how to write a bibliography in research

How to Write a Bibliography for a Research Paper

Do not try to “wow” your instructor with a long bibliography when your instructor requests only a works cited page. It is tempting, after doing a lot of work to research a paper, to try to include summaries on each source as you write your paper so that your instructor appreciates how much work you did. That is a trap you want to avoid. MLA style, the one that is most commonly followed in high schools and university writing courses, dictates that you include only the works you actually cited in your paper—not all those that you used.

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• If your assignment calls for a bibliography, list all the sources you consulted in your research.
• If your assignment calls for a works cited or references page, include only the sources you quote, summarize, paraphrase, or mention in your paper.
• If your works cited page includes a source that you did not cite in your paper, delete it.
• All in-text citations that you used at the end of quotations, summaries, and paraphrases to credit others for their ideas,words, and work must be accompanied by a cited reference in the bibliography or works cited. These references must include specific information about the source so that your readers can identify precisely where the information came from.The citation entries on a works cited page typically include the author’s name, the name of the article, the name of the publication, the name of the publisher (for books), where it was published (for books), and when it was published.

The good news is that you do not have to memorize all the many ways the works cited entries should be written. Numerous helpful style guides are available to show you the information that should be included, in what order it should appear, and how to format it. The format often differs according to the style guide you are using. The Modern Language Association (MLA) follows a particular style that is a bit different from APA (American Psychological Association) style, and both are somewhat different from the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS). Always ask your teacher which style you should use.

A bibliography usually appears at the end of a paper on its own separate page. All bibliography entries—books, periodicals, Web sites, and nontext sources such radio broadcasts—are listed together in alphabetical order. Books and articles are alphabetized by the author’s last name.

Most teachers suggest that you follow a standard style for listing different types of sources. If your teacher asks you to use a different form, however, follow his or her instructions. Take pride in your bibliography. It represents some of the most important work you’ve done for your research paper—and using proper form shows that you are a serious and careful researcher.

Bibliography Entry for a Book

A bibliography entry for a book begins with the author’s name, which is written in this order: last name, comma, first name, period. After the author’s name comes the title of the book. If you are handwriting your bibliography, underline each title. If you are working on a computer, put the book title in italicized type. Be sure to capitalize the words in the title correctly, exactly as they are written in the book itself. Following the title is the city where the book was published, followed by a colon, the name of the publisher, a comma, the date published, and a period. Here is an example:

Format : Author’s last name, first name. Book Title. Place of publication: publisher, date of publication.

• A book with one author : Hartz, Paula.  Abortion: A Doctor’s Perspective, a Woman’s Dilemma . New York: Donald I. Fine, Inc., 1992.
• A book with two or more authors : Landis, Jean M. and Rita J. Simon.  Intelligence: Nature or Nurture?  New York: HarperCollins, 1998.

Bibliography Entry for a Periodical

A bibliography entry for a periodical differs slightly in form from a bibliography entry for a book. For a magazine article, start with the author’s last name first, followed by a comma, then the first name and a period. Next, write the title of the article in quotation marks, and include a period (or other closing punctuation) inside the closing quotation mark. The title of the magazine is next, underlined or in italic type, depending on whether you are handwriting or using a computer, followed by a period. The date and year, followed by a colon and the pages on which the article appeared, come last. Here is an example:

Format:  Author’s last name, first name. “Title of the Article.” Magazine. Month and year of publication: page numbers.

• Article in a monthly magazine : Crowley, J.E.,T.E. Levitan and R.P. Quinn.“Seven Deadly Half-Truths About Women.”  Psychology Today  March 1978: 94–106.
• Article in a weekly magazine : Schwartz, Felice N.“Management,Women, and the New Facts of Life.”  Newsweek  20 July 2006: 21–22.
• Signed newspaper article : Ferraro, Susan. “In-law and Order: Finding Relative Calm.”  The Daily News  30 June 1998: 73.
• Unsigned newspaper article : “Beanie Babies May Be a Rotten Nest Egg.”  Chicago Tribune  21 June 2004: 12.

Bibliography Entry for a Web Site

For sources such as Web sites include the information a reader needs to find the source or to know where and when you found it. Always begin with the last name of the author, broadcaster, person you interviewed, and so on. Here is an example of a bibliography for a Web site:

Format : Author.“Document Title.” Publication or Web site title. Date of publication. Date of access.

Example : Dodman, Dr. Nicholas. “Dog-Human Communication.”  Pet Place . 10 November 2006.  23 January 2014 < http://www.petplace.com/dogs/dog-human-communication-2/page1.aspx >

After completing the bibliography you can breathe a huge sigh of relief and pat yourself on the back. You probably plan to turn in your work in printed or handwritten form, but you also may be making an oral presentation. However you plan to present your paper, do your best to show it in its best light. You’ve put a great deal of work and thought into this assignment, so you want your paper to look and sound its best. You’ve completed your research paper!

Back to  How To Write A Research Paper .

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / MLA Format / Creating an MLA Bibliography

Creating an MLA Bibliography

If you write a research paper in MLA format, then you will need to include a Works Cited page according to the current 9th edition of the Modern Language Association (MLA) guidelines. Along with citing your sources within the body of your paper, you also need to include full citations of all sources at the end of your paper. The references in a bibliography are formatted in the same way as they would be in a Works Cited page. However, a bibliography refers to all works that you have consulted in your research, even if you did not use their information directly in your paper.

When you use the correct MLA bibliography format, it shows the reader what sources you consulted, makes finding your sources easier for the reader, and gives credibility to your work as a researcher and writer. This MLA sample paper will show you how the bibliography is incorporated into the rest of your paper. We also have a guide on APA reference pages , if you are following APA style in your paper.

Works cited or bibliography?

You may be wondering, what is a bibliography, and how is it different from a Works Cited page? The difference between the two is that while a bibliography refers to any source you consulted to write your research paper, a Works Cited page only includes full citations of the sources you quoted or paraphrased within your paper.

Typically, when someone says, “MLA bibliography” they really mean a Works Cited page, since the MLA format usually uses a Works Cited page instead of a bibliography.

A bibliography in MLA format may also refer to a Works Consulted page. If you used other sources that you did not directly quote or paraphrase within the paper, you will need to create a Works Consulted/Additional Resources page. A Works Consulted page starts on a separate page and follows the Works Cited page. It follows the same formatting guidelines as a Works Cited page, but you will use Works Consulted (or Additional Resources) as the title.

If you’re unsure of what to include in your citations list (works cited, works consulted, or both), ask your instructor. For the rest of this article, we will refer to this page as the MLA bibliography.

MLA bibliography formatting guidelines

These are the formatting rules you need to follow to create your bibliography according to MLA’s current edition guidelines. Your first page(s) will be your Works Cited page(s) and include the references that you directly refer to in your paper. Usually, this is all that is needed. If your instructor wants you to also include the works you consulted but did not include in your paper (more like a bibliography), then add Works Consulted or Additional Resources page for these sources.

• Your MLA Works Cited (and Works Consulted or Additional Resources pages) should begin on a separate page or pages at the end of your essay.
• Your essay should have a header on every page that includes your last name and the page number.
• The last name/page number header should be on the top right of each page with a ½ inch margin from the top of the page.
• One-inch margins.
• Title the page Works Cited (no italicization or quotation marks) unless otherwise instructed. Center the title. The top should look like this:

• Only center the Works Cited title; all citations should be left-justified.
• Double-space citations.
• Do not add an additional space between citations.
• After the first line, use a hanging indent of ½ inch on all additional lines of a citation. The hanging indent should look like this:

• Typically, this is the author’s last name, but sometimes it could be the title of the source if the author’s name is not available.

If you have a Works Consulted or Additional Resources page after your Works Cited page, format it in the same way, but with the title of Works Consulted or Additional Resources instead of Works Cited. Alternatively, your instructor may require a bibliography. If this is the case, all your sources, whether they are cited in your paper are not, are listed on the same page.

MLA citation guidelines

These are the rules you need to follow to create citations for an MLA bibliography. This section contains information on how to correctly use author names, punctuation, capitalization, fonts, page numbers, DOIs, and URLS in the citations on your MLA bibliography.

Author names

After the title Works Cited, the last name of the author of a source should be the first thing to appear on your page.

List the author’s last name followed by a comma, then the first name followed by the middle name or middle initial if applicable, without a comma separating the first and middle names. Add a period after the name.

Rowling, J.K.

Smith, Alexander McCall.

• Do not include titles such as Dr., Mrs., etc. or professional qualifications such as PhD, M.S., etc. with author names.
• Include suffixes such as Jr. or III after the author’s first name. Separate the first name and the suffix by a comma unless the suffix is a numeral. For example, to cite an author named John Smith, Jr., you would type Smith, John, Jr.

Sources with two authors

For a source with two authors, list the author names in your citation in the order they appear on the source, not alphabetically.

Type the last name of the first author listed on the source followed by a comma, then the first author’s first name followed by a comma. Then type the word “and” then list the second author’s first name and last name in the standard order. Follow the second name with a period.

Include middle names or initials and suffixes when applicable according to the guidelines for one author as listed above.

1st Author’s Last Name, First Name, and 2nd Author’s First Name Last Name.

Lutz, Lisa, and David Hayward.

Clark, Mary Higgins, and Alafair Burke.

Sources with three or more authors

For a source with three or more authors, only type the last and first name of the first author listed in the source, followed by a comma and the phrase et al., which is Latin for “and others.” Be sure to always place a period after the al in et al. but never after the et.

1st Author’s Last Name, First Name, et al.

Charaipotra, Sona, et al.

Williams, Beatriz, et al. All the Ways We Said Goodbye . HarperLuxe, 2020.

Organizations and corporations as authors

For sources with organizations or corporations listed as the author, type the name of the corporation in place of an author’s name. If the organization begins with an article like a, an, or the, it should be excluded in the Works Cited entry.

Modern Language Association of America. MLA Handbook . 2016.

*Note: If the organization is listed as both the author and the publisher, begin the citation with the title and include the organization’s name within the publisher field instead. 

For a source with no author listed, simply omit the author’s name and begin the citation with the title of the source. Use the first letter of the title when considering alphabetical order in your MLA bibliography.

Capitalization

Use MLA title case when citing titles of sources.

• Nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and subordinating conjunctions should be capitalized.
• Articles, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions should not be capitalized.

Font formatting

• Italicize the titles of larger works such as magazines and books. Also, italicize database and website names.
• Instead of italicization, use quotation marks around titles of shorter works such as poems, short stories, and articles.
• End all bibliography citations with a period.

Page numbers

Include page numbers in your full citations whenever possible. This helps the reader find the information you cited more quickly than if you just cited the entire source and lends more credibility to your argument. If you cite different pages from the same source within your paper, you should cite the entire source on your MLA bibliography instead of listing all of the page numbers you used.

When including page numbers in a citation, use the abbreviation p. to cite one page and the abbreviation pp. to cite multiple pages with a hyphen between the page numbers.

p. 25 or pp. 16-37

When citing page numbers in MLA, omit the first set of repeated digits.

pp. 365-69, not pp. 365-369

DOIs and URLs

A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is used to locate and identify an online source. While URLs may change or web pages might be edited or updated, a DOI is permanent and therefore more useful in a source citation.

• Use a DOI (digital object identifier) whenever possible. Otherwise use a permalink or URL.
• DOIs should be formatted with “https://doi.org/” before the DOI number.
• Do not include “http://” or “https://” in your URLs.
• As either one will be the last part of your citation, place a period after the DOI or URL. (Note that this period is not part of the DOI or URL.)

Butarbutar, R, et al. “Analyzing of Puzzle Local Culture-Based in Teaching English for Young Learners.” IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science , vol. 343, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/343/1/012208.

Accessed dates

Since the previous 8th edition of the MLA Handbook was published, you do NOT need to list an accessed date for a stable source (e.g., online newspaper article, journal article, photograph, etc.). However, including an access date is good to include when a source does not have a publishing date, and some instructors will request that accessed dates be included for all sources.

If you do include an access date, here’s how to format it:

• Place it at the end of the citation without “http://” or “https://”.
• Write “Accessed” first, followed by the date accessed.
• The date accessed should be formatted as Day Month (abbreviated) Year.

Butarbutar, R, et al. “IOPscience.” IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science , IOP Publishing, 1 Oct. 2019, iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/343/1/012208/meta. Accessed 8 Oct. 2020.

