How to compile a Bibliography or Reference List for your essay

The bibliography or reference list is an important part of your essay. A bibliography is a list of the books that a writer has referenced in his or her essay. The list may contain books, articles, reports, interviews and websites. The bibliography is usually in alphabetical order of the author’s name.

When you are creating a bibliography you should remember that its primary function is to allow the reader to find the sources that you have referenced. This will allow them to check your facts and arguments. Its other important function is to give credit to those writers whose work has helped you write your essay. There are several different styles of citation that you can choose from. APA, for example, is commonly used for the social sciences. Once you have chosen a style you should be consistent.

To create your bibliography you will need to consult library catalogues, article indexes and other bibliographies. For books, the citations should contain the author’s name, the date of publication, the publisher’s name and the location of the publisher. If you are including references to magazine articles then they should contain the name of the magazine, the issue number and page numbers. When citing a website you should try to include the author’s name, last update or copyright date, title of the page, title of the site, the URL and the date accessed.

Microsoft Word contains a feature that allows you to generate your bibliography automatically in the format that you require. There are also a number of English writing software packages on the market that offer to help you acquire the skills needed for good essay writing. These packages cover a wide range of skills and one of these will be creating a bibliography.