Q. Why does Turabian require page numbers for every citation, but APA only requires them for direct quotes?

The difference between APA and Turabian/Chicago reflects deeper disciplinary priorities and epistemological assumptions about how scholarship is practiced in the social sciences versus the humanities.

Let’s unpack that step by step:

1. APA’s Philosophical Orientation: Emphasis on Ideas and Recency

APA (American Psychological Association) style emerged from the behavioral and social sciences, where the focus is on ideas, findings, and data rather than the specific wording or location of those ideas in a text.

• Purpose: APA citation emphasizes who made the claim and when, because the currency and authorship of research are crucial to evaluating its credibility and relevance.
• Epistemology: Knowledge is viewed as cumulative and empirical — ideas are tested, replicated, and evolve over time. Therefore, the origin of the idea (the author and date) is more important than where exactly in the text it appears.
• Practice: Readers in these fields rarely look up the exact passage unless it’s a direct quotation. They’re more likely to consult the whole article or study to understand the methodology or results.

→ Hence, page numbers are required only for direct quotations, where exact wording and textual precision matter.

2. Turabian/Chicago’s Philosophical Orientation: Emphasis on Textual Engagement

Turabian (a student-friendly version of Chicago style) comes out of the humanities tradition — especially history, literature, and theology — where scholars interpret, critique, and closely engage with texts.

• Purpose: Here, the text itself is the data. Knowing the precise location of an argument or phrase allows readers to assess the author’s interpretation, trace nuance, and check contextual meaning.
• Epistemology: Knowledge is interpretive, and meaning depends on context. The exact place in a book or document matters for understanding the author’s intent or tone.
• Practice: Scholars frequently return to sources to verify quotes, compare interpretations, or analyze textual structure. Page numbers are indispensable for this level of engagement.

→ Hence, page numbers are included for all citations, even paraphrases, since the precise location of the idea in the text is part of the scholarly dialogue.

3. Why APA Doesn’t Require Page Numbers for Paraphrases (and the Tradeoff)

APA’s assumption is pragmatic:

• In research articles, paraphrasing often involves summarizing results or theories that span entire sections.
• Requiring page numbers for every paraphrase could create unnecessary clutter and discourage paraphrasing (which APA actually encourages over quoting).
• It trusts that the reader can locate the idea by consulting the cited work as a whole.

However, there’s a tradeoff:
For longer works like books or theoretical texts, omitting page numbers can make it harder to locate specific arguments. This reflects a different scholarly norm — one prioritizing efficiency over close textual traceability.

4. A Thoughtful Conclusion

So, philosophically speaking:

• APA assumes the reader is interested in the idea and its empirical source.
• Turabian assumes the reader is interested in the text and its interpretive context.

In other words, APA trusts ideas to stand on their own, while Turabian insists that ideas can only be properly understood in their textual setting.