Note: If you choose to list an accessed date after a DOI, the accessed date part of the citation will follow the period after the DOI and will end with a period at the end of the citation

Butarbutar, R, et al. “Analyzing of Puzzle Local Culture-Based in Teaching English for Young Learners.” IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science , vol. 343, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/343/1/012208. Accessed 8 Oct. 2020.

MLA 8 th edition vs MLA 9 th edition

The 9 th edition of the MLA handbook re-introduces guidelines regarding paper formatting (which were not present in the 8 th edition). The guidance in the 9 th addition is consistent with the guidance in previous editions and expands on the formatting of tables, figures/illustrations, and lists. The 9 th edition also offers new guidance in areas like annotated bibliographies, inclusive language, and footnotes/endnotes.

Many of the differences between the 8 th edition and 9 th edition have to do with the formatting of the core elements in reference list entries. Some of the main changes include:

Written by Grace Turney , freelance writer and artist. Grace is a former librarian and has a Master’s degree in Library Science and Information Technology. 

MLA Formatting Guide

MLA Formatting

Annotated Bibliography

Bibliography

• Block Quotes
• et al Usage
• In-text Citations
• Paraphrasing
• Page Numbers
• Sample Paper
• Works Cited
• MLA 8 Updates
• MLA 9 Updates
• View MLA Guide

Citation Examples

• Book Chapter
• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Website (no author)
• View all MLA Examples

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An MLA bibliography is similar to the Works Cited list that you include at the end of your paper. The only difference between a Works Cited list and a bibliography is that for the former, you need to include the entries for only the sources you cited in the text, whereas for the latter you can also include the sources you consulted to write your paper but didn’t directly cite in your writing. MLA generally prefers Works Cited lists to bibliographies.

If your instructor advises you to create an MLA bibliography, follow the same guidelines you would follow for creating an MLA Works Cited list.

The bibliography list appears at the end of the paper, after any endnotes if they are present.

All margins (top, bottom, left, and right) should be set at 1 inch.

Write the running head in the top right of the page at 0.5 inch from the top. Use the running head “Surname Page #.”

The font should be clear enough to read. Use Times New Roman font of size 12 points.

Entries should be double-spaced. If any entry runs over more than a line, indent the subsequent lines of the entry 0.5 inch from the left margin.

Bibliographic entries are arranged alphabetically according to the first item in each entry.

Title your bibliography as “Bibliography.”

Braidotti, Rosi. The Posthuman . Polity, 2013.

Brisini, Travis. “Phytomorphizing Performance: Plant Performance in an Expanded Field.” Text and Performance Quarterly , vol. 39, 2019,            pp. 1–2.

Riccio, Thomas. “Reimagining Yup’ik and Inupiat Performance.” Northwest Theatre Review , vol. 12, no. 1, 1999, pp. 1–30.

General rules for creating an annotated bibliography

The annotation is given after the source entry and is generally about 100-150 words in length. The annotation should be indented 1 inch from the left margin to distinguish it from the hanging indent within the citation entry.

The annotation, in general, should be written as short phrases. However, you may use full sentences as well.

The annotation for each source is usually no longer than one paragraph. However, if multiple paragraphs are included, indent the second and subsequent paragraphs without any extra line space between them.

The annotation provides basic information about the source, but does not include details about the source, quotes from the author, etc. The information can be descriptive (by generally describing what the source covers) or evaluative (by evaluating the source’s usefulness to the argument in your paper).

Example annotated bibliography

The below is an example of an annotated bibliography:

Morritt, Robert D. Beringia: Archaic Migrations into North America . Cambridge Scholars Pub, 2011.

The author studies the migration of cultures from Asia to North America. The connection between the North American Athabaskan language family and Siberia is presented, together with comparisons and examinations of the implications of linguistics from anthropological, archaeological, and folklore perspectives. This book explores the origins of the earliest people in the Americas, including Siberian, Dene, and Navajo Creation myths; linguistic comparisons between Siberian Ket Navajo and Western Apache; and comparisons between indigenous groups that appear to share the same origin.

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• Referencing
• Harvard Style Bibliography | Format & Examples

Harvard Style Bibliography | Format & Examples

Published on 1 May 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 7 November 2022.

In Harvard style , the bibliography or reference list provides full references for the sources you used in your writing.

• A reference list consists of entries corresponding to your in-text citations .
• A bibliography sometimes also lists sources that you consulted for background research, but did not cite in your text.

The two terms are sometimes used interchangeably. If in doubt about which to include, check with your instructor or department.

The information you include in a reference varies depending on the type of source, but it usually includes the author, date, and title of the work, followed by details of where it was published. You can automatically generate accurate references using our free reference generator:

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Table of contents

Formatting a harvard style bibliography, harvard reference examples, referencing sources with multiple authors, referencing sources with missing information, frequently asked questions about harvard bibliographies.

Sources are alphabetised by author last name. The heading ‘Reference list’ or ‘Bibliography’ appears at the top.

Each new source appears on a new line, and when an entry for a single source extends onto a second line, a hanging indent is used:

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

Reference list or bibliography entries always start with the author’s last name and initial, the publication date and the title of the source. The other information required varies depending on the source type. Formats and examples for the most common source types are given below.

• Entire book
• Book chapter
• Translated book
• Edition of a book

Journal articles

• Print journal
• Online-only journal with DOI
• Online-only journal without DOI
• General web page
• Online article or blog
• Social media post

Newspapers and magazines

• Newspaper article
• Magazine article

When a source has up to three authors, list all of them in the order their names appear on the source. If there are four or more, give only the first name followed by ‘ et al. ’:

Sometimes a source won’t list all the information you need for your reference. Here’s what to do when you don’t know the publication date or author of a source.

Some online sources, as well as historical documents, may lack a clear publication date. In these cases, you can replace the date in the reference list entry with the words ‘no date’. With online sources, you still include an access date at the end:

When a source doesn’t list an author, you can often list a corporate source as an author instead, as with ‘Scribbr’ in the above example. When that’s not possible, begin the entry with the title instead of the author:

Though the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, there is a difference in meaning:

• A reference list only includes sources cited in the text – every entry corresponds to an in-text citation .
• A bibliography also includes other sources which were consulted during the research but not cited.

In Harvard referencing, up to three author names are included in an in-text citation or reference list entry. When there are four or more authors, include only the first, followed by ‘ et al. ’

In Harvard style referencing , to distinguish between two sources by the same author that were published in the same year, you add a different letter after the year for each source:

• (Smith, 2019a)
• (Smith, 2019b)

Add ‘a’ to the first one you cite, ‘b’ to the second, and so on. Do the same in your bibliography or reference list .

To create a hanging indent for your bibliography or reference list :

• Highlight all the entries
• Click on the arrow in the bottom-right corner of the ‘Paragraph’ tab in the top menu.
• In the pop-up window, under ‘Special’ in the ‘Indentation’ section, use the drop-down menu to select ‘Hanging’.
• Then close the window with ‘OK’.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2022, November 07). Harvard Style Bibliography | Format & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 29 April 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/referencing/harvard-bibliography/

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Jack Caulfield

Other students also liked, a quick guide to harvard referencing | citation examples, harvard in-text citation | a complete guide & examples, referencing books in harvard style | templates & examples, scribbr apa citation checker.

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How to Write a Bibliography in APA Format

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Emily is a board-certified science editor who has worked with top digital publishing brands like Voices for Biodiversity, Study.com, GoodTherapy, Vox, and Verywell.

• APA Bibliography
• How to Create One
• Why You Need It

Sample Bibliography

An APA format bibliography lists all of the sources that might be used in a paper. A bibliography can be a great tool to help you keep track of information during the research and writing process. In some cases, your instructor may require you to include a bibliography as part of your assignment.

At a Glance

A well-written APA format bibliography can help you keep track of information and sources as you research and write your psychology paper. To create a bibliography, gather up all of the sources that you might use in your paper. Create an APA format reference for each source and then write a brief annotation. Your annotation should be a brief summary of what each reference is about. You can quickly refer to these annotations When writing your paper and determine which to include.

What Is an APA Format Bibliography?

An APA format bibliography is an alphabetical listing of all sources that might be used to write an academic paper, essay, article, or research paper—particularly work that is covering psychology or psychology-related topics. APA format is the official style of the American Psychological Association (APA). This format is used by many psychology professors, students, and researchers.

Even if it is not a required part of your assignment, writing a bibliography can help you keep track of your sources and make it much easier to create your final reference page in proper APA format.

Creating an APA Bibliography

A bibliography is similar in many ways to a reference section , but there are some important differences. While a reference section includes every source that was actually used in your paper, a bibliography may include sources that you considered using but may have dismissed because they were irrelevant or outdated.

Bibliographies can be a great way to keep track of information you might want to use in your paper and to organize the information that you find in different sources. The following are four steps you can follow to create your APA format bibliography.

Start on a New Page

Your working bibliography should be kept separate from the rest of your paper. Start it on a new page, with the title "Bibliography" centered at the top and in bold text. Some people use the title "References" instead, so it's best to check with your professor or instructor about which they prefer you to use.

Gather Your Sources

Compile all the sources you might possibly use in your paper. While you might not use all of these sources in your paper, having a complete list will make it easier later on when you prepare your reference section.

Gathering your sources can be particularly helpful when outlining and writing your paper.

By quickly glancing through your working bibliography, you will be able to get a better idea of which sources will be the most appropriate to support your thesis and main points.

Reference Each Source

Your references should be listed alphabetically by the author’s last name, and they should be double-spaced. The first line of each reference should be flush left, while each additional line of a single reference should be a few spaces to the right of the left margin, which is known as a hanging indent.

The format of each source is as follows for academic journals:

• Last name of first author (followed by their first initial)
• The year the source was published in parentheses
• The title of the source
• The journal that published the source (in italics)
• The volume number, if applicable (in italics)
• The issue number, if applicable
• Page numbers (in parentheses)
• The URL or "doi" in lowercase letters followed by a colon and the doi number, if applicable

The following examples are scholarly articles in academic journals, cited in APA format:

• Kulacaoglu, F., & Kose, S. (2018). Borderline personality disorder (BPD): In the midst of vulnerability, chaos, and awe.  Brain sciences ,  8 (11), 201. doi:10.3390/brainsci8110201
• Cattane, N., Rossi, R., & Lanfredi, M. (2017). Borderline personality disorder and childhood trauma: exploring the affected biological systems and mechanisms.  BMC Psychiatry,   18 (221). doi:10.1186/s12888-017-1383-2

Visit the American Psychological Association's website for more information on citing other types of sources including online media, audiovisual media, and more.

Create an Annotation for Each Source

Normally a bibliography contains only references' information, but in some cases you might decide to create an annotated bibliography. An annotation is a summary or evaluation of the source.

An annotation is a brief description of approximately 150 words describing the information in the source, your evaluation of its credibility, and how it pertains to your topic. Writing one of these for each piece of research will make your writing process faster and easier.

This step helpful in determining which sources to ultimately use in your paper. Your instructor may also require it as part of the assignment so they can assess your thought process and understanding of your topic.

Reasons to Write a Bibliography

One of the biggest reasons to create an APA format bibliography is simply to make the research and writing process easier.

If you do not have a comprehensive list of all of your references, you might find yourself scrambling to figure out where you found certain bits of information that you included in your paper.

A bibliography is also an important tool that your readers can use to access your sources.

While writing an annotated bibliography might not be required for your assignment, it can be a very useful step. The process of writing an annotation helps you learn more about your topic, develop a deeper understanding of the subject, and become better at evaluating various sources of information.

The following is an example of an APA format bibliography by the website EasyBib:

There are many online resources that demonstrate different formats of bibliographies, including the American Psychological Association website . Purdue University's Online Writing Lab also has examples of formatting an APA format bibliography.

Check out this video on their YouTube channel which provides detailed instructions on formatting an APA style bibliography in Microsoft Word.

You can check out the Purdue site for more information on writing an annotated APA bibliography as well.

What This Means For You

If you are taking a psychology class, you may be asked to create a bibliography as part of the research paper writing process. Even if your instructor does not expressly require a bibliography, creating one can be a helpful way to help structure your research and make the writing process more manageable.

For psychology majors , it can be helpful to save any bibliographies you have written throughout your studies so that you can refer back to them later when studying for exams or writing papers for other psychology courses.

American Psychological Association. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association . 7th Edition. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2020.

Masic I. The importance of proper citation of references in biomedical articles.   Acta Inform Med . 2013;21(3):148–155. doi:10.5455/aim.2013.21.148-155

American Psychological Association. How do you format a bibliography in APA Style?

Cornell University Library. How to prepare an annotated bibliography: The annotated bibliography .

