how to do a bibliography for coursework

How to Write a Bibliography, With Examples

You spent the past six hours grinding out your latest paper, but finally, it’s finished. It’s late, you’re exhausted, and all you want to do is click “Submit Assignment” and then get some sleep. 

Not so fast. If your paper doesn’t have a properly formatted bibliography, it’s not finished. 

A bibliography is a list of all the sources you consulted while writing your paper. Every book, article, and even video you used to gather information for your paper needs to be cited in your bibliography so your instructor (and any others reading your work) can trace the facts, statistics, and insights back to their original sources. 

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What is the purpose of a bibliography? 

A bibliography is the list of sources a work’s author used to create the work. It accompanies just about every type of academic writing , like essays , research papers , and reports . You might also find a brief, less formal bibliography at the end of a journalistic piece, presentation, or video when the author feels it’s necessary to cite their sources . In nearly all academic instances, a bibliography is required. Not including a bibliography (or including an incomplete, incorrect, or falsified bibliography) can be considered an act of plagiarism , which can lead to a failing grade, being dropped from your course or program, and even being suspended or expelled from your school. 

A bibliography accomplishes a few things. These include:

• Showing your instructor that you conducted the necessary research for your assignment 
• Crediting your sources’ authors for the research they conducted
• Making it easy for anybody who reads your work to find the sources you used and conduct their own research on the same or a similar topic

Additionally, future historians consulting your writing can use your bibliography to identify primary and secondary sources in your research field. Documenting the course information from its original source through later academic works can help researchers understand how that information has been cited and interpreted over time. It can also help them review the information in the face of competing—and possibly contradictory or revisionary—data. 

In nearly all cases, a bibliography is found at the end of a book or paper. 

What are the different kinds of bibliographies?

Different types of academic works call for different types of bibliographies. For example, your computer science professor might require you to submit an annotated bibliography along with your paper because this type of bibliography explains the why behind each source you chose to consult.

Analytical bibliography

An analytical bibliography documents a work’s journey from manuscript to published book or article. This type of bibliography includes the physical characteristics of each cited source, like each work’s number of pages, type of binding used, and illustrations. 

Annotated bibliography

An annotated bibliography is a bibliography that includes annotations, which are short notes explaining why the author chose each of the sources. Generally a few sentences long, these notes might summarize or reflect on the source. 

An annotated bibliography is not the same as a literature review . While a literature review discusses how you conducted your research and how your work fits into the overall body of established research in your field, an annotated bibliography simply explains how each source you used is relevant to your work. 

Enumerative bibliography

An enumerative bibliography is the most basic type of bibliography. It’s a list of sources used to conduct research, often ordered according to specific characteristics, like alphabetically by authors’ last names or grouped according to topic or language. 

Specific types of enumerative bibliographies used for research works include:

National bibliography

A national bibliography groups sources published in a specific region or nation. In many cases, these bibliographies also group works according to the time period during which they were published. 

Personal bibliography

A personal bibliography lists multiple works by the same individual author or group of authors. Often, personal bibliographies include works that would be difficult to find elsewhere, like unpublished works. 

Corporate bibliography

In a corporate bibliography, the sources are grouped according to their relation to a specific organization. The sources can be about an organization, published by that organization, or owned by that organization. 

Subject bibliography

Subject bibliographies group works according to the subjects they cover. Generally, these bibliographies list primary and secondary sources, whereas other types of enumerative bibliographies, like personal bibliographies, might not. 

Other types of bibliographies

In some cases, it makes sense to use a bibliography format other than those listed here. These include:

Single-author bibliography

This type of bibliography lists works by a single author. With certain assignments, like an essay comparing two of an author’s books, your bibliography is a single-author bibliography by default. In this case, you can choose how to order the sources, such as by publication date or alphabetically by title. 

Selected bibliography

A selected bibliography is a bibliography that only lists some of the sources you consulted. Usually, these are the most important sources for your work. You might write a selected bibliography if you consulted a variety of minor sources that you didn’t end up citing directly in your work. A selected bibliography may also be an annotated bibliography. 

How is a bibliography structured? 

