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Subject Guide: Turabian Style

Overview

Seminaries use the Turabian Style Guide which is based on Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS). All resources in this Quick Guide are based on Turabian’s 9th edition, which is based on CMOS’s 17th edition. This means all bibliography entries, footnotes, fonts, margins, headings, and page numbering are determined by the Turabian Format Guide. 

  • There are two formats in Turabian: author-date and notes-bibliography. Use the notes-bibliography format.
  • (Purchase only) Book: Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (9th ed.)
  • Online Turabian Style Guide
Turabian Templates

It is expected in most courses that you use a Turabian Template. Global Christian University has one for Book Reports and one for Theological Research Papers (download these templates). In most cases, students will lose points on assignments if they do not use the template. There is no creativity allowed in margins, page numbering, font type or size, or other style specifications in Turabian.

Citing the Bible

Parenthetical notation: most citations to verses should be done in parentheses at the end of sentences with proper punctuation as follows (Gen. 5:11, 17; 12:15; Jer. 5:14–16). Commas go between verses and semi-colons between chapters. This information does not belong in footnotes. When presenting a range of chapters or verses, use an en-dash (–) with Option+Dash (e.g., John 1:1–5). 

In the body text, write out the full name of the book of the Bible: First Corinthians 15:10 or Deuteronomy 5:11. In the citation, use the abbreviation (1 Cor. 15:10; Deut. 5:11). Right: First Corinthians 5:6 is a crucial text. The author also believes 2 Cor. 8 is an important text.  The passage in 1 Cor. 5 is often considered crucial. “Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?” (1 Cor. 5:6 NRSV). Wrong: 1 Cor. 5:6 is a crucial text. 1 Corinthians 5:6 is a crucial text.

Bible Versions
NKJV, ESV, NIV, NASB, NET, and RSV are all standard scholarly versions of the Bible that can be used in research papers. Study Bibles are not a graduate-level research source. The Passion, Message, and Living Bibles are not scholarly. KJV has archaic language. Pick one translation and use it throughout the paper (if occasionally switching, add NIV to the citation) (John 3:16, NIV). 
  • Cite in a footnote the version of the Bible upon the first quote from it. Ensure that the citation is when you first actually quote, not just cite a verse. Here are some of the footnotes to add:
    • Scripture quotations are taken from the English Standard Version, ESV (Crossway, 2011) unless otherwise indicated. 
    • Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible: New International Version, NIV (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018) unless otherwise indicated. 
    • Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Bible, NKJV (Thomas Nelson, 2004) unless otherwise indicated.
Citing Books, Articles, and Dissertations
Footnotes
  • commas, parentheses, author name order, and a page number. 
  • single-spaced and they should have a linespace between entries. (Hit enter after the period). All footnotes must end with a period.
  • 10pt Times New Roman regular
  • The first line is indented by 0.5
  • The first reference of a book needs a full citation; subsequent references to that book are shortened. Turabian does not use Ibid. To shorten a citation, remove the author’s first name, publication information, and shorten the book title to four words or fewer.
  • Do not put two superscripts after a period. Use one superscript number and a complex footnote with a semi-colon between sources.
  • Multiple sources: use semicolons to separate multiple citations contained in a single footnote. List the sources in the order used in the sentence, then by the impact on the topic. 
Bibliography
  • entries are alphabetized. The last name of the author starts the entry. 
  • entries have many more periods and no parentheses. 
  • 12pt Times New Roman regular
  • The pages are numbered but not counted toward your body text page count for the assignment. The Bibliography is always last (after Appendices).
  • Their indentation is exactly the opposite of the footnotes. The first line is not indented. All subsequent lines are. If you highlight the bibliography, there is a triangle and rectangle in the Ruler bar (Mac Pages, you have turn this on). You slide the rectangle/triangle together to the right 0.5, then the rectangle back.
Capitalizing Theology Terms
  • Capitalization of Terms
  • Examples: The Scripture is a noun; scriptural is an adjective. The Bible is a noun, biblical is an adjective. The four Gospels are capitalized; the gospel being preached is not.
Help with Sources

See the ProQuest Guide and Free Online Resources pages for more information on how to find sources for your papers.

  • Pay special attention to the “Is It Scholarly” section on the ProQuest Guide page
  • Continue to further about the importance of Information Literacy.
Turabian Footnotes and Bibliography