Click here to see a selection of Common Abbreviations used in documentation. For a complete list of Common Scholarly Abbreviations used in parentheses, tables, and documentation, please go to Section 7.4 of the 6th edition of the MLA Handbook.
If you ask a question of how to do a bibliography correctly, you should start with the following simple thing which is the most important. In order to gather all of the information necessary to draft a bibliography, you should keep a list of EVERY book, website, magazine or periodical that you read in preparation for your paper. Eventually, this list will comprise your bibliography.
- The article heading
- The front page, or editorial page of a newsprint
- The table of contents of a journal
- The header or footer of a webpage
- The Contact or About Us page of a webpage
Please note that all entries should be typed double-spaced. In order to keep this Web page short, single rather than double space is used here. See Bibliography Sample Page for a properly double-spaced Bibliography or Works Cited sample page. Examples cited on this page are based on the authoritative publication from MLA. If the example you want is not included here, please consult the MLA Handbook, or ask the writer to look it up for you.
Article in an encyclopedia with an author
There is another type of bibliography that is worth mentioning – the annotated bibliography. An annotated bibliography definition is, for all intents and purposes, identical to a standard bibliography
- The name of the author, or authors
- The full title of the source material
- The name of the publisher
- The date of publication
- The page number of the source material
While you are writing down (or even photocopying) the information for your source material, remember to include:
However, before pressing forward, here is a handy checklist that you can use to make sure that you are gathering all of the information needed to create a bibliography, and that a great one! In the proceeding pages, you will find detailed information regarding how to properly write and format the bibliographical sources based on the specifics of the source material. Ie: Is there more than one author? Did the material come from a blog? Did the source material have multiple editors?
MLA citing is easier when you have visuals and examples to take a peek at. That’s why we’ve put together a list of the most common source types that students and scholars reference. If you’re trying to reference a book, newspaper article, website, or tweet, you’ll find the structures you need to get on the right track.
If it’s referencing an APA journal you’re after, click on the link for the informative EasyBib guide on the topic.
For more on learning how to cite MLA timestamps, turn to page 57 in the official Handbook.
CHAPTER IN AN EDITED BOOK
If it’s help with an APA in-text citation or APA parenthetical citation you’re after, you’re in luck! Our comprehensive guides are here for you!
Lark knows how to handle life on the river. “I try to count the seconds before I hear the thunder, so I know how far the storm is, but I’m too rattled” (Wingate 12).
There are times when two titles aren’t included in a reference. If, instead of referencing the song “Beat It,” you’re referencing the entire album, exclude the quotation marks. Only include the one title and place it in italics, without quotation marks.
For sources with more than one author, only the first author’s name is inverted
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.
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.“
When an online source does not list a publication date, replace it with an access date in your in footnote citations and your bibliography:
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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.
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.
There are further guidelines for formatting a Chicago style annotated bibliography, in which you write a paragraph of summary and evaluation under each source.
If you cite multiple pages or articles from the same website, you should include a separate Works Cited entry for each one.
The format differs for other types of online content, such as YouTube videos, TED Talks, and podcasts.
Websites don’t usually have page numbers, so the in-text citation is just the author name in parentheses. If you already named the author in your sentence, you don’t need to add a parenthetical citation.
If the website is published by an organization with a different name than the website itself, you should include this in the citation too. The website’s publisher is usually found somewhere in the footer, often next to a copyright symbol.
What can proofreading do for your paper?
Use a shortened version of the title in your in-text citation. The shortened title must match the first words of your Works Cited entry.
The title of an article is not italicized in MLA style, but placed in quotation marks. This applies to articles from journals, newspapers, websites, or any other publication. Use italics for the title of the source where the article was published. For example:
If the website has a publication or copyright date (usually found in the footer), include this
Most of the time, you should cite the specific page or article where you found the information. However, you might have to cite the entire website if you are giving a general overview of its content, referring only to the homepage, or quoting text that appears on many different pages across the site (such as a company’s slogan).
If a bibliography entry extends onto more than one line, subsequent lines should be indented, as seen in the example below. This helps the reader to see at a glance where each new entry begins.
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.
- 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).
The bibliography appears at the end of your text. The heading Bibliography is bolded and centred at the top of the page.
Chicago style bibliography examples
Bibliography entries vary in format depending on the type of source. Templates and examples for the most common source types are shown below.
There are also other types of bibliography that work as stand-alone texts, such as an annotated bibliography.
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.