The Bookends Guide to the SBL format

[digitaltheologian]

I offer you my formatting for SBLH2 (author-date), and the citations are formatted for in-line (author, date, page/s) as prescribed by my seminary. I rely on conditional logic to simplify some of the formatting. I also include field explanations for each, as well as how I renamed them so that they make sense when I enter the information in Bookends.

1. Format Name: Book
Combined Bookends Format:

Code: Select all

a. e$, ed++. $d. t. $Series: $j $Edited by $u1. $Translated by $u3 u2$ ed. $ u13$ vols. $ $Volume $u14. u4., l: u{$; $u15: u16. ^.^}

Citation Format:

Code: Select all

a d, p–

Field Explanations:
u1 = Editor, u2 = Edition, u3 = Translator, u4 = Publisher, u13 = Number of volumes, u14 = Volume number, u15 = Second city, u16 = Second publisher
Covers:
Single-author book, Edited book, Multi-volume book, Translated book, Series volumes, Dual-publisher book, Patristic/classical texts, Religious text editions

2. Format Name: Chapter in a Book
Combined Bookends Format:

Code: Select all

a. d. “t.” $In $v, $vol. $u14, $edited by $u1, p–. l: u{$; $u15: u16. ^.^}

Citation Format:

Code: Select all

a d, p–

Field Explanations:
u1 = Editor, u14 = Volume number, u15 = Second city, u16 = Second publisher
Covers:
Chapter in edited book, Chapter in multi-volume book, Translated chapter, Chapter with dual publisher/location, Classical chapter excerpts

3. Format Name: Journal Article
Combined Bookends Format:

Code: Select all

a. d. “t.” f v{ (i):^:} p–. $Series: $u20. {$doi:$u17^z^}.

Citation Format:

Code: Select all

a d, p–

Field Explanations:
u17 = DOI, u20 = Series, z = URL
Covers:
Standard journal article, Journal article with issue number, Online journal article with DOI, Journal article with only a URL, Series-themed journal articles

4. Format Name: Thesis or Dissertation
Combined Bookends Format:

Code: Select all

a. d. t. v {u16^u15^}, u {$doi:$u17^z^}.

Citation Format:

Code: Select all

a d

Field Explanations:
u15 = Dissertation, u16 = Thesis, u17 = DOI, z = URL
Covers:
Master’s thesis, Doctoral dissertation, Online thesis with DOI or URL, Custom thesis type via u16, Institutional theses with fallback field logic

5. Format Name: Digital Sources
Combined Bookends Format:

Code: Select all

a. d. {u16$ App.$$ Version $u15. ^“t.”^ $In $u1.} z

Citation Format:

Code: Select all

a d

Field Explanations:
u1 = Blog/Podcast/Container, u15 = Version, u16 = App name, z = URL
Covers:
Apps/software with version number, Blog post, Podcast episode, Online video, Web article, Organization-authored site content

6. Format Name: News and Periodicals
Combined Bookends Format:

Code: Select all

a. d. “t.” {j, u3^$In $u16^} u1 (u3): p–. z

Citation Format:

Code: Select all

a d

Field Explanations:
j = Newspaper name, u1 = Volume, u3 = Month and day, u16 = Magazine title, z = URL
Covers:
Newspaper article (with date only), Magazine article (with volume, date, and pages), Online news source, Magazine-style web content

7. Format Name: Unpublished and Informal Sources
Combined Bookends Format:

Code: Select all

a. d. {“t.” $Lecture, $u1,^”l.” $Sermon, $u1,^”u.” $Personal communication, $u1,^”u16.” $Interview by, $u13,^”u15.” $Unpublished Manuscript,$^`Enter title in appropriate field.`} v.

Citation Format:

Code: Select all

a d

Field Explanations:
t = Lecture title, l = Sermon title, u = Email or personal communication, u1 = Location or recipient, u13 = Interviewer, u15 = Unpublished manuscript title, u16 = Interview title
Covers:
Lecture, Sermon, Personal email or letter, Private interview, Unpublished manuscript (not a thesis), Miscellaneous informal items