When your professor says they need a Turabian style paper, you have even more work to do because this is not a common format in academic writing. Now that your academic papers contribute a large percentage to your final grade, it is important to get insight on the required formatting style to deliver a winning paper. This article explores Turabian style in detail to help you get started on your pending project. Keep reading.

Turabian Writing Style In Brief

Turabian writing style is an offshoot of the more common Chicago style of writing. The writing style is a brainchild of Kate Turabian, the dissertation secretary at the University of Chicago. It is a format mostly used in history papers though professors in other disciplines can request you to format their papers in the same style.

While Chicago writing style focuses on formatting scholarly books, Kate Turabian appreciated the inherent advantages of this writing style. She went to work to refine the rules making them applicable for academic paper writing.

Creating a title page in Turabian Format

It is important to understand the main rules to follow when using Turabian format. The first thing that comes to mind is the title page. It is important to follow the Turabian rules as regards the title page because this will give your professor an idea of what to expect inside the paper.

For the title, page of a Thesis/Dissertation in Turabian style writing the following rules;

1. The page should include institution name and department; paper title/subtitle; submission statement; class information; your name; and date of submission.
2. Use standard 12pt. font, which is consistent with the rest of the paper, and center and double-space the content.
3. Place the paper’s title about one-third of the way down the page.
4. The title page should not have a page number.

Headings and Page Numbers

In your Turabian style research paper, you need headings are used to organize your writing, make it easier to read and give it a hierarchical organization. You can have up to five levels of headings in your paper:

• Level One: centered, boldface or italic type, headline-style capitalization and on its own line
• Level two: Centered, standard type, , headline-style capitalization on its own line
• Level two: Left-justified, boldface or italic type, headline-style capitalization and on its own line
• Level four: Left justified, standard type, sentence-style capitalization on its own line
• Level five: Not on its own line, left-justified, no blank line after heading, boldface or italic type, sentence-style capitalization, ending with a period.

When practicing how to write Turabian style, remember the page numbers should begin after the title page, and continue until the end of the body of the paper. 

Turabian Style Citations, End Notes, Footnotes and Bibliography

One of the distinguishing features of the Turabian style is the use of endnotes and footnotes. It is one of the most important skills when learning how to set up Turabian style paper.

To denote a footnote, you use a superscript number that follows the cited information in the content and directs the reader to the footnote at the bottom of the page which includes more information.

Similarly, you need to indicate endnotes with a superscript number that follows the cited information. The number will direct the reader to the endnote at the back of the paper in a separate section. You use an endnote if a footnote will disrupt the flow of the paper.  

You have to cite all sources when using Turabian style to avoid plagiarism. Use Parenthetical citations which is the preferred method to indicate in-text citations. For quotations more than five lines, format the quotation as a block quotation.

You should also have a reference list compiling sources in one list at the end of the paper. The format for citing books, journals, multi-media sources and other sources differs and you need to get it right.

Understanding what is Turabian style takes some time and you can use a website that writes papers for you to learn more, read samples and get assistance from writing experts.