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The following style guide follows Billie Jean Collins, Bob Buller, and John F. Kutsko, The SBL Handbook of Style, 2nd ed. (Atlanta, GA.: SBL, 2014), hereafter abbreviated the SBL Handbook. The book is held in Reference in the Library, and research students may sometimes need to consult it. The SBL Handbook is a modified version of the Chicago-Turabian style, and a helpful resource, especially for electronic media, is “Chicago (17th ed.)/Turabian (9th ed.),” EasyBib, 2018, http://www.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides .
8.2 Main Body of the Essay or Thesis
8.2.1 Quoting
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Quote only words you have read yourself, and always identify the place where you have read them. |
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All quotations should be accurately reproduced, including original spelling, punctuation and abbreviations. If the quotation contains a misspelling, this should be indicated by typing [sic] immediately after the error.
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Quotations must be enclosed within double quotation marks, with single quotation marks for quotes within quotes.
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Punctuation in quotations falls into three categories. (1) Full stops and commas always go inside the quotation marks; (2) colons and semicolons always go outside the quotation marks; (3) exclamation marks and question marks go inside the quotation marks only if they are part of the quote.[1]
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Consider the following examples: Barr does not mention “evangelicals”; instead, he uses the term “fundamentalists.” “Did he actually say, ‘My shout’?” “No, he said ‘Watch out!’” |
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Raised numerals referring to footnotes must not separate a word from any punctuation that follows it (e.g. quotation marks, commas, full stops). They should be placed, if at all possible, at the end of the sentence. See the example in the paragraph above.
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If it is desirable to omit several words from the original text, such an omission (ellipsis) is indicated by three dots, with a space before and after. The remaining words must both make sense and be true to the intent of the original.
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For example: “He arrived from England in his early childhood … never to return.” |
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Quotations of four or more typewritten lines should be typed as a separate, indented paragraph (a “block quotation”). Quotation marks should not be used around block quotations. If a citation is included, it should be in parentheses and follow the final punctuation mark.
Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate: NergalSharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officials of the king of Babylon. When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled. (Jer 39:3–4 NIV)
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References to biblical texts (e.g., Rom 1:16) should be placed in parentheses within the text of the essay and not relegated to a footnote.
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When discussing a particular term, it is best to set it in italics rather than quotation marks.
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For example: Hope occurs three times in this verse. |
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When citing Hebrew or Greek do not use quotation marks. In the case of Hebrew, vowel points and Massoretic accents are optional. Students in Year 3 should, and from Year 4 onwards must, cite Greek complete with accents as per the text of the New Testament.
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8.2.2 Commas
Incorrect use—or non-use—of commas is the most common grammatical error made by students. Pay particular attention to points i. and ii. (The next most common error is the insertion of an apostrophe into the possessive word “its”, as in the incorrect example, “it’s use is significant.”) Commas should enable fluent reading. They should, for example, be used in cases of syntactical ambiguity where otherwise the reader would not construe the text correctly on a first reading. Two problematic uses should be noted: i. When a pair of commas does the job of parentheses, be sure not to omit the second of the pair:
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Bruce Metzger’s book The Text of the New Testament was first published in 1964.
Nonessential Nonessential clauses (clauses that may be omitted without affecting the meaning of the sentence) should be set off with commas. In the following example the book in question is already fully defined:
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Whatever decision is taken about abbreviations, consistency should be maintained. As a general rule, the first word of a sentence should never be abbreviated.i.
Contractions should not be followed by a full stop, unless they end a sentence:
Mr Mrs Dr ii Abbreviations are normally followed by a full stop (“e.g.” has two full stops):
Rev. Vulg. ed. mg. cf.iii.
When plural abbreviations are formed by repeating a letter, the full stop appears after the final letter only. When they are formed by adding an s, a full stop is still required. For example:
p./pp. v./vv. n./nn. ch./chs. vol./vols.iv.
The full stop is omitted in abbreviations for chronological eras, divisions of the Canon, and Bible versions and editions, which are printed in all caps:
BC AD OT NT NIV ESV MT LXX
The The full stop is likewise omitted in abbreviations for publishing houses and series titles (printed in capitals) as well as journal and reference book titles (italicised capitals):
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For abbreviations of secondary sources (journals, periodicals, major reference works and series), see the SBL Handbook, 171–216 (alphabetized by source) and 216–60 (alphabetized by abbreviation).v.
