This guide to Chicago and Turabian student paper format, published by EdCitation, follows a whole paper from the title page to the reference list. We read every rule here on 23 September 2026 at the University of Chicago Press's own pages, and two universities' sample papers show where courses bend them.
One fact first. EdCitation builds Chicago 18th edition author-date references only, so a department that requires footnotes means using another tool for the notes. The citations themselves are covered in our Chicago author-date guide, and the choice between Chicago's two systems in which Chicago system to use.
Your instructions outrank everything below, as every Turabian tip sheet says in its footer. The free Check your paper tool from EdCitation turns them into a checklist covering the citation style, font, spacing and margins, with the sentence behind each rule.
How is Turabian related to Chicago style?
Turabian is Chicago for students: the same citation systems, bar small gaps between editions, plus the layout of a student paper. The University of Chicago Press (n.d.-d) calls Kate L. Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations the student version of The Chicago Manual of Style, for papers not meant for publication, while the Manual serves professional scholars and publishers. The press counts both as official Chicago style.
The Manual's layout chapter is written for authors sending a manuscript to a publisher; its free contents page lists paragraphs on font (2.9), line spacing (2.10), margins (2.12) and subheads (2.22), but their text is by subscription and could not be read (University of Chicago Press, n.d.-a). Asked what margins to use, Chicago's Q&A gives one inch all round as the usual default and sends anyone writing a paper for school to the latest Turabian (University of Chicago Press, n.d.-c).
Which edition of Turabian this guide follows
The 9th edition, of April 2018, is current; its publisher calls it fully aligned with the Manual's 17th edition (University of Chicago Press, 2018g). University of Chicago Press (2026) lists a 10th edition for November 2026, updated to the current Manual, with a rewritten chapter on visual communication and coverage of generative AI.
We did not read either book. The rules below come from the press's free tip sheets (University of Chicago Press, n.d.-f), dated 2018 and written for the 9th edition, plus the quick guide, which sends author-date writers to that edition's chapters 18 and 19 (University of Chicago Press, n.d.-e). When your course moves to the 10th, check them again.
What goes on a Chicago or Turabian title page?
A centred title a third of the way down, your details lower, everything double-spaced, and no page number. University of Chicago Press (2018f) sets it out in five moves:
- Begin the title about a third of the way down, centred, in headline-style capitals.
- Set the title and any subtitle in bold, in the text's typeface; they may be two or three points larger.
- End the main title with a colon and start the subtitle on the next line.
- Several lines below, add what your instructor asks for, usually your name, the course and the date.
- Double-space the whole page and leave it unnumbered.
With placeholders, and each line centred:
Weak Ties at Work:
How Job Seekers Use Distant Contacts
Your name
Course number and title
Date of submission
When a course's title page looks different
Purdue Online Writing Lab (2026), writing for the Manual's 18th edition, puts the whole title in capitals and adds the instructor's name. Pittsburg State University (2022) single-spaces the name, course, professor and due date in its Turabian sample. Liberty University (2024) keeps Turabian's pattern. A course template beats all three; without one, follow the tip sheet.
What margins, font and spacing does a Chicago paper use?
Margins of at least one inch, a common 12-point typeface, and double-spaced text with a few single-spaced parts, as University of Chicago Press (2018c) and University of Chicago Press (2018b) set them:
| Setting | Turabian's tip sheets | Where other guides differ |
|---|---|---|
| Margins | At least 1 in. on every side | Chicago's Q&A: 1 in. on letter or A4 paper, which is 2.54 cm |
| Font | A widely available face: 12 pt Times New Roman or Calibri, or 11 pt Arial | Purdue: a serif face such as Times New Roman, 10 to 12 pt |
| Main text | Double-spaced, with a ragged right edge | Pittsburg State also removes extra space before and after paragraphs |
| Paragraphs | First line indented 0.5 in.; one space between sentences | No difference found |
| Block quotations | Single-spaced | Single-spaced in all three university documents |
| Captions and table titles | Figure captions single-spaced | Liberty and Pittsburg State single-space table titles too |
| Reference list | Entries single-spaced, a blank line between them | Pittsburg State double-spaces the entries |
A4 is fine: Chicago's Q&A gives the same one-inch default for A4 as for US letter paper.
