Referencing academic work accurately and appropriately is an important skill for students of all disciplines to learn (Santini 2018, 3). The process of referencing is of paramount importance in providing a complete list of academic sources used to within a piece of work, substantiating any claims made therein, while accuracy in the referencing process is crucial to ensure transparency and avoid plagiarism (Houghton et al. 2019). Therefore, accuracy and consistency in presenting references is imperative in academic studies, with the use of a formal referencing style encouraged across all academic disciplines (Santini 2018). This paper will focus on one common style of referencing applied across disciplines, including in natural and social sciences, as well as philosophy: the Turabian referencing style. The aim of this paper is to present a clear insight into this style of referencing and to illustrate how it may be applied in practice.
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The Turabian referencing style is named for Kate L. Turabian, who published the first edition of A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses and Dissertations in 1937 (Houghton et al. 2019). The Turabian style is essentially an adaptation of the Chicago referencing style (published in the Chicago Manual of Style) but aimed at students, rather than publishing professionals (Turabian 2020). The Turabian style takes into consideration specific needs of students and requirements of student research papers in adapting the Chicago style, including inclusion of greater levels of detail for certain citation formats (Lipson 2018). However, the terms ‘Turabian’ and ‘Chicago’ may be used interchangeably in guidance for student writing, reflecting the similarities of these referencing styles (Turabian 2020). Generally, the Chicago referencing system is preferred by publishing professionals and the Turabian style will more commonly be referred to within student papers and theses (Einsohn 2011).
As with the Chicago style, Turabian referencing encompasses both a ‘notes and bibliography’ and an ‘author-date’ style (Gastel and Day 2017). The most recent version of the Turabian is the 7th edition, which is based on the 15th edition of the Chicago Manual; this edition will be discussed in this paper to ensure the most up-to-date version is presented. This paper will provide an insight into the key features of the Turabian referencing style, highlighting the key features of this style and the potential advantages of this referencing style when used in philosophical writing. The paper will utilise the ‘author-date’ style to illustrate how this may be applied in practice, as this style is most commonly used in social sciences and natural sciences, while discussing the ‘notes and bibliography’ style (more commonly applied in humanities and associated disciplines) for completeness.
The ‘author-date’ style of Turabian referencing is considered largely interchangeable with the Chicago style on which it is based (Gastel and Day 2017). In this style, in-text citations are in parentheses and comprise the author’s last name and year of publication (Turabian 2020). A page number or suitable reference point within the work may also be included, if relevant. Inclusion of page numbers may be particularly important in providing an accurate indicator or where source information was identified within a source and may be considered mandatory when quotations are used within the body of the manuscript (Turabian 2020). However, when making more general points, page numbers may not be necessary, while they may also be challenging to include if a specific clause or sentence is complex in nature or encompasses more abstract ideas derived from research. Many author-date systems may be formatted to include the author last name and the date separated by a comma, although the comma is not included in the Turabian formatting. A comma is included after the year of publication and any page identifier, however (Gastel and Day 2017). The formatting of the ‘author-date’ style includes a preference for the reference to be placed at the end of a clause or sentence, located before punctuation for that sentence (Turabian 2020).
This style of the Turabian referencing system includes a reference list of all sources cited within the main paper. Importantly, a reference list only contains works included (cited) within the body of the text, while a bibliography contains additional texts that may have formed wider reading or background information on the topic, which were consulted by the author during preparation of the work, as well as the materials directly referenced in the main body of the text (Turabian et al. 2019). Within the reference list, the year of publication is presented after the author’s name, unlike in the Turabian bibliography format, where the year comes last. Formatting requirements can vary considerably depending on the source of the reference, with variations noted for books, journal articles, online content, videos and other media (Turabian 2020). The reference list at the end of this paper illustrates common formatting for books and journal articles. The formatting of these references can often be achieved using online citation generator tools or referencing programmes, which streamlines the process (Pears and Shields 2022). However, care should be taken to check these automated systems format references correctly, as variations may still occur and can lead to inaccuracies in references; manual reference compilation remains an important stage in student skill development for research.
The ‘notes and bibliography’ style in Turabian referencing is considered to be almost identical to the Chicago footnote referencing style, although there is a key difference: the Turabian style adopts a superscript for the reference number in-text and within the footnote/endnote, while the Chicago style adopts parentheses for the reference number both in-text and in footnotes (Turabian 2020). Except for subtle differences in formatting, reflecting more simplified formatting used specifically in student papers, the two styles may be considered identical otherwise.
In addition to the footnote or endnote entry for the in-text citation, the Turabian system also requires that the reference is included in a bibliography at the end of the work. All sources used within the work should be included within the footnote or endnote and within the bibliography, including primary, secondary and tertiary sources, as appropriate (Turabian et al. 2019). Footnotes or endnotes should be formatted the same way, with the key difference being their appearance at the bottom (foot) of the page of text for footnotes or following the end of the whole paper for endnotes. While the author may be free to choose their preferred style in this instance, it is important to check preferences with academic institutions, where footnotes or endnotes may be preferred (Pandey et al. 2020). Regardless of the choice, the same notation style should be adopted throughout the work consistently to avoid confusion.
Other details to note with the ‘notes and bibliography’ style of Turabian referencing is the use of superscripts at end of each clause or sentence to mark the citation in-text and the formatting of the footnote or endnote. Full details of the source are typically presented initially, and then abbreviated versions are included thereafter if a source if mentioned several times, to avoid repetition and to optimise space on the manuscript page (Belcher 2019, 100). The bibliography is alphabetised by the author’s last name, with the publication year at the end of the reference, with hanging indent used to format the references for clarity and legibility (Turabian et al. 2019). The bibliography should contain all works used in the main body of the text, as well as wider reading performed by the author to form a comprehensive list of texts that have informed the research process.
While the formatting for both styles of Turabian referencing have been noted, it is worth highlighting that Turabian published guidelines for formatting an academic paper, thesis or dissertation, which should be followed when applying the refencing style and in formatting the citations and/or bibliography. These guidelines specify that the paper should be written using a standard font in a standard size (such as Times New Roman in 12 pt.) and that all text should be double-spaced to ensure legibility. Furthermore, the document should be formatted to include one-inch margins (as a minimum) and half-inch indentations for new paragraphs, with page numbers included at the top right or bottom centre of each page. These criteria should also apply to the reference list and any formatting of footnotes or endnotes.
In conclusion, this paper has provided an overview of the Turabian referencing style, which is closely associated with the Chicago style used in publishing. The Turabian style should be preferred over the Chicago style by students, as this was developed specifically for the academic context. The Turabian referencing approach may utilised a ‘notes and bibliography’ approach, as illustrated in this paper, or an ‘author-date’ approach. The guidelines for each approach mentioned here should be followed to ensure consistency and accuracy in academic referencing for students. However, institutional guidelines and variations should be checked, as well as updates to referencing guidance, to ensure adherence to up-to-date formatting requirements. Furthermore, the referencing used in this paper is not exhaustive and details for referencing specific sources (e.g. government documents, videos) should be sought from official handbook or style guides.
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