Guides & Help: Turabian Citation Guide: Books

Basic Book Form

see Turabian §17.1 (pp. 171 ff.)

note	¹ John A. Doe, Title of Book (Location: Publisher, year), pages.
bibliography	Doe, John A. Title of Book. Location: Publisher, year.

Location

If the place of publication is unknown, use the abbreviation “n.p.” (“no place”) in the footnote, and “N.p.” in the bibliography (e.g., n.p.: WW Press, 2003). If you can make an educated guess regarding the place of publication, include your guess in brackets with a question mark (e.g., [St. Louis, MO?]: Covenant Theological Seminary, 2005). If no place is given because the book was self-published, note that (e.g., Self-published, CreateSpace, 2017).

Year

If the year of publication is not given, use the abbreviation “n.d.” (e.g., St. Louis, MO: Covenant Theological Seminary, n.d.). If you may know the date of publication based on some other source of information, include that year in brackets with a question mark (e.g., St. Louis, MO: Covenant Theological Seminary, [2013?]).

Print Book (Single Author)

see Turabian Figure 16.1, no. 1 (p. 151); §17.1.1 (p. 171–172)

note	¹ V. Philips Long, The Art of Biblical History (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994), 123.
bibliography	Long, V. Philips. The Art of Biblical History. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994.

E-Book

see Turabian §17.1.10 (pp. 186–187)

Follow the form for a book in print, and then add one of the following to indicate how the e-book can be obtained:

If you read the e-book online, then give the URL. If a preferred or “permanent” URL is provided, use that rather than what is displayed in your browser’s address bar.
If you accessed the e-book through a library database, give the name of the database.
If you obtained the e-book from a commercial vendor (e.g., Amazon), identify the e-book file format (Kindle, EPUB, Adobe Digital Editions PDF, etc.).

note	¹ Bob Burns, Donald Guthrie, and Tasha Chapman, Resilient Ministry: What Pastors Told Us About Surviving and Thriving (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2013), 20, eBook Collection (EBSCOhost).
	² Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (New York: Riverhead Books, 2008), 38, Kindle.
	³ John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. Henry Beveridge (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989), 53, http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.iii.vi.html.
bibliography	Burns, Bob, Donald Guthrie, and Tasha Chapman. Resilient Ministry: What Pastors Told Us About Surviving and Thriving. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2013. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost).
	Keller, Timothy. The Reason for God: Belief in and Age of Skepticism. New York: Riverhead Books, 2008. Kindle.
	Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Translated by Henry Beveridge. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.html.

If a page number is not available for the note, cite by chapter number and/or numbered section. For older Amazon Kindle e-books that don't include page numbers, you may also include the location number, but that is not sufficient on its own.

note	² Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (New York: Riverhead Books, 2008), chap. 2, Kindle.
	³ John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. Henry Beveridge (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989), chap. 5, sec. 4, http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.iii.vi.html.

Book by Multiple Authors

see Turabian Figure 16.1, no. 2 (pp. 151–152); §17.1.1 (pp. 171–172)

If the book has just two or three authors, list all of the authors' names in both the note and the bibliography.

note	¹Mark Lau Branson and Juan F. Martínez, Churches, Cutures & Leadership: A Practical Theology of Congregations and Ethnicities (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011), 160.
	² William W. Klein, Robert L. Hubbard Jr., and Craig L. Blomberg, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (Dallas: Word Books, 1993), 74.
bibliography	Branson, Mark Lau, and Juan F. Martínez. Churches, Cutures & Leadership: A Practical Theology of Congregations and Ethnicities. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011.
	Klein, William W., Robert L. Hubbard Jr., and Craig L. Blomberg. Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. Dallas: Word Books, 1993.

If the book has four or more authors, list only the first author's name followed by “et al.” (Latin, et alii, “and others”) in the note. In the bibliography, list all of the authors.

note	³ Quentin J. Schultze et al., Dancing in the Dark: Youth, Popular Culture and the Electronic Media (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1991), 189.
bibliography	Schultze, Quentin J., Roy M. Anker, James D. Bratt, William D. Romanowski, John W. Worst, and Lambert Zuidervaart. Dancing in the Dark: Youth, Popular Culture and the Electronic Media. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1991.

Book with Editor as Author

see Turabian §17.1.1.2 (pp. 172–173)

note	¹ William S. Barker and Samuel T. Long, eds., Sermons that Shaped America (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2004), 79.
bibliography	Barker, William S., and Samuel T. Long, eds. Sermons that Shaped America. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2004.

