How To

How to Write a Bibliography

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By eHow Contributing Writer
(286 Ratings)

A bibliography or reference section is necessary for any research paper. Unfortunately, there are as many ways to write a bibliography as there are names for it. Here is the standard method.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions

Things You'll Need:

  • Report Covers
  • Research Paper Manuals
  • Bonded Paper
  • Word-processing Software
  1. Step 1

    Create a page at the end of the paper. Call it either "Bibliography" or "Works Cited."

  2. Step 2

    List, alphabetically by author's last name, all the sources used in writing the paper.

  3. Step 3

    Write the last name of the author first, followed by a comma and his or her first name, followed by a period.

  4. Step 4

    Write the name of the book in italics, followed by a period. You can also underline the book title.

  5. Step 5

    Cite the name of an article, in quotation marks, in place of a book title. Then write the name of the journal or magazine from which it came (italicize the name or underline it). Include a volume number, if applicable.

  6. Step 6

    Write the name of the city in which the work was published, followed by a colon.

  7. Step 7

    Include the name of the publisher, followed by a comma.

  8. Step 8

    Conclude the entry with the date of publication, followed by a period.

  9. Step 9

    Number your bibliography page when adding numbers to your paper.

Tips & Warnings
  • Buy a good writer's handbook that gives examples of research writing for your area of study: science, social science or humanities. Each discipline has its own format for bibliographies. Ask your instructor what method of citation he or she prefers.
  • Cite material from the Web by following steps 3 to 5, above. Then add the following information: any version or file number, the date that the document was posted or last revised, the complete URL and the date you accessed the document (in parentheses).

Comments  

Nelysium said

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on 2/1/2007 Well that was unhelpful... If you really want to know then go to www.owl.com and choose APA or MLA.

Anonymous

Anonymous said

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on 6/30/2006 If you're having trouble typing all of those colons, commas, periods, etc. then go to noodle tools! Noodle Tools will help you do all of the stuff for a bibliography!

Anonymous

Anonymous said

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on 11/22/2005 All but the first line in every individual entry is supposed to be indented.

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