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A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers
Dewey. Bellow. Strauss. Friedman. The University of Chicago has been the home of some of the most important thinkers of the modern age. But perhaps no name has been spoken with more respect than Turabian. The dissertation secretary at Chicago for decades, Kate Turabian literally wrote the book on the successful completion and submission of the student paper. Her Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, created from her years of experience with research projects across all fields, has sold more than seven million copies since it was first published in 1937.
Now, with this seventh edition, Turabian’s Manual has undergone its most extensive revision, ensuring that it will remain the most valuable handbook for writers at every level—from first-year undergraduates, to dissertation writers apprehensively submitting final manuscripts, to senior scholars who may be old hands at research and writing but less familiar with new media citation styles. Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, and the late Wayne C. Booth—the gifted team behind The Craft of Research—and the University of Chicago Press Editorial Staff combined their wide-ranging expertise to remake this classic resource. They preserve Turabian’s clear and practical advice while fully embracing the new modes of research, writing, and source citation brought about by the age of the Internet.
Booth, Colomb, and Williams significantly expand the scope of previous editions by creating a guide, generous in length and tone, to the art of research and writing. Growing out of the authors’ best-selling Craft of Research, this new section provides students with an overview of every step of the research and writing process, from formulating the right questions to reading critically to building arguments and revising drafts. This leads naturally to the second part of the Manual for Writers, which offers an authoritative overview of citation practices in scholarly writing, as well as detailed information on the two main citation styles (“notes-bibliography” and “author-date”). This section has been fully revised to reflect the recommendations of the fifteenth edition of The Chicago Manual of Style and to present an expanded array of source types and updated examples, including guidance on citing electronic sources.
The final section of the book treats issues of style—the details that go into making a strong paper. Here writers will find advice on a wide range of topics, including punctuation, table formatting, and use of quotations. The appendix draws together everything writers need to know about formatting research papers, theses, and dissertations and preparing them for submission. This material has been thoroughly vetted by dissertation officials at colleges and universities across the country.
This seventh edition of Turabian’s Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations is a classic reference revised for a new age. It is tailored to a new generation of writers using tools its original author could not have imagined—while retaining the clarity and authority that generations of scholars have come to associate with the name Turabian.
Now, with this seventh edition, Turabian’s Manual has undergone its most extensive revision, ensuring that it will remain the most valuable handbook for writers at every level—from first-year undergraduates, to dissertation writers apprehensively submitting final manuscripts, to senior scholars who may be old hands at research and writing but less familiar with new media citation styles. Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, and the late Wayne C. Booth—the gifted team behind The Craft of Research—and the University of Chicago Press Editorial Staff combined their wide-ranging expertise to remake this classic resource. They preserve Turabian’s clear and practical advice while fully embracing the new modes of research, writing, and source citation brought about by the age of the Internet.
Booth, Colomb, and Williams significantly expand the scope of previous editions by creating a guide, generous in length and tone, to the art of research and writing. Growing out of the authors’ best-selling Craft of Research, this new section provides students with an overview of every step of the research and writing process, from formulating the right questions to reading critically to building arguments and revising drafts. This leads naturally to the second part of the Manual for Writers, which offers an authoritative overview of citation practices in scholarly writing, as well as detailed information on the two main citation styles (“notes-bibliography” and “author-date”). This section has been fully revised to reflect the recommendations of the fifteenth edition of The Chicago Manual of Style and to present an expanded array of source types and updated examples, including guidance on citing electronic sources.
The final section of the book treats issues of style—the details that go into making a strong paper. Here writers will find advice on a wide range of topics, including punctuation, table formatting, and use of quotations. The appendix draws together everything writers need to know about formatting research papers, theses, and dissertations and preparing them for submission. This material has been thoroughly vetted by dissertation officials at colleges and universities across the country.
This seventh edition of Turabian’s Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations is a classic reference revised for a new age. It is tailored to a new generation of writers using tools its original author could not have imagined—while retaining the clarity and authority that generations of scholars have come to associate with the name Turabian.
466 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
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About the author
Kate L. Turabian
5 books12 followersWho was Kate Turabian?