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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If you are using Chicago style footnotes or endnotes, you should include a bibliography at the end of your paper that provides complete citation information for all of the sources you cite in your paper. Bibliography entries are formatted differently from notes. For bibliography entries, you list the sources alphabetically by last name, so you will list the last name of the author or creator first in each entry. You should single-space within a bibliography entry and double-space between them. When an entry goes longer than one line, use a hanging indent of .5 inches for subsequent lines. Here’s a link to a sample bibliography that shows layout and spacing . You can find a sample of note format here .

Complete note vs. shortened note

Here’s an example of a complete note and a shortened version of a note for a book:

1. Karen Ho, Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street (Durham: Duke University Press, 2009), 27-35.

1. Karen Ho, Liquidated , 27-35.

Note vs. Bibliography entry

The bibliography entry that corresponds with each note is very similar to the longer version of the note, except that the author’s last and first name are reversed in the bibliography entry. To see differences between note and bibliography entries for different types of sources, check this section of the Chicago Manual of Style .

For Liquidated , the bibliography entry would look like this:

Ho, Karen, Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street . Durham: Duke University Press, 2009.

Citing a source with two or three authors

If you are citing a source with two or three authors, list their names in your note in the order they appear in the original source. In the bibliography, invert only the name of the first author and use “and” before the last named author.

1. Melissa Borja and Jacob Gibson, “Internationalism with Evangelical Characteristics: The Case of Evangelical Responses to Southeast Asian Refugees,” The Review of Faith & International Affairs 17, no. 3 (2019): 80-81, https://doi.org/10.1080/15570274.2019.1643983 .

Shortened note:

1. Borja and Gibson, “Internationalism with Evangelical Characteristics,” 80-81.

Bibliography:

Borja, Melissa, and Jacob Gibson. “Internationalism with Evangelical Characteristics: The Case of Evangelical Responses to Southeast Asian Refugees.” The Review of Faith & International Affairs 17. no. 3 (2019): 80–93. https://doi.org/10.1080/15570274.2019.1643983 .

Citing a source with more than three authors

If you are citing a source with more than three authors, include all of them in the bibliography, but only include the first one in the note, followed by et al. ( et al. is the shortened form of the Latin et alia , which means “and others”).

1. Justine M. Nagurney, et al., “Risk Factors for Disability After Emergency Department Discharge in Older Adults,” Academic Emergency Medicine 27, no. 12 (2020): 1271.

Short version of note:

1. Justine M. Nagurney, et al., “Risk Factors for Disability,” 1271.

Nagurney, Justine M., Ling Han, Linda Leo‐Summers, Heather G. Allore, Thomas M. Gill, and Ula Hwang. “Risk Factors for Disability After Emergency Department Discharge in Older Adults.” Academic Emergency Medicine 27, no. 12 (2020): 1270–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/acem.14088 .

Citing a book consulted online

If you are citing a book you consulted online, you should include a URL, DOI, or the name of the database where you found the book.

1. Karen Ho, Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street (Durham: Duke University Press, 2009), 27-35, https://doi-org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/10.1215/9780822391371 .

Bibliography entry:

Ho, Karen. Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street . Durham: Duke University Press, 2009. https://doi-org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/10.1215/9780822391371 .

Citing an e-book consulted outside of a database

If you are citing an e-book that you accessed outside of a database, you should indicate the format. If you read the book in a format without fixed page numbers (like Kindle, for example), you should not include the page numbers that you saw as you read. Instead, include chapter or section numbers, if possible.

1. Karen Ho, Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street (Durham: Duke University Press, 2009), chap. 2, Kindle.

Ho, Karen. Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street . Durham: Duke University Press, 2009. Kindle.

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How to Write a Bibliography (MLA, APA Examples)

Learn how to easily write a bibliography by following the format outlined in this article.

This resource will help your students properly cite different resources in the bibliography of a research paper, and how to format those citations, for books, encyclopedias, films, websites, and people.

What is a bibliography?

According to Infoplease.com, A bibliography is a list of the types of sources you used to get information for your report. It is included at the end of your report, on the last page (or last few pages).

What are the types of bibliography styles (MLA, APA, etc.)?

The 3 most common bibliography/citation styles are:

• MLA Style: The Modern Language Association works cited page style
• APA Style: The American Psychological Association style
• Chicago Style: The bibliography style defined by the Chicago Manual of Style

We’ll give examples of how to create bibliography entries in various styles further down in this article. 

What sources do you put in a bibliography?

An annotated bibliography should include a reference list of any sources you use in writing a research paper. Any printed sources from which you use a text citation, including books, websites, newspaper articles, journal articles, academic writing, online sources (such as PDFs), and magazines should be included in a reference list. In some cases, you may need or want to cite conversations or interviews, works of art, visual works such as movies, television shows, or documentaries - these (and many others) can also be included in a reference list.

How to get started writing your bibliography

You will find it easier to prepare your MLA, APA, or Chicago annotated bibliography if you keep track of each book, encyclopedia, journal article, webpage or online source you use as you are reading and taking notes. Start a preliminary, or draft, bibliography by listing on a separate sheet of paper all your sources. Note down the full title, author’s last name, place of publication, web address, publisher, and date of publication for each source.

Haven't started your paper yet and need an outline? These sample essay outlines include a research paper outline from an actual student paper.

How to write a bibliography step-by-step (with examples)

General Format: Author (last name first). Title of the book. Publisher, Date of publication.

MLA Style: Sibley, David Allen. What It’s Like to Be a Bird. From Flying to Nesting, Eating to Singing, What Birds Are Doing, and Why. Alfred A. Knopf, 2020.

APA Style: Sibley, D.A. (2020). What It’s Like to Be a Bird. From Flying to Nesting, Eating to Singing, What Birds Are Doing, and Why . Alfred A. Knopf.

Notes: Use periods, not commas, to separate the data in the entry. Use a hanging indent if the entry is longer than one line. For APA style, do not use the full author’s first name.

Websites or webpages:

  MLA Style: The SB Nation Family of Sites. Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs Blog, 2022, www.pensionplanpuppets.com. Accessed 15 Feb. 2022.

APA Style: American Heart Association. (2022, April 11). How to keep your dog’s heart healthy. https://www.heart.org/en/news/2022/04/11/how-to-keep-your-dogs-heart-healthy

Online news article from a newspaper site:

APA Style: Duehren, A. (2022, April 9). Janet Yellen faces challenge to keep pressure on Russia. Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/janet-yellen-faces-challenge-to-keep-pressure-on-russia-while-addressing-global-consequences-11650366000

Print journal articles:

MLA Style: Booch, Grady. "Patterns in Object-Oriented Design." IEEE Software Engineering, vol. 6, no. 6, 2006, pp. 31-50.

APA Style: Booch, G. (2006). Patterns in object-oriented design. IEEE Software Engineering, 6(6), 31–50.

Note: It is suggested that you include a DOI and a webpage address when referencing either a printed journal article, and electronic journal article, or an journal article that appears in both formats. 

MLA Style: Gamma, Eric, and Peter A. Coad. “Exceptions to the Unified Modeling Language in Python Patterns.” IEEE Software Engineering, vol. 2, no. 6, 8 Mar. 2006, pp. 190-194. O’Reilly Software Engineering Library, https://doi.org/10.1006/se.20061. Accessed 26 May 2009.

APA Style: Masters, H., Barron, J., & Chanda, L. (2017). Motivational interviewing techniques for adolescent populations in substance abuse counseling. NAADAC Notes, 7(8), 7–13. https://www.naadac.com/notes/adolescent-techniques

ML:A Style: @Grady_Booch. “That’s a bold leap over plain old battery power cars.” Twitter, 13 Mar. 2013, 12:06 p.m., https://twitter.com/Grady_Booch/status/1516379006727188483.

APA Style: Westborough Library [@WestboroughLib]. (2022, April 12). Calling all 3rd through 5th grade kids! Join us for the Epic Writing Showdown! Winner receives a prize! Space is limited so register, today. loom.ly/ypaTG9Q [Tweet; thumbnail link to article]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/WestboroughLib/status/1516373550415896588.

Print magazine articles:

General format: Author (last name first), "Article Title." Name of magazine. Volume number, (Date): page numbers.

MLA Style: Stiteler, Sharon. "Tracking Red-Breasted Grosbeak Migration." Minnesota Bird Journal, 7 Sept. 2019, pp. 7-11.

APA Style: Jordan, Jennifer, "Filming at the Top of the World." Museum of Science Magazine. Volume 47, No. 1, (Winter 1998): p. 11.

Print newspaper articles:

General format: Author (last name first), "Article Title." Name of newspaper, city, state of publication. (date): edition if available, section, page number(s).

MLA Style: Adelman, Martin. "Augustus Announces Departure from City Manager Post." New York Times, late ed., 15 February 2020, p. A1

APA Style: Adelman, M. (2020, February 15). Augustus announced departure from city manager post. New York Times, A1.

Encyclopedias:

General Format: Encyclopedia Title, Edition Date. Volume Number, "Article Title," page numbers.

MLA Style: “Gorillas.” The Encyclopedia Brittanica. 15th ed. 2010.

APA Style: Encyclopedia Brittanica, Inc. (1997.) Gorillas. In The Encyclopedia Brittanica (15th ed., pp. 50-51). Encyclopedia Brittanica, Inc.

Personal interviews:

General format: Full name (last name first). Personal Interview. (Occupation.) Date of interview.

MLA Style: Smithfield, Joseph. Personal interview. 19 May 2014.

APA Style: APA does not require a formal citation for a personal interview. Published interviews from other sources should be cited accordingly.

Films and movies:

General format: Title, Director, Distributor, Year.

MLA Style: Fury. Directed by David Ayer, performances by Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Bernthal, Sony Pictures, 2014.

APA Style: Ayer, D. (Director). (2014). Fury [Film]. Sony Pictures.

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Reasons for citing sources are based on academic, professional, and cultural values. At the GSD, we cite to promote

• Integrity and honesty by acknowledging the creative and intellectual work of others.
• The pursuit of knowledge by enabling others to locate the materials you used.
• The development of design excellence through research into scholarly conversations related to your subject.

Cite your source whenever you quote, summarize, paraphrase, or otherwise include someone else's

• Words 
• Opinions, thoughts, interpretations, or arguments
• Original research, designs, images, video, etc.

How to Cite 

Citations follow different rules for structure and content depending on which style you use. At the GSD, mostly you will use Chicago or APA style. Often you can choose the style you prefer, but it's good to ask your professor or TA/TF. Whichever style you use, be consistent. We recommend using Zotero , a citation-management tool, to structure your citations for you, but you should always check to make sure the tool captures the correct information in the correct place.

• Chicago Style

 Chicago Style 

Citing print sources.

Footnote - long (first time citing the source)

1. Joseph Rykwert, The Idea of a Town: The Anthropology of Urban Form in Rome, Italy and the Ancient World , (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1976), 35.

Footnote - short (citing the source again)

1. Rykwert, The Idea of a Town , 35.

In-text citation (alternative to footnotes)

(Rykwert 1976, 35)

Bibliography (alphabetical order and hanging indentation)

Rykwert, Joseph. The Idea of a Town: the Anthropology of Urban Form in Rome, Italy and the Ancient World . New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1976.

Chapter 

1. Diane Favro, “The Street Triumphant: The Urban Impact of Roman Triumphal Parades,” in Streets: Critical Perspectives on Public Space , ed. Zeynep Çelik , Diana Favro, and Richard Ingersoll (Berkeley: University of California Press,1994), 153.

1. Favro, “The Street Triumphant,” 156.

In-text citation (called "author-date," an alternative to footnotes)

(Favro 1994, 153)

Bibliography  (alphabetical order and hanging indentation)

Favro, Diane. “The Street Triumphant: The Urban Impact of Roman Triumphal Parades.” In Streets: Critical Perspectives on Public Space, edited by Zeynep Çelik, Diane G. Favro, and Richard Ingersoll, 151-164. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.

Journal Article 

1. Hendrik Dey, “From ‘Street’ to ‘Piazza’: Urban Politics, Public Ceremony, and the Redefinition of platea in Communal Italy and Beyond” Speculum 91, no.4 (October 2016): 919.

1. Dey, “From ‘Street’ to ‘Piazza,’” 932.

Dey, Hendrik. “From ‘Street’ to ‘Piazza’: Urban Politics, Public Ceremony, and the Redefinition of platea in Communal Italy and Beyond.” Speculum 91, no.4 (October 2016): 919-44.

