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STYLE GUIDE ON FOOTNOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 

General Information:

Footnotes are placed at the bottom of the page, giving references to works used or other information. You may also use endnotes (placed after the body of the essay, on the last page/s). You must also supply a bibliography, even if you only used one or two books. This does not need to be on a separate page. Please make all foot- or endnote references superscript, for clarity in reading.

The format of footnotes & bibliography given here follows that of Turabian/Chicago Manual of Style.

When do you use a footnote? Whenever:

1) You use the very words of another source (book, journal, magazine, another person's paper or even a movie or live voice), even if it is only three or four words in a row. In this case you are quoting, so you must enclose the words you have borrowed in quotation marks and the footnote tells where the quote comes from.

2) You use information that is not common knowledge, that is derived from your reading or other source. For instance, I know that it is not commonly taught in high school that Corinth was destroyed in 146 B.C. and refounded by Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. That needs a footnote.

3) You have adopted a method of arguing, or a way of viewing the evidence, from one of your sources. Here even if the words are yours, the idea comes from someone else, and it is only courtesy to acknowledge this. In fact, it is intellectual fraud to pretend you have not used someone else. Positively, acknowledging this in a footnote can also lend credibility to your argument by saying there are scholars who agree with you.

Footnotes

Footnote references are written as a single sentence, with parts separated by commas

  • Author: put author's Christian name or initials first, then the surname (in normal order). The author of a dictionary article is not the editor of the dictionary, unless no name is given at the end of the article.

    Title: underlined or in italics if a book; in quote marks if a journal article. Do not use name of a commentary series as if it were a title (Word Biblical Commentary, New International Commentary on the New Testament, etc.); this is not the title.

    Place/Publisher/Year: put in parentheses, punctuated thus: (Place: Publisher, year). Do not include publisher & place with journal articles.

    Journals: list the name of the journal underlined or in italics (as if a book), then the volume number, the year in parentheses, and the page numbers (see example below).

    Dictionary and Encyclopedia articles: are like a mixture of book and journal. Cite by the author of the article (not the editor of the dictionary), article title in quotation marks. Then say that this article is "in New International Standard Bible Encylopedia" (or whatever the title of the work is), "edited by ____" (editor). Then give pubisher, place, year, followed by volume and page numbers of article.


    First Notes Vs. Subsequent References.
    The first time you refer to a source, you must give all the bibliographic information as in the examples below.  The second and subsequent notes that refer to this source need only refer to the work by author(s) name  (see note 7 below).  If you have more than one source by the same author, use the last name and a shortened version of the title, followed by the page number.
    Examples:

    1. Graham Stanton, The Gospels and Jesus (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
         1989), 34-58.

    2. Paul Meyer, "The Holy Spirit in the Pauline Letters," Interpretation
         33 (1979): 3-18. [this means volume no. 33, issued in 1979, pages
         3-18]

    3. Terence Paige, "Holy Spirit" in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters,
         ed. G. F. Hawthorne and R. P. Martin (Downer's Grove:
         InterVarsity, 1993), 404-413.

    4. M. R. Mulholland, Jr., "Sociological Criticism" in New Testament
         Criticism & Interpretation, ed. David A. Black and David S. Dockery
         (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991), 297-316.

    5. Wofgang Schrage, The Ethics of the New Testament, transl. D. E. Green (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988), 13.

    6. W. S. LaSor, D. A. Hubbard, and F. W. Bush, Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), pp. 26-39.

    7. Stanton, 50.
     

    Bibliography

    The same information is given in a bibiography as in footnotes, except:

    (1) books and articles are listed by author's last name, alphabetically arranged. Author's name is given in the order first, last.

    (2) the parts are separated by a period, and so there are no parentheses around the publisher/year (except with journals, where the year is put in parentheses).

    Bibliographies are not numbered.
    Examples:

    LaSor, W. S.; Hubbard, D. A.; and Bush, F. W. Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982.

    Meyer, Paul. "The Holy Spirit in the Pauline Letters." Interpretation
         33 (1979): 3-18.

    Mulholland, M. R. Jr. "Sociological Criticism" in New Testament
         Criticism & Interpretation,  eds. David A. Black and
         David S. Dockery, 297-316.  Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991.