Note: If there is only one editor, use the singular abbreviation “ed.” instead of the plural “eds.”

Book with an Editor or Translator

see Turabian §17.1.1.1 (p. 172)

note	¹ Gerhard Maier, Biblical Hermeneutics, trans. Robert W. Yarbrough (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1994), 17.
	² C. S. Lewis, Christian Reflections, ed. Walter Hooper (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1967), 83.
bibliography	Maier, Gerhard. Biblical Hermeneutics. Translated by Robert W. Yarbrough. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1994.
	Lewis, C. S. Christian Reflections. Edited by Walter Hooper. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1967.

Note: If the book has both an editor and a translator, list them in the order in which they appear on the title page of the book.

Revised Edition of a Book

see Turabian §17.1.3.1 (p. 177)

Only specify the edition if you are citing an edition other than the first. Use abbreviations whenever possible (e.g., 2nd ed., rev. ed.).

note	¹ Bryan Chapell, Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI : Baker Academic, 2005), 22.
bibliography	Chapell, Bryan. Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI : Baker Academic, 2005.

Note: The first letter of the edition designation should be lowercase in the footnote and uppercase in the bibliography (e.g., “rev. ed.” in the footnote, but “Rev. ed.” in the bibliography).

Reprint of a Previously Published Book

see Turabian §17.1.3.2 (pp. 177–178)

Specify the publication date of the original printing and then give the publication details of the version that you consulted, indicating that they refer to the reprint edition. In the footnote, place a semi-colon after the original’s date of publication, and use the abbreviation “repr.”.

note	¹ Edward Payson, Sermons for Christian Families: On the Most Important Relative Duties (1832; repr., Birmingham, AL: Solid Ground Christian Books, 2009), 55.
bibliography	Payson, Edward. Sermons for Christian Families: On the Most Important Relative Duties. 1832. Reprint, Birmingham, AL: Solid Ground Christian Books, 2009.

Multi-volume Work

see Turabian §17.1.4 (pp. 178–179)

In a note, put the cited volume number immediately before the page number and separate them with a colon. In the bibliography entry, indicate the volume number that you cited in your notes.

note	¹ Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1946), 2:257.
bibliography	Hodge, Charles. Systematic Theology. Vol. 2. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1946.

If you cited more than one volume in your notes, then you may cite the set as a whole in the bibliography by indicating the total number of volumes in the set.

bibliography

Hodge, Charles. Systematic Theology. 3 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1946.

Book in a Series

see Turabian §17.1.5 (p. 179)

If a book is part of a formal series (such as a commentary series, or a series of published papers), the name of the series may be included in the citation. The series title should be presented in roman type (not italicized).

If the items within the series are numbered, the number of the work cited may optionally be included immediately after the series title with no intervening punctuation or designations such as “vol.” or “no.” (e.g., New Testament Studies 5). However, if the series uses multiple levels of enumeration (e.g., vol. 3, no. 1 or no. 37, pt. 2), then include the abbreviated designations and place a comma before each. Some series are so large that their numbering has been started over in later publications. In such cases give an appropriate designation such as “o.s.” (old series), “n.s.” (new series), “2nd ser.,” etc. between the series title and the item number with a comma on either side (e.g., Theological Studies, n.s., 24).

note	¹ Stephen S. Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John, Word Biblical Commentary (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1984), 82.
	² Michael Parsons, Luther and Calvin on Old Testament Narratives: Reformation Thought and Narrative Text, Texts and Studies in Religion 106 (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2004), 167.
bibliography	Smalley, Stephen S. 1, 2, 3 John. Word Biblical Commentary. Waco, TX: Word Books, 1984.
	Parsons, Michael. Luther and Calvin on Old Testament Narratives: Reformation Thought and Narrative Text. Texts and Studies in Religion 106. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2004.

Book with Multiple Additional Elements

When citing a book that involves some combination of editors, translators, multiple volumes, multiple editions, a series title, etc., build the citation piece by piece in the following order using the guidance in the sections above to format each individual element.

