When Kate L. Turabian first put her famous guidelines to paper, she could hardly have imagined the world in which today’s students would be conducting research. Yet while the ways in which we research and compose papers may have changed, the fundamentals remain the same: writers need to have a strong research question, construct an evidence-based argument, cite their sources, and structure their work in a logical way. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations—also known as “Turabian”—remains one of the most popular books for writers because of its timeless focus on achieving these goals.
This new edition filters decades of expertise into modern standards. While previous editions incorporated digital forms of research and writing, this edition goes even further to build information literacy, recognizing that most students will be doing their work largely or entirely online and on screens. Chapters include updated advice on finding, evaluating, and citing a wide range of digital sources and also recognize the evolving use of software for citation management, graphics, and paper format and submission. The ninth edition is fully aligned with the recently released Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, as well as with the latest edition of The Craft of Research.
Teachers and users of the previous editions will recognize the familiar three-part structure. Part 1 covers every step of the research and writing process, including drafting and revising. Part 2 offers a comprehensive guide to Chicago’s two methods of source citation: notes-bibliography and author-date. Part 3 gets into matters of editorial style and the correct way to present quotations and visual material. A Manual for Writers also covers an issue familiar to writers of all levels: how to conquer the fear of tackling a major writing project.
Through eight decades and millions of copies, A Manual for Writers has helped generations shape their ideas into compelling research papers. This new edition will continue to be the gold standard for college and graduate students in virtually all academic disciplines.
- Bestselling, trusted, and time-tested advice for writing research papers
- The best interpretation of Chicago style for higher education students and researchers
- Definitive, clear, and easy to read, with plenty of examples
- Shows how to compose a strong research question, construct an evidence-based argument, cite sources, and structure work in a logical way
- Essential for anyone interested in learning about research
- Everything any student or teacher needs to know concerning paper writing
Wayne C. Booth (1921–2005) was the George M. Pullman Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in English Language and Literature at the University of Chicago. His many books include The Rhetoric of Fiction and For the Love of It: Amateuring and Its Rivals, both published by the University of Chicago Press.
Joseph M. Williams (1933–2008) was professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Chicago and the author of Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. He is also coauthor, with Wayne C. Booth and Gregory G. Colomb, of the best-selling guide The Craft of Research, also published by the University of Chicago Press.
Joseph Bizup is associate professor in the Department of English at Boston University. He revised the thirteenth edition of Williams’s Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace.
William T. FitzGerald is associate professor in the Department of English and Communication at Rutgers University–Camden and has published widely on writing and research pedagaogy, the rhetoric of prayer, and style.
The University of Chicago Press Editorial Staff represents the collective judgment of Press editors past and present, going back to 1892.
“Without doubt, for anyone interested in learning about research—what it is, where one goes to pursue it, how to do it, what it entails and means, why it is important (now more so than ever before)—A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers is the place to begin. It will likely show people new to the field a way forward and offer experienced researchers the means to test established modes of operation. This book will not fail you, today or tomorrow, at home or in the library. Look for it at a bookstore near you or online.”
— Thomas R. Claire
“Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations continues a tradition of providing one of the best interpretations of The Chicago Manual of Style for higher education students and researchers in this ninth edition. The writing style is clear and easy to read, with examples illustrating proper formatting of items.”
— Cynthia Goode
"A mainstay in high-school and college libraries."
— Praise for a previous edition
“This definitive handbook supplies information on about everything any student or teacher may desire to know concerning paper writing.”
— Praise for a previous edition
“Kate L. Turabian was our trusted guide and mentor, the absolute authority, the one who knew all there was to know about the strange world of proper term papers. . . . To write a term paper without a well-worn copy of Turabian handy was unthinkable. Our writing on term papers might be weak, our research haphazard, our insights sophomoric, but, thanks to Kate L. Turabian, our footnotes could always be absolutely flawless.”
— Praise for a previous edition
"Indispensable. . . . Turabian is everything a student researcher might need save a grammar guide and training in specific research methods. . . . When you consider the sheer wealth of material contained or cited in Turabian, its US $18.00 paperback and eBook list price is an absolute steal."
— Steven E. Gump
