How to Write a Bibliography, With Examples
You spent the past six hours grinding out your latest paper, but finally, it’s finished. It’s late, you’re exhausted, and all you want to do is click “Submit Assignment” and then get some sleep.
Not so fast. If your paper doesn’t have a properly formatted bibliography, it’s not finished.
A bibliography is a list of all the sources you consulted while writing your paper. Every book, article, and even video you used to gather information for your paper needs to be cited in your bibliography so your instructor (and any others reading your work) can trace the facts, statistics, and insights back to their original sources.
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What is the purpose of a bibliography?
A bibliography is the list of sources a work’s author used to create the work. It accompanies just about every type of academic writing , like essays , research papers , and reports . You might also find a brief, less formal bibliography at the end of a journalistic piece, presentation, or video when the author feels it’s necessary to cite their sources . In nearly all academic instances, a bibliography is required. Not including a bibliography (or including an incomplete, incorrect, or falsified bibliography) can be considered an act of plagiarism , which can lead to a failing grade, being dropped from your course or program, and even being suspended or expelled from your school.
A bibliography accomplishes a few things. These include:
- Showing your instructor that you conducted the necessary research for your assignment
- Crediting your sources’ authors for the research they conducted
- Making it easy for anybody who reads your work to find the sources you used and conduct their own research on the same or a similar topic
Additionally, future historians consulting your writing can use your bibliography to identify primary and secondary sources in your research field. Documenting the course information from its original source through later academic works can help researchers understand how that information has been cited and interpreted over time. It can also help them review the information in the face of competing—and possibly contradictory or revisionary—data.
In nearly all cases, a bibliography is found at the end of a book or paper.
What are the different kinds of bibliographies?
Different types of academic works call for different types of bibliographies. For example, your computer science professor might require you to submit an annotated bibliography along with your paper because this type of bibliography explains the why behind each source you chose to consult.
Analytical bibliography
An analytical bibliography documents a work’s journey from manuscript to published book or article. This type of bibliography includes the physical characteristics of each cited source, like each work’s number of pages, type of binding used, and illustrations.
Annotated bibliography
An annotated bibliography is a bibliography that includes annotations, which are short notes explaining why the author chose each of the sources. Generally a few sentences long, these notes might summarize or reflect on the source.
An annotated bibliography is not the same as a literature review . While a literature review discusses how you conducted your research and how your work fits into the overall body of established research in your field, an annotated bibliography simply explains how each source you used is relevant to your work.
Enumerative bibliography
An enumerative bibliography is the most basic type of bibliography. It’s a list of sources used to conduct research, often ordered according to specific characteristics, like alphabetically by authors’ last names or grouped according to topic or language.
Specific types of enumerative bibliographies used for research works include:
National bibliography
A national bibliography groups sources published in a specific region or nation. In many cases, these bibliographies also group works according to the time period during which they were published.
Personal bibliography
A personal bibliography lists multiple works by the same individual author or group of authors. Often, personal bibliographies include works that would be difficult to find elsewhere, like unpublished works.
Corporate bibliography
In a corporate bibliography, the sources are grouped according to their relation to a specific organization. The sources can be about an organization, published by that organization, or owned by that organization.
Subject bibliography
Subject bibliographies group works according to the subjects they cover. Generally, these bibliographies list primary and secondary sources, whereas other types of enumerative bibliographies, like personal bibliographies, might not.
Other types of bibliographies
In some cases, it makes sense to use a bibliography format other than those listed here. These include:
Single-author bibliography
This type of bibliography lists works by a single author. With certain assignments, like an essay comparing two of an author’s books, your bibliography is a single-author bibliography by default. In this case, you can choose how to order the sources, such as by publication date or alphabetically by title.
Selected bibliography
A selected bibliography is a bibliography that only lists some of the sources you consulted. Usually, these are the most important sources for your work. You might write a selected bibliography if you consulted a variety of minor sources that you didn’t end up citing directly in your work. A selected bibliography may also be an annotated bibliography.
How is a bibliography structured?
Although each style guide has its own formatting rules for bibliographies, all bibliographies follow a similar structure. Key points to keep in mind when you’re structuring a bibliography include:
- Every bibliography page has a header. Format this header according to the style guide you’re using.
- Every bibliography has a title, such as “Works Cited,” “References,” or simply “Bibliography.”
- Bibliographies are lists. List your sources alphabetically according to their authors’ last names or their titles—whichever is applicable according to the style guide you’re using. The exception is a single-author bibliography or one that groups sources according to a shared characteristic.
