A bibliography is an alphabetical list of all the sources you have consulted for an essay or research paper. You must list your sources in a specific format. Use this guide to create your bibliography in the correct format.

Listing the Source

• Always underline the title of the work cited.
• Alphabetize by the author’s last name.
• If there is no author, alphabetize by title.
• Always indent the second or third lines (5 spaces).
• Always leave 1 space after commas and 2 spaces after periods and colons.

Examples

For a book with one author:
Robinson, Adam. What Smart Students Know. New York: Crown Paperbacks, 1993.

For a book with two authors:
Sorensen, Sharon, and Bob LeBreck. The Research Paper. New York: Amsco Publications, 1994.

For a book with no author:
The World of Learning. London: Europa Publications, 1995.

A signed article in an encyclopedia:
Rupp, Ernest Gordon. "Erasmus." Encyclopedia Britannica: Macropaedia. 1991 ed.

An unsigned article in an encyclopedia:
"Mandarin." Encyclopedia Americana. 1991 ed.

An article in a magazine:
Begley, Sharon. "A Healthy Dose of Laughter." Newsweek 4 Oct. 1982: 74.

An article in a newspaper:
Brody, Jane E. "Multiple Cancers Termed On Increase." New York Times 10 Oct. 1976: A37.

An article from a CD-ROM:
Settles, Gary S. "Absolute Zero." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. 1997.

An article from an internet site:
Bradshaw, Gary S. "Wilbur and Orville Wright." Oct. 1996
URL: http://www.wam.umd.edu/~srwright/WrBr/Wrights.html
Try to find as much information as possible about an Internet document in order to determine whether it is accurate or not. It is especially important to try to find out about the author of an Internet document, whether a person, organization or institution.

A Sample Bibliography

Begley, Sharon. "A Healthy Dose of Laughter." Newsweek Oct.4, 1982: 74.

Brody, Jane E. "Multiple Cancers Termed On Increase." New York Times Oct.10, 1976: A37.

Gilbert, Martin. The Second World War: A Complete History. New York: Henry Holt, 1989. "Mandarin." Encyclopedia Americana. 1991 ed.

Robinson, Adam. What Smart Students Know. New York: Crown Paperbacks, 1993.

Rupp, Ernest Gordon. "Erasmus." Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia. 1991 ed.

Sorensen, Sharon, and Bob LeBreck. The Research Paper. New York: Amsco Publications, 1994.

The World of Learning. London: Europa Publications, 1995.