It is important to include a bibliography when writing a book or essay, as it tells readers what sources you used. It contains all the books, articles and other references that you have cited or that you have used to inform your work. In general, bibliographies are written in one of the following formats: that of the American Psychological Association (APA) for scientific essays, that of the Modern Language Association (MLA, for in the case of the humanities essays and the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) in the case of the social sciences. You should always make sure to consult your superior (either your teacher or your boss) as to the style of their preference.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Write a bibliography following the APA style
Step 1. Make a list of references
Leave a bibliography page at the end of the document and title it "References." Below it you will include everything you used for the essay.
Step 2. Organize the references in alphabetical order according to the last name
You must use the author's full last name and first and middle initials (if any). If there are several authors, you must place them in the same order in which they appear in the source and place the source in alphabetical order in the list of references, guided by the last name of the first author.
For example, if a source has an author named John Adams Smith, it would be listed as "Smith, J. A." and then you would put the title of his work
Step 3. Use an ellipsis if the authors are more than seven
Include the names of the first seven authors in the source, then place an ellipsis. After these, you must put the name of the last author that appears in the source.
For example, if a source has twelve authors with the seventh being "Smith, J. A." and the twelfth "Timothy, S. J.", you would put the names of the first six authors and then you would write "Smith, J. A. … Timothy, S. J."
Step 4. Put in chronological order the sources that have the same author
Depending on the type of essay you write, you may have several sources that have the same author. You should include the source that was published first first and put the rest of them in chronological order.
Step 5. Use the information you have in case there is no author
In some cases, a source may be published by an organization, such as the American Medical Association, or a source may not have an author at all. If the author is an organization, you must write their name and, if the source does not have an author, you must start with the title of the source.
For example, if one of your sources is a World Health Organization report that has no author, you should write "World Health Organization," Report on Development Strategies in Developing Countries, July 1996 "
Step 6. Indent each line after the first line of the font
If your font spans more than one line, you should indent each line below 0.5 inches (1.25 cm). When moving to another source, you should start at the original margin of the sheet.
Step 7. Cite articles
Articles should be cited by placing the name of the author and then the year and title of the article, the name of the publication in italics, the volume and edition number (if any), and the page range referenced. This is the format: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). "Article title". Publication title, volume (edition), pages.
- For example, this is what an article citation would look like: Jensen, O. E. (2012). "African Elephants". Quarterly magazine of the savannah, 2 (1), 88.
- If the article comes from a publication that always begins with page 1 (publications of this type are known as "page-by-issue" publications), you must include the entire page range of the article.
- If you found the article online, you should put "Retrieved from" at the end of the citation and then put the website address.
Step 8. Cite books
You should start with the name of the author and then put the year of publication, the title of the book in italics, the location of the publisher, and finally the name of the publisher. This is the format: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the book. Location: Editorial.
- Example: Worden, B. L. (1999). Echoes of Eden. New York, New York: Editorial One Two Press.
- In case the title has several words without any of them being a proper noun, you should only capitalize the first word. In the case of subtitles, only the first word should be capitalized.
Step 9. Cite websites. You should include the author's name, the full date, the website title, the words "retrieved from," and then the address. This is the format: Author, A. A. (Year, month and day). Title of the page or document. Retrieved from: https:// URL of the specific page.
- For example, here's what a quote from a website might look like: Quarry, R. R. (May 23, 2010). Wild skies. Recovered from
- In case the website does not have an author, you must first place the title. If it does not have a date, you must write "s.f." (without date).
Step 10. Consult a trusted source for the other citation rules
The APA style has many rules when it comes to citing sources in the reference list. If you have to cite things like movies, theses, online magazines, or other sources, you should use a reliable source. An excellent resource for this is the Purdue University OWL (Online Writing Lab) website.
Method 2 of 2: Write a bibliography in the MLA style
Step 1. Make a page for works cited
Leave a page at the end of the document for the bibliography. In the MLA style, this page is referred to as "Works Cited." Write this title at the top of the page following the last page of your document. The "Works Cited" page should contain the same heading with your last name as the rest of the document and the page numbering should also continue.
Step 2. Capitalize all words in the titles with the exception of articles, prepositions, and conjunctions
In font titles, all words must be capitalized, with the exception of words such as "a", "the" and "of". You can review your titles using an online capitalization generator, such as Title Capitalization, in case you're not sure how to write them.
Step 3. Double-spaced the dating page
In an MLA style bibliography, all pages should be double spaced. There does not need to be an extra space between one source and another as long as everything is double spaced.
