Basic Bibliographies

A guide to understanding how to cite your source

General Format, General Rules 8.5 X 11 inch paper Double space and use a legible font Set the margins to 1 inch on all sides Header text – begin numbering pages in

the upper right corner following your name Left-align the heading on the first full page

of text from the top of the page. Title page – ask your teacher

Format

How do I … Create a header

View – Header and Footer – align right - close Double space

Format – Paragraph – Spacing – Line Spacing – Double - OK

Align On the tool bar – click on the left or right or

center

Parenthetical Citations Cite the source within the paper –

immediate citation Provides enough information about a

source to direct them to the works cited page

Includes author’s last name and page number

You can also cite the author’s last name before the page number in parentheses.

If no author use an abbreviated title

Examples – with an author“The world population is not increasing

exponentially” (Smith 99).

According to Smith, the world population is increasing at a slower rate (99).

Examples – no author“more readily accessible climatic data and

more comprehensive programs to monitor and study environmental change” (“Impact of Global Warming” 6).

Human beings have been described as symbol-using animals (Language 3).

Web parenthetical guidelines Include in the text the first item that

appears in the Works Cited entry No page numbers required If you want to include the website –

provide partial URL’s CNN.com or Forbes.com as opposed to writing

out http://www.cnn.com or http://www.forbes.com

Examples - Web“Studies show that the presence of a

credentialed school librarian are related to higher reading achievement” (Krashen).

The Purdue OWL is accessed by millions of users every year (Stolley et al.)

Works Cited Page Organized list of the bibliographic information for

each source you have used in your paper Create your works cited page in conjunction with

your paper (working works cited) Entries are listed alphabetically Double space throughout the entire works cited

page First line is left align, 2+ are indented Title

Center the title, Works Cited, 1 inch from the top of the page

Example…

Let’s Practice

Helpful links – www.maywoodacademy.org http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/