A space is inserted between the initial letters of personal names when occurring before the surname. Likewise, a space is required between a verse, page or chapter number and the abbreviation v(v)., p(p)., or ch(s). For example:
F. F. Bruce D. W. B. Robinson v. 1 pp. 12–22vi.
Abbreviations for biblical (and apocryphal) books should follow those used by the SBL Handbook, 124–5. Full stops are not used.
Gen 2 Sam Ps (Pss) Hos Hag 1 Cor 2 Tim 3 John
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8.2.4 Hyphens, En Dashes, Em Dashes, Numbers and Dates
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Hyphens join words whose elements combine to give a single, compound sense, such as:
pre-emptive strike bias-free language Judaeo-Christian ethics ii. En dashes join words which retain their separate meanings, such as:
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Psalms 1–2; 89 Rom 1:1–2:11 Ezek 16:1–5, 30–33iii.
Em dashes are used to mark strong disjunctions. They are not spaced:
“Take three—and only three—samples.”
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Your essay should be accompanied by subsidiary material printed in footnotes (at the foot of the page) or endnotes (at the end of the essay). Footnotes and endnotes are used: (1) to give references to sources (books, articles or unpublished documents) from which you have derived facts, opinions or quotations; (2) to add comments, evidence of facts stated in the text, allusions to the differing views of other authors, and similar material which is not part of the argument but which supports it indirectly, and which would interrupt its flow if included in the main text.
Note: Failure to acknowledge sources is a serious breach of academic standards and may be considered plagiarism.
If you are quoting already-quoted words (e.g. when the book you are reading quotes an ancient source), do not pretend that you were reading the original source, but describe it, and indicate that it was “cited by” or “translated by” [place where you read it]. See §8.4.9 below.
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Bibliographies should be listed alphabetically (see below), though it is customary to separate primary and secondary documents where relevant. Multiple works by a single author are listed alphabetically by title in the author–title system, and by date in the author–date system. There is no need to retype the author’s name; a five en line followed by a full stop will suffice.
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For example (in author–title style): |
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Vanhoozer, Kevin J. First Theology: God, Scriptures and Hermeneutics. Leicester: Apollos, 2002. –––––. Is There a Meaning in this Text? The Bible, the Reader, and the Morality of Literary Knowledge. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998. |
In author–date style:
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Vanhoozer, Kevin J. 1998. Is There a Meaning in this Text? The Bible, the Reader, and the Morality of Literary Knowledge. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. –––––. 2002. First Theology: God, Scriptures and Hermeneutics. Leicester: Apollos. |
8.3.3 Arranging Bibliographies Alphabetically
The capitalization and alphabetization of entries in indexes and bibliographies can be very complicated, especially when compound and foreign names are involved. See the SBL Handbook, 73–76, 112–116. Three helpful hints are:i.
Surnames that include the particles de, van, van der or von are not listed under the particle unless the name belongs to an English speaker. Compare the following two alphabetical series:
De Boer, Willis Peter Van Seters, John Van Til, Cornelius
Ploeg, J. P. M. van der Rad, Gerhard von Selms, Adrianus van Vaux, Roland de ii.
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Note that Du, La and Le are always considered the first part of the surname: |
Du Buit, F. M. La Mésangère, Pierre de Le Déaut, R. |
Most Spanish authors and some English-speaking authors have double surnames:
Alonso Schökel, Luis Díez Macho, Alejandro Lane Fox, Robin
8.3.4 The Key Elements of a Reference
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Where the place of publication cannot be found, the abbreviation “n.p.” (no place) is used. Where the date of publication is unknown, use “n.d.” (no date), or else estimate the century or decade, e.g.
