Notes-Bibliography and Author-Date Formats Explained
How to use both Turabian systems — which one applies to your subject, how footnotes actually work, bibliography vs. reference list, and correct formatting for every source type students commonly cite.
Turabian has two systems. That is the thing most students miss. They look up “Turabian format,” copy a footnote template, and assume they are done. They are not — because if their subject uses author-date, they needed parenthetical citations and a reference list, not footnotes. Picking the wrong system is not a small formatting slip. It is a structural error that runs through every citation in the paper. This guide tells you which system applies to you, how each one works, and exactly how to format every source type you will likely encounter.
What This Guide Covers
What Turabian Is — and How It Relates to Chicago
Turabian is Chicago style for students. That is the short version. Kate Turabian wrote A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations as a student-accessible guide to Chicago’s The Chicago Manual of Style — a large reference work originally aimed at editors and publishers. The citation rules in both are the same. Turabian adds guidance Chicago does not cover: how to format a student title page, how to handle thesis submission requirements, and how to approach common student writing scenarios.
The current edition is the 9th, published in 2018 by the University of Chicago Press. It covers both Turabian citation systems — notes-bibliography and author-date — along with updated guidance on digital sources and DOIs.
The Primary Source
Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 9th edn. Revised by Wayne C. Booth et al. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018. This is the authoritative reference. When in doubt, go here.
Two Systems, One Style
Notes-bibliography for humanities (history, literature, arts, philosophy). Author-date for sciences and social sciences (sociology, political science, education, economics). Your subject determines the system — not your preference.
Student-Specific Guidance
Turabian covers things Chicago does not: thesis and dissertation formatting, title page layout, paper submission requirements. If your guidelines say “Chicago style,” Turabian is generally acceptable. If they say “Turabian,” use the manual directly.
The Two Systems: Which One Applies to You
This is the most important decision in Turabian. Get it right before you write a single citation.
| System | Subjects | In-Text Signal | End of Paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notes-Bibliography (N-B) | History, literature, arts, philosophy, religious studies, classics, film studies | Superscript number: like this¹ | Bibliography (alphabetical) |
| Author-Date (A-D) | Sociology, political science, education, economics, linguistics, natural sciences | Parenthetical: (Smith 2021, 45) | Reference list (alphabetical) |
Some departments mix disciplines. Some interdisciplinary courses do not specify clearly. Do not guess. Email your instructor or check the module handbook. Using notes-bibliography in a sociology paper because you prefer footnotes is not acceptable — and using author-date in a history paper because it is easier is equally wrong. The system is part of the discipline’s citation culture, not a formatting preference.
Notes-Bibliography: How Footnotes Work
In notes-bibliography, every citation appears as a superscript number in your text. The citation detail sits at the bottom of the page as a footnote — or at the end of the document as an endnote. Most instructors prefer footnotes unless they specify endnotes. The footnote gives the reader the source information right there on the page without interrupting the prose.
There are two types of notes: full notes and short notes. The first time you cite a source, give a full note. After that, use a shortened form.
Full Note — First Citation of a Source
Author First Last, Title of Book (Place: Publisher, Year), page number.
Example: 1. Mary Beard, SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome (London: Profile Books, 2015), 112.
Short Note — All Subsequent Citations
Author Last Name, shortened title, page number.
Example: 4. Beard, SPQR, 234. The shortened title should be recognisable — usually the first few significant words of the full title.
Ibid. — Only for the Immediately Preceding Note
If your note refers to the exact same source as the note immediately before it, write Ibid. If the page is different: Ibid., 45. If any other note appears between them, use the short form instead.
Substantive Footnotes — Not Just Citations
Notes-bibliography allows footnotes to contain explanatory commentary, additional context, or discursive notes alongside citations. A footnote can include both a citation and a clarifying remark. This is one reason historians prefer the system — the footnote space supports scholarly nuance without interrupting the main argument.
The Bibliography — Format Rules
The bibliography is not just the footnote notes copied to a list. The format is different. Author names are reversed. Punctuation between elements changes from commas to periods. Page ranges for articles replace the specific page number. These are required differences, not optional variations.
Bibliography Rules
- Starts on a new page, headed “Bibliography” — centred
- Alphabetical by first author’s last name
- Hanging indent — first line flush, subsequent lines indented
- Author name order: Last, First (reversed from footnotes)
- Periods between main elements, not commas
- No note numbers — no “1.” or “2.”
- Articles: full page range (pp. 5–35), not a specific page
- Every cited source appears here once
Footnote vs. Bibliography — Side by Side
Footnote (first citation):
1. Mary Beard, SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome (London: Profile Books, 2015), 112.
Bibliography entry:
Beard, Mary. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome. London: Profile Books, 2015.
