You have chosen, or been chosen, Turabian to be your research paper citation format, but do you still feel like learning a little more about this style? The current manual from college paper writing services provides a list of specialties of the Turabian style and aims to assist students who are willing to prepare their papers adhering to it.
Here you will get to know:
- how was this format introduced;
- two main variations of the Turabian citation style. (Author-date and Notes and bibliography);
- how to format major structural elements of your paper in Turabian;
- answers to some frequently asked
question s.
What Is Turabian Format?
Turabian format was established by a 1937 style guide A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, by Kate L. Turabian. This manual has lived through nine editions. Turabian comes as Chicago format simplified to satisfy students whose research papers are not meant to be published. This style is used predominantly for history and humanities papers, but not only. Turabian formatting has two source citation variants. Both are inherited from Chicago style: author-date variant and notes and bibliography.
Turabian Format: Author-Date
In Turabian style, Author-Date system is more often employed in physical, social, and nature research. It requires putting author's surname and year of publication in parentheses. Each citation refers to an entry in a reference list containing publication data on used sources. A parenthetical citation will not distract readers. However, it is less convenient if the same author has several books published in different years. It makes you often look up reference list not to mix up titles.
Notes and Bibliography: Turabian Format
Notes and bibliography citation format is a little more laborious than the Author-Date system. It is popular among historians, art researchers, literary critics, etc. Bibliography contains all sources used, regardless of whether they were cited. In this style, you will cite sources using a quote marked by a superscript number linked to either a footnote or an endnote, wherein the source will be given a full bibliographical description. Separately, an indexed bibliography list is also provided. The more cited sources your paper features, the more suitable Notes and Bibliography citation format feels to it.
Turabian Outline
If you are up to writing a paper in Turabian format, you will hardly keep the entire classic manual in your head. However, an idea of a Turabian style outline format is a valuable framework for the writing process. All nuances of citations, publications description, document structure, and so on, will add up to knowledge based on an understanding of the general outline.
Below, you will find more detailed descriptions of structural elements of the Turabian paper. These are:
- cover page;
- heading;
- footnotes;
- endnotes;
- bibliography;
- reference list.
Turabian Cover Page
Turabian cover page format is simple to grasp. If you must have a cover page for your thesis, make sure any text on the page is double-spaced and centered. Your paper's title and subtitle should not sink lower than one-third of the page. The author’s name, date, and course information should be found no lower than two-thirds of the page. Don't place a page number on your title page and consider the next page to be second.
Turabian Heading
Use this formula to gain insight on headings and cases they use:
CHAPTER HEADING
Level 1 Subheadings use a Title case
Level 2 Subheadings too, but not Italicized
Level 3 Subheadings are Italicized but Left-Aligned
Level 4 uses a regular sentence case
Level 5 uses italic. The paragraph text begins on the same line.
Turabian-style headings of any level require additional spacing before them. The word 'introduction' is a first-level heading. Turabian page numbering rules suggest that the number should be moved from the upper right corner to the bottom if a chapter heading is on that page.
Turabian Footnote Format
Turabian format footnotes, which are an alternative to parenthetical citing, are easy to create. A footnote begins with an in-text mark, a superscript number, put right after a quotation. Note numeration is consecutive either within each chapter or throughout the whole document. At the bottom of your page, below a short rule separating text from notes, write footnotes using single-spaced text with an empty line between notes. You may start notes with regular numbers followed by period and space. Or superscript numbers with no period after them.
The second mention of a source on one page allows a shortened reference in a footnote. Only author’s name, page, and a shortened version of title will do.
If you want to know how to do Chicago style footnotes, open and read one more blog on our platform. Pay attention to every detail to cope with this kind of task.
Turabian Endnotes Format
Use Turabian format endnotes if you prefer them to footnotes or the Author-Date citation system. Endnotes take place after the main text and all its appendices but before bibliography. Mind that if notes numeration starts anew from each chapter, endnotes list must contain chapter headings to avoid readers' confusion.
