Most college students in the United States are required to write at least a couple of research papers before they graduate. While doing so, they are required to keep track of and list all the material they have consulted during their preparatory research. This material can include books, periodicals, and websites in addition to other primary and secondary sources such as interview transcripts, statistical data, letters, photographs, newspapers, magazines, documentaries, encyclopedias, and textbooks.
The list may contain sources that the author eventually did not consider useful or chose not to quote from. Nevertheless, even such sources should be included because they have formed part of the preparatory work. The list is known as a bibliography and is placed at the end of a research paper or writing project.
This article features a comprehensive guide to writing a bibliography, complete with all the information one must include in it as well as formats and examples based on the style guide being followed.
Students are expected to write down, photocopy, or print the following information for each source acknowledged in the bibliography.
An annotated bibliography includes all of the above information along with a short description and evaluation for each source on the list. Annotations allow readers to understand how a source is helpful or related to the topic in question.
Bibliographies appear not only at the end of research papers; they are also included in other forms of academic writing such as books, reports, online presentations, and essays. In academic research, all sources used by the author, whether summarized/paraphrased or directly quoted, must be acknowledged in the bibliography. A bibliography, along with properly formatted in-text citations, is necessary to correctly cite the author’s research as well as to avoid accusations of plagiarism.
Bibliographic information for different kinds of sources can be found in different places, so the author may need to do some digging to get to it. They can try looking in the following places:
The format of a bibliography depends on the style guide an author adheres to. A style guide spells out the writing and design standards for documents and promotes uniformity in formatting and style within and across documents. Some commonly used style guides for academic writing include the American Psychological Association (APA), Modern Language Association (MLA), Chicago Manual of Style (CMS), and Harvard Referencing Guide. Each style guide has a different format for writing a bibliography. The MLA handbook, for instance, uses a Works Cited page, which lists sources alphabetically. The APA handbook uses a Reference List, where references are listed in alphabetical order. The CMS handbook uses a Reference List in the author-date style or a Bibliography in the notes-bibliography style. Harvard Referencing uses a Reference List that is ordered alphabetically by the last name of the first author of each work.
Before creating a reference list for a writing project, students need to know which style they will be using. This is usually determined not only by the teacher or professor, but also by the type of writing project they will be taking on. Most high school projects, for example, typically use MLA style because this makes it easier to source websites, advertisements, and audio-visual material. College projects use a number of different styles depending on the type of project. APA, MLA, CMS, and Harvard Referencing Guide are some of the most popular style guides used in academia.
If the professor hasn’t specified a style, the writing project and its subject determine which style would be most appropriate.
Author’s last name, first name. Book title. Additional information. City of publication: Publishing company, publication date.
James, Henry. The Ambassadors. Serenity, 2009.
Dictionary and Encyclopedia
Author’s last name, first name. “Title of Article.” Title of Encyclopedia. Date.
Content, N. (4).” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed., Merriam-Webster, 2003, p. 269.
Newspaper and Magazine Articles
Author’s last name, first name. “Article title.” Periodical title Volume # Date: inclusive pages.
Trillin, Calvin. “Culture Shopping.” New Yorker 15 Feb. 1993: 48-51.
Author’s last name, first name (if available). “Title of work within a project or database.” Title of site, project, or database. Editor (if available). Electronic publication information (Date of publication or of the latest update, and name of any sponsoring institution or organization). Date of access and .
Salmar1515 [Sal Hernandez]. “Re: Best Strategy: Fenced Pastures vs. Max Number of Rooms?” BoardGameGeek, 29 Sept. 2008, boardgamegeek.com/thread/343929/best-strategy-fenced-pastures-vs-max-number-rooms. Accessed 9 Jun. 2020.
Last name, Initials. (Year). Book title. (Contributor initials, last name, role.) (Edition). City, State/Country: Publisher.
Kempe, C. H., & Helfer, R. E. (1980). The battered child (5th ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Dictionary and Encyclopedia
Entry name. (Year). In Dictionary name (edition). Place: Publisher
Eyewitness. (1996). In The Oxford Compact English Dictionary. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Newspaper and Magazine Articles
Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year, Month Day). Article title: Subtitle. Newspaper Title, page range. URL [if viewed online]
Wallace, K. (2007, December 4). Passport applicant finds massive privacy breach. The Globe and Mail, pp. A1, A8.
Author, A. (Year, Month Date of Publication). Article title. Retrieved from URL
Smith, T. (2019, January 10). How to structure a dissertation. Retrieved from https://www.scribbr.com/category/dissertation/
Last name, First name. Title of Book. Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication.
Smith, Zadie. Swing Time. New York: Penguin Press, 2016.
Dictionary and Encyclopedia
Title of Dictionary, ed. First name, Surname (if known), number edition. (Location: Publisher, Year of publication), s.v. “Title of Entry,” URL if entry came from an online source.
Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), s.v. “Story.”
Newspaper and Magazine Articles
Last name, First name. “Article Title.” Newspaper Title, Month Date, Year of publication.
Rebecca Mead, “The Prophet of Dystopia,” New Yorker, April 17, 2017,
Last name, First name. “Title of Web Page.” Publishing Organization or Name of Website. Publication date and/or access date if available. URL.
Smith, John. “Obama inaugurated as President.” CNN.com. http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/01/21/obama_inaugurated/index.html (accessed February 1, 2009).
Author Surname, Author Initial. (Year Published). Title. ed. City: Publisher, p. Pages Used.
Franklin, A.W. (2012). ‘Management of the problem’, in Smith, S.M. (ed.) The maltreatment of children. Lancaster: MTP, pp. 83-95.
Dictionary and Encyclopedia
Title. (Year) Volume (if applicable). Edition. Place of publication: Publisher.
Shorter Oxford English dictionary. (2007) Vol.2. 6th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Newspaper and Magazine Articles
Surname, Initial(s). (Year) “Title of Article,” Title of Newspaper/Magazine, issue number (if applicable), day and/or month of publication, page number(s).
Lewis, S. (2015). ‘Rainbow support for York pride’, The Press, York, 18 June, p.6.
Author Surname, Initial(s) Year (page created or revised), Title of page, Publisher (if applicable), viewed Day Month Year, .
Cancer Council 2017, Causes of cancer, Cancer Council, viewed 21 May 2018, .
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