Note the differences: name reversed, commas replaced by periods, specific page removed, parentheses around publication info replaced by periods.
In footnotes: First Last. In the bibliography: Last, First. For two or more authors in the bibliography: only the first author’s name is reversed. “Smith, John, and Mary Jones.” Not “Smith, John, and Jones, Mary.” The reversal applies only to the lead author — because that is the name used for alphabetisation.
Bibliography: Beard, Mary. SPQR. London: Profile Books, 2015. Notice the periods after the author name and after the title. Footnote: Mary Beard, SPQR (London: Profile Books, 2015), 112. Notice commas and parentheses instead. The punctuation difference is not trivial — it is how readers know which format they are reading.
Footnote: “…Journal Name 13, no. 2 (1986): 5.” Bibliography: “…Journal Name 13, no. 2 (1986): 5–35.” The bibliography gives the full span of the article so a reader can locate it. The footnote specifies the exact page you are citing from.
Author-Date System: In-Text Citations and Reference List
In author-date, citations live in the text itself — in parentheses, not footnotes. The format is (Last Year, page). No superscript numbers. No footnotes. The reference list at the end looks similar to a bibliography but uses a slightly different internal format.
| Situation | In-Text Format | Note |
|---|---|---|
| One author, paraphrase | (Smith 2021) |
No comma between name and year. This differs from Harvard. |
| One author, direct quote | (Smith 2021, 45) |
Page number after a comma. No “p.” prefix. |
| Two authors | (Smith and Jones 2021) |
Use “and” — not “&”. |
| Three or more authors | (Smith et al. 2021) |
Et al. from the first citation in-text. |
| Narrative citation | Smith (2021) argues that… | Year in parentheses immediately after the name. |
| Two works, same parenthetical | (Jones 2019; Smith 2021) |
Separated by semicolon. Chronological order. |
| Same author, same year | (Smith 2021a; Smith 2021b) |
Lowercase letter suffix. Match in reference list. |
| Organisation as author | (WHO 2022) |
Abbreviation acceptable after first full use. |
| No author | (Shortened Title 2021) |
Italicise for stand-alone works. |
| No date | (Smith n.d.) |
Turabian author-date uses “n.d.” — not “no date.” |
Unlike Harvard, which uses “no date” (in Cite Them Right), Turabian uses “n.d.” in both systems for sources with no identifiable date. This is consistent with Chicago style. If you have been trained in Harvard referencing, note this difference — the abbreviation convention is different. In Turabian: (Smith n.d.) in author-date, and “n.d.” in the bibliography year slot for notes-bibliography.
Books — Single Author, Edited, Chapters, E-books
Books are the most common source type in humanities and social science papers. The format differs between systems and between footnotes and bibliography entries.
In notes-bibliography bibliography entries: Last, First. Title. Place: Publisher, Year. The year comes at the end of the publication information. In author-date reference list entries: Last, First. Year. Title. Place: Publisher. The year moves to the second position. This is not a small stylistic difference — it is a structural feature of how each system works, because author-date readers scan for the year immediately after the author name.
Journal Articles
Journal articles in Turabian follow the same logic as books — different formats for footnotes versus bibliography, and slightly different element order for author-date. The volume-issue-year-page pattern is consistent across both systems.
Volume, Issue, and Year — How to Format Them
Format: volume number, no. issue number (year): page(s). So: 13, no. 2 (1986): 5–35. The “no.” before the issue number is Turabian style. Do not write “vol.” before the volume number — just the numeral. Do not put a comma between volume and “no.”
DOIs — Always Use When Available
When a DOI is available, include it at the end of the reference: https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx. Turabian 9th edition recommends presenting DOIs as full URLs, not the older “doi:10.xxxx” format. If no DOI is available, include the database URL or the journal’s homepage URL.
Websites and Online Sources
Websites create the same problems in Turabian as in every other style: missing authors, missing dates, URLs that break. The approach is the same — capture everything available, and document the access date when content may change.
Author or Organisation
Named person: Last, First. If no individual, use the organisation name. If neither is identifiable, the page title stands in as the author.
Title of Page
“In quotation marks,” treated like an article title. The website name — if different from the page title — follows in plain text after a period.
Publication Date
Month Day, Year format: January 15, 2024. If only a year is available, use the year. If none is available, use “n.d.” and include an access date.
URL
Full URL. Not shortened. Not a hyperlink anchor — write the actual address. If a DOI is available, use that instead.
Access Date
Required when content may change or disappear. Format: “Accessed Month Day, Year.” Turabian recommends including it for all web sources without a stable identifier like a DOI.
Year Position Differs
N-B bibliography: the date appears near the URL. Author-date reference list: the year appears immediately after the author name — same as for books and articles.
