FAQs and Scenarios not Covered Elsewhere
What if there is more than one publisher or city?
Some books are jointly published by two or more different publishers that have decided to work together. These partnerships happen frequently because it makes it more cost effective to distribute books to different regions of the world. When this happens, the title page of a book will include more than one city of publication and more than one publisher name. In such cases, the rule is that you should include only one city/publisher combination in your footnote citations and bibliography. Which city/publisher combination should you include? It normally does not matter. Just make sure that you match the publisher with the correct city.
What if the book is a revised (or second, third, fourth, etc.) edition?
When citing a revised edition, include the edition number, and use the year of the edition you referenced, not the year of the original. If the book is a revised or updated edition and does not include an edition number, use the language on the copyright page. Here are the abbreviations to use for indicating the edition:
Note that "first edition" is not included in the chart above. If the book is a first edition, you do not include the edition number.
Footnote Format
1 Forename Surname, Title of Book: Subtitle of Book, edition (City, ST: Publisher Name, Year of Publication), ##.
2 Surname, Shortened Title, #.
Footnote Examples
1 Ian Stuart-Hamilton, The Psychology of Aging: An Introduction, 5th ed. (London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2012), 351-52.
2 Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, rev. ed., New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2014), 87, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/kb/detail.action?docID=6976251.
3 Craig L. Blomberg, Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey, 3rd ed. (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing, 2022), 234.
4 Fee, First Epistle, 87.
Bibliography Format
Surname, Forename. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Edition. City, ST: Publisher Name, Year of Publication.
Bibliography Example
Blomberg, Craig L. Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey. 3rd ed. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing, 2022.
Fee, Gordon D. The First Epistle to the Corinthians. Rev. ed. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2014. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/kb/detail.action?docID=6976251.
Stuart-Hamilton, Ian. The Psychology of Aging: An Introduction. 5th ed. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2012.
What if the author is an organization?
For publications issued without an author by an organization, association, commission, or corporation, use the name of the organization itself as the author, even if it is also the publisher. The format and examples below are for a book. But you would make the same change at the beginning of a citation for journals, blogs, etc.
Footnote Format
1 Organization Name, Title of Book: Subtitle of Book (City, ST: Publisher Name, Year of Publication), ##.
2 Name of Organization, Shortened Title, #.
Footnote Examples
1 Southern Baptist Convention, The Baptist Faith and Message: A Statement Adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention June 14, 2000 (Nashville, TN: Lifeway Christian Resources, 2000), 10.
2 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Faith, 3.
Bibliography Format
Organization Name. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. City, ST: Publisher Name, Year of Publication.
Bibliography Examples
Southern Baptist Convention. The Baptist Faith and Message: A Statement Adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention June 14, 2000. Nashville, TN: Lifeway Christian Resources, 2000.
What if the book is a reprint?
Books are often republished several times and/or reissued in different formats. Only cite a reprint if you are citing pages from a reprinted edition rather than the original. Include the original publication information (city, publisher, date) first, followed by the reprint information (city, publisher, date). You do not need to cite the original page numbers, only the page numbers of the reprint that you are using.
Footnote Format
1 Forename Surname, Title of Book: Subtitle of Book (Original City, ST: Original Publisher, Original Year of Publication; repr., City, ST: Publisher Name, Year of Reprint), ##.
2 Surname, Shortened Title, #.
If the reprint has the same publisher and city as the original, you do not need to cite the publisher and city twice; simply cite the original year of publication and then include the city and publisher in the reprint section.
1 Forename Surname, Title of Book: Subtitle of Book (Original Year of Publication; repr., City, ST: Publisher Name, Year of Reprint), ##.
2 Surname, Shortened Title, #.
Footnote Examples
1 Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1948; repr., Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2003), 340-41.
2 Vos, Biblical Theology, 242.
3 Jonathan Edwards, Of Being (1721; repr., New Haven, MA: Yale University Press, 1995), 10.
4 Edwards, Being, 11.
Bibliography Format
Surname, Forename. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Original City, ST: Original Publisher, Original Year of Publication. Reprint, City, ST: Publisher Name, Year of Publication.