Although each style guide has its own formatting rules for bibliographies, all bibliographies follow a similar structure. Key points to keep in mind when you’re structuring a bibliography include:

• Every bibliography page has a header. Format this header according to the style guide you’re using.
• Every bibliography has a title, such as “Works Cited,” “References,” or simply “Bibliography.”
• Bibliographies are lists. List your sources alphabetically according to their authors’ last names or their titles—whichever is applicable according to the style guide you’re using. The exception is a single-author bibliography or one that groups sources according to a shared characteristic. 
• Bibliographies are double-spaced.
• Bibliographies should be in legible fonts, typically the same font as the papers they accompany.

As noted above, different kinds of assignments require different kinds of bibliographies. For example, you might write an analytical bibliography for your art history paper because this type of bibliography gives you space to discuss how the construction methods used for your sources inform their content and vice-versa. If you aren’t sure which kind of bibliography to write, ask your instructor. 

How do you write a bibliography?

The term “bibliography” is a catch-all for any list of sources cited at the end of an academic work. Certain style guides use different terminology to refer to bibliographies. For example, MLA format refers to a paper’s bibliography as its Works Cited page. APA refers to it as the References page. No matter which style guide you’re using, the process for writing a bibliography is generally the same. The primary difference between the different style guides is how the bibliography is formatted. 

The first step in writing a bibliography is organizing all the relevant information about the sources you used in your research. Relevant information about a source can vary according to the type of media it is, the type of bibliography you’re writing, and your style guide. Determine which information you need to include about each source by consulting the style guide you’re using. If you aren’t sure what to include, or if you’re not sure which style guide to use, ask your instructor. 

The next step is to format your sources according to the style guide you’re using. MLA , APA , and the Chicago Manual of Style are three of the most commonly used style guides in academic writing. 

MLA Works Cited page

In MLA format , the bibliography is known as the Works Cited page. MLA is typically used for writing in the humanities, like English and History. Because of this, it includes guidelines for citing sources like plays, videos , and works of visual art —sources you’d find yourself consulting for these courses, but probably not in your science and business courses.

In MLA format, books are cited like this:

If the cited book was published prior to 1900, is from a publisher with offices in multiple countries, or is from a publisher that is largely unknown in the US, include the book’s city of publication. Otherwise, this can be left out. 

Scholarly articles are cited in this format: 

• Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Periodical, Day Month Year, pages.

APA References page

In APA format —the format typically used in psychology, nursing, business, and the social sciences—the bibliography page is titled References. This format includes citation instructions for technical papers and data-heavy research, the types of sources you’re likely to consult for academic writing in these fields. 

In APA format, books are cited like this:

Digital object identifier (DOI).

(issue  number) , article’s page range (i.e., 10-15). URL.

Chicago Manual of Style

The Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS) permits authors to format bibliographies in two different ways: the notes and bibliography system and the author-date system. The former is generally used in the humanities, whereas the latter is usually used in the sciences and social sciences. 

Both systems include guidelines for citations on a paper’s body pages as well as a bibliographic list that follows the paper. This list is titled Bibliography.

In CMoS, books are cited like this:

publication.

number  (year published): page numbers of the article (i.e., 10-15).

Bibliography FAQs 

What is a bibliography.

A bibliography is the list of sources a work’s author used to create the work.

What are the different kinds of bibliographies? 

There are many different kinds of bibliographies. These include:

• Enumerative bibliographies
• Annotated bibliographies
• Analytical bibliographies

How do you write a bibliography for different style guides?

Each style guide publishes its bibliography guidelines online. Locate the guidelines for the style guide you’re following ( Chicago Manual of Style , MLA , APA ), and using the examples provided, format and list the sources for your work. 

UCL Philosophy

Guide to Referencing for Coursework

Many different ways of giving references are used in academic publications. All systems are acceptable, provided they are applied consistently.

For your guidance, we suggest the following, which is a simplified version of the Harvard system:

1. References may be given either in the main text of your essay, or in a footnote or endnote. References are in brackets and take the form of the author's surname, followed by date of publication, followed (if appropriate) by page number(s), e.g. (Wiggins 1997, 251). Note that all quotations must be supplied with page references, but if you are referring to an author's text in general terms, then of course page numbers are not required. 

