Resources in Religion and Theology: Turabian

Turabian Style is based on Chicago Style, but with modifications for students and researchers.

Notes and Bibliography System (N) (B)

• Commonly used in the humanities and some social sciences.
• Cite the first note of a source in full. Subsequent citations to the same source can be shortened.
• N = Note (footnote). 10 pt. font is acceptable. Indent first line as you would a paragraph and set subsequent lines flush left. Single space within and between citations.
• Insert a superscript number at the end of the text you are citing.  Using a superscript number for the note is acceptable.

• B = Bibliography. Set the first line flush left and indent subsequent lines (called a hanging indent). Single space within and between citations. [NPS: Single space within, double space between.]
• Format book, journal, article, and public document titles in headline style (Capitalize the first and last words of the title and subtitle and all other major words and proper nouns.)
• Italicize book and journal titles, not article titles.
• Use Ibid. for a single work cited in the note immediately preceding. Include page numbers if different than the first note. Avoid using Ibid. to refer to notes that do not appear on the same page.

Parenthetical Citations-Reference List System

• Commonly used in the physical, natural, and social sciences.

• P = In-text citations which are enclosed in parentheses.

• R = Reference List. Set the first line flush left and indent subsequent lines (called a hanging indent). Single space within and double space between citations.  [NPS: Single space within, double space between.]

• Format book and article titles in sentence style. (Capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle and any proper nouns.)
• Format journal and public document titles in headline style. (Capitalize the first and last words of the title and subtitle and all other major words and proper nouns.)
• Italicize book, journal, and public document titles, not article titles.

Formatting Authors

Examples taken from the

• Two or three authors or editors: List authors as in order as shown on the title page.  In the bibliography, invert only the first author’s name.  Use the conjunction and (not an ampersand) between authors’ names.

• Four or more authors:  Include all the authors in the reference list entry.  Word order and punctuation are the same as for two or three authors. In the text, however, cite only the last name of the first-listed author, followed by et al. with no intervening comma. [NPS: If more than three authors, all are included in the bibliography or reference list, but list only the first three in the note or parenthetical citation, followed by et al.]

For successive entries of the same author(s) in a bibliography or reference list: Use a 3-em dash followed by a period.

———. The Last Dinosaur Book. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.

Public Documents

• Include as many of the following elements as possible: (1) name of the government and government body, (2) title of the document (generally italicized and capitalized headline style), (3) name of individual author, editor, or compiler if given, (4) report number or other identifying information, (5) place of publication, publisher’s name, if different from the issuing body (use Washington, DC: Government Printing Office for publications of Congress, executive departments, and government agencies), and date of publication, (6) page numbers or other locators, if relevant.

• Note that some shortened forms and abbreviations are different from those used elsewhere. Example 2d instead of 2nd.

• For parenthetical citations, treat the information listed before the date in the reference list as the author. Information may be shortened, but must be done logically and consistently.

Sources within a Database

• For journal article databases, provide stable URL.  Name of database not needed. This includes subscription-based and restricted databases.

• Include name of database for non-journal article databases for which multiple documents or records are cited.

 URLs

• Provide Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) or stable URLs for any online source cited.

• Access dates in parentheses are required for every online source cited.  Include it parenthetically after the URL: (accessed March 1, 2010). [NPS: access date not required.]

• Do not underline URLs.

N: = Note

B: = Biblography

P: = In-text citations which are enclosed in parentheses.

R: = Reference List