The Turabian Bibliography: Alphabetical, With Hanging Indents

The title page, the body with its notes, and the bibliography are the three parts of a Turabian paper. With the first two covered, let's finish by setting up the bibliography.

What the bibliography is for

Your footnotes credit each source at the exact spot you use it. The bibliography gathers every source in one alphabetical list at the end, so a reader can see all your research at a glance and find any source quickly. Think of it as a directory to the material behind your work.

It lists every source you cited in a note. Some instructors also want sources you read but didn't cite; follow the assignment.

Setting up the page

First, the bibliography always starts on a new page after the body. Insert a page break to get there, instead of pressing Enter over and over. A real page break keeps the formatting clean when the paper above it changes.

At the top is the same header as the rest of the paper: the page number, top right.

On the first line, type Bibliography, centered and bold. Leave two blank lines below it, then begin your entries.

The entries

Bibliography entries follow a few rules of their own:

• Single-spaced, with a blank line between entries. The same rhythm as the footnotes.
• A half-inch hanging indent. The first line sits flush left, and every other line of the same entry is indented half an inch. It's the reverse of a paragraph indent, and it makes the first word of each entry easy to spot.
• Alphabetical order. By the first word of each entry, usually the first author's last name. A work with no author goes by the first important word of its title, skipping A, An, and The.
• Periods between the parts. Author. Title. Publication details. A URL or DOI at the end takes a period too.

It's tempting to fake the hanging indent with the Tab key. Don't: it falls apart as soon as an entry changes. Every word processor has a hanging indent setting.

One note for theology and Biblical studies papers: the Bible and other sacred texts are cited in your notes, and they usually don't get a bibliography entry. Check your instructor's preference.

A finished bibliography

Here is the bibliography from the sample Bigfoot paper.

1. A new pageSame header: the page number, top right.
2. The labelBibliography, centered and bold.
3. Alphabetical orderLozier, Meldrum, Sykes.
4. The hanging indentFirst line at the margin, the rest indented half an inch. Each entry single-spaced, with one blank line between entries.
5. First author invertedLast name first for the first author only; any others stay first name first.

Take a moment to celebrate. You've now set up every part of a Turabian paper: the title page, the body, and the bibliography.

Quick checklist

• A page break before the bibliography
• Bibliography label, centered and bold, two blank lines below
• Entries single-spaced, a blank line between them
• A half-inch hanging indent on every entry
• Alphabetical by the first word of each entry
• Every source cited in a note appears in the bibliography

How PERRLA handles the bibliography

If you're using PERRLA, the bibliography is built from your notes: alphabetized, single-spaced, with hanging indents and the Bibliography label centered. Cite a new source and its entry lands in order. Before you download, Suggested Fixes points out any entry that no note cites.

Related Turabian 101 lessons

• How notes and the bibliography work together: the same source, written as a note and as an entry.
• Book: note and bibliography entry: author, italic title, place, publisher, and year.
• Footnotes: full notes, shortened notes, and where the number goes.
• Final checks and common mistakes: the last pass before you submit.
• All 18 lessons in Turabian 101