Primary Sources and Archives
This is where Turabian earns its reputation in humanities subjects. History papers, in particular, rely heavily on primary sources — unpublished manuscripts, archival collections, letters, diaries, government records, contemporary newspapers. Turabian’s notes-bibliography system handles these in detail.
Footnote Format — Unpublished Archival Source
Author (if known), “Document Title,” Date, Box/Folder information, Collection Name, Repository Name, Location.
Example: 6. Winston Churchill, “Memorandum on War Strategy,” August 1940, Box 3, Folder 12, Churchill Papers, Churchill College Archive, Cambridge.
Newspaper Article — N-B Footnote
Author (if given), “Article Title,” Newspaper Name, Month Day, Year, page(s).
Example: 7. “Parliament Debates Reform Bill,” The Times, March 14, 1832, 3.
Letter or Document in an Edited Collection
Treat as a chapter in an edited book: Author of Letter/Document, “Title or Description,” in Collection Title, ed. Editor Name (Place: Publisher, Year), page range.
Official Government Report or Publication
Country/Institution Name. Title of Document. Place: Publisher, Year. For UK Parliament documents: Hansard, volume (date), column number.
Turabian acknowledges that archival sources vary enormously and no single template fits all of them. The goal is to give enough information that a reader could locate the specific document. Include: who created it, what it is called or described as, when it was created, where it is held, and any collection or finding aid information that would help locate it. If you are uncertain about a specific archive’s citation conventions, check the archive’s own guide — many major archives publish their preferred citation format.
Ibid., Short Forms, and Subsequent Notes
Once you have given the full citation in a first note, every subsequent note for the same source uses a shortened form. This is one of the features of notes-bibliography that trips students up most often.
Wrong — Repeating the Full Note
1. Mary Beard, SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome (London: Profile Books, 2015), 112.
…text continues…
4. Mary Beard, SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome (London: Profile Books, 2015), 201.
Repeating the full note after the first citation is unnecessary and clutters the footnotes. Use the short form.
Correct — Short Form After First Full Note
1. Mary Beard, SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome (London: Profile Books, 2015), 112.
…text continues…
4. Beard, SPQR, 201.
Short form: Last name, shortened title (in italics for a book), page number. Clear, concise, locatable.
This is the single most common Ibid. error. Note 7 cites Beard. Note 8 cites a different source. Note 9 wants to cite Beard again. You cannot use Ibid. in note 9 — the preceding note (note 8) is a different source. Use Beard, SPQR, 201 instead. Ibid. means “the same place as the note directly above.” Any intervening note breaks the chain.
Special Cases: No Author, No Date, No Page
No Author
Use the title in place of the author. In footnotes and in-text: start with the title (shortened if long). In the bibliography or reference list: alphabetise by the first significant word of the title, ignoring “A,” “An,” “The.” Do not write “Anonymous” unless that is how the source was actually published.
No Date
Use “n.d.” in both systems. Footnote year slot: (n.d.). Bibliography year slot: n.d. Author-date in-text: (Smith n.d.). Reference list year slot: n.d. Before concluding no date exists, check page footers, URL structure, any “last updated” text, and the source’s own metadata.
No Page Number — Online Sources
For direct quotes from sources without page numbers: use paragraph number (para. 3), section heading (“under ‘Introduction'”), or for video/audio sources, a timestamp (00:04:22). In author-date: (Smith 2021, para. 3). In footnotes: Smith, “Title,” para. 3.
No Publisher or Place
If place of publication is unknown: use “n.p.” (for no place). If publisher is unknown: also “n.p.” (context makes clear which is missing) or write it out: “no publisher.” For self-published works, the author acts as publisher. For genuinely obscure older sources, check the library’s catalogue record for publisher details.
Dissertation and Thesis Formatting
This is where Turabian has a clear advantage over the Chicago Manual — it was written with students submitting papers and theses in mind. Chapter 6 of the 9th edition is dedicated entirely to paper formatting. Follow it alongside your institution’s submission guidelines, which take precedence on any institutional specifics.
Title Page Elements — Standard Turabian Model
- Title centred, approximately one-third down the page
- Your full name — centred, below the title
- Course name and number, instructor name, institution
- Submission date — last line, centred
- All elements double-spaced
- No page number on the title page
General Formatting — Turabian 9th Edition
- 12-point readable font (Times New Roman or similar)
- 1-inch margins on all sides
- Double-spaced main text
- First line of each paragraph indented 0.5 inches
- Footnotes single-spaced, with a blank line between notes
- Page numbers: top right, starting from first page of text (not title page)
Turabian provides a default model. Your university’s thesis submission guidelines — particularly for dissertations — specify margins, font requirements, binding, and page numbering conventions that may differ. Read your institution’s guidelines first. Use Turabian for citation rules; use your institution’s guide for document formatting. When they conflict, your institution wins.