Kate Larimore Turabian (1893–1987) was the graduate school dissertation secretary at the University of Chicago for nearly three decades, from 1930 to 1958. She was also the editor of official publications for the university.
She was born Laura Kate Larimore on Chicago’s South Side, where she was also raised, graduating from Hyde Park High School. A serious illness prevented Kate from attending college. Instead she took a job as a typist at an advertising agency, where she worked alongside a young Sherwood Anderson.
She met her husband, Stephen Turabian, in 1919, and began working at the university as a departmental secretary a few years later. In 1930 she became the university’s dissertation secretary, a newly created position in which every accepted doctoral thesis had to cross her desk. It was there that she wrote a small pamphlet describing the correct style for writing college dissertations. That pamphlet eventually became A Manual for Writers and has gone on to sell more than nine million copies in eight editions. She also authored The Student’s Guide for Writing College Papers.
Chicago has always insisted on the highest standards for the substantive content of dissertations at the university; Kate Turabian enforced the highest standards for the form of those dissertations as well. A Manual for Writers carried her reputation for exactitude well beyond the halls of Chicago.
One of her colleagues in the Office of Official Publications, Lois F. Madsen, described Kate as
a legend on the University of Chicago quadrangles.… A devout Episcopalian, an accomplished cook, an enthusiastic and adventurous traveler, and a voracious reader whose erudition earned the respect of scholars of all ranks despite her lack of the customary academic credentials. After her years of devoted service to the University, trudging in her sturdy oxfords from her apartment on the south side of the Midway to her office on the third floor of the Administration building, she acceded to her husband Stephen’s longing for a warmer clime, and retired to California.
Her husband died in 1967, while they were on a vacation in Paris. Kate passed away twenty years later, at the age of ninety-four. John Marshall wrote a warm tribute in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on October 27, 1987:
Kate L. Turabian was our trusted guide and mentor, the absolute authority, the one who knew all there was to know about the strange world of proper term papers.… A Manual for Writers was one of the first books we bought in college and it was one of the only books we kept with us through all four years and probably beyond. To write a term paper without a well-worn copy of Turabian handy was unthinkable. Our writing on term papers might be weak, our research haphazard, our insights sophomoric, but, thanks to Kate L. Turabian, our footnotes could always be absolutely flawless.
source
Kate Larimore Turabian (1893–1987) was the graduate school dissertation secretary at the University of Chicago for nearly three decades, from 1930 to 1958. She was also the editor of official publications for the university.
She was born Laura Kate Larimore on Chicago’s South Side, where she was also raised, graduating from Hyde Park High School. A serious illness prevented Kate from attending college. Instead she took a job as a typist at an advertising agency, where she worked alongside a young Sherwood Anderson.
She met her husband, Stephen Turabian, in 1919, and began working at the university as a departmental secretary a few years later. In 1930 she became the university’s dissertation secretary, a newly created position in which every accepted doctoral thesis had to cross her desk. It was there that she wrote a small pamphlet describing the correct style for writing college dissertations. That pamphlet eventually became A Manual for Writers and has gone on to sell more than nine million copies in eight editions. She also authored The Student’s Guide for Writing College Papers.
Chicago has always insisted on the highest standards for the substantive content of dissertations at the university; Kate Turabian enforced the highest standards for the form of those dissertations as well. A Manual for Writers carried her reputation for exactitude well beyond the halls of Chicago.
One of her colleagues in the Office of Official Publications, Lois F. Madsen, described Kate as
a legend on the University of Chicago quadrangles.… A devout Episcopalian, an accomplished cook, an enthusiastic and adventurous traveler, and a voracious reader whose erudition earned the respect of scholars of all ranks despite her lack of the customary academic credentials. After her years of devoted service to the University, trudging in her sturdy oxfords from her apartment on the south side of the Midway to her office on the third floor of the Administration building, she acceded to her husband Stephen’s longing for a warmer clime, and retired to California.