If your notes repeatedly refer to the same source uninterruptedly by other publications, you can use Ibid. Ibid. stands for 'ibidem', Latin for 'in the same place'. After mentioning the repeated source once, in further notes write Ibid. and page numbers after a comma. If you refer to the same page, you can just write Ibid. with no page number. This rule is applicable for both footnotes and endnotes.
Both endnotes and footnotes may include explanatory sentences after a book reference if the matter in question is irrelevant for the main text.
Turabian Bibliography / Reference Page
For both Turabian format bibliography and reference page, the following rules are valid. Alphabetical arrangement, hanging indent, single-spaced text with entries divided by double spacing. Write authors' names in reverse order. This formula will help you get onto slight yet crucial differences between two citation systems:
For stand-alone publications:
For sources published in anthologies or compilations:
For journal articles:
There might be some tricky cases, such as multi-volume collections of works or journals with volume titles. To deal with them, better consult the latest official Manual.
Chicago vs Turabian Format
Turabian and Chicago formats are very similar. Turabian is a simplified version of Chicago format paper. It is designed for students and authors of academic dissertations. Turabian doesn't have many strict requirements Chicago has, dictated by necessity to prepare one's work for publication. Quotations in both styles are done by either of the same two systems: Notes or Author-Date.
There are some differences between contents of Kate L. Turabian's book and The Chicago Manual of Style. These two manuals' audiences and their specific tasks determine the difference in accents. Chicago manual pays more attention to grammar, punctuation, and word usage. It spotlights writing mathematical expressions, covers manuscript proofreading, etc. Turabian paper format focuses on planning and executing academic research. In Turabian, some sections (grammar, spelling), also present in CMOS, are considerably shorter, and some (for example, dealing with foreign language sources) are absent whatsoever.
Turabian Style Format: Bottom Line
Turabian is one of the most liberal and variable styles. It sticks to common sense rather than to rigid requirements. There are many things never even specified, allowing authors to adopt them arbitrarily. Things defined though serve as a decent formal framework for any research.
If you need your essay to be formatted or written from A to Z according to the Turabian paper format, don’t hesitate to contact our essay writing service. All you need to do is to share the requirements when you leave a ‘write my paper’ request. We will use all our expertise to provide you on time with an outstanding paper formatted according to Turabian guidelines.
Please, be advised that your professor’s opinion has priority over any guides or classic manuals.
FAQ About Turabian Style
1. How to cite a website in Turabian format?
Turabian format website citing must list some following information on any web publication in this exact order: author, title, owner or sponsor of website, date of publication, access date, any modification or revision, and URL. Don’t italicize a title, nor put it in quotation marks. As a rule, you should check whether URL is not expired. Any quotation referring to a dead link should be either removed or altered.
2. How do you format Turabian when using multiple works from the same author?
Turabian works cited format implies that in a bibliography, in a sequence of entries with works by same author, only the first one should give an author's name. In items to follow three hyphens should be written instead of it. Type period after hyphens and go on with a title. This instruction works for both bibliography and reference list.
3. How do you write out years in Turabian format?
Turabian citation format deals with dates in the most comprehensible manner. Just make sure you write out dates in Arabic numbers. This rule is applicable for Author-Date citations, as well as for a bibliography or reference list. Current example shows how to specify a year in a parenthetical citation (Smith 2016, 24).
4. How to format an interview transcript in Turabian?
Turabian interview format requires the following information: name of an interviewed person, name of an interviewer or a program title, location and date of an interview or program aired or web-published, and data on transcripts if available. An unpublished interview requires mentioning a medium used (e.g., tape recording). Your entry should read “interview by author” if you happen to be the interviewer.
Emma Flores knows all about formatting standards. She shares with StudyCrumb readers tips on creating academic papers that will meet high-quality standards.
Comments