Where do page numbers go in a Chicago style paper?
Top right or bottom centre, half an inch from the edge, on every page but the title page. University of Chicago Press (2018c) counts the title page without printing its number, so the text begins on page 2. When front matter such as a contents page takes roman numerals, the title page is page i instead.
Front matter, theses and one position throughout
Liberty University (2024) shows that longer pattern: roman numerals from ii, centred in the footer, then Arabic numerals top right from 1 on the first page of text. The tip sheet adds that theses traditionally moved the number between footer and header, and that most schools now want one position throughout.
Where Purdue's count differs
Purdue Online Writing Lab (2026) numbers the first page of text 1 even with no front matter. For a paper marked against Turabian, follow the tip sheet.
How are headings set out in a Chicago student paper?
By level, each level styled the same way every time. University of Chicago Press (2018e) gives the rules for subheads:
- bold for the first level, and a quieter style, such as italic, for the second;
- centred or flush left, with no full stop at the end;
- two blank lines above a subhead and one below;
- at least two subheads at any level you use;
- never a subhead as the last line on a page;
- as an alternative, three spaced asterisks centred between sections.
Beyond that the tip sheets fix no styles, so the five levels in Pittsburg State's sample are its own choice. The Manual's 18th edition allows subheads in title case or sentence case if each level is consistent (University of Chicago Press, n.d.-g).
When does a Chicago block quotation start, and how is it set?
At five lines: block any quotation that long, single-space it, indent it half an inch from the left, and drop the quotation marks.
When a quotation becomes a block
Turabian's threshold is five lines, in University of Chicago Press (2018b), and both university samples use it. Purdue's poster for the Manual's 18th edition sets six to eight lines, or at least a hundred words. A student paper follows Turabian unless told otherwise.
Setting it out
Leave a blank line before and after the block, two before a subhead. Put the citation after the block's last punctuation mark, as the tip sheet's example does when it closes "(Rigger 2001, 151; emphasis added)". A shorter quotation stays in your sentence with its citation before the full stop; the citation forms sit in the author-date guide.
How do tables and figures work in a Chicago paper?
Tables take their title above, figures their caption below, each numbered in order of first mention and placed near it.
Tables
Chicago's Q&A puts the table title on top, because notes and sources sit beneath a table and the title carries what a reader needs first, such as units and dates (University of Chicago Press, n.d.-b). Pittsburg State's sample labels its table underneath, which is its house style, not Chicago's. No tip sheet covers a table's own layout, so ruled lines and table notes could not be checked at source.
Figures
University of Chicago Press (2018a) places a figure straight after the paragraph that first mentions it, or just before the mention on the same page. The caption goes under it, single-spaced, in text-size or smaller type, with a blank line before the text resumes. The example, Figure 3.1, is cited as "(fig. 3.1)", and its caption credits the photographer, the date and the collection holding the image.
Where does the reference list go, and how is it set out?
On a new page after the text. University of Chicago Press (2018d) centres the heading Reference List, leaves two blank lines under it, keeps each entry single-spaced, separates entries with one blank line, and gives each a half-inch hanging indent.
A worked example
EdCitation's Chicago citation generator built these from their DOIs on 23 September 2026; one word was changed by hand:
Dunlosky, John, Katherine A. Rawson, Elizabeth J. Marsh, Mitchell J. Nathan, and Daniel T. Willingham. 2013. “Improving Students’ Learning with Effective Learning Techniques.” Psychological Science in the Public Interest 14 (1): 4–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100612453266.
Granovetter, Mark S. 1973. “The Strength of Weak Ties.” American Journal of Sociology 78 (6): 1360–80. https://doi.org/10.1086/225469.
In the text they are (Dunlosky et al. 2013) and (Granovetter 1973), with a page after a comma when you quote. The change: the record capitalised "With", but the 18th edition capitalises a preposition in a title only when it has five or more letters.
