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

Basic patterns
Author-date style: the basic form
Source citation

18.1 Basic Patterns

18.1.1 Order of Elements

18.1.2 Punctuation

18.1.3 Capitalization

18.1.4 Italics and Quotation Marks

18.1.5 Numbers

18.1.6 Abbreviations

18.1.7 Indentation

18.2 Reference Lists

18.2.1 Arrangement of Entries

18.2.2 Sources That May Be Omitted

18.3 Parenthetical Citations

18.3.1 Placement in Text

18.3.2 Special Elements and Format Issues

18.3.3 Footnotes and Parenthetical Citations

A citation style used widely in most social sciences and in the natural and physical sciences is the author-date style, so called because the author’s name and the date of publication are the critical elements for identifying sources. This chapter presents an overview of the basic pattern for citations in author-date style, including both reference list entries and parenthetical citations. (The citation style presented in this chapter is also known as the Turabian or Chicago author-date or reference list style.) Examples of parenthetical citations are identified with a P; examples of reference list entries are identified with an R.

In author-date style, you signal that you have used a source by placing a parenthetical citation (including author, date, and relevant page numbers) next to your reference to that source:

According to one scholar, “The railroads had made Chicago the most important meeting place between East and West” (Cronon 1991, 92—93).

At the end of the paper, you list all sources in a reference list. That list normally includes every source you cited in a parenthetical citation and sometimes others you consulted but did not cite. Since parenthetical citations do not include complete bibliographical information for a source, you must include that information in your reference list. All reference list entries have the same general form:

R:

✵ Cronon, William. 1991. Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West. New York: W. W. Norton.

Readers expect you to follow all the rules for correctly citing your sources. These rules cover not only what data you must include and in what order but also punctuation, capitalization, italics, and so on. To get your citations exactly right, you must pay close attention to the kinds of details that few researchers can easily remember and that even the best citation management tools can help with only part of the way. Read this chapter for an overview. Then use chapter 19 to look up the details.

18.1 Basic Patterns

Although sources and their citations come in almost endless variety, you are likely to use only a few kinds. While you may need to look up details to cite some unusual sources, you can easily learn the basic patterns for the few kinds you will use most often. This will help you to record accurate and reliable bibliographical data quickly and efficiently as you do your research.

The rest of this section describes the basic patterns, and figure 18.1 provides templates for several common types of sources. Chapter 19 includes examples of a wide range of sources, including exceptions to the patterns discussed here.

Figure 18.1. Templates for reference list entries and parenthetical citations

The following templates show what elements should be included in what order when citing several common types of sources in reference lists (R) and parenthetical citations (P). They also show punctuation, capitalization of titles, and when to use italics or quotation marks. Gray shading shows abbreviations (or their spelled-out versions) and other terms as they would actually appear in a citation. XX stands in for page number(s) actually cited, YY—YY for a full span of page numbers for an article or a chapter.

For further examples, explanations, and variations, see chapter 19.

Books

1. Single Author or Editor

R:

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Year of Publication. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name.

Duckworth, Angela. 2016. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. New York: Scribner.

P:

(Author’s Last Name Year of Publication, XX)

(Duckworth 2016, 82)

For a book with an editor instead of an author, adapt the pattern as follows:

R:

Editor’s Last Name, Editor’s First Name, ed. Year of Publication . . .

Prakash, Gyan, ed. 2010 . . .

P:

(Editor’s Last Name Year of Publication, XX)

(Prakash 2010, 89—90)

For more than one editor, adapt the examples in template 2 and use eds.

2. Multiple Authors

For a book with two authors, use the following pattern:

R:

Author #1’s Last Name, Author #1’s First Name, and Author #2’s First and Last Names. Year of Publication. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name.

Choi, Susanne Y. P., and Yinni Peng. 2016. Masculine Promise: Migration, Family, and Gender in China. Oakland: University of California Press.

P:

(Author #1’s Last Name and Author #2’s Last Name Year of Publication, XX)

(Choi and Peng, 111—12)

For a book with three authors, adapt the pattern as follows:

R:

Author #1’s Last Name, Author #1’s First Name, Author #2’s First and Last Names, and Author #3’s First and Last Names. Year of Publication . . .

White, Karen, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig. 2016 . . .

P:

(Author #1’s Last Name, Author #2’s Last Name, and Author #3’s Last Name Year of Publication, XX)

(White, Williams, and Willig 2016, 6—7)

For a book with four or more authors, adapt the parenthetical citation pattern only, as follows:

P:

(Author #1’s Last Name et al. Year of Publication, XX)

(Eichengreen et al. 2015, 120)

3. Author Plus Editor or Translator

For a book with an author plus an editor, use the following pattern:

R:

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Year of Publication. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Edited by Editor’s First and Last Names. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name.

