Creating a bibliography for a research paper

Objectives
Student will be able to:
  • create a bibliography for a research paper.

Introduction

Writing a bibliography is an important part of the research process. A bibliography is an alphabetical list of the sources that you used in your research. It goes on a separate page at the end of your paper.


The sources in a bibliography are alphabetized by the first word of the entry. The first line of each item is flush left along the margin, and all other lines are indented five spaces.


The table below shows the correct way to list your research sources in a bibliography. As you look at the information, pay attention to the use of punctuation marks, capital letters, and underlining or italics.
 

Sometimes, you may not find all of the required details for a source. For example, a website article might be missing a title or an author. If that happens, just use the information that is provided.


Some sources have two or three authors. You should list all of them in your entry. Invert the first author's name like this: last name, first name. Then write the other names as they would normally appear (first name and last name).


Look at this example of a bibliography with four sources: a magazine article, a website, a book, and an encyclopedia entry.


Bibliography

 
Calloway, Karina. "Volcanic Eruption." Earth's 
   Wonders July 2010: 15. Print.
 
Garrison, Simon. "Europe's Volcanoes." 
   Volcanoes of the World. The Volcano Institute, 
   2011. Web. 8 Jan. 2011. 
   <http://www.vow.org/eur.html>.
 
Hudson, Clara. Active Volcanoes. Honolulu: 
   Archway, 2005. Print.
 
Neely, Jamal and Rett Brown. "Volcanoes."
   Trafalgar Encyclopedia. 2nd ed. 2003. Print.
 

 


Examples
Let's look at some examples of bibliography entries. Use the table below for help if needed.
 

1.
These entries are all for the same book. Circle the entry that is written correctly. 

a. Marks, Sofia and Montgomery, Charles. Volcano 
   Classifications. Miami: Grayson, 2004. Print.
b. Marks, Sofia and Charles Montgomery. Volcano 
   Classifications. Print. Miami: Grayson, 2004.
c. Marks, Sofia and Charles Montgomery. Volcano 
   Classifications. Miami: Grayson, 2004. Print.
d. Marks, Sofia and Charles Montgomery. Miami: 
   Grayson, 2004. Volcano Classifications. Print.
 

Did you circle answer choice c? Super! Answer choice a has its main elements in the correct order, but the second author's name should not be inverted. Answer choice b is in the wrong order, and the book title is not in italics or underlined. Answer choice d is in the wrong order. Answer choice c lists the correct elements in the correct order.


2.
These entries are all for the same magazine article. Circle the entry that is written correctly.
a. Sinclair, Shamar. "Dormant Volcanoes." Volcano 23 
   Feb. 2007: 17–20. Print.
b. Sinclair, Shamar. Volcano 23 Feb. 2007: 17–20. 
   Print. "Dormant Volcanoes." 
c. Sinclair, Shamar. "Dormant Volcanoes." Print. 
   Volcano 23 Feb. 2007: 17–20.
d. Sinclair, Shamar. Volcano 23 Feb. 2007: 17–20. 
   "Dormant Volcanoes." Print.
 

Did you circle answer choice a? Great job! Answer choices b, c, and d are not in the correct order. Answer choice a lists all the elements in the correct order, and quotation marks and italics are used correctly.


Try Together
If needed, use the "Bibliography Format" chart below for help with the following items.
 

What bibliographic information is missing from this citation for a book?

1.
Benoit, Camille. Inside a Volcano. Los Angeles: 
   Arrowhead. Print.  
 
 
the copyright date
 

Use the information below to create a bibliography entry for a magazine article.

2.
"The Ultimate Guide to Volcanoes" by Taylor Radisson
Earth Digest
 pages 102–110
July 15, 2010 
 
Radisson, Taylor. "The Ultimate 
   Guide to Volcanoes." Earth Digest 15 
   July 2010: 102–110. Print.
 

Please evaluate the student's answers:

Excellent

Good

Okay
 

Exhibit Preview Close
Book Author (Last Name, First Name). Title (underlined or in italics). City of Publication: Publisher, copyright date. Print (type of source).
Encyclopedia Entry Author (Last Name, First Name). "Article Title." Encyclopedia Title (underlined or in italics). Edition. Copyright date. Print (type of source).
Magazine Article Author (Last Name, First Name). "Article title." Magazine Title (underlined or in italics) date (day Month year): page number(s) of article. Print (type of source).
Website Author (Last Name, First Name). "Web Page Title." Website Title (underlined or in italics). Name of publisher, date published (day Month year). Web (type of source). Date viewed (day Month year). <URL>.