If the reprint has the same publisher and city as the original, you do not need to cite the publisher and city twice; simply cite the original year of publication and then include the city and publisher in the reprint section.
Surname, Forename. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Original Year of Publication. Reprint, City, ST: Publisher Name, Year of Publication.
Bibliography Examples
Edwards, Jonathan. Of Being. 1721. Reprint, New Haven, MA: Yale University Press, 1995.
Vos, Geerhardus. Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1948. Reprint, Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2003.
What if the source has a non-English title?
Use sentence-style capitalization for non-English titles, following the capitalization rules for proper nouns in the original language. Any title written in a non-Latin script (Korean, Arabic, etc.) should be translated, placed in brackets (without italics or quotation marks), and formatted with sentence-style capitalization.
Subsequent notes can include the translated version of the title. However, make sure you do not leave out any words that govern case endings of any words in the abbreviated form.
Author names not written in a Latin script, should be transliterated and written in Western order (see Pak example below).
As a general rule, all quotations from non-English sources should be translated into English rather than quoted in the original language. Therefore, if you provided your own translation, note this in the footnote, but not in the bibliography (see example below).
Footnote Examples
1 Karl Eduard Foerstemann, Urkundenbuch zu der Geschichte des Reichstages zu Augsburg im Jahre 1530: Nach den originalen und nach gleichzeitigen Handschriften, 2 vols. (Halle: Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses, 1833-1835), 2:34, translation mine.
2 Yong-gyu Pak, 한국 기독 교회사 [History of the Korean Church], 2 vols. (Seoul: Saengmyŏng ŭi Malssŭmsa, 2004), 1:132.
3 Stephan Skalweit, Reich und Reformation [Empire and Reformation], ed. Theodor Schiffer and Walter Bussmann, Propyläen Bibliothek der Geschichte (Berlin: Propyläen Verlag, 1967), 275.
4 Étienne Gilson, Introduction a l’etude de saint Augustin (Paris: Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin, 1929; trans. L. E. M. Lynch as The Christian Philosophy of Saint Augustine [New York: Random House, 1960]), 237.
5 Pak, History, 1:23.
6 Foerstemann, Urkundenbuch, 1:27.
7 Skalweit, Reich und Reformation, 402-403.
8 Gilson, Introduction, 122-23.
Bibliography Examples
Foerstemann, Karl Eduard. Urkundenbuch zu der Geschichte des Reichstages zu Augsburg im Jahre 1530: Nach den originalen und nach gleichzeitigen Handschriften. 2 vols. Halle: Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses, 1833-1835.
Gilson, Étienne. Introduction a l’etude de saint Augustin. Paris: Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin, 1929. Translated by L. E. M. Lynch as The Christian Philosophy of Saint Augustine. New York: Random House, 1960.
Pak, Yong-gyu. 한국 기독 교회사 [History of the Korean Church]. 2 vols. Seoul: Saengmyŏng ŭi Malssŭmsa, 2004.
Skalweit, Stephan. Reich und Reformation [Empire and Reformation]. Edited by Theodor Schiffer and Walter Bussmann. Propyläen Bibliothek der Geschichte. Berlin: Propyläen Verlag, 1967.
What if a title ends with a question mark?
If the title of a book, article, or essay ends in a question mark, do not add a period or comma unless it is a shortened title note (see Turabian §17.1.2.1).
Additionally, if book, article, or essay has a main title ending in a question mark, do not place a colon between the main title and the subtitle. In this case, the question mark itself serves to separate the title from the subtitle. The same holds true for exclamation points.
What if I am writing a book review?
Student-written book reviews should not follow the standard citation or paper formatting. Instead, the review itself should begin with the full bibliographic information of the book. Quotations and other references to the book being reviewed should not be cited in the footnotes. Instead, inline citations should be used indicating the page numbers in parentheses.
What if my source type is not covered on this website?
For matters related to modern sources not addressed in this guide and for general writing style, students should consult Turabian, A Manual for Writers (9th ed.) or Chicago Manual of Style (17th ed.).
For matters related to ancient sources not addressed in this guide, students should seek guidance from The SBL Handbook of Style (2nd ed.) and the SBL Style blog.