Common Errors That Cost Marks
Using the Wrong System for Your Subject
Notes-bibliography in a sociology paper. Author-date in a history essay. The citation content may be technically correct, but using the wrong system signals that you did not read your assignment guidelines — and it structures every citation incorrectly for your discipline’s conventions.
Confirm Which System Before Starting
Check your assignment guidelines. If not specified, look at what your department publishes in reading lists and example papers, or ask your instructor. Humanities: notes-bibliography. Social and natural sciences: author-date. One question saves hours of reformatting.
Reversing Author Name in Footnotes
“1. Smith, John, Title…” — the reversed name format (Last, First) is for the bibliography only. Footnotes use normal name order: First Last. This distinction matters and it is checked.
First Last in Footnotes, Last First in Bibliography
Footnote: John Smith. Bibliography: Smith, John. The reversal in the bibliography is for alphabetisation — the reader scans by surname. The footnote is a sequential note, not an alphabetical list, so normal name order applies.
Misusing Ibid.
Using Ibid. when any note appears between the current note and the source being re-cited. Or using it to refer to a source cited three notes ago. Ibid. means immediately preceding — nothing else.
Short Form for Anything That Isn’t Immediately Preceding
When in doubt, use the short form: Last, Shortened Title, page. It is always correct. Ibid. is a convenience that only applies in one specific situation. If you are uncertain whether Ibid. applies, use the short form instead — it is never wrong.
Putting the Year at the End in Author-Date Reference List
“Smith, John. Title. Place: Publisher, 2021.” — this is notes-bibliography format. In author-date, the year moves to immediately after the author name: “Smith, John. 2021. Title. Place: Publisher.” Mixing the two formats is one of the most common student errors when switching between systems.
Year Second in Author-Date, Year Last in N-B Bibliography
Author-date: Last, First. Year. Title. Place: Publisher. N-B bibliography: Last, First. Title. Place: Publisher, Year. The year position is the clearest single structural difference between the two reference list formats.
No Comma Between Author and Year in Author-Date
Wait — that is actually correct for Turabian. In Turabian author-date, in-text format is (Smith 2021) with no comma. Students from Harvard-trained backgrounds write (Smith, 2021) habitually. In Turabian, the comma is absent. This is a small but consistent difference.
(Smith 2021) — No Comma in Turabian Author-Date In-Text
Harvard: (Smith, 2021). Turabian author-date: (Smith 2021). The comma separating author and year is a Harvard convention, not a Turabian one. If you write Turabian author-date citations, remove the comma. Check every in-text citation before submitting.
Repeating Full Notes After the First Citation
Writing the complete citation in footnotes 1, 4, 8, and 12 for the same source. Once you have given the full note, every subsequent note for that source uses the short form. Repeated full notes suggest unfamiliarity with the system.
Full Note Once, Short Form From Then On
Full note on first citation: all elements. Short form every time after: Last, Shortened Title, page. Keep a running list of your first-note sources as you write so you always know whether a source has been introduced yet.
Frequently Asked Questions About Turabian Citation
Turabian Citations Taking Too Long?
From footnote formatting and bibliography structure to full academic writing support across Turabian, Chicago, Harvard, APA, and OSCOLA — our specialist team helps students get citations right the first time.
Academic Writing Services Get StartedWhat Getting Turabian Right Actually Takes
The students who lose marks on Turabian are usually not the ones who ignored the rules. They are the ones who found one template online, copied it, and assumed one template covers both systems and all source types. It does not. A book footnote looks different from a journal footnote. A bibliography entry looks different from the same source’s footnote. The author-date reference list uses a different year position from the notes-bibliography bibliography.
Three things prevent almost every Turabian error. First: confirm which system — notes-bibliography or author-date — before writing citation one. Second: learn the format differences between footnotes and bibliography entries if you are in notes-bibliography. They share the same information but in different order with different punctuation. Third: check your in-text citations against your bibliography or reference list before submitting. Every citation must have a matching entry. Every entry must be cited.
Citation generators can help with structure. They do not know which Turabian system your department uses, they frequently get footnote-vs-bibliography format differences wrong, and they miss things like missing access dates or malformed DOI formatting. Use them as a starting point. Verify the output against the 9th edition or your institution’s Turabian guide.
For structured support with Turabian citations, Chicago formatting, bibliography and reference list auditing, and broader academic writing help — from undergraduate research papers to postgraduate dissertations — our academic writing services, citation and referencing support, and proofreading and editing services cover every referencing style and every level of study.
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