Chicago and Turabian Format
Turabian’s Manual for Writers (9th edition) is the student version of the Chicago Manual of Style. Here is how it lays out a paper or thesis with footnotes and a bibliography, plus a formatter that does it for you.
Try It Free on Your Paper →The Rules at a Glance
| Margins | At least 1 inch on all sides. Many schools ask for 1.5 inches on the left for bound theses. |
|---|---|
| Font | A readable font such as Times New Roman, 12 pt in the text. Footnotes may be smaller, often 10 pt. |
| Spacing | Text double-spaced. Block quotations, footnotes, captions, and bibliography entries single-spaced, with a blank line between notes and between entries. |
| Class Paper Title Page | The title about a third of the way down the page, then your name, the course, and the date grouped lower on the page, all centered. |
| Page Numbers | Front matter in lowercase roman numerals, centered at the bottom. The text in arabic numerals starting at 1, either top right or bottom center, used consistently. |
| Block Quotations | Five or more lines, indented 0.5 inch, single-spaced, without quotation marks. |
| Footnotes | Superscript numbers in the text after punctuation. The first citation of a source is a full note, later ones a shortened note of author, short title, and page. |
| Ibid. | Chicago now discourages Ibid. Use a shortened note instead, even for the same source twice in a row. |
| Bibliography | Titled Bibliography, alphabetized by author’s last name, with a 0.5 inch hanging indent. |
Turabian Heading Levels
| Level 1 | Centered, Bold or Italic, Headline-Style Capitalization |
|---|---|
| Level 2 | Centered, Regular Type, Headline-Style Capitalization |
| Level 3 | Flush Left, Bold or Italic, Headline-Style Capitalization |
| Level 4 | Flush Left, Regular Type, Sentence-style capitalization |
| Level 5 | Run-in at the start of a paragraph, bold or italic, ending with a period. |
Many seminaries and universities publish their own version of these rules. If yours is listed on the schools page, Style Guide Pro uses your school’s version.
What Style Guide Pro Does for You
- Builds the title page and contents page, with the real page numbers filled in.
- Sets roman numerals in the front matter and arabic numbers from the first page of text.
- Formats footnotes and turns every Ibid. into a shortened note.
- Styles headings, block quotations, and the bibliography with hanging indents.
- Formatting software only. It never writes or rewrites a word of your paper.
Format Your Paper in About a Minute
Pick your school, drop in your Word file or PDF, and see your own title page done to these rules before you pay. Your paper never leaves your computer.
Common Questions
What is the difference between Chicago and Turabian?
Turabian is the student version of the Chicago Manual of Style. It follows the same citation rules and adds guidance for class papers, theses, and dissertations, like title pages and page numbering.
Should I use Ibid. in Chicago style?
Chicago now discourages Ibid. Use a shortened note instead: the author’s last name, a short title, and the page number. Style Guide Pro can convert every Ibid. for you.
Are Turabian footnotes single-spaced?
Yes. Each footnote is single-spaced, with a blank line between notes. The main text is double-spaced.
Where do page numbers go in a Turabian paper?
Front matter pages use lowercase roman numerals centered at the bottom. The text uses arabic numerals starting at 1, in the top right corner or centered at the bottom, used the same way throughout.
Based on Kate L. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (9th edition) and the Chicago Manual of Style. Your school’s or instructor’s rules come first.