2. Full details of all the works to which you refer must be supplied in a list of references or bibliography at the end of your essay. (See below regarding what form these should take.)

Some finer points regarding references given in the main text or in footnotes/endnotes:

• Authors' names are given without initials, e.g. (Dennett 1996). Initials need to be given only when two authors with the same surname are referred to, e.g. (Smith, A. 1996; Smith, W. 1994).
• When referring to more than one article published in the same year by the same author , use lower-case letters to differentiate them, e.g. (Henrich 1981a) and (Henrich 1981b).
• If you refer to republished historical works, it is good practice to give the date of original publication in square brackets, e.g. (Kant 1997, 26 [1786] ).
• If the name of the author is already given in the text, then the date alone should be added in brackets, e.g. '... work by Fodor (1981) shows the importance of understanding ...'
• References to two or more works should be in alphabetical order, separated by a semi-colon, e.g. (Budd 1991; Goodman 1970; Wollheim 1986a; Wollheim 1986b).

Full bibliographical references:

References should be listed in alphabetical order according to author surname, regardless of whether the work is a whole book, an edited collection, a chapter/article in an edited collection, a journal paper, or an online publication.

A book reference should contain the following information: author/editor(s) surname; author/editor(s) first name or initial(s); date; title (in italics); special edition (e.g. 2nd or revised); place of publication (city); name of publisher. E.g.:

Allison, Henry (2004), Kant's Transcendental Idealism: An Interpretation and Defense , revised edition (New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press).

Ariew, Roger, and Eric Watkins (eds) (2009), Modern Philosophy: An Anthology of Primary Sources , 2nd edn. (Indianapolis: Hackett).

References to chapters/articles in an edited collection should contain the following information: author surname; author first name or initial(s); date of edited collection; title of chapter/article (in inverted commas); full name of editor(s); title of edited collection (in italics); place of publication (city); name of publisher. E.g.:

Davidson, Donald (1982), 'Paradoxes of Irrationality', in Richard Wollheim and James Hopkins (eds), Philosophical Essays on Freud (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

Halbig, C. (2008), 'Varieties of Nature in Hegel and McDowell', in Jakob Lindgaard (ed.), John McDowell: Experience, Norm, and Nature (Oxford: Blackwell).

References to papers/articles in journals should contain the following information: author surname; author first name or initial(s); date of issue of journal; title of article (in inverted commas); name of journal (in italics); volume number; article pages. E.g.:

McDowell, John (1995), 'Knowledge and the Internal', Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 55, 877-893

All internet publications should be treated as if they were hard copy, i.e. cited by author's name and date in the main text and full citation in the bibliography. In the bibliography you should give the web address and also indicate the date on which you retrieved the information, as web-based information is prone to change. E.g.:

Parfit, Derek (1998), 'Why Anything? Why This?',  https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v20/n02/derek-parfit/why-anything-why-this (retrieved 26/7/2022).

Rohlf, M. (2010), 'Immanuel Kant', Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant/ (retrieved 15/8/2012)

Regarding lectures/handouts : It is seldom good practice to cite something that was said during the course of a lecture, or text from a course handout. You should normally aim to cite published references, and should not cite a lecture or handout simply to avoid searching the literature for yourself. If you do need to cite a lecturer or a handout, because the information in question is not in the published literature, then you should just put a reference in the text of your coursework, without putting any further entry in your list of references, e.g. 'It can be objected to Locke that ... (Paul Snowdon, lecture 15/03/2012)' or 'It can be objected to Locke that ... (Paul Snowdon, lecture handout)'.

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APA 7th Edition Citation Guide Previous Coursework

How to cite yourself.

When citing a paper that you wrote for a previous class, consider yourself as the author and your previous course work as an unpublished paper. Include [Unpublished manuscript] in brackets after the title.

Reference Page Format:

Author, (year written). Title [Unpublished manuscript]. Institution.

Reference Page Example:

O’Toole, T. (2019).  An analysis of pre-WWII leaders  [Unpublished manuscript]. Concordia University, St. Paul.  

In-text Citation Examples:

According to O’Toole (2019)... ...(O’Toole, 2019). ...(O’Toole, 2019, p. 4).