- Bibliographies are double-spaced.
- Bibliographies should be in legible fonts, typically the same font as the papers they accompany.
As noted above, different kinds of assignments require different kinds of bibliographies. For example, you might write an analytical bibliography for your art history paper because this type of bibliography gives you space to discuss how the construction methods used for your sources inform their content and vice-versa. If you aren’t sure which kind of bibliography to write, ask your instructor.
How do you write a bibliography?
The term “bibliography” is a catch-all for any list of sources cited at the end of an academic work. Certain style guides use different terminology to refer to bibliographies. For example, MLA format refers to a paper’s bibliography as its Works Cited page. APA refers to it as the References page. No matter which style guide you’re using, the process for writing a bibliography is generally the same. The primary difference between the different style guides is how the bibliography is formatted.
The first step in writing a bibliography is organizing all the relevant information about the sources you used in your research. Relevant information about a source can vary according to the type of media it is, the type of bibliography you’re writing, and your style guide. Determine which information you need to include about each source by consulting the style guide you’re using. If you aren’t sure what to include, or if you’re not sure which style guide to use, ask your instructor.
The next step is to format your sources according to the style guide you’re using. MLA , APA , and the Chicago Manual of Style are three of the most commonly used style guides in academic writing.
MLA Works Cited page
In MLA format , the bibliography is known as the Works Cited page. MLA is typically used for writing in the humanities, like English and History. Because of this, it includes guidelines for citing sources like plays, videos , and works of visual art —sources you’d find yourself consulting for these courses, but probably not in your science and business courses.
In MLA format, books are cited like this:
If the cited book was published prior to 1900, is from a publisher with offices in multiple countries, or is from a publisher that is largely unknown in the US, include the book’s city of publication. Otherwise, this can be left out.
Scholarly articles are cited in this format:
- Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Periodical, Day Month Year, pages.
APA References page
In APA format —the format typically used in psychology, nursing, business, and the social sciences—the bibliography page is titled References. This format includes citation instructions for technical papers and data-heavy research, the types of sources you’re likely to consult for academic writing in these fields.
In APA format, books are cited like this:
Digital object identifier (DOI).
(issue number) , article’s page range (i.e., 10-15). URL.
Chicago Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS) permits authors to format bibliographies in two different ways: the notes and bibliography system and the author-date system. The former is generally used in the humanities, whereas the latter is usually used in the sciences and social sciences.
Both systems include guidelines for citations on a paper’s body pages as well as a bibliographic list that follows the paper. This list is titled Bibliography.
In CMoS, books are cited like this:
publication.
number (year published): page numbers of the article (i.e., 10-15).
Bibliography FAQs
What is a bibliography.
A bibliography is the list of sources a work’s author used to create the work.
What are the different kinds of bibliographies?
There are many different kinds of bibliographies. These include:
- Enumerative bibliographies
- Annotated bibliographies
- Analytical bibliographies
How do you write a bibliography for different style guides?
Each style guide publishes its bibliography guidelines online. Locate the guidelines for the style guide you’re following ( Chicago Manual of Style , MLA , APA ), and using the examples provided, format and list the sources for your work.
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- Creating a Chicago Style Bibliography | Format & Examples
Creating a Chicago Style Bibliography | Format & Examples
Published on September 23, 2019 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on April 9, 2024.
A Chicago style bibliography lists the sources cited in your text. Each bibliography entry begins with the author’s name and the title of the source, followed by relevant publication details. The bibliography is alphabetized by authors’ last names.
A bibliography is not mandatory, but is strongly recommended for all but very short papers. It gives your reader an overview of all your sources in one place. Check with your instructor if you’re not sure whether you need a bibliography.
Always make sure to pay attention to punctuation (e.g., commas , quotation marks , parentheses ) in your citations.
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Table of contents
Chicago style bibliography examples, formatting the bibliography page, author names in the bibliography, bibliography vs reference list, frequently asked questions about the chicago bibliography.
Bibliography entries vary in format depending on the type of source . Templates and examples for the most common source types are shown below.
- Book chapter
- Journal article
| Template | Author Last Name, First Name. . Edition. Place of publication: Publisher, Year. DOI/URL. |
| Example | Williams, John. . London: Vintage, 2003. |
- The edition is always abbreviated (e.g. 2nd ed. or rev. ed.).