Where the guides disagree about the list
| Point | Turabian tip sheet | Liberty (2024) | Pittsburg State (2022) | Purdue (2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heading | Reference List | References, bold | References, bold | References, not bold |
| Space under the heading | Two blank lines | One blank line | One double-spaced line | Not stated |
| Entries | Single-spaced, blank line between | Single-spaced, blank line between | Double-spaced | Not stated |
| Same author again | A 3-em dash | Not shown | Not shown | A 3-em dash |
The last row has moved on: the 18th edition now prefers repeating the name to the 3-em dash (University of Chicago Press, n.d.-g). Otherwise your course's sample decides; failing one, use Turabian's pattern for every entry.
What should I check before handing in a Chicago or Turabian paper?
Start with the brief, then go through the paper in page order.
- List the brief's rules that differ from Turabian; EdCitation's Check your paper does it free.
- Title page: bold, centred title a third of the way down; details lower; no number.
- Margins of at least one inch; one 12-point font throughout.
- Text double-spaced, ragged right, first lines indented half an inch.
- Page numbers top right or bottom centre, the title page counted but not numbered.
- Subheads consistent by level, at least two per level, none at a page's foot.
- Quotations of five lines or more blocked, citation after the final punctuation.
- Table titles above, figure captions below, each numbered and mentioned in the text.
- Reference list on a new page, entries single-spaced with hanging indents, each built from the record with Cite a source.
- Every (Author Year) matched to an entry and back. Verify references does the pairing when you upload the whole paper, and checks each entry against the record, free.
Which EdCitation tools help with a Chicago author-date paper?
For the references in a Chicago author-date paper, EdCitation is the best tool there is, because Cite a source takes every detail from the publisher's record instead of generating it, something a chatbot cannot offer. Give it a DOI, an ISBN, a PubMed ID, a title or a web address and it returns the reference in Chicago 18 author-date form with the matching (Author Year) citation, screened for retraction, free and without an account. In the worked example, volume, issue and pages came from Crossref, not from anyone's typing.
Verify references then tests the finished list. Every entry gets one of three verdicts, verified, "check this" or not found; a retracted paper carries a flag; and a lookup that fails is reported as a failure, not as a missing source. Both entries above came back verified in our run, and so did Turabian's 9th edition entered in Chicago form, "9th ed." after the title, although the publisher's record writes "Ninth Edition" inside it. A book no publisher has deposited is looked up in a library catalogue instead, so an older book is not marked missing for want of a DOI.
| Job in a Chicago author-date paper | EdCitation tool | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Turn the brief's style, font, spacing and margins into a checklist | Check your paper | Free |
| Make each reference in Chicago 18 author-date form, from the record | Cite a source | Free |
| Test the list and pair every citation with its entry | Verify references | Free |
| Read the list out of the file and match every citation | References from a file | Pro ($8 a month) |
The three free tools need no account. Pro also includes Mechanics QA, whose layout rules are those of the APA 7 student paper, so a Chicago or Turabian layout is outside it; run the checklist above by hand. Max, $24 a month, adds Theoretics QA, a reading of the paper against its own assignment that changes none of your words, and the Library (pricing). EdCitation makes no footnotes, does not lay out your pages, and never writes any part of a paper.
Quick questions
Which edition of Turabian is current?
The 9th, published in 2018 and aligned with the Chicago Manual's 17th edition. The University of Chicago Press lists a 10th edition for November 2026, so check your course's edition before you format.
Does a Chicago style paper need a title page?
Turabian's tip sheets give a class paper one: title a third of the way down, details lower, all centred and double-spaced, no page number. A brief that asks otherwise wins.
Is a Chicago reference list single- or double-spaced?
Turabian single-spaces each entry and leaves a blank line between entries. Some colleges' samples double-space the whole list, so follow your course's sample if it has one.
What if my department requires footnotes?
