A bibliography is a list of sources that were referenced to write an academic paper, a journal article, a book, a critique, an essay or any other type of academic writing. A bibliography differs from a works cited page because a bibliography includes any works that were referenced to write the paper, not merely the works that were cited in the paper.
Bibliographies differ depending on what style of writing you are using. Some of the different styles of writing include the Modern Language Association (MLA), Chicago Manual of Style (CMS), and American Psychological Association (APA).
The bibliography is a list of all the sources used in the paper. The list includes the important publication details of the sources. The bibliography must also follow this format: The citation list or bibliography must be single spaced.
To learn more about using the BibMe service (BibMe.com) to help build APA citation website references, see the section below titled, 'Using the BibMe Online Writing Center to Create Citations for your Reference List or APA Bibliography.' Citing Basics In-Text Citations Overview. MyBib is a free bibliography and citation generator that makes accurate citations for you to copy straight into your academic assignments and papers. If you’re a student, academic, or teacher, and you’re tired of the other bibliography and citation tools out there, then you’re going to love MyBib. 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.
Bibliography Styles
Each of these different styles has a different format for writing a bibliography. Make sure that the bibliography style matches the format of your paper. Although students may think every style uses a bibliography, in fact, different styles follow different formats. MLA 8 uses a Works Cited page, which lists the source entries in alphabetical order. In APA, references are listed alphabetically in a Reference list. Chicago/Turabian style uses either the author-date style, which uses a Reference list or the notes-bibliography style, which uses a Bibliography.
MLA Format
The MLA format is primarily used for English Literature and other disciplines of the humanities. If you are using the MLA format, then you should keep a track of all the papers, books, films, internet articles, and any other source that you consulted while writing the paper.
Make sure that you know the author, the title, the place of publication, the publisher, the date of publication, and the page numbers that you consulted for each of your sources. When you include these sources in your bibliography, the sources should be in alphabetical order.
MLA revised its eighth edition, which creates a container system using nine core elements. These nine core elements may be nested in containers. As works may be published in edited forms on different platforms, the container system lets you include all the necessary information to lead your reader to the exact source you used for your paper.
Nine Core Elements
For each source, try to find as much information as possible about it. Follow these nine core elements, using the exact punctuation as shown:
- Author.
- Title of source.
- Title of container,
- Other contributors,
- Version,
- Number,
- Publisher,
- Publication date,
- Location.
Use a hanging indent for each entry. This helps separate the entries to make it easier for the reader.
Chicago Style
The Chicago Style format is primarily used for history texts. You may hear Chicago style called Turabian style, as well. Turabian is simply the shorter student version of Chicago style.
There are two styles in Chicago. The first is a simpler author-date style. This means the first element is the author’s name and the second is the date of publication. Other elements follow as shown in this basic book format:
- Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Year of Publication. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name.
The parenthetical citation follows this format:
- (Smith 2010, 77)
Chicago’s notes-bibliography style means that either footnotes or endnotes are included throughout the text. The full source entry is then included in a bibliography at the end of the paper.
This example of a note entry shows how to format the note:
- ##. Author’s First and Last Names, Title of Book: Subtitle of Book (Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name, Date of Publication), pp.
The corresponding bibliography entry is formatted this way:
- Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name, Date of Publication.
Each source follows the same basic format but there’ll be differences depending on whether it’s a book, journal article or website.
APA Style
The American Psychological Association style of writing is used for psychology and other sciences and social sciences. For APA style, the format is similar to Chicago author-date style. The year follows the name of the author. However, place the year in parenthesis after the author. However, place the year in parenthesis after the author. Then include the name of the book or article, the name of the magazine or journal (this does not apply if it’s a book), and the page numbers.
The basic APA reference list format follows this example:
- Author, A.A. (2001). Title of work. Location: Publisher.
The in-text citation includes the author’s last name, year of publication and page number within parentheses.
- (Author, year, p.#)
Different Styles, Different Formats
Always consult a handbook for any of these styles if you have any questions that weren't answered in this broad overview. Make sure you're using the correct edition.
And if you need some help finding source material for your project these articles can help: 6 Free Primary Research Websites for Students and How to Find Credible Sources.
