A Guide to Bibliography and Referencing

A Guide to Bibliography and Referencing - This article discusses the concept of bibliography and how to write a bibliography both manually and automatically by using several free bibliography generator available today.

During the last five years (2016 to 2020), Google recorded a significant decrease in bibliography search. The record, as shown by MOZ metrics, shows the lack of interest in the searching of to write a bibliography, what is the function of bibliography, or what is a bibliography. The reason behind the decrease of search frequency could be that people don’t need to search it anymore because how to write a bibliography correctly is no longer an issue in their writing. The problem is, even today, many university students still find it difficult to write a bibliography manually. They don’t know the difference between citing a textbook and a journal article. They don’t know the difference between APA and MLA format in writing bibliography.

Today, Writing & Blogging decides to write article that discusses the concept of bibliography that covers the definition of bibliography, the difference between bibliography and reference, the most used bibliography format, and free bibliography generator available for free on the internet. This article will help the readers to be able to write bibliography manually and automatically.

What is a bibliography (and a reference)?

The term bibliography has two meanings; first, a bibliography is a field that studies books as physical and cultural object. In this sense, it is also known as bibliology. Second, a bibliography is a list of works written by an author or printed by a publishing house or published by a publisher either in printed version or online version.

Bibliography, practically, is a list of written texts used by a writer as his references in writing his text (article or book). It is located at the end of the article before appendices if any. As we can see in that statement, there is almost no difference between a bibliography and a reference for both are lists of written works.

There are two ways to understand the difference between a bibliography and a reference. The first way, a bibliography is a list of written works used or cited by a writer in writing his work as references. In this way, each written work listed in the bibliography is a reference. In other words, references are individual items in a bibliography. The second way, references are the written works used or cited by a writer in writing his work and a bibliography contains the references and some other written works that the writer had read but not actually cited in his work. In this second way, a bibliography may list a certain written work that is not cited by a writer.

Should we write a reference and bibliography in separated pages? Based on the brief explanation about the difference between a bibliography and reference above, it seems like there is no need to write a reference and bibliography in separated pages. The reason is because the bibliography contains both references (the cited written works) and written works not cited by the writer.

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What is the function of a bibliography?

A bibliography functions to provide information about the written works that the writer refers in writing his text. This information is provided to the readers to help them track the validity and truth of the statements made by the writer as a kind of scientific responsibility. This is the reason why a bibliography is a required part in a scientific writing. Furthermore, a bibliography provides chances to the readers to get more information about a topic mentioned or explained by the writer in his work.

If in my article I wrote that:

“Language is a species-specific ability that is innate to humans (Chomsky, 2009:12)”

You can track that the statement was not mine. It was Chomsky’s. You can check it by seeking the reference in the bibliography. As you find the book I cited, you can open the page 12 and see if Chomsky had made such a statement. If you can’t find it, it can be that you take a wrong book or you take the right book but different edition, I mistyped the reference, or I had made the statement by myself and tricked the readers as if it was Chomsky’s. Assume that you find the statement that I cited, perhaps you want to know more about it because I didn’t elaborate the statement deeply. The bibliography has helped you to find the information you look for. That is the function of a bibliography.

How to write a bibliography correctly?

There are several formats or styles in writing the bibliography. The most used styles in writing a bibliography are APA (American Psychology Association), MLA (Modern Linguistics Association), Chicago Style, and Harvard Style.

Each style has their format or structure in writing a bibliography or reference. To say that you have written a bibliography correctly, someone needs to refer to a certain bibliography format or style. Without referring to a certain bibliography format or style, someone may say that you write a bibliography incorrectly while you have done it right.

Nevertheless, there is a certain case that you may write a bibliography incorrectly because there are some general rules in writing a bibliography.

• Authors’ last names are written before their first names (inverted), except in MLA and Chicago Style. In those styles, if there more than one authors, only the first author’s name is inverted. More than 2 authors (3+) you only need to write the first author and then add et al.;
• The second line of each reference is indented;
• References are listed alphabetically;
• Books, book chapters, articles (including journal articles), and electronic sources like websites have their bibliography formats.

