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Posted by Susan Evans at 9/26/2008 8:20:00 AM />
When writing a research paper, it is important to cite works and to write a bibliography. A bibliography, also called a works cited page, provides source information, helps keep all resources and references together and organized, and tells the reader where you found your information.
A bibliography should be placed at the very end of the paper. The title of this page should be "bibliography" or "works cited," and it should alphabetically list every source you used in your paper, such as books, articles, movies, websites, interviews, or any information that did not come from you. Commonly-known information, such as the date of Independence Day, does not need to be cited, but anything more detailed than that, such as where the Declaration of Independence was signed and who exactly signed it, should be cited.
The most common citing format is the Modern Language Association (MLA) format. In high schools and colleges, most people will ask for this style. Other citation styles are outlined by the American Psychology Association (APA), and the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS). The examples below use MLA style.
The most common work cited, a book with one author, is set up like this (with each line after the first indented five spaces from the left margin):
• Author's last name, first name. Title of the book. Publishing city: Publishing house, Year it was published.
For example, a novel would be cited like this: Niffenegger, Audrey. The Time Traveler's Wife. Orlando: Harborcourt, 2003.
Other common sources you may need to cite include:
If a book has two or three authors, list them in the order they appear in the book. Reverse only the first author's name. List the other authors' names in normal form.
• First author's last name, first author's first name, and second author's first name second author's last name. Title of the book. Publishing city: Publishing house, Year published.
Example: Smith, John, and Karen S. Johnson. Get Organized. Newbury: Green Press, 2006.
For more than three authors, you can either list all the authors as they appear in the book, or you can list the first author, then follow it with et al. ("and others").
Example: Jones, Henry, et al. Smart Shopping. Newbury: Green Press, 2006.
or
Jones, Henry, Martha Walsh, John Smith, Laura Moore, and Dorothy Frye. Smart Shopping. Newbury: Green Press, 2006.
If the book has editors and not authors (books of critical essays on one subject often do), treat the editors like the authors, followed by "ed."
Example: Johnson, Edward, ed. The Collection of Critical Essays. Newbury: Green Press, 2006.
To cite an article from a magazine, it is necessary to have the publication "month year," or "week month year," or even "day month year" depending on how frequently the magazine publishes.
• Author's last name, first name. "Title of the article." Magazine title Publication Day Month Year: Start page-end page.
Example: Grossman, Lev. "The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth." Time 3 October 2005: 98-98.
For a newspaper, list the date the article was published.
• Author's last name, first name. "Title of the article." Newspaper title Publication Day Month Year: Start page-end page.
Example: Kolata, Gina. "Experts Unlock Clues to Spread of 1918 Flu Virus." New York Times 6 October 2005: A1-A20.
To cite a movie, you may use shortened versions of words, to avoid having to fill out director, producer, author, etc. each time. The minimum citation needed is, in this order,
• Title of the movie, Director, Name of the distribution company, Year of release.
Other information, such as who wrote it, who produced it, and who starred in it, can be added between the title and the distribution company. This information can usually be found on the movie's packaging, or online. Here are examples of both approaches:
Minimal:
• The Color Purple. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Warner Studios, 1985.
With more information:
• Babe. Dir. Chris Noonan. Prod. Bill Miller, George Miller, and Doug Mitchell. Narr. Roscoe Lee Brown. Perf. Christine Cavanaugh and James Cromwell. Universal Studios, 1995.
Note that with movies, it is not necessary to use the last-name-first format, because you are using the title of the movie to cite, not a specific person.
As with magazines, the Internet article is set in quotations and the website or article's original source is underlined. The first date used is the date the article was written, and the second date is when the researcher visited the site. Even if you use an article you found online and the article is from a magazine, you must treat the article like an Internet source.
• Author's last name, first name. "Title of the article." Website, online journal or article's original source Publication Day Month Year: Start page-end page. Database name. Day Month Year. <Electronic address or URL>.
Example: Grossman, Lev. "The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth." Time 3 October 2005: 98-98. Business Source Premier. 5 November 2005. <http://search.epnet.com>.
When accessing an article via an online database, such as EBSCOhost, the complete citation is provided on the "source" field. Also, many current word processing programs will try to turn the web address into a hyperlink. If this happens, right click on the link and press "remove hyperlink."
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