Best examples of Turabian Style: Citing Government Documents

Turabian (based on The Chicago Manual of Style) uses a notes and bibliography system for most humanities papers. When students ask for examples of Turabian style: citing government documents, they’re usually trying to answer two questions:

• What goes in the footnote or endnote?
• What changes in the bibliography entry?

Let’s walk through real examples, then break down patterns you can reuse.

Federal Government Report – Print and Online Examples

This is one of the most common examples of Turabian style: citing government documents: a U.S. federal agency report that you found as a PDF.

Example 1: Federal agency report (print or PDF)

Source: A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Note (first full note):

1. U.S. Government Accountability Office, K–12 Education: School Districts Need Better Information to Improve Teacher Diversity (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2022), 15.

Shortened note:

2. U.S. Government Accountability Office, K–12 Education, 22.

Bibliography:
U.S. Government Accountability Office. K–12 Education: School Districts Need Better Information to Improve Teacher Diversity. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2022.

Why this is a strong example of Turabian style: citing government documents

• The corporate author (the agency) appears in the author position.
• The title is italicized like a book.
• The place of publication and publisher are both Washington, DC and the same agency.
• The note includes a specific page number, which Turabian expects for most quotations or close paraphrases.

Example 2: Same report accessed online

If you accessed the same GAO report as a PDF on the web, add the URL and (for time-sensitive documents) an access date.

Note:

3. U.S. Government Accountability Office, K–12 Education: School Districts Need Better Information to Improve Teacher Diversity (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2022), 15, https://www.gao.gov/.

Bibliography:
U.S. Government Accountability Office. K–12 Education: School Districts Need Better Information to Improve Teacher Diversity. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2022. https://www.gao.gov/.

Turabian increasingly expects stable URLs or DOIs when you have them, especially for government PDFs.

Examples of Turabian Style: Citing Laws, Statutes, and Public Laws

Legal citations can look intimidating, but Turabian’s approach is more reader-friendly than full legal Bluebook style. When professors ask for examples of Turabian style: citing government documents involving laws, they usually want something like this.

Example 3: Federal statute (United States Code)

Source: A section of the U.S. Code dealing with education.

Note:

4. Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. § 6301 (2018).

Bibliography:
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. 20 U.S.C. § 6301 (2018).

Key details:

• Start with the name of the law, if it has one.
• Then list the title number, the abbreviation of the code, the section symbol and number, and the year of the code edition you used.

Example 4: Public law citation

Sometimes you need the public law form instead, especially for legislative history.

Note:

5. Every Student Succeeds Act, Pub. L. No. 114–95, 129 Stat. 1802 (2015).

Bibliography:
Every Student Succeeds Act. Pub. L. No. 114–95, 129 Stat. 1802 (2015).

For policy or history papers, these are often the best examples of Turabian style: citing government documents that demonstrate how to handle formal legal language without going full legal-citation mode.

Examples of Turabian Style: Citing Government Websites and Online Pages

In 2024–2025, many students rely on online government content—CDC fact sheets, Census tables, White House press releases. These are some of the most practical examples of Turabian style: citing government documents because they mirror what you’re actually using in research.

Example 5: Federal agency web page (CDC)

Source: A CDC topic page on adolescent and school health.

Note:

6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Adolescent and School Health,” last reviewed November 3, 2023, https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/.

Bibliography:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Adolescent and School Health.” Last reviewed November 3, 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/.

Details to notice:

• Use the agency as author.
• Put the page title in quotation marks.
• Include the last updated or reviewed date if it appears on the page.
• Include a direct URL.

Example 6: Federal data table (U.S. Census Bureau)

Source: A specific data table from the Census Bureau’s site.

Note:

7. U.S. Census Bureau, “Income and Poverty in the United States: 2023, Table A-1,” last modified September 12, 2024, https://www.census.gov/.

Bibliography:
U.S. Census Bureau. “Income and Poverty in the United States: 2023, Table A-1.” Last modified September 12, 2024. https://www.census.gov/.

For data that updates annually, Turabian encourages you to include the last modified date so readers can match your numbers to the correct version of the table.

State and Local Government Documents: Real Turabian Examples

State and city reports often look less standardized than federal ones, which is why students frequently search for examples of Turabian style: citing government documents at the state or local level.

Example 7: State government report (PDF)

Source: A report from the California Department of Education.

Note:

8. California Department of Education, Improving Student Outcomes: Strategic Plan 2023–2027 (Sacramento: California Department of Education, 2023), 7.

Bibliography:
California Department of Education. Improving Student Outcomes: Strategic Plan 2023–2027. Sacramento: California Department of Education, 2023.

If you accessed it online, add the URL at the end of both the note and bibliography entry.

Example 8: City government report (online)

Source: A city climate action plan.

Note:

9. City of Chicago, Office of the Mayor, 2024 Climate Action Plan (Chicago: City of Chicago, 2024), 12, https://www.chicago.gov/.

Bibliography:
City of Chicago, Office of the Mayor. 2024 Climate Action Plan. Chicago: City of Chicago, 2024. https://www.chicago.gov/.

Here, the jurisdiction (City of Chicago) and the office (Office of the Mayor) both appear so your reader knows exactly who issued the document.