Blackboard Lectures and PowerPoints

Sources on Blackboard, such as recorded lectures and PowerPoints, are not available to people outside of your institution. If the audience of your paper is your professor and/or classmates who have access to the content, use the following examples.

If your audience is not enrolled in your course or part of your institution and therefore does not have access to the content, cite the content as a Personal Communication .

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title [Format]. Blackboard@CSP.  https://csp.blackboard.com/

Neilson, J. (2022, September 1).  What the library can do for you  [PowerPoint Slides]. Blackboard@CSP.  https://csp.blackboard.com/

According to Neilson (2022)... ...(Neilson, 2022).

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• Referencing

A Quick Guide to Referencing | Cite Your Sources Correctly

Referencing means acknowledging the sources you have used in your writing. Including references helps you support your claims and ensures that you avoid plagiarism .

There are many referencing styles, but they usually consist of two things:

• A citation wherever you refer to a source in your text.
• A reference list or bibliography at the end listing full details of all your sources.

The most common method of referencing in UK universities is Harvard style , which uses author-date citations in the text. Our free Harvard Reference Generator automatically creates accurate references in this style.

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Table of contents

Referencing styles, citing your sources with in-text citations, creating your reference list or bibliography, harvard referencing examples, frequently asked questions about referencing.

Each referencing style has different rules for presenting source information. For in-text citations, some use footnotes or endnotes , while others include the author’s surname and date of publication in brackets in the text.

The reference list or bibliography is presented differently in each style, with different rules for things like capitalisation, italics, and quotation marks in references.

Your university will usually tell you which referencing style to use; they may even have their own unique style. Always follow your university’s guidelines, and ask your tutor if you are unsure. The most common styles are summarised below.

Harvard referencing, the most commonly used style at UK universities, uses author–date in-text citations corresponding to an alphabetical bibliography or reference list at the end.

Harvard Referencing Guide

Vancouver referencing, used in biomedicine and other sciences, uses reference numbers in the text corresponding to a numbered reference list at the end.

Vancouver Referencing Guide

APA referencing, used in the social and behavioural sciences, uses author–date in-text citations corresponding to an alphabetical reference list at the end.

APA Referencing Guide APA Reference Generator

MHRA referencing, used in the humanities, uses footnotes in the text with source information, in addition to an alphabetised bibliography at the end.

MHRA Referencing Guide

OSCOLA referencing, used in law, uses footnotes in the text with source information, and an alphabetical bibliography at the end in longer texts.

OSCOLA Referencing Guide

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In-text citations should be used whenever you quote, paraphrase, or refer to information from a source (e.g. a book, article, image, website, or video).

Quoting and paraphrasing

Quoting is when you directly copy some text from a source and enclose it in quotation marks to indicate that it is not your own writing.

Paraphrasing is when you rephrase the original source into your own words. In this case, you don’t use quotation marks, but you still need to include a citation.

In most referencing styles, page numbers are included when you’re quoting or paraphrasing a particular passage. If you are referring to the text as a whole, no page number is needed.

In-text citations

In-text citations are quick references to your sources. In Harvard referencing, you use the author’s surname and the date of publication in brackets.

Up to three authors are included in a Harvard in-text citation. If the source has more than three authors, include the first author followed by ‘ et al. ‘

The point of these citations is to direct your reader to the alphabetised reference list, where you give full information about each source. For example, to find the source cited above, the reader would look under ‘J’ in your reference list to find the title and publication details of the source.

Placement of in-text citations

In-text citations should be placed directly after the quotation or information they refer to, usually before a comma or full stop. If a sentence is supported by multiple sources, you can combine them in one set of brackets, separated by a semicolon.

If you mention the author’s name in the text already, you don’t include it in the citation, and you can place the citation immediately after the name.

• Another researcher warns that the results of this method are ‘inconsistent’ (Singh, 2018, p. 13) .
• Previous research has frequently illustrated the pitfalls of this method (Singh, 2018; Jones, 2016) .
• Singh (2018, p. 13) warns that the results of this method are ‘inconsistent’.

