Welcome to Turabian 101: The Turabian Format, One Short Lesson at a Time

What Turabian 101 is

Turabian 101 is a quick, practical course for getting a Turabian paper done without the guesswork. The lessons are short and focused. Each one gives you the exact rules and clear steps, the kind that help when the deadline is close.

PERRLA made and sponsors these lessons. We build software that does the formatting for you, so your time and energy can go into writing a solid paper. The videos and articles teach the rules of Turabian's 9th edition, so they make sense whether or not you use PERRLA.

How the course is laid out

Each lesson shows what matters in a Turabian class paper and how to apply it. The lessons follow the order a paper gets built, from the first blank page to the final checks:

• Section 1, Turabian Foundations. What the Turabian format is, and why professors ask for it.
• Section 2, Formatting Basics. Page setup, the title page, the body pages, and the bibliography.
• Section 3, Elements of the Body. Headings, and what needs a note.
• Section 4, Notes, Bibliography, and Citations. How notes and the bibliography fit together, then books, journal articles, websites, footnotes, and block quotes.
• Section 5, The Writing Process. Academic tone, structure, writing with sources without plagiarizing, and a final clean-up pass.

The advice stays practical, whether this is your first Turabian paper or your hundredth.

The paper you'll build

By the end of the course you'll know every part of a complete Turabian class paper. It has three parts: the title page, the body with its footnotes, and the bibliography. Lessons 4, 5, and 6 take them one at a time.

The example used throughout the course is a short paper on Bigfoot. Here are its three parts in miniature:

A sample Bigfoot paper, used as the example throughout Turabian 101: the title page, a body page with its footnote, and the bibliography. (Serena Sparkles, the course, and the paper are made up; the sources are real.)

Two ways to take the course

Follow the lessons in order and you'll build a paper step by step. Or jump straight to the one topic that's giving you trouble tonight. Either way works.

Following along in your word processor while you watch is a good way to get your own paper formatted as you go.

If you'd rather not format by hand

We built this course for everyone, not only PERRLA users. But if you want the formatting right every time, PERRLA handles the Turabian 9 rules for you. You write, and PERRLA sets the page, the title page, and the headings, places each footnote on the page it belongs to, shortens repeat notes, and builds the bibliography. You can try it free for 7 days, with no credit card.

Thanks for taking Turabian 101. Next up is What is Turabian?, a short look at where the format comes from. Already know that part? Skip ahead to Basic page setup.

Quick checklist

• Know the three parts of a Turabian paper: title page, body with footnotes, bibliography
• Pick a path: every lesson in order, or the one you need tonight
• Keep your word processor open to follow along

Related Turabian 101 lessons

• What is Turabian?: where the format comes from and how it relates to Chicago style.
• Basic page setup: margins, font, spacing, indents, and page numbers.
• The title page: the title a third of the way down, and the lines below it.
• Final checks and common mistakes: the last pass before you submit.
• All 18 lessons in Turabian 101