Step 4. Indent all subsequent lines of the same font
If your font spans more than one line, you should indent each line below 0.5 inches (1.25 cm). Returns to the original margin when starting with a new font.
Step 5. Organize the sources in alphabetical order according to the author's last name
After the author's last name, put his full name and his middle name or his initial (if it appears in the source).
When including the name of an author in the bibliography, you should not put their titles. This applies even if these titles are in the source
Step 6. Cite books
Write the author's last name and first name separated by a comma and put a period at the end. Then, write the title of the book in italics followed by a period as well. Separate the place of publication and the name of the publisher by a colon and then place a comma followed by the publication date.
For example, this is what a quote from a book might look like: Butler, Olivia. Parable of the flower. Sacramento: Editorial Seed Press, 1996
Step 7. Cite articles
Put the author's last name and first name first and then a period. Then, put the title of the article in quotation marks followed by a period that falls outside them. Then, italicize the publication or book name, then a comma, then the volume and edition numbers and the publication date, separating each by a comma. Finally, you must place a colon to separate the date of publication, the title of the article, the title of the publication, the volume and edition numbers and the date of the source pages.
- For example, this is what an article published in an academic journal might look like: Green, Marsha. "Life in Costa Rica". Science Magazine Vol. 1, no. 4, March 2013: 1-2.
- To cite an article from a newspaper, it is only necessary to put the name of the newspaper, then the publication date and the page number. Here's what a quote would look like: Smith, Jennifer. "Tiny Tim wins an award." New York Times, December 24, 2017, p. A7.
Step 8. Cite websites
You should start with the author's last name and first name (if any) and then place a period. Then, enclose the title of the article or project in quotation marks and then the title of the website in quotation marks as well. In both cases, the title must be followed by a period. Then, put the date of publication and the name of the institution that sponsored it in parentheses and separate them with a comma. End the appointment by entering the access date and full address.
- For example, this is what a website quote would look like: Jong, June. "How to write an essay". Writing portal. August 2, 2012. University of California. February 23, 2013.
- In some cases, websites, especially academic ones, contain something known as DOI (Digital Object Identifier). If you find this number, write "doi:" in front of it instead of putting the website address.
Step 9. Use reliable sources to find the rules for citing other types of sources
In a research essay, many different types of fonts can be used. You can look up the rules when it comes to citing them by using a reliable source. In fact, you can purchase a copy of the MLA style guide, or you can search for sources using a website such as the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University.
Step 10. Make a page for the bibliography
Write "Bibliography" at the top of the page that comes after the last page of your document. Leave a two-line space between the title and the first source.
Step 11. Organize the sources in alphabetical order according to the author's last name
You must include the names of all authors in the order in which they appear in the source. If you have some fonts where there are no authors, you can use the first letter of the title instead.
Step 12. Place the quotes in single spacing, leaving a space between each one
You must place all fonts single spaced regardless of the number of lines they cover. Leave a one-line space between each quote.
Step 13. Indent subsequent lines of the same quote
If you have a quote that spans more than one line, indent each subsequent line by 1.5 inches, then leave a one-line space between the end of the quote and the beginning of the next. The latter must start at the original margin.
Step 14. Cite articles
You must start with the author's full name, putting the last name first, then a comma and then the name. You must place the title of the article in quotation marks and a comma at the end, outside of them. Then italicize the title of the magazine or publication, then the volume number, and then the issue. Before the edition number, you must write "no.". Then, you must put in parentheses the month and year of publication of the article, then a colon and the page range.
Example: Skylar Marsh. "Walking on the water". Earth Magazine 4 (2001): 23
Step 15. Cite books
You must write the full name of the author with the last name first, then a comma and then the first name. Next, write the title of the book in italics, then the city of publication, and then a colon. Then, you must put the publisher and the year of publication, separated by a comma, and end the entire citation with a period.
For example, here's what a quote from a book might look like: White, Walter. Time and space. New York: London Press, 1982
Step 16. Cite websites
You must write the name of the company or organization, the name of the website or article, the date of its last modification and the full address. In case it has a digital object identifier, you should use it instead of the address. You can mostly find the DOI at the bottom of the web page or at the top near the title information.
- Example: University of California. "History of the University of California". Last modified April 3, 2013,
- It is not necessary to include the access date unless the website you are citing has a publication date. In case you are going to put an access date, it must go at the end of the appointment.
Advice
- Don't forget to include all the sources that you have referenced in your document.
- You should ask your teacher for the style they prefer you use in the essay.