- Only include the URL for books you consulted online.
| Template | Author Last Name, First Name. “Chapter Title.” In , edited by Editor First Name Last Name, page range. Place of publication: Publisher, Year. DOI/URL. |
| Example | Stewart, Bob. “Wag of the Tail: Reflecting on Pet Ownership.” In , edited by John Jaimeson, 220-90. Toronto: Petlove Press, 2007. |
- Use this format to cite a chapter in a multi-authored book. If all the chapters in a book were written by the same person, reference the whole book.
- Begin the citation with the author of the chapter. The editor who compiled the book is listed later.
| Template | Author Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Volume, no. Issue (Month Year): Page range. DOI/URL. |
| Example | Andreff, Wladimir, and Paul D. Staudohar. “The Evolving European Model of Professional Sports Finance.” 1, no. 3 (August 2000): 257–276. https://doi.org/10.1177/152700250000100304. |
- The page range identifies the location of the article within the journal issue.
- For articles accessed online, include a DOI (digital object identifier) where available, and a URL if not.
| Template | Author Last Name, First Name. “Page Title.” Website Name. Month Day, Year. URL. |
| Example | Scribbr. “Chicago Style Citation.” Accessed June 16, 2020. https://www.scribbr.com/category/chicago-style/. |
- If the author is unknown, list the organization or website name as author, and don’t repeat it later in the citation.
- If no publication date is listed, include an access date instead.
- The website name is not italicized, unless it is an online version of a newspaper or magazine .
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The bibliography appears at the end of your text. The heading Bibliography is bolded and centred at the top of the page.
Unlike the rest of a Chicago format paper, the bibliography is not double-spaced. However, add a single line space between entries.
If a bibliography entry extends onto more than one line, subsequent lines should be indented ( hanging indent ), as seen in the example below. This helps the reader to see at a glance where each new entry begins.
There are further guidelines for formatting a Chicago style annotated bibliography , in which you write a paragraph of summary and source evaluation under each source.
Author names in the bibliography are inverted: The last name comes first, then the first name(s). Sources are alphabetized by author last name.
If a source has no named author, alphabetize by the first word of the title or organization name that starts the entry. Ignore articles (“the,” “a,” and “an”) for the purposes of alphabetization.
Sources with multiple authors
For sources with more than one author, only the first author’s name is inverted; subsequent names are written in the normal order.
For texts with up to 10 authors, all the authors’ names should be listed in the order they appear in the source, separated by commas .
If there are more than 10 authors, list the first seven, followed by “ et al. ”
Multiple sources by the same author
If you include multiple works from the same author, only include the author name in the first entry. In subsequent entries, replace the name with three em dashes , followed by the rest of the citation formatted as normal. List the entries in alphabetical order by title.
A reference list is mandatory in Chicago author-date style , where you cite sources in parentheses in the text. The only differences between a Chicago bibliography and a reference list are the heading and the placement of the date.
The reference list is headed “References.” In reference list entries, the publication date is placed immediately after the author’s name. This allows the reader to easily find a reference on the basis of the corresponding in-text citation.
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In a Chicago style footnote , list up to three authors. If there are more than three, name only the first author, followed by “ et al. “
In the bibliography , list up to 10 authors. If there are more than 10, list the first seven followed by “et al.”
| Full note | Short note | Bibliography | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 authors | Anna Burns and Robert Smith | Burns and Smith | Burns, Anna, and Robert Smith. |
| 3 authors | Anna Burns, Robert Smith, and Judith Green | Burns, Smith, and Green | Burns, Anna, Robert Smith, and Judith Green. |
| 4+ authors | Anna Burns et al. | Burns et al. | Burns, Anna, Robert Smith, Judith Green, and Maggie White. |
The same rules apply in Chicago author-date style .
To automatically generate accurate Chicago references, you can use Scribbr’s free Chicago reference generator .
In a Chicago footnote citation , when the author of a source is unknown (as is often the case with websites ), start the citation with the title in a full note. In short notes and bibliography entries, list the organization that published it as the author.
| Type | Example |
|---|---|
| Full note | 1. “An Introduction to Research Methods,” Scribbr, accessed June 11, 2020, https://www.scribbr.com/category/methodology/. |
| Short note | 2. Scribbr, “Research Methods.” |
| Bibliography | Scribbr. “An Introduction to Research Methods.” Accessed June 11, 2020. https://www.scribbr.com/category/methodology/. |
In Chicago author-date style , treat the organization as author in your in-text citations and reference list.
When an online source does not list a publication date, replace it with an access date in your Chicago footnotes and your bibliography :
If you are using author-date in-text citations , or if the source was not accessed online, replace the date with “n.d.”
