PO201: Political Science Research & Analysis: Chicago/Turabian Style

The most recent editions of Turabian's A Manual for Writers and The Chicago Manual of Style are kept at the Reference Desk at the Irwin and Science Libraries.

The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
(REF DESK Z253 .C571)     

Turabian, Kate L. A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations : Chicago style for students, 7th edition. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2007.
(REF DESK LB2369 .T8 2007)

Additional information on Chicago/Turabian style may be found at these websites:

Online at http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html

The Chicago Manual of Style presents two basic documentation systems, the Humanities style (notes and bibliography) and the Author-Date system. Choosing between the two often depends on subject matter and nature of sources cited, as each system is favored by different groups of scholars.

The Humanities style is preferred by many in literature, history, and the arts. This style presents bibliographic information in notes and, often, a bibliography. It accommodates a variety of sources, including esoteric ones less appropriate to the author-date system.

The more concise Author-Date system has long been used by those in the physical, natural, and social sciences. In this system, sources are briefly cited in the text, usually in parentheses, by author’s last name and date of publication. The short citations are amplified in a list of references, where full bibliographic information is provided.

Online sources that are analogous to print sources (such as articles published in online journals, magazines, or newspapers) should be cited similarly to their print counterparts but with the addition of a URL. Some publishers or disciplines may also require an access date. For online or other electronic sources that do not have a direct print counterpart (such as an institutional Web site or a Weblog), give as much information as you can in addition to the URL.

The Chicago and Turabian styles are nearly identical.

Kate Turabian, the dissertation secretary at the University of Chicago for over 30 years, developed her guide for students and researchers writing papers, theses, and dissertations. Her manual is based on the University of Chicago Press's Manual of Style and departs from it in few places. "Turabian," as her guide is called, synthesizes the rules most important for students' papers and other scholarly research not intended for publication, and omits some of the publishing details and options that "Chicago" provides. 

The differences between the Chicago and Turabian styles are mainly seen in how notes are numbered. 

In Turabian style, use superscript ¹ for endnote and footnote numbers in the text and at the beginning of each note.

In Chicago style, the note number in the text is in parentheses (1) and is followed by a period and space in the note, as in the following example:

1. Chicago

¹Turabian