If you write the authors’ name without inverting it or you don’t distinguish between textbooks and journal articles in your bibliography, you have written a bibliography incorrectly. Therefore, it is very important to know how to write a bibliography correctly based on a certain bibliography format or style.

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Examples of bibliography in various styles

We have all the bibliography examples in the following table:

Single Author Bibliography

	APA	MLA	Chicago	Harvard
Book	Smith, T. (2020). The citation manual for students: A quick guide (2nd ed.). Wiley.	Smith, Thomas. The Citation Manual for Students: A Quick Guide. 2nd ed., Wiley, 2020.	Covey, Stephen. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York: Free Press, 1989.	Brick, J 2009, Academic culture: a student’s guide to studying at university, National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research, Sydney.
Book Chapter	Smith, T. (2020). The citation manual for students: A quick guide (2nd ed.)(pp.120-130). Wiley.	Smith, Thomas. The Citation Manual for Students: A Quick Guide. 2nd ed. pp. 120-130, Wiley, 2020.	Stewart, Bob. “Wag of the Tail: Reflecting on Pet Ownership.” In Enriching Our Lives with Animals, edited by John Jaimeson, 220–90. Toronto: Petlove Press, 2007.	Gregory, J 2008, “Journeying across colonial landscapes: portable housing in nineteenth century Australia‟, in A Mayne (ed.), Beyond the Black Stump: histories of outback Australia’, Wakefield Press, Kent Town, pp.211-237.
Journal Article	Andreff, W. (2000). The evolving European model of professional sports finance. Journal of Sports Economics, 1(3), 257–276. https://doi.org/10.1177/152700250000100304	Andreff, Wladimir. “The Evolving European Model of Professional Sports Finance.” Journal of Sports Economics, vol. 1, no. 3, Sept. 2000, pp. 257–76, doi:10.1177/152700250000100304.	Datta, Hannes. “The Challenge of Retaining Customers Acquired with Free Trials.” Journal of Marketing Research 52, no. 52 (April 2015): 217–34. www.jstor.org/stable/43832354.	Prentice, C 2010, „Terms of ambivalence: cultural politics and symbolic exchange‟, Australian Literary Studies, vol.25, no. 4, pp. 33-54.
Webpage	Slat, B. (2019, April 10). Whales likely impacted by Great Pacific garbage patch. The Ocean Cleanup. https://www.theoceancleanup.com/updates/whales-likely-impacted-by-great-pacific-garbage-patch/	Slat, Boyan. “Whales Likely Impacted by Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” The Ocean Cleanup, 10 Apr. 2019, www.theoceancleanup.com/updates/whales-likely-impacted-by-great-pacific-garbage-patch.	Caulfield, Jack. “How To Do Thematic Analysis.” Scribbr. September 6, 2019. https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/thematic-analysis/.	Downing, S 2010,‟Social control in a subculture of piracy‟, Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, vol.17, no. 1, pp. 77-123, viewed 18 November 2011, http://www.albany.edu/scj/jcjpc/jcjpc_vol17.html