Austen, Jane. 2016. Mansfield Park: An Annotated Edition. Edited by Deidre Shauna Lynch. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

P:

(Author’s Last Name Year of Publication, XX)

(Austen 2016, 223—24)

If a book has a translator instead of an editor, substitute the phrase Translated by and the translator’s name for the editor data in the reference list entry.

4. Edition Number

R:

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Year of Publication. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Edition Number ed. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name.

Kinzie, Mary. 2013. A Poet’s Guide to Poetry. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

P:

(Author’s Last Name Year of Publication, XX)

(Kinzie 2013, 83)

5. Single Chapter in an Edited Book

R:

Chapter Author’s Last Name, Chapter Author’s First Name. Year of Publication. “Title of Chapter: Subtitle of Chapter.” In Title of Book: Subtitle of Book, edited by Editor’s First and Last Names, YY—YY. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name.

Gillespie, Kelly. 2017. “Before the Commission: Ethnography as Public Testimony.” In If Truth Be Told: The Politics of Public Ethnography, edited by Didier Fassin, 69—95. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

P:

(Chapter Author’s Last Name Year of Publication, XX)

(Gillespie 2017, 72)

Journal Articles

6. Journal Article—Basic Format

R:

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Year of Publication. “Title of Article: Subtitle of Article.” Title of Journal Volume Number, Issue Number (Additional Date Information): YY—YY.

Mercer, Ben. 2016. “Specters of Fascism: The Rhetoric of Historical Analogy in 1968.” Journal of Modern History 88, no. 1 (March): 96—129.

P:

(Author’s Last Name Year of Publication, XX)

(Mercer 2016, 98)

For an article with multiple authors, follow the relevant pattern for authors’ names in template 2.

7. Journal Article Online

For a journal article consulted online, include a URL. For articles that include a DOI, form the URL by appending the DOI to https://doi.org/ rather than using the URL in your address bar. The DOI for the Fernandez article in the example below is 10.1086/685998.

R:

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Year of Publication. “Title of Article: Subtitle of Article.” Title of Journal Volume Number, Issue Number (Additional Date Information): YY—YY. URL.

Fernandez, Patricio A. 2016. “Practical Reasoning: Where the Action Is.” Ethics 126, no. 4 (July): 869—900. https://doi.org/10.1086/685998.

P:

(Author’s Last Name Year of Publication, XX)

(Fernandez 2016, 872)

See 15.4.1 for more details.

18.1.1 Order of Elements

The order of elements in reference list entries follows the same general pattern for all types of sources: author, date (year) of publication, title, other facts of publication. Parenthetical citations include only the first two of these elements. If they cite specific passages, they also include page numbers or other locating information; reference list entries do not, though they do include a full span of page numbers for a source that is part of a larger work, such as an article in a periodical or a chapter in a book.

18.1.2 Punctuation

In reference list entries, separate most elements with periods; in parenthetical citations, do not use a punctuation mark between the author and the date, but separate the date from a page number with a comma.

18.1.3 Capitalization

Most titles can be capitalized using headline style. But for titles in languages other than English, use sentence style. (See 22.3.1 for both styles.) Capitalize proper nouns in the usual way (see chapter 22). In some fields, you may be required to use sentence style for most titles except for titles of journals, magazines, and newspapers; check your local guidelines.

18.1.4 Italics and Quotation Marks

Use italics for titles of larger entities (books, journals); for titles of smaller entities (chapters, articles), use roman type and quotation marks. Also use roman type and quotation marks for titles of works that have not been formally published (such as manuscripts or dissertations), even if they are book length. See also 22.3.2.

18.1.5 Numbers

In titles, any numbers are spelled out or given in numerals exactly as they are in the original. Use lowercase roman numerals to refer to page numbers that are in roman numerals in the original. References to all other numbers (such as chapter numbers or figure numbers) are given in arabic numerals, even if in the original they are in roman numerals or spelled out.

18.1.6 Abbreviations

Abbreviate terms such as editor and translator (ed. and trans.) when they come after a name, but spell them out when they introduce it (Edited by). The plural is usually formed by adding s (eds.) unless the abbreviation ends in an s (use trans. for both singular and plural). Terms such as volume, edition, and number (vol., ed., and no.) are always abbreviated.

18.1.7 Indentation

Reference list entries have hanging indents: the first line of each entry is flush left, and anything that runs over to a new line is indented. Parenthetical citations are placed within the text and are not indented.