Name of author(s)
Title of book
Name of translator(s) and/or editor(s)
Edition designation (if not the first)
Volume number cited or total count of volumes [in bibliography only]
Series title and enumeration (if given)
Facts of publication
Volume and page numbers cited [in notes only]

note	¹ Walther Zimmerli, Ezekiel: A Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, trans. Ronald E. Clements, ed. Frank Moore Cross and Klaus Baltzer with Leonard Jay Greenspoon, Hermeneia (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979–83), 1:142.
	² G. V. Lechler and K. Gerok, Theological and Homiletical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles: Specially Designed and Adapted for the Use of Ministers and Students, ed. J. P. Lange, trans. Paton J. Gloag, 2nd ed., Clark's Foreign Theological Library (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1869), 1:52.
bibliography	Zimmerli, Walther. Ezekiel: A Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel. Translated by Ronald E. Clements. Edited by Frank Moore Cross and Klaus Baltzer with Leonard Jay Greenspoon. 2 vols. Hermeneia. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979–83.
	Lechler, G. V., and K. Gerok. Theological and Homiletical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles: Specially Designed and Adapted for the Use of Ministers and Students. Edited by J. P. Lange. Translated by Paton J. Gloag. 2nd ed. 2 vols. Clark's Foreign Theological Library. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1869.

Essay/Article within a Book (Edited Volume)

see Turabian §17.1.8.2 (pp. 184–185)

note	¹ C. John Collins, “What the Reader Wants and the Translator Can Give: 1 John as a Test Case,” in All for Jesus: A Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Covenant Theological Seminary, ed. Robert A. Peterson and Sean Michael Lucas (Fearn, Ross-shire, Great Britain: Mentor, 2006), 347.
bibliography	Collins, C. John. “What the Reader Wants and the Translator Can Give: 1 John as a Test Case.” In All for Jesus: A Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Covenant Theological Seminary, edited by Robert A. Peterson and Sean Michael Lucas, 333–359. Fearn, Ross-shire, Great Britain: Mentor, 2006.

Note: Be sure to include the full page range of the essay/article in the bibliography entry.

Biblical Commentaries

Commentaries are cited like any other book according to the principles described in this guide. The exact form will vary based on the publication details, such as whether the commentary is a single, standalone work, multiple volumes, an e-book, in a commentary series, a contribution within an edited volume, etc.

note	¹ Craig S. Keener, Acts: An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 3:1692.
	² R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007), 609, eBook Collection (EBSCOhost).
	³ Walter L. Liefeld and David W. Pao, “Luke,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, edited by Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007), 10:192.
	⁴ Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 1–15, Word Biblical Commentary (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1987), 263, https://archive.org/details/genesis1150001wenh.
bibliography	Keener, Craig S. Acts: An Exegetical Commentary. Vol. 3. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2014.
	France, R. T. The Gospel of Matthew. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost).
	Liefeld, Walter L., and David W. Pao. “Luke.” In The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, edited by Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, rev. ed., 10:19–355. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007.
	Wenham, Gordon J. Genesis 1–15. Word Biblical Commentary. Waco, TX: Word Books, 1987. https://archive.org/details/genesis1150001wenh.

Dissertation or Thesis

see Turabian §17.7.1 (p. 198)

The citation for a dissertation or thesis differs from that of a book in that the title is placed in quotation marks instead of being italicized, and the publisher information is replaced with an indication of the degree for which the project was completed, and the name of the school.

note	¹ Mark L. Dalbey, “A Biblical, Historical, and Contemporary Look at the Regulative Principle of Worship” (DMin diss., Covenant Theological Seminary, 1999), 92, http://www.covenantlibrary.org/etd/1999/Dalbey_Mark_DMin_1999.pdf.
	² Daniel A. Gleich, “The Poor and the Inheritance of the Kingdom of God in the Gospel of Luke and the Letter of James” (master’s thesis, Covenant Theological Seminary, 2014), 80, http://covenantlibrary.org/etd/2014/Gleich_Daniel_ThM_2014.pdf.
bibliography	Dalbey, Mark L. “A Biblical, Historical, and Contemporary Look at the Regulative Principle of Worship.” DMin diss., Covenant Theological Seminary, 1999. http://www.covenantlibrary.org/etd/1999/Dalbey_Mark_DMin_1999.pdf.
	Gleich, Daniel A. “The Poor and the Inheritance of the Kingdom of God in the Gospel of Luke and the Letter of James.” Master’s thesis, Covenant Theological Seminary, 2014. http://covenantlibrary.org/etd/2014/Gleich_Daniel_ThM_2014.pdf.

Encyclopedia, Dictionary, Lexicon, or Concordance

see Turabian §17.9.1 (pp. 204–205)

Standard, well-known reference works are usually cited in the notes only, and are excluded from the bibliography. Such works may be cited using standard abbreviations, such as those found in the SBL Handbook of Style; or by title alone, omitting the other publication details.