The terms ‘bibliography’ and ‘reference list’ are sometimes used interchangeably. Both refer to a list that contains full information on all the sources cited in your text. Sometimes ‘bibliography’ is used to mean a more extensive list, also containing sources that you consulted but did not cite in the text.

A reference list or bibliography is usually mandatory, since in-text citations typically don’t provide full source information. For styles that already include full source information in footnotes (e.g. OSCOLA and Chicago Style ), the bibliography is optional, although your university may still require you to include one.

Format of the reference list

Reference lists are usually alphabetised by authors’ last names. Each entry in the list appears on a new line, and a hanging indent is applied if an entry extends onto multiple lines.

Different source information is included for different source types. Each style provides detailed guidelines for exactly what information should be included and how it should be presented.

Below are some examples of reference list entries for common source types in Harvard style.

• Chapter of a book
• Journal article

Your university should tell you which referencing style to follow. If you’re unsure, check with a supervisor. Commonly used styles include:

• Harvard referencing , the most commonly used style in UK universities.
• MHRA , used in humanities subjects.
• APA , used in the social sciences.
• Vancouver , used in biomedicine.
• OSCOLA , used in law.

Your university may have its own referencing style guide.

If you are allowed to choose which style to follow, we recommend Harvard referencing, as it is a straightforward and widely used style.

References should be included in your text whenever you use words, ideas, or information from a source. A source can be anything from a book or journal article to a website or YouTube video.

If you don’t acknowledge your sources, you can get in trouble for plagiarism .

To avoid plagiarism , always include a reference when you use words, ideas or information from a source. This shows that you are not trying to pass the work of others off as your own.

You must also properly quote or paraphrase the source. If you’re not sure whether you’ve done this correctly, you can use the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker to find and correct any mistakes.

Harvard referencing uses an author–date system. Sources are cited by the author’s last name and the publication year in brackets. Each Harvard in-text citation corresponds to an entry in the alphabetised reference list at the end of the paper.

Vancouver referencing uses a numerical system. Sources are cited by a number in parentheses or superscript. Each number corresponds to a full reference at the end of the paper.

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APA Citation Guide (7th Edition): Presentations and Class Notes

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In-Text Citation or Reference List?

Handouts distributed in class and presentation slides such as PowerPoint should be cited both in-text and on the Reference list.

Your own notes from lectures are considered personal communications in APA style. They are cited within the text of your assignment, but do not get an entry on the Reference list.

Presentation Slides from a Website

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Date). Title of presentation  [Lecture notes, PowerPoint Slides, etc.]. Publisher. URL

Kunka, J. L. (n.d.). Conquering the comma [PowerPoint presentation]. Purdue Online Writing Lab. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/pp/index.html#presentations

Presentation Slides from WebCampus (Canvas)

Instructor, I. I. (Year Presentation Was Created).  Title of presentation  [PowerPoint presentation]. WebCampus. URL

Graham, J. (2013).  Introduction: Jean Watson  [PowerPoint presentation]. WebCampus. https://unr.instructure.com/login/canvas

Note : The first letter of the word Watson is capitalized as it is part of a person's name.

Class Handouts from WebCampus (Canvas)

Instructor, I. I. (Year Handout Was Created if known).  Title of handout  [Class handout]. WebCampus. URL

Magowan , A. (2013).  Career resources at the library   [Class handout]. WebCampus. https://unr.instructure.com/login/canvas

Class Handout in Print

Instructor, I. I. (Year Handout Was Created if known).  Title of handout  [Class handout]. University Name, Course code.

Wood, D. (2013).  Laboratory safety overview  [Class handout]. University of Nevada, Reno,  BIO173.

Class Lectures (Notes from)

Note : Your own notes from a lecture are considered personal communications in APA style. They are cited within the text of your assignment, but do not get an entry on the Reference list. Put the citation right after a quote or paraphrased content from the class lecture.

(I. I. Instructor who gave lecture, personal communication, Month Day, Year lecture took place)

"Infections are often contracted while patients are recovering in the hospital" (J. D. Black, personal communication, May 30, 2012).

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University course materials

Citing and referencing: university course materials.