Her husband died in 1967, while they were on a vacation in Paris. Kate passed away twenty years later, at the age of ninety-four. John Marshall wrote a warm tribute in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on October 27, 1987:
Kate L. Turabian was our trusted guide and mentor, the absolute authority, the one who knew all there was to know about the strange world of proper term papers.… A Manual for Writers was one of the first books we bought in college and it was one of the only books we kept with us through all four years and probably beyond. To write a term paper without a well-worn copy of Turabian handy was unthinkable. Our writing on term papers might be weak, our research haphazard, our insights sophomoric, but, thanks to Kate L. Turabian, our footnotes could always be absolutely flawless.
source
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 191 reviews
August 17, 2010
An edge of your seat, nail biting thriller!
September 21, 2018
How can you write a review about a book that tells you how to write reviews?
Here's my effort:
1. It's a fine book.
2. It will wear you out.
3. It is filled to overflowing with minutia.
4. I think my soul is emptier as a result.
I also feel an overwhelming urge to now properly cite my source:
Turabian, Kate Larimore, Wayne Clayton Booth, Gregory G Colomb, and Joseph M Williams. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers. 8th ed. Chicago IL.: University of Chicago Press, 2013.
Here's my effort:
1. It's a fine book.
2. It will wear you out.
3. It is filled to overflowing with minutia.
4. I think my soul is emptier as a result.
I also feel an overwhelming urge to now properly cite my source:
Turabian, Kate Larimore, Wayne Clayton Booth, Gregory G Colomb, and Joseph M Williams. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers. 8th ed. Chicago IL.: University of Chicago Press, 2013.
July 6, 2018
It’s been well over 15 years since Kate T. and I first met. Our relationship lasted about five years. It wasn’t always easy. It was actually quite rocky. There were plenty of challenges. I admit that I certainly contributed to some of the problems in our relationship. I have a hard time with conforming to authority and she proved to be a tough task master. She always demands conformity. Always. She is unflinching in her demands. Relentless. But I tend to always buck against that conformity and rebel against authority. It made for a challenging relationship.
Thankfully, there came a day when we both accepted that a time of unspecified separation was for the best, for the best of both of us. In the end, I like to believe I won since she was relegated to the back shelf. I still held on to her. She was always there. Always present, but she was unloved, unused, unnoticed. And I was perfectly okay with our relationship as it was.
But then I heard she changed. Back when we were together she was at version 6.0. And I am thankful to say, she has received a few much needed upgrades. She was looking rather tired. Now, she looks a lot better. She’s sitting mighty pretty at version 9.0.
Recently, we’ve started seeing each other again. Life demanded it. But I’m okay with it at this point. And to be honest, we are kind of at the honeymoon stage in our relationship. I’ve spent a good bit of time with her recently. It’s been helpful, a good reminder of the old days. I don’t know how long this feeling will last, though. It looks like we are in for another long haul in our relationship. At least five years. Maybe more. This time, she is going to have to be right by my side. I am going to need her more than ever.
But I worry. Her underlining personality hasn’t changed. She still demands conformity. At least now, she does it with a more pleasant voice, a more crafted and beautiful appearance. Maybe, just maybe, I will be able to acquiesce to her demands.
I don't know if I have a choice...
Thankfully, there came a day when we both accepted that a time of unspecified separation was for the best, for the best of both of us. In the end, I like to believe I won since she was relegated to the back shelf. I still held on to her. She was always there. Always present, but she was unloved, unused, unnoticed. And I was perfectly okay with our relationship as it was.
But then I heard she changed. Back when we were together she was at version 6.0. And I am thankful to say, she has received a few much needed upgrades. She was looking rather tired. Now, she looks a lot better. She’s sitting mighty pretty at version 9.0.
Recently, we’ve started seeing each other again. Life demanded it. But I’m okay with it at this point. And to be honest, we are kind of at the honeymoon stage in our relationship. I’ve spent a good bit of time with her recently. It’s been helpful, a good reminder of the old days. I don’t know how long this feeling will last, though. It looks like we are in for another long haul in our relationship. At least five years. Maybe more. This time, she is going to have to be right by my side. I am going to need her more than ever.
But I worry. Her underlining personality hasn’t changed. She still demands conformity. At least now, she does it with a more pleasant voice, a more crafted and beautiful appearance. Maybe, just maybe, I will be able to acquiesce to her demands.
I don't know if I have a choice...
