Turabian resources
- Turabian quick guideThe Chicago Manual of Style website includes a section on Turabian, along with an online Quick Guide for simple questions about formatting. All doctoral students should purchase A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Kate Turabian and refer to it often while writing, citing, and formatting.
A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Ninth Edition by Call Number: Reference Z253 .T8 2018ISBN: 9780226494425Publication Date: 2018-04-16When Kate L. Turabian first put her famous guidelines to paper, she could hardly have imagined the world in which today's students would be conducting research. Yet while the ways in which we research and compose papers may have changed, the fundamentals remain the same: writers need to have a strong research question, construct an evidence-based argument, cite their sources, and structure their work in a logical way. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations--also known as "Turabian"--remains one of the most popular books for writers because of its timeless focus on achieving these goals. This new edition filters decades of expertise into modern standards. While previous editions incorporated digital forms of research and writing, this edition goes even further to build information literacy, recognizing that most students will be doing their work largely or entirely online and on screens. Chapters include updated advice on finding, evaluating, and citing a wide range of digital sources and also recognize the evolving use of software for citation management, graphics, and paper format and submission. The ninth edition is fully aligned with the recently released Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, as well as with the latest edition of The Craft of Research. Teachers and users of the previous editions will recognize the familiar three-part structure. Part 1 covers every step of the research and writing process, including drafting and revising. Part 2 offers a comprehensive guide to Chicago's two methods of source citation: notes-bibliography and author-date. Part 3 gets into matters of editorial style and the correct way to present quotations and visual material. A Manual for Writers also covers an issue familiar to writers of all levels: how to conquer the fear of tackling a major writing project. Through eight decades and millions of copies, A Manual for Writers has helped generations shape their ideas into compelling research papers. This new edition will continue to be the gold standard for college and graduate students in virtually all academic disciplines. Bestselling, trusted, and time-tested advice for writing research papers The best interpretation of Chicago style for higher education students and researchers Definitive, clear, and easy to read, with plenty of examples Shows how to compose a strong research question, construct an evidence-based argument, cite sources, and structure work in a logical way Essential for anyone interested in learning about research Everything any student or teacher needs to know concerning paper writing
A note on Chicago versus Turabian style
The Chicago and Turabian styles are almost the same. Turabian is a simplified version of Chicago, and includes advice about writing. Chicago style is intended for works for publication. Turabian style is more pared down and intended for papers, dissertations and theses that are not intended for commercial publication.
There are just a few very slight differences between the styles, for example, Chicago leaves it up to the writer to decide whether to include the date accessed for a website; Turabian requires it.
Both styles have two citation systems: Author/Date and Notes/Bibliography. Author/date is more common in the sciences and social sciences and uses in-text, parenthetical citation of sources with a reference list at the end, Notes/Bibliogaphy is common in the humanities, uses footnotes, and includes a reference list (bibliography) at the end of the work.
The Chicago Manual of Style includes a Turabian citation guide that includes Notes and Bibliography style or Author-Date style.
Turabian Formatting Tips
The Chicago Manual of Style/Turabian's Manual for Writers offers helpful tip sheets about common questions. These show a sample page with detailed instructions for placement and explanatory notes.
- Margins and Page Number
- The example for title page is targeted to class papers. Please see the example for dissertations below.
- Table of Contents (see examples with subheadings on page 395 of Manual for Writers)
- List of Tables and Figures
- Introduction or Conclusion (see examples of chapters with subheadings on page 403 of Manual for Writers)
- Main Text (this shows an example with parenthetical citations. If you are using footnotes, see page 406 of Manual for Writers)
- Sections and Subheads
- Chapter Opening Page
- Figure and Figure Caption
- Bibliography
- Endnotes
- Footnotes
- Parenthetical Citations
- Reference List
- Sample Turabian dissertationThis document was created and shared courtesy of Salve doctoral students Scott Efflant '24 and Eric Epps (in process). Minor changes were made by your librarian.
Turabian Order of Elements
Elements in your text should appear in the following order. More detailed instructions with explanations are on page 387-411 of Turabian's A Manual for Writers.
Front Matter
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Title Page (no page number visible, but counted as page i)
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Copyright Page (optional, no page number visible)
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Abstract (show page ii or iii depending on whether you have a copyright page)
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Table of Contents (this element and all front matter listed below are paginated with roman numerals as noted above)
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List of Figures, Tables, or Illustrations (if applicable)
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Preface (if applicable)
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Acknowledgments (optional)
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List of abbreviations (if applicable).
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Glossary (if applicable). You can include this in the back matter instead if desired (see below).
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Editorial or Research Method (if applicable).
Text
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Introduction (if applicable). This section will begin the Arabic numbering of your dissertation.
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Chapters.
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Conclusion (if applicable).
Back Matter
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Illustrations (if applicable; these may also be placed within the text).
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Appendixes (if applicable).
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Glossary (if applicable). You can include this in the front matter instead if desired (see above).
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Endnotes (if applicable).
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Bibliography or references.
URLS & DOI Numbers
“Many journal articles are available online, often through your school’s library website or from a commercial database. To cite an article that you read online, include a URL. If a URL is listed along with the article, use that instead of the one in your browser’s address bar. If a DOI is listed, append the DOI to https://dx.doi.org/ to form the URL If you consulted the article in a commercial database, you may give the name of the database instead of a URL. See 15.4.1 for more information." (p 187, Turabian 9th Edition)