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- Make a list to keep track of ALL the books, magazines, and websites you read as you follow your background research plan. Later this list of sources will become your bibliography.
- Most teachers want you to have at least three written sources of information.
- Write down, photocopy, or print the following information for each source you find. You can use the Science Buddies Bibliography Worksheet to help you.
| Collect this information for each printed source: | Collect this information for each Web Site: |
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- The bibliographic information for different types of resources are located in different places, so you may need to do some detective work to get all of the information for your bibliography. Try looking in these places:
- the title page of a book, encyclopedia or dictionary
- the heading of an article
- the front, second, or editorial page of the newspaper
- the contents page of a journal or magazine
- the header (at the top) or footer (at the bottom) of a Web site
- the About or the Contact page of a Web site
- When it is time to turn in your Bibliography, type all of your sources into a list. Use the examples in MLA Format Examples or APA Format Examples as a template to insure that each source is formatted correctly.
- List the sources in alphabetical order using the author's last name. If a source has more than one author, alphabetize using the first one. If an author is unknown, alphabetize that source using the title instead.
Overview
A bibliography is a listing of the books, magazines, and Internet sources that you use in designing, carrying out, and understanding your science fair project. But, you develop a bibliography only after first preparing a background research plan — a road map of the research questions you need to answer. Before you compose your bibliography, you will need to develop your background research plan.
With your background research plan in hand, you will find sources of information that will help you with your science fair project. As you find this information it will be important for you to write down where the sources are from. You can use the Bibliography Worksheet to help you, just print out a few copies and take them with you to the library. As you find a source, write in all of the necessary information. This way, when you are typing your bibliography you won't need to go back to the library and find any missing information. The more information you write down about your source, the easier it will be for you to find if you want to read it again.
When you are writing your report, you will use the sources in your bibliography to remind you of different facts and background information you used for your science fair project. Each time you use some information from a source, you will need to cite the source that it came from. To cite a source, simply put the author's name and the date of the publication in parentheses (Author, date) in your text. If the person reading your report wants to find the information and read more about it, they can look up the reference in your bibliography for more detail about the source. That is why each source you use must be listed in a detailed bibliography with enough information for someone to go and find it by themselves.
Your bibliography should include a minimum of three written sources of information about your topic from books, encyclopedias, and periodicals. You may have additional information from the Web if appropriate.
Examples of Bibliography Formats
There are standards for documenting sources of information in research papers. Even though different journals may use a slightly different format for the bibliography, they all contain the same basic information. The most basic information that each reference should have is the author's name, the title, the date, and the source.
Different types of sources have different formatting in the bibliography. In American schools, the two most commonly used guidelines for this formatting are published by the MLA (Modern Language Association) and the APA (American Psychological Association).
The MLA guidelines call for the bibliography to be called Works Cited. Science Buddies has summarized some of the most common MLA formats for your use: MLA Format Examples.
The APA guidelines call for the bibliography to be called the Reference List. Science Buddies has summarized some of the most common APA formats for your use: APA Format Examples.
Your teacher will probably tell you which set of guidelines to use.
On the Science Buddies website we use the following guidelines:
- APA format for online sources
- MLA format for all other sources
- APA (author, date, page) format for citations in our articles
Getting Started
Download and print the Science Buddies Bibliography Worksheet. Keep several copies with you and fill in the information as you do your research. When you are finished, type the information from the worksheet into a formatted bibliography using the examples listed above.
Bibliography Definition
Sample Bibliographies
Sample Bibliography: MLA Works Cited FormatBibliography Page
Sample Bibliography: APA Reference List Format
Bibliography Checklist
| What Makes a Good Bibliography? | For a Good Bibliography, You Should Answer 'Yes' to Every Question |
| Have you included at least 3 sources of written information on your subject? (If you include Web pages, they should be in addition to the written sources.) | Yes / No |
| Have you included complete information to identify each of your sources (author's name, the title, the date, and where it was published)? | Yes / No |
| Have you used the proper format for each of your sources? Most teachers prefer the MLA or APA formats. | Yes / No |
| Is your Bibliography in alphabetical order, by author's last name? | Yes / No |
| Do you have sources of information to answer all of your research questions? | Yes / No |
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