February 26, 2018
As a genealogist researcher, I needed to learn how to source my research citations. Very important if you are writing a genealogy piece! This book taught me how in a clear and uncomplicated style. It is updated and has been a classic source for many a research writer. Full of good sensible advice for the writer.
Read
June 22, 2025Absolutely thrilling! Didn’t see that twist coming…
September 18, 2017
A very useful guide to research thinking. You don't need to be doing postgraduate studies in order to benefit from this book. It is equally useful to anyone seeking to write an informative and research based articles.
However it is a guide, you cant just go on and read it without implementing the ideas in it. I would probably return to it whenever I work on a paper until research methodology is ingrained as a habit.
However it is a guide, you cant just go on and read it without implementing the ideas in it. I would probably return to it whenever I work on a paper until research methodology is ingrained as a habit.
September 24, 2011
Recommended by all my Professors this semester, Turabian's book is a classic for anyone charged with writing essays in Chicago style formatting. Still, locating the text online can be more relevant in cases such as Youtube video citation or blogs which are not covered in this edition. While it seems a bit easier to hunt these instructions down online, the hardcopy is a useful tool to have in your collection. Still crossing my fingers that the academic world would just PICK ONE format and use it universally, already!
November 29, 2019
Turabian has given me headaches over the years. But after finally reading this book all the way through, I'm convinced that many headaches have been prevented because of it. It's a helpful reference for research and citation.
May 9, 2025
fantastic book - great advice and a great guide for any academic writer! lots of helpful info regarding how to cite different sources. this book was essential for my senior thesis project :)
March 27, 2020
This book contains three major parts: an introduction to research, a guide to the Turabian/Chicago citation style, and a guide to writing style. It is an excellent resource for research students.
I wish that it would include references to the conventions of British English. It could simply note the differences between American English and British English. Doing so would give it a wider audience and make it more useful to writers throughout the world.
I wish that it would include references to the conventions of British English. It could simply note the differences between American English and British English. Doing so would give it a wider audience and make it more useful to writers throughout the world.
September 1, 2015
This is a must read for anyone that wants to do research reports,
thesis and dissertations. This book forms the defacto-standard
that all the other writers manuals for thesis, research papers
and dissertations follow.
thesis and dissertations. This book forms the defacto-standard
that all the other writers manuals for thesis, research papers
and dissertations follow.
August 4, 2007
The bible. Quite simply.
November 23, 2007
Useful.
August 3, 2009
This book got me through my PhD dissertation. If you need a "How To Write" this is it. It has solid examples, great trouble shooting methods. I still have it and use it regularly.
December 29, 2012
An incredibly user friendly manual on how to cite academic papers correctly and succinctly.
November 17, 2016
I used this throughout seminary and found it to be a very useful tool for every paper I wrote. Wish more people would take writing this seriously.
January 5, 2017
Read key chapters and use others as a reference, great material!!
October 8, 2024
The industry standard for a reason. Immensely helpful.
December 10, 2014
Very helpful.
February 2, 2015
Excellent tool for writing papers and doing research.
March 14, 2021
Overall Rating: 4 ⭑
It definitely feels strange to review a book like this, because really it is just a good staple for graduate students to have. I really enjoyed the first few chapters that outlined the writing process and provided techniques on how to organize mass amounts of information. Otherwise, it really was just a manual to refer to, including information on grammar, how to cite every source possible, spelling, etc. I wish they would have made separate versions specifically for scientific writing vs. writing for the humanities, but it’s a book I now recommend to all my students who want to write a thesis with me. Honestly, I would occasionally pick up this book and read a few sections at a time and find myself becoming so inspired to write. So, for me, it worked to fight off writer’s block or procrastination, which was definitely a win.
It definitely feels strange to review a book like this, because really it is just a good staple for graduate students to have. I really enjoyed the first few chapters that outlined the writing process and provided techniques on how to organize mass amounts of information. Otherwise, it really was just a manual to refer to, including information on grammar, how to cite every source possible, spelling, etc. I wish they would have made separate versions specifically for scientific writing vs. writing for the humanities, but it’s a book I now recommend to all my students who want to write a thesis with me. Honestly, I would occasionally pick up this book and read a few sections at a time and find myself becoming so inspired to write. So, for me, it worked to fight off writer’s block or procrastination, which was definitely a win.