Citing Visual Sources 

Visual representations created by other people, including photographs, maps, drawings, models, graphs, tables, and blueprints, must be cited.  Citations for visual material may be included at the end of a caption or in a list of figures, similar to but usually separate from the main bibliography.

When they are not merely background design, images are labeled as figures and numbered. In-text references to them refer to the figure number. Sometimes you will have a title after the figure number and a brief descriptive caption below it. 

If you choose to include the citation under the caption, format it like a footnote entry. If you would prefer to have a list of figures for citation information, organize them by figure number and use the format of a bibliographic entry. 

The construction of citations for artwork and illustrations is more flexible and variable than textual sources. Here we have provided an example with full bibliographic information. Use your best judgment and remember that the goals are to be consistent and to provide enough information to credit your source and for someone else to find your source.

Some borrowed material in collages may also need to be cited, but the rules are vague and hard to find. Check with your professor about course standards. 

Citing Generative AI

The rules for citing the use of generative AI, both textual and visual, are still evolving. For guidelines on when to cite the use of AI, please refer to the section on Academic Integrity. Here, we will give you suggestions for  how to cite based on what the style guides say and what Harvard University encourages. We again recommend that you to ask your instructors about their expectations for use and citation and to remain consistent in your formatting.

The Chicago Manual of Style currently states that "for most types of writing, you can simply acknowledge the AI tool in your text" with a parenthetical comment stating the use of a specific tool. For example: (Image generated by Midjourney). 

For academic papers or research articles, you should have a numbered footnote or endnote

Footnote - prompt not included in the text of the paper

1. ChatGPT, response to "Suggest three possible responses from community stakeholders to the proposed multi-use development project," OpenAI, March 28, 2024, https://chat.openai.com/chat.

Footnote - prompt included in the text of the paper

1. Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, March 28, 2024, https://chat.oenai.com/chat

Footnote - edited AI-generated text

1. Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, March 28, 2024, edited for clarity, https://chat.oenai.com/chat

In-text citation  (called "author-date," an alternative to footnotes)

(Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI) or (Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, edited for clarity)

Chicago does not encourage including generative AI in a bibliography unless the tool also generates a direct link to the same generated content.

https://www-chicagomanualofstyle-org.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/qanda/data/faq/topics/Documentation/faq0422.html

 APA Style 

In-text citation  

(Rykwert 1976 p. 35)

Footnote  (for supplemental information)

1. From  The idea of a town: The anthropology of urban form in Rome, Italy and the ancient world by Joseph  Rykwert, 1976, New Jersey:  Princeton University Press.

Bibliography/Reference  (alphabetical order and hanging indentation)

Rykwert, J. (1976).  The idea of a town: The anthropology of urban form in Rome, Italy and the ancient world .  Princeton University Press.

In-Text Citation

(Favro   1994 p.153)

Footnote (for supplemental information)

1. From the chapter "The street triumphant: The urban impact of Roman triumphal parades" in  Streets: Critical perspectives on public space,  edited by Zeynep Çelik , Diana Favro, and Richard Ingersoll, 1994, Berkeley: University of California Press.

Favro, D. (1994) “The street triumphant: The Urban Impact of Roman Triumphal Parades.” In Zeynep Çelik, Diane G. Favro, and Richard Ingersoll (Eds.),  Streets: Critical Perspectives on Public Space ( pp.151-164). University of California Press.

(Dey 2016 p.919)

Footnote  (for supplemental material)

1. From the article “From ‘street’ to ‘Piazza’: Urban politics, public ceremony, and the Redefinition of platea in Communal Italy and Beyond” by  Hendrik Dey in   Speculum 91(4), 919.  www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/spc/2016/91/4

Dey, H. (2016). From "street" to "piazza": Urban politics, public ceremony, and the redefinition of platea in communal Italy and beyond.  Speculum 91 (4), 919-44. www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/spc/2016/91/4

Visual representations created by other people, including photographs, maps, drawings, models, graphs, tables, and blueprints, must be cited. In APA style, tables are their own category, and all other visual representations are considered figures. Tables and figures both follow the same basic setup. 

When they are not merely background design, images are labeled as figures and numbered and titled above the image. If needed to clarify the meaning or significance of the figure, a note may be placed below it. In-text references to visual sources refer to the figure number (ex. As shown in Figure 1..."). 

Citations for visual material created by other people may either be included under the figure or note or compiled in a list of figures, similar to but usually separate from the main bibliography.

Figures may take up a whole page or be placed at the top or bottom of the page with a blank double-space below or above it.

If you choose to include the citation under the figure, format it like a bibliographic entry. If you would prefer to have a list of figures for citation information, organize them by figure number and use the format of a bibliographic entry. Here is a detailed example. Some figures will require less bibliographic information, but it is a good practice to include as much as you can.

The construction of citations for artwork and illustrations is more flexible and variable than for textual sources. Here we have provided an example with full bibliographic information. Use your best judgment and remember that the goals are to be consistent and to provide enough information to credit your source and for someone else to find your source.

The APA style team currently says to "describe how you used the tool in your Methods section or in a comparable section of your paper," perhaps the introduction for literature reviews and response papers. In your paper, state the prompt followed by the resulting generated text. Cite generative AI use according to the rules you would use for citing an algorithm. Include the URL if it leads directly to the same generated material; otherwise, the URL is optional.

(OpenAI, 2024) 

Footnote   (for supplemental material)

APA does not yet provide a structure or example for a footnote. If you need to mention generative AI in a footnote, stay as consistent with formatting as possible.

OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

These links take you to external resources for further research on citation styles.

• Chicago Manual of Style 17th Edition Online access to the full manual through Hollis with a quick guide, Q&A, video tutorials, and more.
• CMOS Shop Talk: How Do I Format a List of Figures? A brief description of how to format a list of figures with an attached sample document.
• Documenting and Citing Images in Chicago A Research guide from USC with nice examples of images with citations.
• Harvard Guide to Citing Sources A guide from Harvard Libraries on citing sources in Chicago style.
• A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers A Chicago manual specifically for students with clear and detailed information about citing for papers rather than publications.
• Chicago Manual of Style Q&A Citing Generative Artificial Intelligence
• APA Style Common Reference Examples A list of sample references organized by type.
• APA Style Manual 7th Edition Online access to the full APA Style Manual (scanned) through Hollis.
• APA Style Sample Papers Links to sample papers that model how to create citations in APA.
• Formatting Checklist This page is a quick guide to all kinds of formatting, from the title page to the bibliography, with links to more detailed instructions.
• Harvard Guide to Citing Sources A guide from Harvard Libraries on citing sources in APA style.
• Journal Article References This page contains reference examples for journal articles.
• In-Text Citations in APA Style A place to learn more about rules for citing sources in your text.
• Tables and Figures This page leads to explanations about how to format tables and figures as well as examples of both.
• How to Cite ChatGPT Here are the APA's current rules for citing generative AI and ChatGPT in particular.
• MetaLAB AI Code of Conduct A proposed code of conduct generated by a collaborative of Harvard faculty and students.
• << Previous: Academic Integrity
• Next: Fair Use, Permissions, and Copyright >>
• Last Updated: Apr 30, 2024 4:28 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.harvard.edu/gsd/write

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How To Write a Bibliography (Three Styles, Plus Examples)

Give credit where credit is due.

Writing a research paper involves a lot of work. Students need to consult a variety of sources to gather reliable information and ensure their points are well supported. Research papers include a bibliography, which can be a little tricky for students. Learn how to write a bibliography in multiple styles and find basic examples below.

IMPORTANT: Each style guide has its own very specific rules, and they often conflict with one another. Additionally, each type of reference material has many possible formats, depending on a variety of factors. The overviews shown here are meant to guide students in writing basic bibliographies, but this information is by no means complete. Students should always refer directly to the preferred style guide to ensure they’re using the most up-to-date formats and styles.

What is a bibliography?

When you’re researching a paper, you’ll likely consult a wide variety of sources. You may quote some of these directly in your work, summarize some of the points they make, or simply use them to further the knowledge you need to write your paper. Since these ideas are not your own, it’s vital to give credit to the authors who originally wrote them. This list of sources, organized alphabetically, is called a bibliography.

A bibliography should include all the materials you consulted in your research, even if you don’t quote directly from them in your paper. These resources could include (but aren’t limited to):

• Books and e-books
• Periodicals like magazines or newspapers
• Online articles or websites
• Primary source documents like letters or official records

Bibliography vs. References

These two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but they actually have different meanings. As noted above, a bibliography includes all the materials you used while researching your paper, whether or not you quote from them or refer to them directly in your writing.

A list of references only includes the materials you cite throughout your work. You might use direct quotes or summarize the information for the reader. Either way, you must ensure you give credit to the original author or document. This section can be titled “List of Works Cited” or simply “References.”

Your teacher may specify whether you should include a bibliography or a reference list. If they don’t, consider choosing a bibliography, to show all the works you used in researching your paper. This can help the reader see that your points are well supported, and allow them to do further reading on their own if they’re interested.

Bibliography vs. Citations

Citations refer to direct quotations from a text, woven into your own writing. There are a variety of ways to write citations, including footnotes and endnotes. These are generally shorter than the entries in a reference list or bibliography. Learn more about writing citations here.

What does a bibliography entry include?

Depending on the reference material, bibliography entries include a variety of information intended to help a reader locate the material if they want to refer to it themselves. These entries are listed in alphabetical order, and may include:

• Author/s or creator/s
• Publication date
• Volume and issue numbers
• Publisher and publication city
• Website URL

These entries don’t generally need to include specific page numbers or locations within the work (except for print magazine or journal articles). That type of information is usually only needed in a footnote or endnote citation.

What are the different bibliography styles?

In most cases, writers use one of three major style guides: APA (American Psychological Association), MLA (Modern Language Association), or The Chicago Manual of Style . There are many others as well, but these three are the most common choices for K–12 students.

Many teachers will state their preference for one style guide over another. If they don’t, you can choose your own preferred style. However, you should also use that guide for your entire paper, following their recommendations for punctuation, grammar, and more. This will ensure you are consistent throughout.

Below, you’ll learn how to write a simple bibliography using each of the three major style guides. We’ve included details for books and e-books, periodicals, and electronic sources like websites and videos. If the reference material type you need to include isn’t shown here, refer directly to the style guide you’re using.

APA Style Bibliography and Examples

Source: Verywell Mind

Technically, APA style calls for a list of references instead of a bibliography. If your teacher requires you to use the APA style guide , you can limit your reference list only to items you cite throughout your work.

How To Write a Bibliography (References) Using APA Style

Here are some general notes on writing an APA reference list:

• Title your bibliography section “References” and center the title on the top line of the page.
• Do not center your references; they should be left-aligned. For longer items, subsequent lines should use a hanging indent of 1/2 inch.
• Include all types of resources in the same list.
• Alphabetize your list by author or creator, last name first.
• Do not spell out the author/creator’s first or middle name; only use their initials.
• If there are multiple authors/creators, use an ampersand (&) before the final author/creator.
• Place the date in parentheses.
• Capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle, unless the word would otherwise be capitalized (proper names, etc.).
• Italicize the titles of books, periodicals, or videos.
• For websites, include the full site information, including the http:// or https:// at the beginning.

Books and E-Books APA Bibliography Examples

For books, APA reference list entries use this format (only include the publisher’s website for e-books).

Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Publication date). Title with only first word capitalized . Publisher. Publisher’s website

• Wynn, S. (2020). City of London at war 1939–45 . Pen & Sword Military. https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/City-of-London-at-War-193945-Paperback/p/17299

Periodical APA Bibliography Examples

For journal or magazine articles, use this format. If you viewed the article online, include the URL at the end of the citation.

Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Publication date). Title of article. Magazine or Journal Title (Volume number) Issue number, page numbers. URL

• Bell, A. (2009). Landscapes of fear: Wartime London, 1939–1945. Journal of British Studies (48) 1, 153–175. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25482966

Here’s the format for newspapers. For print editions, include the page number/s. For online articles, include the full URL.

Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year, Month Date) Title of article. Newspaper title. Page number/s. URL

• Blakemore, E. (2022, November 12) Researchers track down two copies of fossil destroyed by the Nazis.  The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/11/12/ichthyosaur-fossil-images-discovered/

Electronic APA Bibliography Examples

For articles with a specific author on a website, use this format.

Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year, Month Date). Title . Site name. URL

• Wukovits, J. (2023, January 30). A World War II survivor recalls the London Blitz . British Heritage . https://britishheritage.com/history/world-war-ii-survivor-london-blitz

When an online article doesn’t include a specific author or date, list it like this:

Title . (Year, Month Date). Site name. Retrieved Month Date, Year, from URL

• Growing up in the Second World War . (n.d.). Imperial War Museums. Retrieved May 12, 2023, from https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/growing-up-in-the-second-world-war

When you need to list a YouTube video, use the name of the account that uploaded the video, and format it like this:

Name of Account. (Upload year, month day). Title [Video]. YouTube. URL

• War Stories. (2023, January 15). How did London survive the Blitz during WW2? | Cities at war: London | War stories [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/uwY6JlCvbxc

For more information on writing APA bibliographies, see the APA Style Guide website.

APA Bibliography (Reference List) Example Pages

Source: Simply Psychology

More APA example pages:

• Western Australia Library Services APA References Example Page
• Ancilla College APA References Page Example
• Scribbr APA References Page Example

MLA Style Bibliography Examples

Source: PressBooks

MLA style calls for a Works Cited section, which includes all materials quoted or referred to in your paper. You may also include a Works Consulted section, including other reference sources you reviewed but didn’t directly cite. Together, these constitute a bibliography. If your teacher requests an MLA Style Guide bibliography, ask if you should include Works Consulted as well as Works Cited.

How To Write a Bibliography (Works Cited and Works Consulted) in MLA Style

For both MLA Works Cited and Works Consulted sections, use these general guidelines:

• Start your Works Cited list on a new page. If you include a Works Consulted list, start that on its own new page after the Works Cited section.
• Center the title (Works Cited or Works Consulted) in the middle of the line at the top of the page.
• Align the start of each source to the left margin, and use a hanging indent (1/2 inch) for the following lines of each source.
• Alphabetize your sources using the first word of the citation, usually the author’s last name.
• Include the author’s full name as listed, last name first.
• Capitalize titles using the standard MLA format.
• Leave off the http:// or https:// at the beginning of a URL.

Books and E-Books MLA Bibliography Examples

For books, MLA reference list entries use this format. Add the URL at the end for e-books.

Last Name, First Name Middle Name. Title . Publisher, Date. URL

• Wynn, Stephen. City of London at War 1939–45 . Pen & Sword Military, 2020. www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/City-of-London-at-War-193945-Paperback/p/17299

Periodical MLA Bibliography Examples

Here’s the style format for magazines, journals, and newspapers. For online articles, add the URL at the end of the listing.

For magazines and journals:

Last Name, First Name. “Title: Subtitle.” Name of Journal , volume number, issue number, Date of Publication, First Page Number–Last Page Number.

• Bell, Amy. “Landscapes of Fear: Wartime London, 1939–1945.” Journal of British Studies , vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 153–175. www.jstor.org/stable/25482966

When citing newspapers, include the page number/s for print editions or the URL for online articles.

Last Name, First Name. “Title of article.” Newspaper title. Page number/s. Year, month day. Page number or URL

• Blakemore, Erin. “Researchers Track Down Two Copies of Fossil Destroyed by the Nazis.” The Washington Post. 2022, Nov. 12. www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/11/12/ichthyosaur-fossil-images-discovered/

Electronic MLA Bibliography Examples

Last Name, First Name. Year. “Title.” Month Day, Year published. URL

• Wukovits, John. 2023. “A World War II Survivor Recalls the London Blitz.” January 30,   2023. https://britishheritage.com/history/world-war-ii-survivor-london-blitz

Website. n.d. “Title.” Accessed Day Month Year. URL.

• Imperial War Museum. n.d. “Growing Up in the Second World War.” Accessed May 9, 2023. https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/growing-up-in-the-second-world-war.

Here’s how to list YouTube and other online videos.

Creator, if available. “Title of Video.” Website. Uploaded by Username, Day Month Year. URL.

• “How did London survive the Blitz during WW2? | Cities at war: London | War stories.” YouTube . Uploaded by War Stories, 15 Jan. 2023. youtu.be/uwY6JlCvbxc.

For more information on writing MLA style bibliographies, see the MLA Style website.

MLA Bibliography (Works Cited) Example Pages

Source: The Visual Communication Guy

More MLA example pages:

• Writing Commons Sample Works Cited Page
• Scribbr MLA Works Cited Sample Page
• Montana State University MLA Works Cited Page

Chicago Manual of Style Bibliography Examples

The Chicago Manual of Style (sometimes called “Turabian”) actually has two options for citing reference material : Notes and Bibliography and Author-Date. Regardless of which you use, you’ll need a complete detailed list of reference items at the end of your paper. The examples below demonstrate how to write that list.

How To Write a Bibliography Using The Chicago Manual of Style

Source: South Texas College

Here are some general notes on writing a Chicago -style bibliography:

• You may title it “Bibliography” or “References.” Center this title at the top of the page and add two blank lines before the first entry.
• Left-align each entry, with a hanging half-inch indent for subsequent lines of each entry.
• Single-space each entry, with a blank line between entries.
• Include the “http://” or “https://” at the beginning of URLs.

Books and E-Books Chicago Manual of Style Bibliography Examples

For books, Chicago -style reference list entries use this format. (For print books, leave off the information about how the book was accessed.)

Last Name, First Name Middle Name. Title . City of Publication: Publisher, Date. How e-book was accessed.

• Wynn, Stephen. City of London at War 1939–45 . Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military, 2020. Kindle edition.

Periodical Chicago Manual of Style Bibliography Examples

For journal and magazine articles, use this format.

Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. “Title: Subtitle.” Name of Journal , Volume Number, issue number, First Page Number–Last Page Number. URL.

• Bell, Amy. 2009. “Landscapes of Fear: Wartime London, 1939–1945.” Journal of British Studies, 48 no. 1, 153–175. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25482966.

When citing newspapers, include the URL for online articles.

Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. “Title: Subtitle.” Name of Newspaper , Month day, year. URL.

• Blakemore, Erin. 2022. “Researchers Track Down Two Copies of Fossil Destroyed by the Nazis.” The Washington Post , November 12, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/11/12/ichthyosaur-fossil-images-discovered/.

Electronic Chicago Manual of Style Bibliography Examples

Last Name, First Name Middle Name. “Title.” Site Name . Year, Month Day. URL.

• Wukovits, John. “A World War II Survivor Recalls the London Blitz.” British Heritage. 2023, Jan. 30. britishheritage.com/history/world-war-ii-survivor-london-blitz.

“Title.” Site Name . URL. Accessed Day Month Year.

• “Growing Up in the Second World War.” Imperial War Museums . www.iwm.org.uk/history/growing-up-in-the-second-world-war. Accessed May 9, 2023.

Creator or Username. “Title of Video.” Website video, length. Month Day, Year. URL.

• War Stories. “How Did London Survive the Blitz During WW2? | Cities at War: London | War Stories.” YouTube video, 51:25. January 15, 2023. https://youtu.be/uwY6JlCvbxc.

For more information on writing Chicago -style bibliographies, see the Chicago Manual of Style website.

Chicago Manual of Style Bibliography Example Pages

Source: Chicago Manual of Style

More Chicago example pages:

• Scribbr Chicago Style Bibliography Example
• Purdue Online Writing Lab CMOS Bibliography Page
• Bibcitation Sample Chicago Bibliography

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Bibliography and Historical Research

Introduction.

• National Bibliography
• Personal Bibliography
• Corporate Bibliography
• Subject Bibliography
• Searching the Catalog for Bibliographies
• Browsing the Catalog for Bibliographies
• Other Tools for Finding Bibliographies
• Return to HPNL Website

Ask a Librarian

This guide created by Geoffrey Ross, May 4, 2017.

A bibliography is a list of documents, usually published documents like books and articles. This type of bibliography is more accurately called "enumerative bibliography". An enumerative bibliography will attempt to be as comprehensive as possible, within whatever parameters established by the bibliographer.

Bibliographies will list both secondary and primary sources. They are perhaps most valuable to historians for identifying primary sources. (They are still useful for finding secondary sources, but increasingly historians rely on electronic resources, like article databases, to locate secondary sources.)

Think of a bibliography as a guide to the source base for a specific field of inquiry. A high quality bibliography will help you understand what kinds of sources are available, but also what kinds of sources are not available (either because they were never preserved, or because they were never created in the first place).

Take for example the following bibliography:

• British Autobiographies: An Annotated Bibliography of British Autobiographies Published or Written before 1951 by William Matthews Call Number: 016.920041 M43BR Publication Date: 1955

Like many bibliographies, this one includes an introduction or prefatory essay that gives a bibliographic overview of the topic. If you were hoping to use autobiographies for a paper on medieval history, the following information from the preface would save you from wasting your time in a fruitless search:

The essay explains that autobiography does not become an important historical source until the early modern period:

Finally, the essay informs us that these early modern autobiographies are predominantly religious in nature--a useful piece of information if we were hoping to use them as evidence of, for example, the early modern textile trade:

All bibliographies are organized differently, but the best include indexes that help you pinpoint the most relevant entries.

A smart researcher will also use the index to obtain an overview of the entire source base: the index as a whole presents a broad outline of the available sources--the extent of available sources, as well as the the strengths and weaknesses of the source base. Browsing the subject index, if there is one, is often an excellent method of choosing a research topic because it enables you quickly to rule out topics that cannot be researched due to lack of primary sources.

The index to British Autobiographies , for example, tells me that I can find many autobiographies that document British social clubs (like White's and Boodle's), especially from the 19th century:

Unlike indexes you might be familiar with from non-fiction books, the indexes in bibliographies usually reference specific entries, not page numbers.

A bibliography's index will often help guide you systematically through the available sources, as in this entry which prompts you to look under related index entries for even more sources:

There are four main types of enumerative bibliography used for historical research:

Click here to learn more about bibliography as a discipline .

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• Last Updated: Jan 4, 2023 2:21 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.illinois.edu/bibliography

• USC Libraries
• Research Guides

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper

Bibliography.

• Purpose of Guide
• Design Flaws to Avoid
• Independent and Dependent Variables
• Glossary of Research Terms
• Reading Research Effectively
• Narrowing a Topic Idea
• Broadening a Topic Idea
• Extending the Timeliness of a Topic Idea
• Academic Writing Style
• Applying Critical Thinking
• Choosing a Title
• Making an Outline
• Paragraph Development
• Research Process Video Series
• Executive Summary
• The C.A.R.S. Model
• Background Information
• The Research Problem/Question
• Theoretical Framework
• Citation Tracking
• Content Alert Services
• Evaluating Sources
• Primary Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Tiertiary Sources
• Scholarly vs. Popular Publications
• Qualitative Methods
• Quantitative Methods
• Insiderness
• Using Non-Textual Elements
• Limitations of the Study
• Common Grammar Mistakes
• Writing Concisely
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Footnotes or Endnotes?
• Further Readings
• Generative AI and Writing
• USC Libraries Tutorials and Other Guides

In addition to the sources cited in the individual text boxes of this writing guide, listed below are books about how to effectively write and organize a college-level research paper or dissertation [which frequently have good advice on writing, regardless of their purpose]. Enter the title of the book in the USC Libraries' search engine to check the availability of these or any other books on college-level writing and research. If the library does not own a particular title, you can request to borrow the book free of charge from the USC Libraries' interlibrary loan department .

• Abbott, Andrew. Digital Paper: A Manual for Research and Writing with Library and Internet Materials . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2014.
• Anders, Marian. The Practical Grammar Handbook for College Writers . 2nd edition. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2015.
• Aveyard, Helen. Doing a Literature Review in Health and Social Care: A Practical Guide . 3rd edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2014.
• Axelrod, Rise B. and Charles Raymond Cooper. The St. Martin's Guide to Writing . 10th edition. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013.
• Badke, William. Research Strategies: Finding Your Way through the Information Fog . 5th edition. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse, LLC, 2014.
• Ballenger, Bruce P. The Curious Researcher: A Guide to Writing Research Papers . 8th edition. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2015.
• Barnet, Sylvan, Pat Bellanca, and Marcia Stubbs. A Short Guide to College Writing . 5th edition. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2013.
• Becker, Lucinda. Writing Successful Reports and Dissertations . Los Angeles, CA: Sage, 2014.
• Birkenstein, Cathy and Gerald Graff. “They Say/I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing . 4th edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2018.
• Cahn, Steven M. and Victor Cahn. Polishing Your Prose: How to Turn First Drafts Into Finished Work . New York: Columbia University Press, 2013.

Carter, Caron, editor. Successful Dissertations: The Complete Guide for Education, Childhood and Early Childhood Studies Students . New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2018.

