Every research project requires you to go outside your own knowledge and gather varying ideas and perspectives into a cohesive whole. The first crucial step in this is gathering a number of sources to inform you. It lays a foundation that allows you to complete your project, and like any foundation, you can't just move past it once you are done researching. You take the knowledge and synthesize it into your project, whether it be a speech, essay, video, or presentation, but you must also take those source names and synthesize them too into a bibliography.
A bibliography (also called a Works Cited page) is a list of sources used in a research project. While it seems very simple, it can be a struggle--so much so that software programs that create the bibliography for you are a multimillion dollar industry. But you don't need those fancy, always error-ridden programs. Follow the steps below and you will have a perfect bibliography every time. NOTE: I will be discussing how to make an MLA Works Cited page. APA follows almost the exact same methods but has a couple of difference, which I discuss at the very bottom of this article.
A bibliography (also called a Works Cited page) is a list of sources used in a research project. While it seems very simple, it can be a struggle--so much so that software programs that create the bibliography for you are a multimillion dollar industry. But you don't need those fancy, always error-ridden programs. Follow the steps below and you will have a perfect bibliography every time. NOTE: I will be discussing how to make an MLA Works Cited page. APA follows almost the exact same methods but has a couple of difference, which I discuss at the very bottom of this article.
STEP ONE: Set up the page
Unless you are only citing one or two sources, a Works Cited page is ALWAYS on a separate page at the very end of your essay--after any appendixes and footnotes. Give it page numbers that follow your essay. At the top, title the page Works Cited in your normal body font--no bolding, no underline, no special anything. Make sure the title is center justified and the page has 1" margins all around.
STEP TWO: List your sources
Go through your notes and copy the source citations from each set of notes onto your Works Cited page. You should have written down the exact MLA citation on your notes sheet during your research, but if you didn't and you need that information, you'll need to get the source again and find that information now. As you type out your citations, make sure you are careful with which words you capitalize and where you place punctuation; almost all citation software produces errors in capitalization and punctuation, so if you are a lazy coward and having a machine do your work for you, you still need to review each citation carefully for errors. Another common error is listing the full URL for a digital web address when you should cut the "http://www" and any end slashes or ".htm/.html." Below is the link to the MLA Citation page if you need it.
STEP THREE: Alphabetize, hyperlink, and and indent your list
Once you are sure all your sources are correct, you need to alphabetize them by the first letter. While for most sources this will be the author's last name, IF THERE IS NO AUTHOR, use the first word of the title that is not a, an, or the.
Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Ballantine Books, 2009.
“The Beatnik Generation.” Voices of East Anglia. Voices of East Anglia, 2011.
Bukowski, Charles. Post Office. Ecco, 2002.
If you have TWO SOURCES WITH THE SAME SURNAME, alphabetize by their first name.
Ginsberg, Allen. “Howl.” Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 1956.
Ginsberg, Debra. Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress. Harper Perennial, 2001.
If you have TWO SOURCES BY THE SAME AUTHOR, alphabetize by the text title. On the second source, replace the repeated name with three spaced hyphens to show that the name is the same.
Ginsberg, Allen. “Howl.” Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 1956.
- - - . Kaddish. Arion Press, 1992.
If you have TWO SOURCES BY THE SAME AUTHOR, BUT THE AUTHOR USES TWO DIFFERENT NAMES (common in cases of pseudonyms or maiden names), keep whatever name is on the source but add a note after the name to see the other entry, demonstrating that both names are the same person.
Robb, J.D. (see also Roberts, Nora). Brotherhood in Death. Berkley Press, 2016.
Roberts, Nora (see also Robb, J.D.). The Search (2010). Jove, 2011.
If you have a USERNAME AS AUTHOR and the name starts with a number, place it at the top of the list (0-9). If it starts with a symbol, ignore the symbol and go to the first letter.
2chainz. "Watch Out." ColleGrove. Def Jam Recordings, 2016.
Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Ballantine Books, 2009.
@Neilmakesart. "Inception Infographic." DeviantArt, 24 August 2010, fav.me/d2x5vou.
After all entries are alphabetized, select all of your text and give it a hanging indent of half an inch. Also make sure that entries are full justified and double spaced, just like the rest of your essay.
If turning in a digital essay and are hyperlinking web sources instead of listing the web address, make sure all your hyperlinks work and are not underlined (they should, however, be blue to show a link exists).
Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Ballantine Books, 2009.
“The Beatnik Generation.” Voices of East Anglia. Voices of East Anglia, 2011.
Bukowski, Charles. Post Office. Ecco, 2002.
If you have TWO SOURCES WITH THE SAME SURNAME, alphabetize by their first name.
Ginsberg, Allen. “Howl.” Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 1956.
Ginsberg, Debra. Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress. Harper Perennial, 2001.
If you have TWO SOURCES BY THE SAME AUTHOR, alphabetize by the text title. On the second source, replace the repeated name with three spaced hyphens to show that the name is the same.
Ginsberg, Allen. “Howl.” Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 1956.
- - - . Kaddish. Arion Press, 1992.
If you have TWO SOURCES BY THE SAME AUTHOR, BUT THE AUTHOR USES TWO DIFFERENT NAMES (common in cases of pseudonyms or maiden names), keep whatever name is on the source but add a note after the name to see the other entry, demonstrating that both names are the same person.
Robb, J.D. (see also Roberts, Nora). Brotherhood in Death. Berkley Press, 2016.
Roberts, Nora (see also Robb, J.D.). The Search (2010). Jove, 2011.
If you have a USERNAME AS AUTHOR and the name starts with a number, place it at the top of the list (0-9). If it starts with a symbol, ignore the symbol and go to the first letter.
2chainz. "Watch Out." ColleGrove. Def Jam Recordings, 2016.
Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Ballantine Books, 2009.
@Neilmakesart. "Inception Infographic." DeviantArt, 24 August 2010, fav.me/d2x5vou.
After all entries are alphabetized, select all of your text and give it a hanging indent of half an inch. Also make sure that entries are full justified and double spaced, just like the rest of your essay.
If turning in a digital essay and are hyperlinking web sources instead of listing the web address, make sure all your hyperlinks work and are not underlined (they should, however, be blue to show a link exists).
STEP FOUR: Double check that all entries are used
Finally, go through your essay and make sure that every in-text citation in your essay matches a source on your Works Cited page. If you have an in-text citation that doesn't match a source, you need to add the source to your Works Cited page. If you have a source on your Works Cited page that is not cited in your essay, take it off your Works Cited page, as you didn't actually cite that work. If you have no in-text citations, then you are committing plagiarism--go back and add those in-text citations.
Media Used List
If you use images in your essay, cite them as the caption directly under the image. However, many multimedia presentations like slideshows and videos require a section after the Works Cited called Media Used. This does not have to be on a different page from the Works Cited. Like the Works Cited, these citations should be in alphabetical order. Remember, this is only for images and video that provide visuals; if you used an infographic or video for research information and content, it belongs in the Works Cited section.
APA Differences
Instead of being titled "Works Cited," the APA page is titled "References."
Punctuation and capitalization is vastly different for APA entries. Only give a first initial, never a full name. Quotation marks are never used. Titles only capitalize the first word of the title and first word after a colon. Full URLs are required for digital web addresses: include the "http://www" and any end slashes or ".htm/.html."
If you have TWO SOURCES BY THE SAME AUTHOR, order the entries by year (oldest goes first). Do not replace the repeated name in the second source with hyphens.
Ginsberg, A. (1956). Howl. Retrieved from https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/howl-parts-i-ii
Ginsberg, A. (1992). Kaddish. New York: Arion Press.
Other than these features, an APA References page is formatted just like an MLA Works Cited page, including double spacing, hanging indent, and alphabetization. Below is the link to the APA Citation page if you need it.
Punctuation and capitalization is vastly different for APA entries. Only give a first initial, never a full name. Quotation marks are never used. Titles only capitalize the first word of the title and first word after a colon. Full URLs are required for digital web addresses: include the "http://www" and any end slashes or ".htm/.html."
If you have TWO SOURCES BY THE SAME AUTHOR, order the entries by year (oldest goes first). Do not replace the repeated name in the second source with hyphens.
Ginsberg, A. (1956). Howl. Retrieved from https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/howl-parts-i-ii
Ginsberg, A. (1992). Kaddish. New York: Arion Press.
Other than these features, an APA References page is formatted just like an MLA Works Cited page, including double spacing, hanging indent, and alphabetization. Below is the link to the APA Citation page if you need it.