• In-text citations
• Reference list
• Books and book chapters
• Journals/Periodicals
• Newspapers/Magazines
• Government and other reports
• Legal sources
• Websites and social media
• Audio, music and visual media
• Conferences
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• Company and Industry reports
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• Medicine and Health sources
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• Music scores
• Journals and periodicals
• Government sources
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• Web and social media
• Games and apps
• Ancient and sacred sources
• Primary sources
• Audiovisual media and music scores
• Images and captions
• University lectures, theses and dissertations
• Interviews and personal communication
• Archival material
• In-Text Citations: Further Information
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• Journals / Periodicals
• Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
• Interviews and lectures
• Music Scores / Recordings
• Film / Video Recording
• Television / Radio Broadcast
• Online Communication / Social Media
• Live Performances
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• Government/organisational/technical reports
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• Websites newspaper & magazine articles, socia media
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APA Contents

• Introduction to APA style
• In-Text Citations
• Abbreviations
• Audio and Visual media
• Journals/periodicals
• Tables and figures
• Sample reference list
• Not all lecturers approve the use of Unit materials, such as lecture slides, in assignments. Check with your lecturer first to see if these resources are acceptable

Lecture Notes - available on Moodle

Class notes, class handouts, class handouts - available on moodle, powerpoint presentation - available on moodle, course materials - reprint from another source.

• Previously published articles, chapters or other resources: Cite the article or chapter as if you have found it in the original source . These details should be provided within the course pack or compiled textbook as part of a correct copyright or permissions statement. For further information consult the guidance for a compiled textbook or course packs .

MOOC - Massive Open Online Course

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FAQ: How do I cite content from my online course?

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The proper way to cite content like this can vary by department, course, or instructor, so always be sure to check with your professor about how they would like you to cite resources from your course. The three official handbooks for the documentation styles used most frequently here at SNHU—MLA, APA, and Chicago Manual of Style—do not clearly cover citing this type of source.

According to the 7th edition of the Publication Manual, the way you cite course content depends on the audience of your paper. If the audience can access the sources in Brightspace or other online learning systems, you will cite according to the type of resource (book, journal, PowerPoint slides, etc.).

If you do not see an author, you can use Southern New Hampshire University or the publisher as the group author.  If you do not see a date, you can use (n.d.).  The title of the page/lecture will be in italics.

NimblyWise Course Resource

General Format:

Group Author. (Date). Title of resource . Brightspace. https://xxxxxx

For Example:

NimblyWise. (n.d.). Life in the information age . Brightspace. https://learn.snhu.edu/d2l/lp/auth/saml/login

NimblyWise. (n.d.). Video: Types of resources . Brightspace. https://learn.snhu.edu/d2l/lp/auth/saml/login

In-Text Citation

(NimblyWise, n.d.)

NimblyWise (n.d.)

PowerPoint Slides found on Brightspace

PowerPoint Slides found on Brightspace (e.g. PowerPoint Slides found in your course, created by SNHU, your professor or instructor, or a fellow student)

Author, A. A. (Date). Title of slides [PowerPoint slides]. Brightspace. https://xxxxxx

Southern New Hampshire University. (n.d.). Social media and marketing communications: Written/Oral project outline [PowerPoint slides]. Brightspace. https://learn.snhu.edu/d2l/lp/auth/saml/login

(Southern New Hampshire University, n.d.)

Southern New Hampshire University (n.d.)

MLA provides some guidelines on how to handle this in this post at the MLA Style Center:  How do I cite a book chapter or handout that my professor uploaded to a Web site? This link opens in a new window

Citing Course Content in MLA

Lastname, Firstname. Title of the handout or “book chapter.” Title of the Website (container), URL. 

Levine, Caroline. “Hierarchy.” Brightspace , learn.snhu.edu/.

Southern New Hampshire University. French verb conjugations. Brightspace , learn.snhu.edu/.

Chicago Style

Course materials should generally not be used as a source for assignments. Try and find another source which makes a similar point to your course materials instead of using it as a source.

Citing Course Content in Chicago

1. First name Surname, “Title of source,” Course Code Brightspace at University name, Access Month Day Year, URL.

1. Southern New Hampshire University, “Overview: History and Heritage,” HIS-100 Brightspace at Southern New Hampshire University, Accessed March 27, 2019,  https://learn.snhu.edu .