For works that are arranged alphabetically, you may use the relevant entry name preceded by “s.v.” (Latin, sub verbo, “under the word”; plural: s.vv.) in place of the volume and page numbers. However, when the entries are signed (i.e. the contributor who authored each entry is indicated), you should instead adapt the note format for citing an essay/article within a book (note 2 below).

note	¹ BDAG, s.v. “εἴδωλον, ου, τό.”
	² Christopher J. H. Wright, “אֶרֶץ,” in NIDOTTE, 1:520.

Lesser known reference works should be cited in full in both the notes and the bibliography.

note	¹⁰ John Christman, “Property Rights,” in Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics, ed. Ruth Chadwick (San Diego: Academic Press, 1998), 3:689.
bibliography	Christman, John. “Property Rights.” In Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics, edited by Ruth Chadwick, 3:683–692. San Diego: Academic Press, 1998.

Ancient and Classic Theological Works

see Turabian §17.8.1 (p. 202–203)

Ancient and classic theological texts are cited differently from modern works. They often use standard identifying markers, such as, book, chapter, and section number. When citing the church fathers, Calvin's Institutes, or the Westminster Confession, you should include the author's name, the title, and the section number. Include specific information about the edition or translation of the work in the bibliographic entry.

note	¹ Augustine, Confessions 2.2.
	² Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word 5.3.
	³ Calvin, Institutes 3.11.10.
	⁴ WCF 7.2.
bibliography	Augustine. The Confessions. Edited by John E. Rotelle. Translated by Maria Boulding. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 1997.
	Athanasius. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd ser. Vol. 4, On the Incarnation of the Word. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. Translated by Archibald Robertson. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982.
	Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Edited by John T. McNeill. Translated by Ford Lewis Battles. 2 vols. Library of Christian Classics. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1960.
	The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms. Lawrenceville, GA: PCA Committee for Christian Education & Publications, 2007. https://www.pcaac.org/bco/westminster-confession/.

The Bible

see Turabian §17.8.2 (p. 203–204) and §26.6 (p. 351–354)

Scripture references are cited in footnotes. They are not included in a bibliography. The first time you cite from scripture, include the version you are using in parentheses. If you only use that one version, omit the version in subsequent references. However, if you use multiple versions, identify the version in all citations. Depending on the nature of your work and your audience, you may identify the version by its full name, by a standard abbreviation, or by its full name on first occurrence, and by a standard abbreviation on subsequent uses. Always use standard abbreviations (such as those below) for biblical book names. Other systems of abbreviation, such as the one found in The SBL Handbook of Style may also be used—just be consistent.

note	¹ Gen. 1:1 (English Standard Version).
	² 1 Thess. 2:1 (ESV).

Standard Abbreviations

OT
Gen.
Exod.
Lev.
Num.
Deut.
Josh.
Judg.
Ruth
1 Sam.
2 Sam.
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chron.
2 Chron.
Ezra
Neh.
Esther
Job
Ps./Pss.
Prov.
Eccles.
Song of Sol.
Isa.
Jer.
Lam.
Ezek.
Dan.
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obad.
Jon.
Mic.
Nah.
Hab.
Zeph.
Hag.
Zech.
Mal.
NT
Matt.
Mark
Luke
John
Acts
Rom.
1 Cor.
2 Cor.
Gal.
Eph.
Phil.
Col.
1 Thess.
2 Thess.
1 Tim.
2 Tim.
Titus
Philem.
Heb.
James
1 Pet.
2 Pet.
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
Rev.

Study Bible Notes

The notes in a study Bible are generally not considered an academic source, and so should usually not be cited in an academic paper. Consider instead consulting a commentary by the author of the study notes.

note	¹ Jay Sklar, study note on Leviticus 18:1–30, in ESV Gospel Transformation Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), 152.
bibliography	Sklar, Jay. Study notes on Leviticus. In ESV Gospel Transformation Bible, 131–166. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013.

Book of Church Order

note	¹ Presbyterian Church in America, The Book of Church Order, 2021 ed. (Lawrenceville, GA: The Office of the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, 2021), 7-2, https://www.pcaac.org/bco/.
bibliography	Presbyterian Church in America. The Book of Church Order. 2021 ed. Lawrenceville, GA: The Office of the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, 2021. https://www.pcaac.org/bco/.