A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations, Ninth edition - Kate L. Turabian 2018

Semicolons
Punctuation
Style

A semicolon is stronger than a comma and marks a greater break in the continuity of a sentence. Use a semicolon in a compound sentence to separate independent clauses that are not connected by a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, yet, for, so).

One hundred communities are in various stages of completion; more are on the drawing board.

You can also use a semicolon with a coordinating conjunction if the clauses are long and have commas or other punctuation within them. But if the result seems unwieldy, consider replacing the semicolon with a period.

Although productivity per capita in the United States is much higher than it is in China, China has an increasingly well educated young labor force; but the crucial point is that knowledge—which is transferable between peoples—has become the most important world economic resource.

Use a semicolon before the words then, however, thus, hence, indeed, accordingly, besides, and therefore when those words are used transitionally between two independent clauses.

Some think freedom always comes with democracy; however, many voters in many countries have voted for governments that they know will restrict their rights.

When items in a series have internal punctuation, separate them with semicolons (see also 21.2.2).

The original version of the chart included three colors: green, for vegetation that remained stable; red, for vegetation that disappeared; and yellow, for new vegetation.

Semicolons are also sometimes used in titles (see 17.1.2 and 19.1.3) and to separate citations to more than one source (see 16.3.5.1 and 18.3.2.5).