Bibliography:

Surname, First name. “Title of source.” Course Code Brightspace at University name. Access Month Day Year. URL

Southern New Hampshire University. “Overview: History and Heritage.” HIS-100 Brightspace at Southern New Hampshire University. Accessed March 27, 2019.  https://learn.snhu.edu .

Further Help

This information is intended to be a guideline, not expert advice. Please be sure to speak to your professor about the appropriate way to cite sources in your class assignments and projects.

Campus Students

To access Academic Support, visit your Brightspace course and select “Tutoring and Mentoring” from the Academic Support pulldown menu.

Online Students

To access help with citations and more, visit the Academic Support via modules in Brightspace:

• Academic Support Overview: Getting Help with your Schoolwork This link opens in a new window

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OSCOLA referencing guide (Online): Bibliography

• Paraphrasing
• Repeating Citations
• Secondary Referencing

Bibliography

• Referencing Tools
• Two or Three Authors
• Four plus Authors
• Chapter in an Edited Book
• Editor or Translator
• Author & Editor or Translator
• Encyclopaedias
• Books of Authority
• Cases with Neutral Citation
• Cases without neutral citation
• Unreported Cases
• Cases before 1865
• Judges' Names
• Scot, NI & International
• Parts of Statutes
• Statutory Instruments
• Journal Articles
• Forthcoming Articles
• Working Papers
• Newspaper Articles
• Hansard & Select Committee reports
• Command Papers
• Law Commission Reports
• Official reports
• Official Publications
• Legislation
• ECJ & GC cases
• Decisions of the European Commission
• European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) cases
• Websites & Blogs
• Personal Communications
• Press Release
• Podcasts & Youtube videos
• Insight & LPC

You should create a bibliography at the end of your work that lists all of the sources used in your work. Each source only needs to be listed once, even if you have referred to it multiple times in your work. Do not include background reading in your bibliography. The bibliography should appear after the text and after appendices. The bibliography should list the sources in alphabetical order.

If your piece of work is long, you can divide the bibliography into three sections:  Cases, Legislation, and Bibliography

• Cases - Do not italicise case names. You should list the cases alphabetically in order of the first significant word. If the parties involved are only identified by initials the case should be listed under the initial. List trademark cases and shipping cases under the full case name, but insert an additional entry in the table under the trademark or the name of the ship with a cross-reference to the full name.
•   Legislation - This should include every statute listed in your piece of work (unless your lecturer has told you differently). Legislation should be listed in alphabetical order. Statutory Instruments should be listed separately after Statutes.
• Bibliography - Unlike in footnotes, the author's surname should be listed first, followed by the author's initials. Unlike in the footnotes, you do not list the author's first names, just initials. The secondary material should also be listed alphabetically. If citing more than one work by the same author, list the author’s works in chronological order (oldest first), and in alphabetical order of the first major word of the title within a single year. 

For further guidance see the full OSCOLA guide.

• OSCOLA referencing guide (full) (word)
• OSCOLA Bibliography This document shows how to format a bibliography using the OSCOLA referencing style
• << Previous: Secondary Referencing
• Next: Referencing Tools >>
• Last Updated: Apr 23, 2024 2:40 PM
• URL: https://libguides.swansea.ac.uk/oscola

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Thoughts about teaching, literature, and teaching literature

A Student Guide: How to Reference for A Level Coursework

The below guide as to how to write references for A Level coursework uses the MLA citation style. This is of course not the only citation style and is not inherently better than others, but the key is to be consistent.