    Paige, Terence. "Holy Spirit" in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters,
         eds. G. F. Hawthorne and R. P. Martin, 404-413. Downer's Grove:
         InterVarsity, 1993.

    Schrage, Wofgang.  The Ethics of the New Testament. Translated by D. E.
         Green. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988.

    Stanton, Graham. The Gospels and Jesus. Oxford University Press,
         1989.

    Plagiarism:

    Plagiarism is the copying of sentences or parts of sentences from another author and putting it into your paper as if it were your own writing. No matter whether that other author is a dictionary, a commentary or theological book, or another student's paper, plagiarism is wrong and will not be tolerated. If any student has plagiarized material in his or her coursework, the professor will give no credit for the assignment.

    You may always use material from other authors in your writing, provided you show that it is not your own by setting it off in QUOTE MARKS. You must then show the SOURCE of the quote (see on footnotes below). But do not make your paper simply a patchwork of quotes, either. If a quarter of an essay or more is quotes, it looks suspiciously like padding your work. Another way to avoid plagiarism is to re-phrase the quote in your own words (but you should still give a reference to the source). The point is that what you read in preparing for an essay should pass through your mind and your heart first. You should digest it, criticize it, sift the good from the bad or the useful from the useless, think about its implications, compare opinions of different authors, and when you are done express it in your own words. It is inevitable (and good) that we borrow some technical terms, phrases, language from books we read. But if you cannot express yourself in what are basically your own thoughts, then I wonder whether anything you have read has settled between your ears.

    SOME COMMON ERRORS TO BE AVOIDED:

    1. Abuse of Abbreviations . The following abbreviations are commonly misused. Note the punctuation as well as usage:

    cf. = Latin confer, `compare'; usually used to compare opinions or scripture verses similar to the one being discussed.

    e.g. = Latin exempli gratia, `for example'

    etc. = Latin et cetera, `and so forth', `and others like it'

    ibid. = ibidem, `in the same place'. Used in footnotes or endnotes, when you are referring to the same book and the same page as in the previous footnote. Since it always refers to the very last book cited (whether or not that was by the author you intend to cite), be careful in using. Can be used with the same book and a different page if the page number is cited. idem = `the same' (author)

    i.e. = id est, `that is'

    v. / vv. = verse/verses. Note the period; and that there is always a space between this and the verse number. NOT used when the book and/or chapter are cited (e.g., Jn 1:14). Examples:

        a) Chapter three contains a reflection by the author in vv. 31-36.
        b) The author's reflection on the Son of Man is at Jn 3:31-36.
    2. Incomplete, Awkward, or Unclear Sentences.

    Sentences must have verbs in them! Try reading through your work out loud once before handing it in, or have someone else proof read it. Make sure it is clear what you are saying and why you are saying it. Remember, you are graded on what you write, not on what you meant or intended to write.

    For further help, the student may consult:

    The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed. University of Chicago Press, 1993. Ref. Z253 C572

    Black, David A, and Dockery, David S., eds.  New Testament Criticism
    & Interpretation. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991.

    Conzelmann, Hans, and Lindemann, A. Interpreting the New Testament. Transl. S. Schatzmann. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1988. BS2330.2 C66

    Fee, Gordon. New Testament Exegesis. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1983. BS2331 F44

    Fee, Gordon, and Stuart, D. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982. BS600.2 F43

    Hagner, Donald. Writing Exegesis and Research Papers in New Testament Studies: A Guide for Seminarians. Published by the author, 1984. On reserve in library.

    McKnight, Scot. Interpreting the Synoptic Gospels. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1988. BS2555.2 M39

    __________. Introducing New Testament Interpretation. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1989. BS2361.2 I58

    Morgan, Robert and Barton, John. Biblical Interpretation. Oxford University Press, 1988. BS511.2 M67

    Osborne, Grant. The Hermeneutical Spiral. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1991. BS476 O79

    Schreiner, Thomas R. Interpreting the Pauline Epistles. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1990. BS2650.2 S36

    Stein, Robert H. Playing by the Rules: A Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker.

    Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th ed. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1996. LB2369 T8