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“18--?” or “196-?” Where there are no page numbers, also use “n.p.” (no pages). |
v. Volume and Page Numbers
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Finding the DOI for an article. Many articles do not have a DOI, but if they do it should be printed on the first page of the article PDF. Alternatively, go to CrossRef.org and click on the “search metadata” tab on the homepage. Enter details of the article’s title and author into the search box. A DOI is a number beginning with 10. To convert it to a URL, http://dx.doi.org/ is placed in front of it (e.g., http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/660696 ).
8.4 Examples of the Author–Title Style
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Electronic journal article
CD-ROM (or similar) electronic reference with a corresponding print edition
Digitized versions of printed books (digitized libraries, AcCordance modules, etc.)
Online databases
Book published electronically or online with no print counterpart (on Kindle, etc.)
Material published informally online: websites, blogs, social media
Online audiovisual material
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8.4.1 Print Media
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1. Journal Article
First reference: John D. Author, “Title,” Journal volume/issue (year): page(s). Bibliography: Author, John D. “Title.” Journal volume/issue (year): page(s).
Note that, According to SBL convention, double quotation marks are used and the comma (or full stop) goes inside them. A closing question mark or exclamation mark replaces the full stop of a bibliography, but not the comma of a reference (see the second example). The issue number should only be included if the pagination starts afresh in each issue (compare the examples). The page numbers are preceded by a colon. In second and subsequent references, only the author’s surname, an abbreviated title, and the relevant page(s) need be supplied. In the bibliography, full stops follow author and title, and the journal title is fully written.
15. Stephen K. Williams, “The ‘Righteousness of God’ in Romans,” JBL 99 (1980): 261.
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8.4.2 Electronic Media
NOTE: The attention of students is drawn to the variable quality of material available on the Internet. Much of it is “informal,” i.e. it has not been subject to review by publishers or normal academic peer review. Accordingly care should be exercised in the citing of such material.
The internet is volatile; old links (URLs) often break. Include a DOI where possible—see §8.3.4, part vi.
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Ethics 121.4 (July 2011): 752, http://dx.doi.org /10.1086/660696.
13. Brown, “Consequentialize This,” 761.
Brown, Campbell. “Consequentialize This.” Ethics 121.4 (July 2011): 749–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086 /660696.
Andrew Curtin, “Covenant: The Construction of Identity in Israel,”
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Abbott, George. The Whole Booke of Iob Paraphrased, or, Made Easie for Any to Understand. London: Printed by Edward Griffin for Henry Overton, 1640. http://rarebooks.dts.edu/viewbook.aspx?bookid=1206.
Coverdale, Miles. Goostly Psalmes and Spirituall Songes Drawen out of the Holy Scripture, for the Comforte and Consolacyon of Soch as Loue to Reioyse in God and His Worde. London: Iohan Gough, 1535. Early English Books Online.
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5. Book Published Electronically or Online with No Print Counterpart
NOTE: cite e-books only if a print or digitized copy with stable page numbers is not available.
If an ebook is available in more than one format you should cite the version you consulted. For books consulted online, include an access date and a DOI/URL. If no fixed page numbers are available, you can include a section title or a chapter or other number.
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Atlantic Monthly 278 (August 1996): 37–58, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1996/08/the-next-church/376646/ .
Truehart, “Next Church,” 57.
Truehart, Charles. “Welcome to the Next Church.” Atlantic Monthly 278 (August 1996): 37–58.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1996/08/the-next-church/376646/ .
Paul Helm, “Review of Oliphant’s Aquinas: II,”
Helm’s Deep: Philosophical Theology (blog), 30 Dec 2018, http://paulhelmsdeep.blogspot.com/2018/12/ .
Helm, “Review.”
34. “What Does It Mean to Find Joy in Christ?” Facebook post, Moore Theological College, 16 Jan 2019 at 21:00, https://www.facebook.com/mooretheologicalcollege/posts/10156240638502523:0 .
38. “What Does it Mean,” Facebook post.
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As relevant or available, the following information should be included: Author, “title of content,” directed by, date filmed/recorded, owner or sponsor of content, medium and duration, date posted, URL. Normally there would be a reference in a note, but not in the bibliography. Again, use the most stable URLs possible, e.g. by going to the site of the company that creates the content (http://vimeo.com , http://soundcloud.com ), not the site where it is hosted. These media would not normally be included in a bibliography.
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