• Channell, Carolyn. Engaging Questions: A Guide to Writing . 2nd edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2016.
• Cioffi, Frank L. The Imaginative Argument: A Practical Manifesto for Writers . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017.
• Clark, Roy Peter. Help! for Writers: 210 Solutions to the Problems Every Writer Faces . New York: Little, Brown, 2011.
• Clouse, Barbara Fine. A Troubleshooting Guide for Writers: Strategies and Process . 7th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2013.
• Cottrell, Stella. Dissertations and Project Reports: A Step by Step Guide . Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
• Cutts, Martin. Oxford Guide to Plain English . 4th edition. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2013.
• Eby, Erika. The College Student's Guide to Writing a Great Research Paper: 101 Easy Tips and Tricks to Make Your Work Stand Out . Ocala, FL: Atlantic Pub. Group, 2012.
• Edwards, Mark. Writing in Sociology . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2014.
• Evans, David, Paul Gruba, and Justin Zobel. How to Write a Better Thesis . 3rd edition. Melbourne, Australia: Melbourne University. Publishing, 2011.
• Faigley, Lester. Writing: A Guide for College and Beyond . 4th edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Higher Ed, 2016.
• Fiske, Robert Hartwell. To the Point: A Dictionary of Concise Writing . New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2014.

Floyd, Randy G., editor. Publishing in School Psychology and Related Fields: An Insider's Guide . New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, 2018.

• Gelman, Howard. Everyone Can Write: A Guide to Get You Started . Wollombi, NSW, Australia: Exisle Publishing, 2014.
• Gill, Charlene. Essential Writing Skills for College and Beyond . Cincinnati, OH: Writer's Digest Books, 2014.
• Giltrow, Janet, Richard Gooding, Daniel Burgoyne, and Marlene Sawatsky. Academic Writing: An Introduction . 3rd edition. Tonawanda, NY: Broadview Press, 2014.
• Gibson, Twyla, and Mark Lipton. Research, Write, Create: Connecting Scholarship and Digital Media . Ontario, Canada: Oxford University Press, 2014.
• Glaser, Joe. Understanding Style: Practical Ways to Improve Your Writing . 3rd edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
• Goodson, Patricia. Becoming an Academic Writer: 50 Exercises for Paced, Productive, and Powerful Writing . 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2016.

Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birkenstein. "They Say / I Say": The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing . New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2017.

• Hacker, Diana and Nancy Sommers. Rules for Writers . 9th edition. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2018.
• Hart, Chris. Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Research Imagination . 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2018.
• Harvey, Michael. The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing . Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing, 2013.
• Hjortshoj, Keith. The Transition to College Writing . Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009.
• Howard, Rebecca Moore. Writing Matters: A Handbook for Writing and Research . 2nd edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2013.
• Johnson, William A. A Criminal Justice Student's Writer's Manual . 6th edition. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2015.
• Johnson Jr, William A., Gregory M. Scott, and Stephen M. Garrison. The Sociology Student Writer's Manual and Reader's Guide . 7th edition. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2017.
• Joyner, Randy L., William A. Rouse, and Allan A. Glatthorn. Writing the Winning Thesis or Dissertation: A Step-by-step Guide . 3rd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2013.
• Kirszner, Laurie G. and Stephen R. Mandell. Patterns for College Writing: A Rhetorical Reader and Guide . 12th edition. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2012.
• Koerber, Duncan and Guy Allen. Clear, Precise, Direct: Strategies for Writing . Ontario, Canada: Oxford University Press, 2015.
• Langan, John. Exploring Writing: Paragraphs and Essays . 3rd edition. Dubuque, IA: McGraw-Hill, 2013.
• Lee, Kooi Cheng. Effective College Writing: A Process-Genre Approach . 2nd edition. Singapore: McGraw-Hill, 2009.
• Lerych, Lynne and Allison DeBoer Criswell. Everything You Need to Know about College Writing . Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2016.
• Lester, James D. and James D. Lester. Writing Research Papers: A Complete Guide . 14th edition. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2012.
• Lindemann, Kurt. Composing Research, Communicating Results: Writing the Communication Research Paper . Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2017.
• Marsen, Sky. Professional Writing . 3rd edition. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
• McMillan, Kathleen and Jonathan Weyers. How to Improve Your Critical Thinking and Reflective Skills . Harlow, UK: Pearson Education Limited, 2013.
• McNiff, Jean. Writing Up Your Action Research Project . New York: Routledge, 2015.
• Miller, Scott A. Writing in Psychology . New York: Routledge, 2014.
• Muller, Jake. Writing in the Social Sciences: A Guide for Term Papers and Book Reviews . 2nd edition. Ontario, Canada: Oxford University Press Canada, 2015.
• Northey, Margot, Dianne Draper, and David B. Knight. Making Sense: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing: Geography and Environmental Sciences . 6th edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
• Oliver, Paul. Writing Your Thesis . 3rd edition. London: Sage, 2013.
• Parsons, Tony, and Peter G. Knight. How to Do Your Dissertation in Geography and Related Disciplines . New York: Routledge, 2015.
• Pyrczak, Fred. Writing Empirical Research Reports: A Basic Guide for Students of the Social and Behavioral Sciences . 8th edition. Glendale, CA: Pyrczak Publishing, 2014.
• Raimes, Ann and Susan K. Miller-Cochran. Keys for Writers . 7th edition. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Publishing, 2014.
• Reinking, James A. Strategies for Successful Writing: A Rhetoric, Research Guide, Reader, and Handbook . 1oth edition. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2014.
• Reynolds, Nedra and Elizabeth Davis. Portfolio Keeping: A Guide for Students. 3rd edition. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013.
• Ridley, Diana. The Literature Review: A Step-by-step Guide for Students . 2nd edition. Los Angeles, CA: Sage, 2012.
• Roen, Duane, Gregory Glau, and Barry Maid. The McGraw-Hill Guide: Writing for College, Writing for Life . 4th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2018.
• Rudestam, Kjell Erik and Rae R. Newton. Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process . 4th edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2014.
• Scott, Gregory M. and Stephen M. Garrison. The Political Science Student Writer's Manual and Reader's Guide . 8th edition. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2017.
• Spencer, Linda. Writing Well in the 21st Century: The Five Essentials . Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2014.
• Starr, Douglas Perret and Deborah Williams Dunsford. Working the Story: A Guide to Reporting and News Writing for Journalists and Public Relations Professionals . Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2014.
• Szuchman, Lenore T. Writing with Style: APA Style Made Easy . 6th edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2014.
• Thurman, Susan and Larry Shea. The Only Grammar Book You'll Ever Need: A One-Stop Source for Every Writing Assignment . Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2015.
• Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers . 9th edition. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2018.
• Wallwork, Adrian. English for Research: Usage, Style, and Grammar . New York: Springer Science and Business Media, 2012.
• Wang, Gabe T. and Keumjae Park. Student Research and Report Writing: From Topic Selection to the Complete Paper . Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell, 2016.
• Warner, John. The Writer's Practice: Building Confidence in Your Non-Fiction Writing . New York: Penguin/Random House, 2019.
• Watt, Jane. Report Writing for Social Workers . Los Angeles, CA: Sage, 2012.
• Wyrick, Jean. Steps to Writing Well . 12th edition. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2014.
• Wyse, Dominic and Kate Cowan. The Good Writing Guide for Education Students . 4th edition. London: Sage, 2017.
• Yagoda, Ben. How to Not Write Bad: The Most Common Writing Problems and the Best Ways to Avoid Them . New York: Riverhead Books, 2013.
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How to Create a Bibliography

• First Online: 01 October 2023

Cite this chapter

• Rohan Reddy 4 ,
• Samuel Sorkhi 4 ,
• Saager Chawla 4 &
• Mahadevan Raj Rajasekaran 5  

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This chapter describes the fundamental principles and practices of referencing sources in scientific writing and publishing. Understanding plagiarism and improper referencing of the source material is paramount to producing original work that contains an authentic voice. Citing references helps authors to avoid plagiarism, give credit to the original author, and allow potential readers to refer to the legitimate sources and learn more information. Furthermore, quality references serve as an invaluable resource that can enlighten future research in a field. This chapter outlines fundamental aspects of referencing as well as how these sources are formatted as per recommended citation styles. Appropriate referencing is an important tool that can be utilized to develop the credibility of the author and the arguments presented. Additionally, online software can be useful in helping the author organize their sources and promote proper collaboration in scientific writing.

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Reddy, R., Sorkhi, S., Chawla, S., Rajasekaran, M.R. (2023). How to Create a Bibliography. In: Jagadeesh, G., Balakumar, P., Senatore, F. (eds) The Quintessence of Basic and Clinical Research and Scientific Publishing. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1284-1_39

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How to Write a Bibliography for a Research Paper: Guide & Samples

A bibliography is undoubtedly one of the most essential parts of every research paper. A research paper without a bibliography equals poorly conducted research. As such, the importance of a bibliography in a research paper cannot be overemphasized.

To produce well-constructed research, you must consult other authors and use their materials to support your argument. This is the only way to give these authors their credit; by listing them out in your bibliography.

Acknowledging the sources used in writing the topic is an effective approach to avoiding plagiarism in your research. It is also a great way to provide and inform other scholars with sources they may not be aware of. This article seeks to provide the format of bibliography and how to write a good bibliography for your research paper.

What Is a Bibliography in a Research Paper?

Simply put, a bibliography is a list of works used in writing a research paper. Every research paper must contain a list of sources the author used in preparing the research paper. Your source can range from books to scholarly papers, speeches, private records, interviews, letters, websites, and other sources.

Your research paper was not created in a vacuum; you must have consulted other authors or sourced to create enriched content. Therefore, at the end of your research, you must attach a list of all the sources used.

How to Write Bibliography for Research Paper

Writing a bibliography isn’t so hard; all you need is a list of sources used and a format for documenting them. To make things easier for you, prepare a draft comprising all of the sources you must have used. Ensure you include the book’s full title, the author, place of publication, publication date, and publisher. All sources must be listed out alphabetically using the authors’ names.

It is also important to note that there are different formats for writing a bibliography. As such, you must decide which format to employ in your research paper. You can format your work in Modern Language Association (MLA) format, American Psychological Association (APA), or Chicago Manual of Style (CMS). Regardless of which you choose, ensure that it is done correctly.

How to Format a Bibliography

Once you have an idea of how to format a bibliography, most of the work is completed. However, when writing it you need to pay close attention to each format and its content to avoid mixing them up. For printed sources, the bibliography of a research paper should provide the following:

• Author’s name
• Title of publication (provide the title of the article if it’s a journal, magazine, or encyclopedia)
• Date of publication
• Place of Publication of a book
• The publishing house of a book
• Volume number of magazine or encyclopedia
• The page numbers

To document sources from a website, you need to document the following:

• The author or editor’s name if there’s any
• Title of the page
• The organization of the webpage
• The URL of the website
• The date the information was gotten from the website

The common formats for writing a bibliography in a research paper are MLA and APA style. A bibliography is known as “Works Cited” in MLA and on the other hand, it is called “References List” in APA. Though both formats contain similar information about the sources used, there are still slight differences in formatting style. Here’s  what MLA and APA bibliography styles should look like.

How to Write a Bibliography APA

Your research paper’s bibliography must be attached at the end of it with the tag “References” at the center. In addition to this, you need to pay attention to the basics of APA style, such as capitalization, abbreviation, punctuation, underlining or italics, hanging indentation, and others. Here’s a research paper bibliography example in APA style:

Author’s last name, first initial. (Publication date). Book title . City of Publication: Publishing company.

• For encyclopedia:

Author’s last name, first initial. (Date). Title of Article. Title of Encyclopedia (Volumes, pages). City of Publication: Publishing Company.

• For magazine and newspaper articles:

Author’s last name, first initial. (Publication Date). Article title. Periodical title, Volume number (issue number if there’s any), page numbers.

How to Write a Bibliography MLA

Bibliography in MLA format is called “Works cited” and must be arranged in alphabetical order according to the author’s name. Here’s the required format for MLA style for varying sources:

“Author’s last name, first name. Book title. Publication City: Publishing company, publication date.”

• Encyclopedia & dictionary:

“Author’s last name, first name. “Title of Article.” Encyclopedia’s Title. Date.”

• Magazine & newspaper:

“Author’s last name, first name. “Article title.” Periodical title volume Date: inclusive pages.”

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How to Write a Research Paper: Annotated Bibliography

• Anatomy of a Research Paper
• Developing a Research Focus
• Background Research Tips
• Searching Tips
• Scholarly Journals vs. Popular Journals
• Thesis Statement
• Annotated Bibliography
• Citing Sources
• Evaluating Sources
• Literature Review
• Academic Integrity
• Scholarship as Conversation
• Understanding Fake News
• Data, Information, Knowledge

What is an Annotated Bibliography?

