By means of an expression proposed by the authors, dimensionless critical crack lengths and stress-intensity factor coefficients for chevron-notched short-rod specimens were calculated based on the straight-through crack assumption. Calculation was also done for chevron-notched short-bar specimens in an extended range including short bar with rectangular cross section. Three configurations of chevron-notched specimens were used to test fracture toughness K_Ic for eight metallic materials. Some results were compared with values from standard compact tension and three-point bend specimens. Good agreement was obtained when both stable crack extension and a very small plasticity factor were achieved. The role of load-displacement plot is emphasized. A discussion about some specimen parameters such as dimensionless initial crack length and width to half height (or width to radius) ratio is given.