May 3, 2020
This is definitely not the type of book that someone would cozy up to next to the fire under a blanket on a cold winter night. If you disagree... sorry, you've got problems. To be fair, it isn't supposed to be. This is not a textbook, it is a manual. Kate Turabian goes deep into the minutiae of how to research, write, and cite an academic paper. While I do prefer Chicago style footnotes to APA style endnotes, I don't prefer it enough to slog through this book. But since it was required reading for a class and integrity demands I read everything I claim to have read, slog through it I did. I have to say that it was far more enjoyable reading this than dropping a hammer on my toe, getting an ear infection, or dealing with a teething baby.
July 6, 2022
ANY AND ALL HISTORICAL WRITERS - GET THIS BOOK!
This book is the perfect companion to anyone interested in professional writing in history. All of the contents are perfectly organized, and it contains literally everything one would need to know when attempting to write a professional paper. This book was recommended by one of my professors and I have used for every course I've taken - graduate and undergraduate. I personally find the sourcing guidelines most helpful, but there is so much more for writers to learn within this book.
This book is the perfect companion to anyone interested in professional writing in history. All of the contents are perfectly organized, and it contains literally everything one would need to know when attempting to write a professional paper. This book was recommended by one of my professors and I have used for every course I've taken - graduate and undergraduate. I personally find the sourcing guidelines most helpful, but there is so much more for writers to learn within this book.
January 8, 2023
I read 3rd edition, and the line "term papers, thesis, and dissertations" was in small print. I thought that this would be a manual on how to find inspiration for stories or how to properly set tone, how to block out a plot, or tips on helping through writers block. I was a bit disappointed but i will say that this was my fault. Even as such, for a manual on writing dissertations and term papers, it was still very drab and awful. I feel like there could have been something added to this to not make it feel like such drudgery to read. This book felt like work.
July 19, 2023
Very comprehensive and clearly written style guide. Citation format guide is very helpful. For the purpose of history, I do think it could use more guide on how to cite different types of primary sources--the kinds you only find physically in archives or in the field. Elizabeth Shown-Mills fills this gap in her book "Evidence Explained," but I think that, as the style guide used for academic history writing, Turabian should include more detail to this end. Not as much as Shown-Mills does, but significantly more detail than the guide currently contains
December 1, 2023
Kate's, "A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers" is an excellent reference for writing and understanding the 'Chicago style.' So students heading to high school should have this to aid themselves about the dynamics of assembling and writing papers for projects in various classes, and yes also to sport groups too! This will develop your skills for formal formatting of official class topics about current teaching subjects, in addition to reinforcing your knowledge and preparedness for advance education.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 11, 2017
Yep I actually read it. Can't say that I enjoyed it, but the 8th edition is very helpful. In seminary I used the 6th edition which lacked the very helpful Part 1: Reacher and Writing from Wayne Booth's Craft of Research. It is really excellent and covers matters of planning, style, grammar, revisions and even strategies for productivity. This is a massive improvement over previous editions.
I still hate Turabian (not Kate, I'm sure she was lovely). :)
I still hate Turabian (not Kate, I'm sure she was lovely). :)
July 3, 2020
Phew, this book is something else and all the wrong reasons.
Although I have already finished university my dissertation, I was still interested to learn more about how to structure and write better in terms of academic writing.
I found this book so hard to follow, the layout strange and muddled and it was a pain to get through. God knows how this would be useful for a stressed-out University student as I feel worse regarding this topic!
A regretful read.
Although I have already finished university my dissertation, I was still interested to learn more about how to structure and write better in terms of academic writing.
I found this book so hard to follow, the layout strange and muddled and it was a pain to get through. God knows how this would be useful for a stressed-out University student as I feel worse regarding this topic!
A regretful read.
October 29, 2024
This is still largely the standard on writing research papers. It's almost too exhaustive (if that's possible), in the sense that it'd be tough for students to read through and retain the information in a reasonable amount of time. Much of it can be used then as a reference tool. Furthermore, some of it needs to be adjusted for style based upon the field of research. But, as it stands, I'll continue to have my students read it for research methods.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 191 reviews