- A reference list is used with Chicago author-date citations .
- A bibliography is used with Chicago footnote citations .
Both present the exact same information; the only difference is the placement of the year in source citations:
- In a reference list entry, the publication year appears directly after the author’s name.
- In a bibliography entry, the year appears near the end of the entry (the exact placement depends on the source type).
There are also other types of bibliography that work as stand-alone texts, such as a Chicago annotated bibliography .
In Chicago author-date style , your text must include a reference list . It appears at the end of your paper and gives full details of every source you cited.
In notes and bibliography style, you use Chicago style footnotes to cite sources; a bibliography is optional but recommended. If you don’t include one, be sure to use a full note for the first citation of each source.
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Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. City of Publication, Publisher, Publication. Date. If the cited book was published prior to 1900, is from a publisher with offices in multiple countries, or is from a publisher that is largely unknown in the US, include the book's city of publication. Otherwise, this can be left out.
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 ...
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.
Formatting a Harvard style bibliography. 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: Harvard bibliography example.
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.
7. Cite articles. Articles are cited with the author's name, followed by the year, then the title of the article, the name of the publication in italics, the volume and issue number (if available), and the group of pages referenced. The format is as follows: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year).
There are further guidelines for formatting a Chicago style annotated bibliography, in which you write a paragraph of summary and source evaluation under each source. Author names in the bibliography. Author names in the bibliography are inverted: The last name comes first, then the first name(s). Sources are alphabetized by author last name.
Follow these steps to write the perfect APA bibliography. Step One: Gather your sources together in a preliminary bibliography. Step Two: Format each citation entry by following these rules: List authors by last name, first name initial, and middle name initial (e.g., Doe, J. J.). Do not spell out first or middle name(s).
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.
Resources on writing an APA style reference list, including citation formats. Basic Rules Basic guidelines for formatting the reference list at the end of a standard APA research paper Author/Authors Rules for handling works by a single author or multiple authors that apply to all APA-style references in your reference list, regardless of the ...
The list is known as a bibliography and is placed at the end of a research paper or writing project. This article features a comprehensive guide to writing a bibliography, complete with all the information one must include in it as well as formats and examples based on the style guide being followed. Information Included in a 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.
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.
Step 3: Create Your Entries. If you created a preliminary bibliography, then you need to alphabetize your entries. The entries will be alphabetized by the author's last name, corporation, or title of the work. All styles will require a ½ inch hanging indent after the first line of the bibliographical citation.
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 essential difference between citations and references is that citations lead a reader to the source of information, while references provide the reader with detailed information regarding that particular source. Bibliography in research papers: A bibliography in research paper is a list of sources that appears at the end of a research paper ...
How to Write a Bibliography. 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 ...
Writing the perfect bibliography takes work. You need to have your sources ready and evaluate each source to ensure that you are citing it perfectly. ... Several school projects can include a research paper. Writing a paper for a school project can be a daunting task. Whether you are writing for college or high school, you need to keep track of ...
Bibliographies are essential to scientific research, as they provide a comprehensive list of the sources that have been used in the research and writing process. Including a bibliography is important for several reasons. Citations in works submitted for publication are closely scrutinized by reviewers and publishers for the following reasons:
Full Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLALQuK1NDrh9HgAQ22wep8X18Fvvcm8R--Watch more How to Write Essays and Research Papers videos: http://ww...
Start a preliminary, or draft, bibliography by listing on a separate sheet of paper all your sources. Note down the full title, author, place of publication, publisher, and date of publication for each source. Also, every time a fact gets recorded on a note card, its source should be noted in the top right corner.
Steps To Write A Bibliography In Research Paper. The initial and foremost step to be followed before writing a bibliography is to make a note of all the books/sources/works you read when you're doing your background research for a paper. Once you have a list of the books or sources, you need to check for the following information in the ...
Bibliography. 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]. ... Writing Research Papers: A Complete Guide. 14th ...
Related Read: How to Write a Research Paper Conclusion. 6. Cite your sources. The key to learning how to write a research paper is learning how to cite sources. Depending on the style guide you're following, you may need to create in-text citations, a Works Cited page, a reference list, a bibliography, or footnotes. Pay close attention to ...
In this post, I discuss situations where students and researchers use ChatGPT to create text and to facilitate their research, not to write the full text of their paper or manuscript. We know instructors have differing opinions about how or even whether students should use ChatGPT, and we'll be continuing to collect feedback about instructor ...