UMary Writing Center

Check out the resources available from the  Writing Center . 

Write an Annotated Bibliography

What is an annotated bibliography?

It is a list of citations for various books, articles, and other sources on a topic. 

An annotation is a short summary and/or critical evaluation of a source.

Annotated bibliographies answer the question: "What would be the most relevant, most useful, or most up-to-date sources for this topic?"

 Annotated bibliographies can be part of a larger research project, or can be a stand-alone report in itself. 

Annotation versus abstracts 

An abstract is a paragraph at the beginning of the paper that discusses the main point of the original work. They typically do not include evaluation comments. 

Annotations can either be descriptive or evaluative. The annotated bibliography looks like a works cited page but includes an annotation after each source cited. 

Types of Annotations: 

Descriptive Annotations: Focuses on description. Describes the source by answering the following questions. 

Who wrote the document?

What does the document discuss?

When and where was the document written? 

Why was the document produced?

How was it provided to the public?

Evaluative Annotations: Focuses on description and evaluation. Includes a summary and critically assess the work for accuracy, relevance, and quality. 

Evaluative annotations help you learn about your topic, develop a thesis statement, decide if a specific source will be useful for your assignment, and determine if there is enough valid information available to complete your project.

What does the annotation include?

Depending on your assignment and style guide, annotations may include some or all of the following information. 

• Should be no more than 150 words or 4 to 6 sentences long. 
• What is the main focus or purpose of the work?
• Who is the intended audience?
• ​How useful or relevant was the article to your topic?
• Was there any unique features that useful to you?
• What is the background and credibility of the author?
• What are any conclusions or observations that your reached about the article?

Which citation style to use?

There are many styles manuals with specific instructions on how to format your annotated bibliography. This largely depends on what your instructor prefers or your subject discipline. Check out our citation guides for more information. 

Additional Information

Why doesn't APA have an official APA-approved format for annotated bibliographies?

Always consult your instructor about the format of an annotated bibliography for your class assignments. These guides provide you with examples of various styles for annotated bibliographies and they may not be in the format required by your instructor. 

Citation Examples and Annotations

Book Citation with Descriptive Annotation

Liroff, R. A., & G. G. Davis. (1981). Protecting open space: Land use control in the Adirondack Park. Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.

This book describes the implementation of regional planning and land use regulation in the Adirondack Park in upstate New York. The authors provide program evaluations of the Adirondack Park Agency’s regulatory and local planning assistance programs.

Journal Article Citation with Evaluative Annotation

Gottlieb, P. D. (1995). The “golden egg” as a natural resource: Toward a normative theory of growth management. Society and Natural Resources, 8, (5): 49-56.

This article explains the dilemma faced by North American suburbs, which demand both preservation of local amenities (to protect quality of life) and physical development (to expand the tax base). Growth management has been proposed as a policy solution to this dilemma. An analogy is made between this approach and resource economics. The author concludes that the growth management debate raises legitimate issues of sustainability and efficiency.

Examples were taken from http://lib.calpoly.edu/support/how-to/write-an-annotated-bibliography/#samples

Book Citation

Lee, Seok-hoon, Yong-pil Kim, Nigel Hemmington, and Deok-kyun Yun. “Competitive Service Quality Improvement (CSQI): A Case Study in the Fast-Food Industry.” Food Service Technology 4 (2004): 75-84.

In this highly technical paper, three industrial engineering professors in Korea and one services management professor in the UK discuss the mathematical limitations of the popular SERVQUAL scales. Significantly, they also aim to measure service quality in the fast-food industry, a neglected area of study. Unfortunately, the paper’s sophisticated analytical methods make it inaccessible to all but the most expert of researchers.

Battle, Ken. “Child Poverty: The Evolution and Impact of Child Benefits.”  A Question of Commitment: Children's Rights in Canada . Ed. Katherine Covell and R.Brian Howe. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. 2007. 21-44.

             Ken Battle draws on a close study of government documents, as well as his own research as an extensively-published policy analyst, to explain Canadian child benefit programs.  He outlines some fundamental assumptions supporting the belief that all society members should contribute to the upbringing of children.  His comparison of child poverty rates in a number of countries is a useful wake-up to anyone assuming Canadian society is doing a good job of protecting children.  Battle pays particular attention to the National Child Benefit (NCB), arguing that it did not deserve to be criticized by politicians and journalists.  He outlines the NCB’s development, costs, and benefits, and laments that the Conservative government scaled it back in favour of the inferior Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB).  However, he relies too heavily on his own work; he is the sole or primary author of almost half the sources in his bibliography.  He could make this work stronger by drawing from others' perspectives and analyses.  However, Battle does offer a valuable source for this essay, because the chapter provides a concise overview of government-funded assistance currently available to parents.  This offers context for analyzing the scope and financial reality of child poverty in Canada.

Journal Article Example

  Kerr, Don and Roderic Beaujot. “Child Poverty and Family Structure in Canada, 1981-1997.”  Journal of Comparative Family Studies  34.3 (2003): 321-335.

             Sociology professors Kerr and Beaujot analyze the demographics of impoverished families.  Drawing on data from Canada’s annual Survey of Consumer Finances, the authors consider whether each family had one or two parents, the age of single parents, and the number of children in each household.  They analyze child poverty rates in light of both these demographic factors and larger economic issues.  Kerr and Beaujot use this data to argue that. 

Examples were taken from  http://libguides.enc.edu/writing_basics/ annotatedbib/mla

Check out these resources for more information about Annotated Bibliographies. 

• Purdue Owl- Annotated Bibliographies
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill- Annotated Bibliographies
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• Last Updated: Apr 4, 2024 5:51 PM
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• A Research Guide
• Research Paper Guide

How to Write a Bibliography for a Research Paper

• The purpose of a bibliography
• Bibliography in MLA style
• APA vs MLA comparsion
• Popular types of bibliography
• How to structure your bibliography
• How to cite popular types of sources
• Bibliography example

This helpful guide will show you how to write a bibliography for a research paper in MLA citation format. You shall learn what a bibliography is, why it is necessary, what aspects must be included, and how to structure it. We shall explore various types of MLA sources based on the most popular scenarios. In the final part of the guide, we provide a sample of a bibliography page for a research paper that is also done in MLA style .

The purpose of a bibliography in a research paper

A bibliography in academic writing represents a detailed collection of books, academic journals, scientific magazines, online sources , and various multimedia citations formed as a list. It represents all an author has used in research while composing an assignment. It must be noted that one should use every source used during the research process, not only those mentioned as direct citations. In other words, to write a bibliography correctly, you must include the following elements:

• The name of the author(s) is a critical bibliography element;
• Complete the title of the source material in question;
• Name of the publisher;
• Date when the work has been published;
• Page number, ISBN, or DOI of the source material.

Note: Many students seem to confuse the purpose of a bibliography in a research paper since it’s easy to confuse a Bibliography page with the Works Cited page that one may require for an MLA paper. While these may look the same, they do not stand for the same thing!

How to write a bibliography in MLA style?

The answer to that question is quite simple: to make a bibliography, you must compose an alphabetic list of all the sources used for a research paper. The best way to achieve that is to take notes while you are in progress of writing. Try to collect all the required information to make a Bibliography draft. Take notes of every book, website, magazine, and newspaper, depending on the sources used. Once you collect the notes, you can get them sorted much easier! Depending on the sources in print or those located online, you should include the following standard elements:

Bibliography Sources available in print: 

Name of the author(s)

Title of the publication or a magazine (if relevant)

Date of publication

Name of the publisher

Volume and page numbers for journals in print

Bibliography Sources found online for a bibliography page : 

Author’s name

Editor’s name

The name of the website

The date you accessed the online source (web pages, online databases, etc.).

As a rule, locating specific information for your bibliography can be challenging. You should always take time to locate as much information about the source as possible. When in doubt, look for the following ways to improve the credibility of bibliography sources:

• The heading of the article, meaning where the publisher’s information might appear.
• Frontpage or editorial page
• Table of contents in a journal
• Header or footer of the web source
• Contacts page or DOI numbers for journal publications

Bibliography writing in different styles

The type of your bibliography will largely depend on the citation types you are planning to use or the writing style in question. In writing a bibliography, you must start with double-checking things regarding formatting. For this purpose, we shall explore MLA Works Cited vs. APA References page . This bibliography guide won’t delve into specifics; we shall only explain how things relate and differ between the two most popular styles.

Popular Types of Bibliography: Bibliography, Annotated Bibliography, and Works Cited

As mentioned, a bibliography must include every source the author has consulted or referenced while creating the research paper. It means that it does not matter if the source has been cited. It must be mentioned once it has been used as a reference for a certain idea! Things do not work this way with a typical Works Cited page. Unlike a classic bibliography, it must include only those sources that have been actually mentioned as in-text citations.

As a researcher, you might encounter a sub-type of a Bibliography for a research paper type called an Annotated Bibliography . The major difference here is that you must show the usage intent, define the purpose, and provide bibliographic information about the author. In addition to the usual entry with the author and the publisher looking like a Bibliography entry, you must compose a short source description by offering a brief background and the importance.

Mainrules on how to structure your bibliography

Before you proceed any further, you must check the presence of the “Works Cited” (in MLA), “References” (in APA style), or a Bibliography heading for your page, depending on the situation and the type of sources that you have cited and/or consulted. Here is the basic bibliography checklist to ensure all the critical information is included. Let’s sum it up to five basic research paper bibliography questions:

• Have you included three to five valid sources providing verified and trustworthy information about your research subject?
• Have you included information that will make it possible to identify each of your sources? It must be the author’s name, title, and publisher.
• Have you checked your grading rubric twice to guarantee that you use citations properly (MLA, Chicago, APA, Harvard, etc.) for a bibliography?
• Has your Bibliography page been sorted according to the ABC?
• Are your sources relevant to the research subject and the main thesis questions?

Now, let’s proceed with the basic bibliography in research rules:

• All your Bibliography for research paper entries must be double-spaced.
• Check whether you must use single-spaced entries, depending on the format other than MLA.
• All your entries must be done according to the last name of the author and sorted alphabetically.
• Personal communications, letters, and interviews are not included in the Works Cited or References page. It is also true for Bibliography pages.
• The sources without an author must also be sorted alphabetically based on the title or organization’s name.
• A single space must be used after any punctuation mark used for MLA citation style for most bibliography types.
• If you plan to divide a long word or a lengthy URL into more than one line, use a hyphen or a slash.
• Avoid adding hyphens to the URL if the original link has not used it.
• Do not start the first line of the bibliographical information with any punctuation mark, except for the names of the quoted source.
• All the lines after the first in a Bibliography entry must have a hanging indent from the left margin (1/2 inches or 1.25 cm).
• The descriptive addition of the Annotated Bibliography must be presented with the hanging indent for all lines after the actual citation.

Note: when you are unsure about some source type and the validity, it’s necessary to consult your academic advisor or omit it entirely. It will help to make your bibliography sound confident!

How to cite popular types of sources with MLA examples?

We have collected all the types of sources that can be used for research paper writing based on the Modern Language Association (MLA) style. Look at the research paper bibliography example for each type and compare it to your existing bibliography sources.

Book with one author or editor bibliography example:

Stipe, Michael. The History of Alternative Rock Music: From Arts to Photography. Penguin Books Press, London, 2004.

Book with two authors or editors’ bibliography entry:

Cohen, Leonard, and J.B. King, eds. Canadian Arts and Culture: How the Cultural Identity Has Been Born. Ontario: BC Press, 1994.

Book with three authors or editors Bibliography:

Calbridge, John, Carl Brunsey, and Tony Wilson. Northern African Studies: Why Should We Preserve National African Heritage? New York: Syracuse University Press, 2022.

Book with more than three authors or editors bibliography rules:

Nilson, Mary N., Kristofer R. van der Hoef, Ronald Johnson, and Larry King. The Personality of Women in Sweden. Stockholm: Sweden House Press, 2021.

Book with compilers or compilers and editors:

McFly, Martin N., and Wayne Sanders, comps. and eds. The British Choral Traditions: A Compilation of Sacred Hymns and Cultural Works. London: Pengiun Books, 2012.

Book with no author or editor stated:

Seversen’s Guidebook to Marine Navigation: An Illustrated Guide to Denmark’s Marine History. Copenhagen, Denmark, 2019.

