Introduction to bibliographies

Why include a bibliography

Writing references

How to prepare a bibliography

How to compile a bibliography

Bibliography notes

What is plagiarism?

The Harvard System

Writing references

For each book, article or electronic source that you use it is essential that you record various pieces of information for your bibliography or reading list.

Books

(Use the book's title page to find most of this information)

Authors/Editors

Put the surname first, followed by initial(s) of forename(s).

If there are two or three contributing names, include them all in the order they appear on the title page.

If there are more than three, record the first followed by et al. (This is a Latin phrase meaning "and others").

If the book is edited, signify this by using ed. after the appropriate name.

Date of publication

You will usually find this on the back of the title page.

Title

Use the title given on the title page and sub-title (if any).

Capitalise the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns or names. References for bibliographies using the Harvard System should have their titles italicised if your work is word processed or underlined if your work is handwritten.

Edition

Only include the edition number if it is not the first.

Series

Include series and individual volume number where relevant.

Publisher and place of publication

You will usually find these two pieces of information on the back of the title page.

Pages

If quoting a specific section include the pages where that quote falls. In order to avoid confusion, insert the abbreviation p. before the page number.

Reference materials

(dictionaries, encyclopaedias, serials, bibliographies and indexes)

In many cases reference materials such as encyclopaedias do not have an obvious author or editor. Such publications are usually known and cited by their titles. To do this correctly the title should be capitalised because it will act as the heading. Note that the title is not underlined or italicised. The order in which you list information for your references reflects the amount of detail you need to include depending upon the works you have actually used.

Examples:

If you are citing just one volume of a serial publication follow this format:

If you are citing more than one volume:

If you are citing the complete set:

CUMULATIVE BOOK INDEX. Vol. 1- , 1898- . H.W. Wilson, 1898- .

Some serial bibliographies, indexes etc. number their volumes, others just date them. If volumes are numbered this should be included in the reference.

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