Turabian Title Page Generator

Turabian is the student version of the Chicago Manual of Style, written for class papers, theses and dissertations. Its title page is short and plain. Here is what a Turabian format title page for a class paper contains, from the top of the page down.

Title and subtitle

Centre the title about a third of the way down the page. Use headline-style capitalisation: capitalise the first and last words and all major words, and lowercase articles, prepositions and the conjunctions and, but, for, or and nor. If there is a subtitle, end the title line with a colon and put the subtitle on the next line.

Your name

Your name goes lower on the page, in the block of course information.

Course and instructor

Give the course name and number, for example HIST 3340: Early Modern Europe. Many instructors also want their own name on the page, so the generator has an optional Instructor field.

Date

The date you hand the paper in, written out in full: October 25, 2026, or 25 October 2026 if your school writes dates day first.

Font, spacing and margins

Times New Roman 12 is the usual choice. Double-space the lines and keep one-inch margins, the same as the rest of the paper. The details block sits about a third of the way up from the bottom.

What a Turabian title page leaves out

There is no page number, no running head, no logo and no "Title page" label. Unless your instructor asks for more, that's the whole page.

If you'd rather build the page yourself, use this Turabian title page template. Each line is one double-spaced line; the blank lines are approximate, because the exact number depends on the paper size and font. The generator works them out for you.

Title page Turabian style, line by line

1. About seven blank double-spaced lines from the top margin (roughly a third of the way down).
2. [Title of Your Paper:] (centred, headline-style capitals, with a colon only if a subtitle follows)
3. [Subtitle] (centred, on the next line)
4. About seven more blank lines.
5. [Your Name] (centred)
6. [Course Number: Course Name] (centred)
7. [Instructor] (centred, if your school asks for it)
8. [Month Day, Year] (centred)

Turabian title page sample

Here is the same Turabian title page template filled in with an invented history paper:

• The Printing Press and the Spread of the Reformation in Germany, 1517–1530
• Jonah Whitfield
• HIST 3340: Early Modern Europe
• Professor Lena Hart
• April 14, 2026

The title is long, so it wraps onto a second line, which is fine. Keep the wrapped lines centred and double-spaced. Need a title in the first place? The Research Paper Title Generator suggests options from your topic.

A Turabian cover page and a Turabian title page are the same thing. Turabian's manual calls it a title page; "cover page" is simply what many students and schools call the first sheet of a paper.

Is a Turabian cover page different?

No. A Turabian cover page has the same title, name, course and date as the title page described above. There's no separate cover sheet in Turabian style, and you don't put a cover page in front of the title page.

When your school adds extra items

Some schools and seminaries publish their own Turabian cover page with extra lines, such as the name of the school at the top, a student ID or the word count. If you have a school template, follow it: your school's rules override the manual. This generator sticks to the standard layout, so add any extra lines in Word after you download the file.

If your school wants its name on the title page, fill in the optional Institution field; it appears with your course details, just above the date. If it must go at the very top, move that line in Word after you download.

Theses and dissertations

A thesis or dissertation title page follows different rules, with the school name, degree and department, and front matter numbered in roman numerals. This tool is built for class papers. For a thesis, use your graduate school's template.

The title page never shows a page number. What changes is whether it counts as page 1. The generator offers both options under First page of text is.

Page 2 (title page counted)

This is the default. In the Turabian class-paper model used by many universities, the title page counts as page 1 even though no number appears on it, so the first page of text shows 2. The Word file is set up this way automatically.

Page 1 (title page not counted)

Some Chicago and Turabian guides start the text on page 1 instead. The Purdue OWL's Chicago general format guide, for example, says numbering begins with Arabic numeral 1 on the first page of text. If your instructor or school template does this, choose Page 1 (title page not counted).

Where the number goes

The downloaded file puts the page number in the header, top right, which is where most Turabian guides place it. Liberty University's Turabian format quick guide, for instance, uses Arabic numerals top right in the body of the paper (Liberty numbers the body from 1; choose Page 1 if you follow its template). If your instructor wants numbers at the bottom, move them in Word's header and footer settings.

Which one should I pick?

Check your syllabus or school template first. If neither says anything, the default (title page counted, text starts on page 2) matches the Turabian class-paper model.

Turabian is based on the Chicago Manual of Style, so a Chicago Turabian title page looks almost the same either way. Both put the title about a third of the way down, centred, with headline-style capitals, and both leave the page unnumbered.

Where they differ

• Audience: Chicago is written mainly for publishing; Turabian adapts it for students, with specific guidance for class papers, theses and dissertations.
• Page count: Turabian's class-paper model counts the title page as page 1, while many Chicago student guides number the first page of text as 1. Both tools let you choose.

