How To Write a Bibliography
Writing a List of References Used in Researching a Biography
Nov 9, 2008
For any biography writer there will be a long involved journey through libraries, websites and official documents before even being able to write a first draft of the biography. So when the book is finally finished there will be a few last pages demanding to be written. The bibliography.
A bibliography is a list of all of the works and references used to create the essay, article or book at hand. There are many ways to write a bibliography and different publishers may prefer different styles but this is a good standard way to write a bibliography for the final draft of a book unless your publisher or agent requests otherwise.
What to Include in a Bibliography
All of the sources you used in your research should be listed in the bibliography. Write the list alphabetically by author surname. The bibliography may include;
- Books
- Newspapers
- Magazines
- Journals
- Reference works
- Interviews
- Online resources
What Resources are Likely to be Used for a Biography
When writing a biography a great depth of research will be needed, even if the writer is writing about someone they know or knew.
In addition to primary evidence such as birth and death certificates, private diaries and unpublished interviews, writer will almost always need to take information from, use as a reference and maybe quote from the work of others.
Referencing Books
Books will be used in most biography research. They may take the form of previous biographies or autobiographies of the subject, works written by them or works critiquing them or their work. In addition everyone is a result of their times so research may include reading books about the period the subject was alive or the political, military, social or cultural events they were involved in.
To reference a book use the following style;
Books: Writer last name [comma] Writer first name [period] Full title of work (underlined)[period] City or country where the work was published [colon] Name of publisher [comma], Date of publication [period]
Referencing Articles
In many cases periodicals, newspapers, journals or magazines may be used for research. This will be particularly true in the case of anyone who would elicit media attention such as a political figure or celebrity or anyone who would have written reference works themselves which may be published in journals.
To reference an article use the following style;
Articles from Periodicals/ Newspapers/ Journals/ Magazines: Writer last name [comma] Writer first name [period] [quotation mark] Article title [quotation mark][period] Name of journal/ periodical/ magazine and date of publication (all underlined)[colon] Page numbers [period]
Referencing the Internet
In today's cyberspace world more and more official documents are becoming available online. It is also increasingly acceptable to use the article based websites for research in addition to official home pages of celebrities and news service websites. The majority of writers will use the internet for research to some degree so here is how to reference it in a bibliography;
Internet Resources: Writer last name [comma] Writer first name [period] [quotation mark] Title of piece or article if possible [quotation mark][comma] Title of website (but not the URL)[period] Name and location of the company/ organisation/ website owner (look in the “Contact Us” section on the website for this information)[period] Date the source was accessed or printed followed by the full URL in brackets [period]
So do not shy away from writing a bibliography out of fear that it looks like to much of other people's work has been used in reference. A good bibliography actually creates the opposite effect as it shows the world at large quite how much research has gone into creating the biography and establishes it as a credible work.