Book with one author, translated by another Bibliography entry:

Strandberg, Jonas. Stockholm Revisited. Trans. Ronald King and Michael Mills. New York: Metropolitan Press, 1996.

Work in an anthology, a collection by several authors, with one or more editors and/or compilers:

Fierce, Ben. “How to Overcome Stress in Business Studies.” Business Management and Marketing. Ed. William Johnson. Los Angeles: California, 2004, 34-39.

An article in an encyclopedia with no author stated:

“Compassion.” New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1996 ed.

Article in an encyclopedia with an author:

If the encyclopedia is famous and has all the entries based alphabetically, you should not provide volume and page numbers as you write bibliographies. If not, you must provide complete publication data with the author’s name, the title of the entry, the name of the encyclopedia, the editor, the edition, and the publisher with the publication year.

Carl van der Saar. “Autism.” Large Dutch Encyclopedia, 2004, English edition.

An article in a magazine, journal, periodical, newsletter, or newspaper with no author stated Bibliography scenario:

“How to Teach Kids the Art of Bushcraft.” Boys Scouting for Boys. Sept. 2016: 13-19.

“The Dangers of Video Games for Teenagers.” Los Angeles Daily News. 26 Sep. 2004: 34.

Article in a magazine, journal, periodical, newsletter, or newspaper with one or more authors:

Farrell, Joseph P. “And the Boys Took It up for Themselves: Scouting, Learning, and Dialogue across Cultures.” Education and Global Cultural Dialogue , 2012, pp. 49–67, https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137045591_4 .

Article from SIRS (Social Issues Resources Series):

Blake, John, and Inna Smith. “The Union of Workers Worldwide.” Labour Union Journal Nov.-Dec. 1991: 34-36. Labour Studies. Ed. Ellen Philips. Vol. 7. Oxford: Oxford Press, SIRS, 1996. Art. 14.

Advertisement in a Bibliography:

Make sure to include in a bibliography any vital information that has not been found in the original source that has been cited.

How to Build an IKEA Desk. Advertisement. 4 Jan. 2019.

Booklet, pamphlet, or brochure with no author stated:

Cancer Care: How to Monitor Your Health. San Diego, CA: Medical Sciences USA, 1996.

Booklet, pamphlet, or brochure with an author:

Zimmer, Hans R. Producing Music in 2022: Pandemic Challenges and Arts. Los Angeles, CA: Berkeley Music Press, 2023.

Book, movie, or film review:

For this type of bibliography, it is necessary to include short forms like “Rev.” for a review, “Ed.” for the edition or something being edited, and “dir.” for the director.

Kruger, Chad. “Learning to Survive in Canadian Rock Scene.” Rev. of Rock Music in Canada: How The Scene Has Been Born, by Brendon Call. Canadian Music Society. Jan.-Mar. 2011: 62-69.

CD-ROM, DVD, VHS:

That Eye The Sky. Dir. Michael Andrews. 1994. VHS. Australian Cinema Pictures, 1996.

Computer service, e.g., BRS, DIALOG, MEAD, etc.:

King, Michael. “Can U.S. Economy Receive a Boost?” Los Angeles Times. Late Ed. – Final Ed., 2. 4 Jun. 1993. DIALOG File 224, item 0207432

Definition from a dictionary:

“Turntable.” Def 3. The Musical Lexicon of Webster’s Online Dictionary. Canadian ed. 2007.

Film, movie:

The use of shortened forms in this bibliography citation type is necessary again for this type of bibliography writing, depending on what you want to include. A minimal film bibliography should include the movie’s title, the director, distribution data, and the year it was released.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Dir. Tim Burton. Filmed after the famous book by Roald Dahl. Perf. Johnny Depp. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2005.

Government publication:

Suppose you wish to cite a publication issued by the government for your bibliography. In that case, you must provide the government’s name itself, the agency behind it, the underlined title of your publication, the place of publication, the publisher, and the date.

Canadian Government. First Nations People and Cultural Adjustment. Gathering Strength: Building Canada’s Future. Ottawa: Ministry of Culture and Arts, 2004.

Internet citations or citing electronic bibliography sources:

“Boy Scout Oath, Law, Motto and Slogan and the Outdoor Code.” Boy Scout Oath, Law and Motto , www.usscouts.org/advance/boyscout/bsoathlaw.asp . Accessed 19 June 2023.

Blair, Tony. Interview. UK Prime Minister’s Main Office. 28 May 2002.

Mention the speaker’s name, the lecture title in quotation marks, the conference, sponsors, location, and the date.

Bradley, Andrew. “Domestic Abuse.” Arizona State University Hall, U of Arizona. 12 May. 2001.

Letter, editorial:

An editorial: 

Jones, Anthony. “Hey, Are You Safe?” Editorial. Johnson’s Publishing. 21 May. 2004: 3.

Rubin, Rick. “How Recording Analogue Has Made Me a Better Person.” Letter. Los Angeles Evening News. 5 Jan. 2005: 34.

Map, chart:

It must be treated the same way as you would treat a book citation in MLA with no author mentioned. Ensure you indicate whether it’s for a map or a chart citation.

The USA. Map. Arizona. National Geographic Archive, 2004

Canada’s Natural Reserves. Chart. Burnuby, Victoria, NCA, 2012.

Musical composition:

You must provide the composer’s name, the title of the musical piece (underlined), the number and key (if available), and any additional form information.

Beethoven, Ludwig van. Little Suite, op.4., no 2.

If you are citing a published score, it must include the name of the composer, underlined title, data when the composition has been written, place of publication, and date of publication.

Stenger, Michael. Sweet Memories. London: Salisbury Hill, 1996.

Painting, photography, sculpture, architecture, or other art form:

It must include the name of the artist (if available), the title of the artwork that is underlined, the date when it was created, the museum or a gallery, city where it is located.

Friedrich, Andy. Sad Painter. 1924. Amsterdam Arts Gallery Collection, NL.

Patents must include the inventor’s name, patent’s title, issuing country with the patent’s number, and the date it was issued.

Kiske, Michael. “Laser Improvement Methods Through Cardio Stimulation.” German Patent Office. 29234809. June 1993.

Performance (ballet, concert, musical, opera, play, theatrical performance):

Disney’s Alladin. By Ronny Dio and Sally King. Dir. Julia Gaynor. Music and lyrics by Shania Twain and Eric Vinaldo. National New York Theater. NYC, 8 June 2012.

Radio, Television:

Anything cited from radio and television must include the title of the episode underlined or in quotation marks, the underlined title of the program, the title of the series, the network name, the radio station or TV channel, the city location, and the broadcast date.

The LXDS Morning Show. By Terry Hall. LXDS Radio Station, Louisianna, 4 Sept. 2004.

Recording & Music CD, LP, magnetic tape:

A bibliography in a research paper may refer to multimedia sources like audio archives. An audio recording would require the name of the author, singer, editor, or composer, depending on the source. It should also include the song’s title in quotation marks, the title of the recording underlined, publication medium, edition or version, and place of publication. Here is an example of such type for a research paper bibliography in MLA:

The Orions. “Sadness”. Black Album. CD. Exclusive Management by the Megaforce Records, Los Angeles, CA. Mastered by Rick Rubin, Sony Sound Productions, NYC. MFR, 2004.

Software on floppy disk:

Commander Keen Game, 230, Diskette, vers. 2.0. IBM PC, 1994.

Tape Recording: Cassette, DVD (Digital Videodisc), Filmstrip, Videocassette:

Johnson, Michael. Living Through Stress and Anxiety. Cassette tape recording read by the author. New York: Little & Jones Publishing, Audio Div., 1997.

Unpublished dissertations, theses:

You must state the author’s name, the unpublished dissertation’s title, or a thesis in quotation marks for a bibliography. Add the “Diss.” or “MA thesis” label, the university’s name, and the year of publication as you use it for your research.

Eisenberg, Robert. “The Military Conflicts in the Middle East.” BA Thesis. Syracuse University, New York, 2022.

MLA Bibliography page sample

As a rule, the most important is to see how a typical Bibliography page would look in MLA style format. Here is the sample bibliography page with five different sources that relate to a research paper related to Healthcare and Nursing discipline. Remember to start your Bibliography page on the next page after your conclusion part of the final paragraph.

Johnson, Kendall. Trauma in the Lives of Children: Crisis and Stress Management         Techniques for Counselors, Teachers, and Other Professionals . Hunter House Publishers, 1998.

Levell, Jade. “Childhood Domestic Violence and Abuse.” Boys, Childhood Domestic         Abuse, and Gang Involvement , 2022, pp. 47–63, https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781529219807.003.0004 .

Martin, Harold P. “Child Abuse and Child Development.” Child Abuse & Neglect , vol. 3, no. 2, 1979, pp. 415–421, https://doi.org/10.1016/0145-2134(79)90062-0 .

Naegle, Madeline A., and Carolyn Erickson D’Avanzo. Addictions & Substance Abuse:       Strategies for Advanced Practice Nursing . Prentice Hall Health, 2001.

“Recognize the Signs of Domestic Violence against Women.” Mayo Clinic , 14 Apr. 2022, www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/domestic-violence/art-20048397 .

As you can see, one has two books, two different academic journals, and a web page related to a famous medical clinic representing a trustworthy research source. It is only a reference bibliography sample. As you are looking for a source for your research paper, always think twice about whether it can help support your argument or provide a piece of important evidence. Once the answer is “yes,” think about introducing your source and adding your author’s voice to the research!

• Writing a Research Paper
• Research Paper Title
• Research Paper Sources
• Research Paper Problem Statement
• Research Paper Thesis Statement
• Hypothesis for a Research Paper
• Research Question
• Research Paper Outline
• Research Paper Summary
• Research Paper Prospectus
• Research Paper Proposal
• Research Paper Format
• Research Paper Styles
• AMA Style Research Paper
• MLA Style Research Paper
• Chicago Style Research Paper
• APA Style Research Paper
• Research Paper Structure
• Research Paper Cover Page
• Research Paper Abstract
• Research Paper Introduction
• Research Paper Body Paragraph
• Research Paper Literature Review
• Research Paper Background
• Research Paper Methods Section
• Research Paper Results Section
• Research Paper Discussion Section
• Research Paper Conclusion
• Research Paper Appendix
• Research Paper Bibliography
• APA Reference Page
• Annotated Bibliography
• Bibliography vs Works Cited vs References Page
• Research Paper Types
• What is Qualitative Research

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Writing the Introduction/Background of a Research Article

Writing the introduction and background of a research article can be daunting. Where do you start? What information should you include?

A great place to start is creating an argument structure for why your research topic is relevant and important. This structure should clearly walk the reader through current, relevant literature and lead them to the gap in the literature that your topic fills. To do this I use the following 4-step argument creation structure.

• Create argument funnel questions/statements
• Harvest article quotes that explain/backup each of the argument funnel questions/statements
• Organize article quotes to best support each section of the argument funnel
• Write prose that utilizes the article quotes to progress your argument from most well known to your specific topic

1. Argument Funnel Creation

Create an argument funnel with statements that take the reader form the most well known and widely accepted knowledge connected to my topic down to your specific research topic.

Completed Argument Funnel Example

When creating your funnel statements think about what research exists related to your topic. Where are the gaps in the existing literature? How do you know those are the gaps? If you get stuck, think about the 50,000 ft view of your topic and how you would explain the necessity of your research to people not in your field.

2. Harvesting Article Quotes

Find research articles that pertain to each of your funnel statements to back them up with evidence. As you find the articles put them into a citation manager (e.g., Zotero) now to save yourself time later. While reading the articles, pull (copy and paste) article quotes/excerpts that MAY be relevant. Pull more than you think you need, especially duplicates of the same idea by different authors to strengthen your argument. Store your quotes/excerpts in a document organized by your funnel statements with in-text citations with the page number you pulled it from. The National Academy of Engineering reports can be valuable top of funnel resources.

3. Organizing Article Quotes

Once you have harvested many article quotes for each of your funnel statements, organized them in an order that walks your reader through the literature landscape in a logical way. As you do this assume the reader doesn’t know anything about your topic so start at the beginning. Chronological order is a good place to start but may not always fit your argument. Think about your quotes/excerpts as puzzle pieces, where do they logically fit together?

4. Writing Prose

Now that your article quotes are organized, summarize the quotes in your own voice with appropriate citations. This is the time to begin including transition/connecting words and phrases between summarized quotes to bring your reader through your argument. Don’t forget to include “so what?” sentences and phrases after summarized quotes. In other words don’t only report what other authors said or found, tell the reader why that is important to your argument.