Multiple Author Bibliography

	APA	MLA	Chicago	Harvard
Book	Thanavaro, J., & Moore, K. S. (2017). Clinical decision making for adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioners. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.	Smith, Thomas, and Barbara Michelle Williams. The Citation Manual for Students: A Quick Guide. Wiley, 2020.	Burns, Anna, and Robert Smith. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York: Free Press, 1989.	Carter, R & McCarthy, M 2006, Cambridge grammar of English: a comprehensive guide, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Book Chapter	Thanavaro, J., & Moore, K. S. (2017). Clinical decision making for adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioners (pp.120-130). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.	Smith, Thomas, and Barbara Michelle Williams. The Citation Manual for Students: A Quick Guide. Pp. 120-130. Wiley, 2020.	Stewart, Bob, and John Gordon. “Wag of the Tail: Reflecting on Pet Ownership.” In Enriching Our Lives with Animals, edited by John Jaimeson, 220–90. Toronto: Petlove Press, 2007.	Gregory, J. & Jones, D. 2008, “Journeying across colonial landscapes: portable housing in nineteenth century Australia‟, in A Mayne (ed.), Beyond the Black Stump: histories of outback Australia’, Wakefield Press, Kent Town, pp.211-237.
Journal Article	Gyura, A. & McCauley, S.O. (2015). The whole family serves: Supporting sexual minority youth in military families. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 30(5), 414-423.	Andreff, Wladimir, and Paul D. Staudohar. “The Evolving European Model of Professional Sports Finance.” Journal of Sports Economics, vol. 1, no. 3, Sept. 2000, pp. 257–76, doi:10.1177/152700250000100304.	Datta, Hannes, and Anna Burns. “The Challenge of Retaining Customers Acquired with Free Trials.” Journal of Marketing Research 52, no. 52 (April 2015): 217–34. www.jstor.org/stable/43832354.	Prentice, C., Gregory, J. & Jones, D. 2010, “Terms of ambivalence: cultural politics and symbolic exchange‟, Australian Literary Studies, vol.25, no. 4, pp. 33-54.
Webpage	Slat, B., Worp, C., & Holierhoek, L. (2019, April 10). Whales likely impacted by Great Pacific garbage patch. The Ocean Cleanup. https://www.theoceancleanup.com/updates/whales-likely-impacted-by-great-pacific-garbage-patch/	Slat, Boyan, and Chris Worp. “Whales Likely Impacted by Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” The Ocean Cleanup, 10 Apr. 2019, www.theoceancleanup.com/updates/whales-likely-impacted-by-great-pacific-garbage-patch.	Caulfield, Jack, and Hannes Datta. “How To Do Thematic Analysis.” Scribbr. September 6, 2019. https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/thematic-analysis/.	Downing, S. & Jones, D. 2010,‟Social control in a subculture of piracy‟, Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, vol.17, no. 1, pp. 77-123, viewed 18 November 2011, http://www.albany.edu/scj/jcjpc/jcjpc_vol17.html

The tables above show the examples of how to write a reference in a bibliography based on a certain format or style. As you can see, book, book chapter, journal article, and website (webpage) are written in different format. You can also see that there are minor similarities among the styles.

Take a closer look at the examples. You will see that certain parts are italicized. In book or book chapter, it is the title of the book (or chapter) that is italicized while in journal article it is the name of the journal (the publisher) that is italicized and not the article title.

You need to know that not all parts of the reference are required; some of them are optional. For example, the DOI (digital object identifier) is optional for not all article has DOI number. The URL address of a journal article is also optional for some journal articles are printed (the online version applies the same). However, when you cite a webpage, the URL address must be included. Moreover, the date when you accessed the webpage must also be included so that people can understand if there are differences in the content that you cite and that available in the webpage because a webpage is prone to changes.

The required parts of each bibliography format or style are:

1. The name of the author(s);
2. The year of publication;
3. The title of the work;
4. The publisher;
5. The pages (if it is a book chapter and journal article).

You can also see that some of the titles are put in quotation marks and some others are not. The quotation marks are not obligatory in writing references but some academic institutions prefer to put the title in quotation marks especially journal article.

Last but not least, it is very important to note that in one article there is only one style to be used. You must be consistent in using a bibliography style.

It is a good practice to write them manually so that you can understand the concept behind each bibliography format or style. However, writing bibliography manually can be a hard work especially if you use multiple sources and a lot of references. Fortunately, today, we have so many free bibliography generators that we list below

List of Free Bibliography Generators

1. Bibliography.com
2. Cite This Form
3. Zetero
4. Easy Bib
5. My Bib
6. Scribbr
7. Mendeley (windows Software)
8. Bib Guru
9. NCSU Citation Builder
10. Cite to Write
11. Slasa
12. Formatically

We hope that this article helps you to know how to write a bibliography and understand the concept behind bibliography and reference writing. The free bibliography generators that we list above were made to help you creating your bibliography automatically. Nevertheless, understanding what a bibliography is and how to write a bibliography manually cannot be discarded from your writing activity, especially scientific writing.