Purpose

Turabian provides the basic requirements and minimum standards for preparation of all papers using source materials and the minimum criteria to be used in grading papers. The word paper is used throughout this website for essays, term papers, research papers, theses, and any other formal papers assigned at the undergraduate level. Turabian provides a minimum standard for students to follow so they will not have to follow different requirements for each course at Colorado Technical University. Individual professors may make exceptions to the grading criteria.


Minimum Requirements

All papers must be typed or word processed. Handwritten papers are not acceptable. Papers become the property of the department to which they are submitted and the property of Colorado Technical University. Students who want to keep a copy of their paper will need to make a copy for their own files.

The format for papers at Colorado Technical University follows A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th ed., by Kate L. Turabian. The Turabian manual can be found in the Resource Center and can be purchased at the Colorado Technical University Bookstore. A brief introduction to the Turabian format is provided within this website, and the specific section referenced in Turabian is indicated in parentheses.

All papers must have a cover page, a table of contents page, an introduction section, a body text section, a conclusion section, and a works cited page. Other individual course requirements might include an abstract, illustrations, tables, and appendices. Specific paper requirements will be specified by the instructor.

The cover page will be in the standard format designated by Colorado Technical University. An example cover page is provided at the end of this handout. The title of the paper will be creative, descriptive, and meaningful to the subject.

The abstract, if required, will be a short synopsis (five to ten sentences) of the paper. The abstract will be no longer than one page. The abstract should be placed after the Cover Page and before the Table of Contents page (see 1.32).

The table of contents will be labeled "CONTENTS," (in all capital letters) (see 1.11), and will include all the parts of the paper except the title page, a blank page or a copyright page, and a dedication page (see 1.11 and 1.13). All titles (generic headings) and headings will be included within the table of contents. Subheadings of one or more levels may be included within the table of contents (see 1.12).

When more than one level of subheadings is included in the table of contents, each subheading must appear in order of its rank (see 1.12). In other words, it is neither permissible to begin with any but the first-level subheading, nor to skip from the first subheading and to go to the third level or fourth level subheading. Capitalization and wording of titles, headings, and subheadings will match exactly with the way they appear within the paper (see 1.15). In the table of contents, page numbers are right justified with dot leaders leading from the heading or subheading to the page number, and only the beginning page number of each section or subsection is listed (see 1.18).

The text of the paper is usually separated into three or more sections (see 1.33 and 1.34). The first section must be the introduction, the second section must be the body text, and the third section must be the conclusion. The introduction catches the reader's attention, presents the topic, gives any background information on the topic, and within the thesis statement previews the major subtopics (subheadings). The body is divided into the appropriate subtopics (subheadings) in the exact same order given in the thesis statement in the introduction (see 1.37). The conclusion briefly summarizes the main points of the paper, revisits and/or restates the thesis statement and all of the points from the thesis statement, and presents any conclusions drawn from each of the subtopics. No new information about the topic, which has not appeared elsewhere within the paper, will appear within the conclusion.