How to Write a Bibliography for an Essay
Bibliography is a list of all sources where information has been borrowed from. Unless the writer is writing ideas from their own knowledge, it is important to end an essay with this list otherwise the work will be termed as plagiarized. The bibliography is included last in an article in its own page and is written alphabetically in different formats depending on the writing style.
A research paper can borrow can rely on a book, an article, a website, video or audio and electronic sources to derive information needed to write an essay. The bibliography is either but not limited to APA or MLA format which are the most common type of writing styles. The bibliography page in APA is labelled as references while in MLA is labeled as works cited. The lists are indented and using the hanging indentation helps the reader distinguish between one source and the next. The rule that applies to all formats is using reliable sources that has all the information needed for a bibliography list.
APA writing style is mostly in social sciences and mostly uses journals and publications and focuses on the research derived from the source and the publication date. Priority is given however to the author if the article if that information is available. The bibliography in this writing style starts with the author(s) with surname appearing first followed by publication date in brackets and then a period. The journal name precedes the title of the source which is written in italics. The website URL from which the article can be accessed follows and lastly the date the article was accessed. The APA bibliography appears as, N Brundisini et al. (2014, September 1). NCBI. Chronic Disease Patients’ Experiences with Accessing Health Care in Rural and Remote Areas. Retrieved from http://afifainternational.com/cite-wikipedia-essay/ on February 16, 2018.
MLA writing style is mostly preferred in humanity researches and the focus unlike in the APA is on the author of the source used so that the reader can fit the author in proper history or philosophical era. The style starts with the author’s name starting with the surname then the middle name. The journal title precedes the article heading, the formal is in quotation marks and the latter is italicized. If the date of publication is available it follows next and if otherwise, n.d is used instead in brackets. The website address follows ending with the date of access. An example of MLA citation is this, William. “Medieval Sourcebook.” Becke and Henry. Selections from book 11 of his History (c.1200) (n.d.). <https://essaybasics.com/blog/>. Accessed on 16 February, 2018.