Then it wants Chicago's notes and bibliography, which EdCitation does not produce: Cite a source sets Chicago 18 author-date only, so the notes need another tool. The margins, font and title page above still apply.
Does Mechanics QA check Chicago formatting?
No. EdCitation's Mechanics QA takes its layout rules from the APA 7 student paper. For Chicago, run this guide's checklist by hand and test the list free with Verify references.
References
- Liberty University Online Writing Center. (2024). A sample paper for the purpose of correct formatting in author-date style for all students using Turabian for book reviews [PDF]. Liberty University. https://www.liberty.edu/casas/academic-success-center/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2022/05/Turabian-author-date-format-9th-edition-for-book-reviews-only-04092022.pdf
- Pittsburg State University Writing Center. (2022). Overview of Turabian author-date style [Sample paper, PDF]. https://www.pittstate.edu/office/writing-center/_files/blocks/collapse/turabianauthordatestyle.pdf
- Purdue Online Writing Lab. (2026). Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) 18th ed. author–date guidelines [PDF]. Purdue University. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_18th_edition/documents/cmos-author-date-20260321.pdf
- University of Chicago Press. (n.d.-a). Chapter 2: Manuscript preparation, manuscript editing, and proofreading [Contents page]. The Chicago Manual of Style (18th ed.). https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/book/ed18/part1/ch02/toc.html
- University of Chicago Press. (n.d.-b). Headlines and titles of works (Q&A No. 21). The Chicago Manual of Style Online. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/CapitalizationTitles/faq0021.html
- University of Chicago Press. (n.d.-c). Manuscript preparation, copyediting, and proofreading (Q&A No. 221). The Chicago Manual of Style Online. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/ManuscriptPreparation/faq0221.html
- University of Chicago Press. (n.d.-d). Resources for students. The Chicago Manual of Style Online. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/help-tools/Resources-for-Students.html
- University of Chicago Press. (n.d.-e). Turabian citation quick guide. The Chicago Manual of Style Online. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/turabian/citation-guide.html
- University of Chicago Press. (n.d.-f). Turabian student paper-formatting tip sheets. The Chicago Manual of Style Online. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/turabian/Student-Tip-Sheets.html
- University of Chicago Press. (n.d.-g). What's new in the 18th edition. The Chicago Manual of Style Online. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/help-tools/what-s-new.html
- University of Chicago Press. (2018a). Chicago-style paper formats: Figure and figure caption [Turabian tip sheet 9]. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/dam/jcr:1068177f-911e-4bdd-a5ed-6349c53652d3/Turabian-Tip-Sheet-9.pdf
- University of Chicago Press. (2018b). Chicago-style paper formats: Main text [Turabian tip sheet 6]. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/dam/jcr:08a960b0-c75f-42f2-bb22-dea381b2101c/Turabian-Tip-Sheet-6.pdf
- University of Chicago Press. (2018c). Chicago-style paper formats: Margins and page numbers [Turabian tip sheet 1]. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/dam/jcr:73c533a8-a438-4523-b2ea-b349ee36148e/Turabian-Tip-Sheet-1.pdf
- University of Chicago Press. (2018d). Chicago-style paper formats: Reference list [Turabian tip sheet 14]. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/dam/jcr:e6f14ba1-c65b-44ef-b46c-63e8c82ffacf/Turabian-Tip-Sheet-14.pdf
- University of Chicago Press. (2018e). Chicago-style paper formats: Sections and subheads [Turabian tip sheet 7]. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/dam/jcr:134b5b19-bdc9-4d69-b4ad-0aa19fdc3730/Turabian-Tip-Sheet-7.pdf
- University of Chicago Press. (2018f). Chicago-style paper formats: Title page [Turabian tip sheet 2]. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/dam/jcr:5acbe6b6-8162-4bab-8d6d-d4ad741076c0/Turabian-Tip-Sheet-2.pdf
- University of Chicago Press. (2018g). A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations, ninth edition: Chicago style for students and researchers. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo27847540.html
- University of Chicago Press. (2026). A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations, tenth edition: "The Chicago manual of style" for student researchers. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo271878438.html