite The Economist? But Chicago Won't Let You Have Nice Things (and By Nice Things, We Mean Author Names)
Ah, The Economist. Renowned for its sharp wit, insightful analysis, and...stubborn refusal to disclose the names of its article authors. Fear not, intrepid researcher! We can still navigate the murky waters of Chicago citation with a little know-how and a whole lot of winks to your professor.
In-Text Citations: Where the Plot Thickens (Literally, Because There's No Author Name)
Here's the crux of the biscuit: The Economist is an anonymous entity, much like that masked singer everyone's obsessed with. So, how do we cite it in-text without our professors raising an eyebrow (or two)?
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Embrace the Title: Gone are the days of author last names. Instead, use the first few words of the article title (excluding articles like "a" or "the"). For example, if you're citing an article titled "The Rise of Robot Lawyers," your in-text citation would be: ("The Rise of Robot Lawyers," 2024).
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Channel Your Inner Detective (But Not Too Hard, We Don't Want to Spook The Economist): If you absolutely need to be more specific (say, there are two articles about robot lawyers that year), you can add the date after the title, like this: ("The Rise of Robot Lawyers," 2024a). Just be sure to create a distinction in your bibliography for the two articles (more on that later).
The Bibliography: Where The Plot Gets Twist-ier Than an M. Night Shyamalan Movie
The good news: Here, you can finally ditch the charade and just use the title. The bad news: Chicago gets a little finicky with magazines.
- Basic Format: Just like any magazine article, use quotation marks around the title, followed by The Economist, a comma, and the publication date.
For example: "The Rise of Robot Lawyers." The Economist, April 8, 2024.
- Don't Forget the Fun Part (Especially Because There Isn't Much Fun in Chicago Style): Since The Economist doesn't use volume or issue numbers, you can include a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) if it's available online. Otherwise, you can skip it.
Remember: Consistency is key! Pick a format and stick to it throughout your citations.
Congratulations! You've Conquered Chicago and The Economist (Well, Sort Of)
Now, go forth and cite with confidence! Just remember, if your professor gives you a funny look, you can always blame it on The Economist's cloak-and-dagger approach to authorship. After all, a little mystery never hurt anyone (except maybe your in-text citations).
