Turabian Templates
So what is “Turabian” anyway, and why should I care?
Simply put, “Turabian” is shorthand for the widely-accepted academic style guide originally published by Kate L. Turabian of the University of Chicago. Like any other style guide, Turabian prescribes specific citation styles and page layout specifications for academic writing.
You don’t need to do this alone.
Rather than spending time that you could be using for writing and researching with the details of page layout, you can use a Word template with predefined styles that follow the Turabian guidelines. More on that below.
In addition, the Turabian website includes some handy resources, such as quick reference guides to some of the details found in the book.
Read the instructions!
Remember that the technical helps offered here are no substitute for knowing Turabian standards (and the sometimes contradicting instructions of your teachers!).
You simply must get a copy of Turabian’s book (be sure you have the latest edition), but also pay attention to any style guidelines given to you by your teachers. Know where the two contradict each other, and follow your teacher’s preferences.
A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers by Kate L. Turabian
Affiliate links:
Amazon.ca: Kindle edition / Paperback
Amazon.com: Kindle edition / Paperback
Downloads
- A Word Document to use as a template for creating Turabian class papers:
- Word DOCX format (for Microsoft Word 2007+)
- Word DOC format (for older versions of Word, or OpenOffice)
- For OpenOffice users, I’ve made a slightly edited file that corrects a couple bugs found in the transferring over to OpenOffice from Microsoft Word:
- OpenOffice template (many thanks to Dave Aschenmeier for identifying these bugs)
- A sample paper using the styles found in the template, so you can see the styles “in action”:
Demo video
To use the Turabian template available above, here’s a brief demonstration video that I made a few years ago.