How to write a Bibliography

What is a bibliography? A bibliography is an alphabetical list of all the sources you used to help you in doing an essay or paper. It refers to the list of books you used to research an essay or project and it serves as a reference to the reader for further information on the project you write about. When writing a bibliography, you may want to keep track of full title author place of publication publisher date of publication

If it is a book, you should include the publication information, like the date and place of publication. If it is an article, it should include the name of the magazine or newspaper title, volume number, publication information and page numbers. Sources that dont have authors should be alphabetized by title.

Book with one author:

Author (last name, first name). Book title. City: Publisher, Date of Publication.
Smith, Joan. Famous Women. Chicago: Wilson and Company,1992.

Book with two authors:

Authors last name, first name, and 2nd authors full name. Title. Place of publication: Publisher, Publication date.
Fromkin, V. & Rodman, R.. An introduction to language. London: Holt-Saunders, 1983.

Book with three authors:

Authors last name, first name, second authors full name and third authors full name. Title. Place of publication: Publisher, Date.
James, Frances, Howard Sweat, and Waleed Tawhed. Methods of Historical Research. Paris: French Historical Society, 1932.

Book with more than three authors:

a. List all authors in the order as they appear on the book.

Divine, Robert A., T.H. Breen, George M. Fredrickson, and R. Hal Williams. The American Story. New York: Longman, 2002.

or b. Use et al. after the first author named.

Divine, Robert A., et al. The American Story. New York: Longman, 2002.

Book with an editor:

Editors last name, first name, ed. Title. Place of publication: Publisher, Date of publication.
Layman, Richard, ed. American Decades: 1960-1969. New York: Gale Research, 1995.

Book without no author or editor stated:

Book Title. Place of publication: Publisher, Date.
The Secret World of Ants. Washington: National Geographic Society, 1978.

Encyclopedia article:
Encyclopedia Title, Edition Date. Volume Number, Article Title, page numbers.
The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1997. Volume 7, Gorillas, pp. 50-51

Journal article:
Authors last name, first name. Title of article. Magazine title. Volume number: issue number (year of publication): page numbers.
Nielsen, Laura Beth. "Subtle, Pervasive, Harmful: Racist and Sexist Remarks in Public as Hate Speech." Journal of Social Issues 58.2 (2002): 265.

Magazine article:
Authors last name, first name. Article title. Magazine title. Volume no., (date of publication): page numbers.
Jordan, Jennifer, "Filming at the Top of the World." Museum of Science Magazine. Volume 47, No. 1, (Winter 1998): p. 11.

Newspaper article:
Authors last name, first name. Article title. Newspaper title [city of publication, if not in title] date of publication, edition if necessary: section if necessary: page numbers. Tevlin, Michael. "Board Split on Higher Standards." Valley Times. June 17, 1982: 1.

Pamphlet, booklet, brochure:

Name of author (if available). Title of the brochure, pamphlet, or booklet. Place of publication: Publisher, date of publication.
Zimmer, Henry B. Canplan: Your Canadian Financial Planning Software. Calgary, AB: Springbank, 1994.

Interview:
Full name (last name first). Occupation. Date of interview.
Smeckleburg, Sweets. Bus driver. April 1, 1996.

Lecture:
Name of speaker (last name first). Title of lecture. conference, convention or sponsoring organization if known, location, date.
Bradley, Vicki. "Marriage." Agnes Arnold Hall, U of Houston. 15 Mar. 2003.

Unpublished dissertations, theses:

Author (last name first). Title in quotes. Label Diss. or M.A. Thesis, name of university, year.
Jackson, Marjorie. "The Oboe: A Study of Its Development and Use." Diss. Columbia U, 1962.

Film, movie:
Title, Director, Distributor, Year.
The Tuxedo. Dir. Kevin Donovan. Prod. John H. Williams, and Adam Schroeder. Perf. Jackie Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt. DreamWorks, 2002.

note: short forms are used: dir. (directed by), prod. (produced by), perf. (performed by), writ. (written by)

CD ROM, DVD:
Disc Title. Version, Date. Article Title, pages if given. Publisher.
Encarta. CD-ROM. 1995 ed. New York: Microworks, 1996.

Email Message:
Author of message, (Date). Message subject. Electronic conference or bulletin board (Online). Email address.
Hayley Pol (July 10, 2012). Poems. Untitled Poems (Online). halszkaa1@o2.pl

Website:

Name of Site. Date of last update (if available). Author. Date you accessed the site <URL>.
AntColony.org. Phillip Pi. Ant Colony Developers Association. 18 Feb. 2004 <http://www.antcolony.org>.