International and Intergovernmental Organizations in Turabian Style

Your research might draw on the United Nations, the World Health Organization, or the OECD. These are government-like bodies, and Turabian treats them similarly to corporate authors.

Example 9: United Nations report

Source: A UN human development report.

Note:

10. United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 2023–24: Breaking the Gridlock (New York: United Nations Development Programme, 2024), 45, https://hdr.undp.org/.

Bibliography:
United Nations Development Programme. Human Development Report 2023–24: Breaking the Gridlock. New York: United Nations Development Programme, 2024. https://hdr.undp.org/.

Example 10: World Health Organization fact sheet

Source: WHO fact sheet on climate change and health.

Note:

11. World Health Organization, “Climate Change and Health,” last updated October 27, 2023, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health.

Bibliography:
World Health Organization. “Climate Change and Health.” Last updated October 27, 2023. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health.

For international sources, these are some of the best real examples of Turabian style: citing government documents because they show how to handle big institutional authors with long names and frequent updates.

Congressional Documents: Hearings, Reports, and Bills

If you’re writing in political science or history, you will probably need examples of Turabian style: citing government documents from Congress—especially hearings and committee reports.

Example 11: Congressional hearing

Source: A U.S. Senate committee hearing transcript.

Note:

12. U.S. Senate, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, The Future of K–12 Education: Innovation and Equity (hearing, 118th Cong., 1st sess., March 5, 2024), 37, https://www.congress.gov/.

Bibliography:
U.S. Senate. Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. The Future of K–12 Education: Innovation and Equity. Hearing, 118th Cong., 1st sess., March 5, 2024. https://www.congress.gov/.

Note the pattern:

• Legislative body (U.S. Senate)
• Committee name
• Title in italics
• Description (hearing)
• Congress and session
• Date of hearing

Example 12: Congressional committee report

Source: A House committee report on cybersecurity.

Note:

13. U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Homeland Security, Strengthening Cybersecurity in Critical Infrastructure (committee print, 118th Cong., 2nd sess., 2025), 4.

Bibliography:
U.S. House of Representatives. Committee on Homeland Security. Strengthening Cybersecurity in Critical Infrastructure. Committee print, 118th Cong., 2nd sess., 2025.

These are exactly the kinds of examples of Turabian style: citing government documents that make congressional material feel a lot less mysterious.

Handling Tricky Details in Turabian Government Citations

Once you’ve seen several examples of Turabian style: citing government documents, you can spot recurring patterns. Here are a few practical rules of thumb, illustrated with short examples.

No personal author? Use the agency.

If there’s no named person, list the government body as author:

U.S. Department of Education, Condition of Education 2024 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 2024).

Long chains of agencies? Start broad, then narrow.

Move from larger unit to smaller unit:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute.

Turabian prefers clarity over listing every possible sub-office if it becomes unreadable.

Undated web pages

If no date appears, use “n.d.” (no date):

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Environmental Justice,” n.d., https://www.epa.gov/.

Repeated citations: use shortened notes

After the first full note, Turabian wants shortened forms:

14. U.S. Department of Education, Condition of Education 2024, 52.

This keeps your notes readable while still traceable back to the full bibliography entry.

Updated 2024–2025 Guidance and Helpful Resources

As of 2024–2025, several trends shape how you handle Turabian citations for government material:

• Online-first access: Many government publications are digital-only. Turabian expects URLs for these, and often encourages including last updated dates.
• Persistent identifiers: If a government document has a DOI or a stable handle, you can treat it like a scholarly article and include that identifier.
• Versioned data: For datasets that update regularly (think CDC, Census, NIH), it’s smart to record the date you accessed or the “last updated” date, so your numbers can be verified.

For further details beyond these examples, you can cross-check with:

• The Turabian manual itself or your library’s Turabian quick guides.
• The Chicago Manual of Style online (many campuses subscribe).
• Government style resources such as the U.S. Government Publishing Office and agency-specific citation help pages.

These resources, combined with the real examples of Turabian style: citing government documents in this guide, will cover almost everything an undergraduate or graduate writer is likely to encounter.

FAQ: Examples of Turabian Style for Government Sources

How do I cite a government document in Turabian if there is no author name listed?
Use the agency or department as the author. For example of a federal report:

U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, 2024).

Is there a difference between Turabian and Chicago when citing government documents?
They are very similar. Turabian is essentially a student-focused version of Chicago. Most examples of Turabian style: citing government documents will look almost identical to Chicago’s notes and bibliography format, especially for reports, laws, and web pages.

Do I always need an access date for online government documents?
Not always. Turabian strongly encourages access dates when content is likely to change (data dashboards, guidance pages, statistics). If the page lists a clear “last updated” date, that often takes priority. When in doubt, including an access date will not hurt your grade.

Can I shorten long government agency names in my citations?
In the bibliography, spell the agency name out fully. In shortened notes, you can often trim the name if it remains clear. For example, “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention” can become “CDC” in later notes if your reader will obviously know what CDC refers to.

Where can I see more examples of Turabian style: citing government documents?
Check your university writing center or library guides, many of which post examples of Turabian citations for common government sources. You can also look at sample papers from your department—professors often model at least one example of a government citation in their assignment sheets or recommended style guides.