Which generator should I use?

If your assignment says "Turabian", use this page. If it says "Chicago style" or "CMOS", use the Chicago Title Page Generator. If it says "Chicago/Turabian", either is fine, and your instructor's own example wins over both.

Notes and bibliography

Most Turabian papers use footnotes and a bibliography. The Turabian Citation Machine formats both, and the Chicago Footnote Generator covers the same system under its Chicago name. For author-date citations, try the Chicago Citation Generator.

There are three ways to get a title page in Turabian format into your paper.

Download the Word file

Select Download Word (.docx). The file contains the title page and a second page that says "Start typing your paper here." It already uses your chosen font, double spacing and one-inch margins, with an unnumbered title page and page numbers starting on the text. Open it in Word, or upload it to Google Docs, and type over the placeholder line.

Copy and paste

Select Copy text and paste into an existing document. The paste keeps bold, centring and double spacing in Google Docs and Word. Check the font matches the rest of your paper, then add a page break after the date.

Build it by hand

1. Set the margins to one inch and the line spacing to double.
2. Press Enter until you are about a third of the way down, then type the centred title.
3. Press Enter again until you are about a third from the bottom, then type your name, course, instructor and date, one per line.
4. Insert a section break after the date so the title page can stay unnumbered.
5. Add page numbers to the next section and set the starting number to 2 (or 1 if your instructor prefers).

Step 4 is the fiddly one, and it is where hand-made title pages most often pick up a stray number. The download handles it for you.

The title page is only the first sheet. These are the formatting points students ask about most once it's done. They are general guidance: if your instructor or school gives different rules, follow those.

Turabian headings: five levels

Turabian sets out up to five levels of subheading. Most class papers need only one or two.

• Level 1: centred, bold or italic, headline-style capitals.
• Level 2: centred, regular type, headline-style capitals.
• Level 3: flush left, bold or italic, headline-style capitals.
• Level 4: flush left, regular type, sentence-style capitals.
• Level 5: run in at the start of the paragraph, bold or italic, sentence-style capitals, ending with a full stop.

Use the same heading style for every heading at the same level. To fix capitals quickly, paste a heading into the Case Converter.

Turabian line spacing

Double-space the text. Block quotations, footnotes and bibliography entries are usually single-spaced inside each item, with a blank line between items. Many school guides set it out this way.

Turabian margins and font

One-inch margins on every side and a readable font, typically Times New Roman 12. Indent each new paragraph half an inch.

The same title page in Turabian works for almost every kind of class assignment. A few types raise their own questions.

Research papers

A research paper title page is the standard layout. Long titles are common, so let them wrap onto a second centred line rather than shrinking the font. If you are still choosing a title, the Essay Title Generator and the Research Paper Title Generator both give ideas.

Book reviews

Book titles inside your own title are normally italicised, for example A Review of Confessions. The generator writes plain text, so italicise the book title in Word or Google Docs after you download or paste the page.

Short essays

Some instructors don't want a separate title page for a short essay. Without one, the title can go at the top of the first page, as Chicago guides allow. Check the assignment brief before you add a page nobody asked for.

These are the problems that come up most often on home-made title pages.

• A number on the title page. The page counts, but it never shows a number.
• The title at the very top. It belongs about a third of the way down.
• Everything bunched together. The course details sit in a separate block, about a third from the bottom.
• Bold, large or decorative type. Turabian doesn't call for a bigger font on the title page. Keep the paper's font and size.
• Lowercase or all-caps titles. Use headline-style capitals.
• A dash instead of a colon. Separate title and subtitle with a colon and a line break.
• Single spacing. Double-space the lines, like the rest of the paper.
• A running head. That's an APA feature, not a Turabian one.
• Mixing styles. If your bibliography is Turabian, the title page should be too, not APA or MLA.

Writing in another style?

Use the APA Title Page Generator, the MLA Title Page Generator or the Harvard Title Page Generator, or browse every style on the title page generator hub.

Yes to both. The tool is free, with no account, no sign-up and no limit on downloads.

Nothing leaves your browser

Everything runs on your own device. Your title, name and course are never sent to a server, and there is no AI involved: the layout comes from fixed formatting rules, so the same input always gives the same page.

Before you hand it in

• Check your name and course code are spelled exactly as your instructor expects.
• Make sure the date is the due date, not the day you started.
• Check the word count of the paper itself with the Word Counter if your instructor set a limit.
• Read your syllabus for any school-specific title page rules, which always come first.