How To Write A Bibliography For A Research Paper: The Essentials

After you have written your paper, which has in-text citations, you then have to prepare a reference page. The form, such as AP or Harvard, will dictate the exact formatting that your teacher assigned you to use when constructing the piece. Use some of these essential rules as you get ready t write it.

The Essentials:

• The Test on Whether to include It-if you did not know the information prior to placing it in your paper, it must be acknowledged on your reference paper and it must have an in-text citation immediately after putting it in the paper.
• Online Tools-there are some great tools online which can create the actual page for you. Some of them are free and some of them cost. I use one of these for my own work. The tools take away the worry of asking where the punctuation goes and how much to indent. Do a search and see if you can find one that fits your budget.
• Alphabetical-it will be an alphabetical listing going by the author's last name, first initial. Or it goes by the first letter of the title if no author is listed.
• Indent-the entire listing is completed with reverse indentation. This means you start one inch from the left side on the first line (a normal essay margin), but then you tab in five spaces for every line after that first set margin. Then when you get ready to place the next entry, you go back over flush to the margin again.
• A Guidebook-each format has a different means of creating the bibliography. You really should buy or book mark a guide so you can refer to when you are in doubt. There are some very reputable ones to be found online for no cost. Many universities put them out for the public to use.
• A Writing Company-if all of this makes your head hurt and you do not understand any of it, then hire a writing company to assist you with this important step. It has to be included or you will be committing plagiarism. There is no shame in using a writing company or a tutor to make sure that all of your paper is perfect.
• Go to the Lab-the free alternative to using a writing company or a tutor is to instead utilize your school’s writing lab. The services there should be free of charge.