Writing a Bibliography
Bibliographies
One of the requirements of any research project is the bibliography. This makes sure you give credit to the authors of those works you used for your own research.
A bibliography is a list of all the sources you used when researching an essay, research paper or assignment. To avoid plagiarism, whenever you use other people’s ideas or words you need to credit the source of the information.
General Guidelines
- Cite all your sources to prevent plagiarism. For more about plagiarism see Plagiarism.org
- Gather citation information as you are doing the research, while you have the source on hand
- Alphabetize by author’s last name. If there is no author, alphabetize using the first main word of the title
- If a specific style of bibliography (MLA vs. APA) has been specified by your school, make sure you use that style
- Follow the punctuation carefully
- Always start the bibliography on a new page at the end of your work
Information for your Citation
Different types of sources require different types of information. For example, if you are citing a book you will need:
- Author(s) of book
- Title of book
- Edition
- Place of publication
- Publisher
- Year of publication
You can use the library catalogue to find most of the information you need. Use the examples below to see the different types of information you need depending on the types of sources you used.
MLA vs. APA
Modern Language Association (MLA) and American Psychological Association (APA) are the two formats commonly required in high school and university. Your teacher will tell you which format to use. MLA guidelines are generally used for English, language and literature essays and papers. APA format is typically used for social sciences, such as psychology or sociology essays and papers.
If you need more examples you can borrow the following guides from the library:
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 7th Edition (2020)
If you need extra help, refer to the Purdue Online Writing Lab.