The Differences Between Chicago (Turabian) Style and APA Style of Writing

A formal paper, such as a dissertation or a thesis, requires you to follow several formatting rules. The rules provide a structure for the paper, giving instructors the ability to work through the paper's ideas and to judge the validity of your arguments. Such rules also give you a standard, acceptable method for citing the sources that you've used to create your paper, and thereby avoiding inadvertently plagiarizing some material. Determining which set of formatting rules, or styles, to follow is a decision you and your instructor will need to make. A few different popular formats exist, including MLA Style, chiefly used for the humanities and liberal arts, along with APA Style and Chicago (Turabian) Style.

Generally, you select the style to follow based on the subject matter of the paper you're writing. Each style treats the formatting of the paper a little differently to meet the citation needs for the subject matter. In this article, we'll compare APA Style and Chicago (Turabian) Style.

I. CHOOSING YOUR STYLE

If your instructor doesn't select the style that you'll use for your paper, pick a style based on these suggestions.

CHICAGO (TURABIAN) STYLE. For the most part, Chicago (Turabian) Style works well as an all-encompassing style for all types of subject matter. The University of Chicago Press has created The Chicago Manual of Style, which provides the guidelines for citing sources and formatting papers. The 15th edition is the latest edition. Visit chicagomanualofstyle.org on the Web for more information. Kate Turabian, the dissertation secretary at the University of Chicago for 30 years, created A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, giving students and researchers additional guidelines. The sixth edition is the latest edition. The two styles are nearly identical, with only a few differences, and they're often combined to represent one style, as we've done here. Non-scholarly publications also will make use of Chicago (Turabian) Style in magazines and newspapers.

APA STYLE. Subjects related to the social sciences, such as business, criminal justice, economics, law, and medical subjects, including nursing and psychology, work best with APA Style. The American Psychological Association created the APA Style, and you can visit apastyle.org on the Internet to find more information on APA Style. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is the full listing of APA Style guidelines and formatting rules.

II. THE DIFFERENCES

Quite a few formatting differences exist between Chicago (Turabian) Style and APA Style, including those listed here. Choose the style that will allow you to format your paper and deliver the information to your readers in the most efficient manner.

IN-TEXT CITATIONS. Most of the differences between Chicago (Turabian) and APA Styles involve in-text citations. Both styles include the last name of the author and a page number in parentheses for the in-text citation. APA Style also includes the year of publication of the source, but Chicago (Turabian) Style does not.

Chicago (Turabian) Style also allows the use of footnotes, rather than in-text citations, to cite your sources. With a footnote, you link the material that needs to be sourced with the source information, usually through superscript Arabic numerals. A footnote lists far more information about each source than does an in-text citation. Footnotes appear only on the page that contains the information that you need to cite. When using footnotes, you don't necessarily have to include a bibliography, although most people use both.

An in-text citation, meanwhile, provides only a little basic information about the source. Readers use the in-text citation to find the full source information in the bibliography or reference list.

With Chicago (Turabian) Style, you may use either footnotes or in-text citations. APA Style only allows in-text citations.

PAGE NUMBERS. With both styles, the page number appears in the upper right corner of each page. With APA Style, you must include a running title to the left of the page number on each page. A running title is a two- or three-word summary of the title of your paper. With Chicago (Turabian) Style, you only list the page number. If a chapter heading appears on the page in Chicago (Turabian) Style, you should list the page number along the bottom of the page, instead of in the upper right corner.

REFERENCE LIST FORMATTING. With both styles, when listing each of your sources on the reference list page or in a bibliography, use the full last name of the author(s) in each entry. In APA Style, you also list only the initials of the first and middle name of each author. In Chicago (Turabian) Style, you spell out the entire first and middle name of each author. (The middle name information is optional.)