Italics Vs Quotation Marks

• If you are citing any complete work, for example, a novel, a volume of poetry, an anthology, a film, a TV series, a play, or a newspaper then you should cite that text using italics.
• For example, The Great Gatsby, The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Spring and All, Death of a Salesman, Hamlet, The Guardian, The Wire, Game of Thrones, Forrest Gump .
• But, if you are citing a work that is contained within another work, for example an individual poem, a television episode, an essay, a journal article, or a short story then you cite that using single quotation marks.
• For example, ‘The Red Wheelbarrow’, ‘The Death of an Author’, ‘The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock’, ‘Sonnet 101’, ‘The One with the Candy Hearts’, ‘In the Penal Colony’.
• However, not every poem goes in quotation marks. It just depends if it was published within a volume or as a self-contained entity. For example, The Waste Land is in italics because it was published in book form. Paradise Lost is also in italics because it is a self-contained book and was not published within another work.
• Also, if a poem is titled the same as the volume that doesn’t matter. You would write: ‘Spring and All’ is contained within Spring and All .
• Finally, what do you do if a complete work is contained with a larger work, for example an anthology?
• For example, Death of a Salesman is contained within The Norton of American Literature .
• You need to go back to the original publication: Death of a Salesman was originally published as a self-contained work so it will always be in italics
• It doesn’t matter if Hamlet or The Waste Land is in an anthology; they will never be ‘Hamlet’ or ‘The Waste Land’.

Double Spaces

• Always double space
• Everything, other than footnotes, must be double spaced
• How to double space: highlight the text, right click, go to paragraph, go to line spacing, click on the drop down box and choose double.

Quotation Marks

• When quoting something, always use single quotation marks
• Double quotation marks are the American version
• So, ‘ The Waste Land is amazing’ not “ The Waste Land is amazing”.
• The latter is tantamount to writing color instead of colour
• If you are quoting within a quotation then you can use double marks. For example, Just above the writer wrote ‘According to Bob, The Waste Land is “an amazing poem that changed the tone of poetry forever”’.

How to Cite within an Essay

• It is essential that any work that you make use of within the essay is cited appropriately and accurately.
• You are using the MLA style, which means you do not cite with footnotes, but rather parenthetically.
• Footnotes can still be used in your essay, but they would be discursive, which means they can add information that is relevant, but does not fit in the main body of the essay. Do this sparingly.
• So, each time you quote from any text, whether it is the primary text or an article, you insert a page reference in brackets next to that quotation
• For example: When Faulkner writes that the sun was ‘glistening’ (106) he accentuates its beauty.
• If you are analysing one specific passage and quoting from it frequently within a short space in your essay then just reference the final quotation. For example, When Faulkner writes that the sun was ‘glistening’ and that it was like a ‘jewel’, which had been ‘pocketed in the sky’ (106) he accentuates its beauty.
• If it is not clear where the quotation is from either because you do not state the writer in the main body or because you reference more than one text from that writer include this information parenthetically. For example, just as the sun was ‘glistening’ (Faulkner 106) so too Eliot describes the moon as ‘shining’ (334).
• The idea is that a reader would be able to look at your quotation and know the author and text (both usually evident in the main body of the essay) and also page number (cited parenthetically) and then look at the relevant entry in the bibliography and as such find the full and precise reference.

How to Write a Bibliography

• The bibliography is a complete list of all sources that you have referenced throughout the essay and it comes at the end of the essay
• Surname, forename. Title of text including editor if relevant. (Place of publication: publisher, date). This is for anything other than a journal article.
• For example, Emerson, Ralph Waldo. The Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson ed. by Alfred R. Ferguson et al. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1971)
• Frost, Robert. ‘The Pasture’, Frost: Collected Poems, Prose, & Plays , ed. by Richard Poirier & Mark Richardson (New York: Library of America, 1995)
• Eliot, TS. ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’, The Complete Poems & Plays , (London: Faber & Faber, 2004)
• Faulkner, William. Light in August . (London and New York: Vintage, 2002).
• If you are citing a journal article then use the following format: Surname, forename. Name of article using ‘’. Name of journal using italics. Issue number. Publication date. Page numbers of the article within the journal.
• For example: Brinkman, Barth. ‘Scrapbooking Modernism: Marianne Moore and the Making of the Modern Collage Poem’. Modernism / modernity . 18.1. (2011). 43-66.

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• Richard G. Trefry Library
• Writing & Citing

Q. How do I cite my course lessons or required readings?

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Answered By: APUS Librarians Last Updated: Jul 22, 2022     Views: 4630

First, check your course syllabus and lessons (both are linked on the left side of your online classroom). Your instructor may have provided citations for your required readings in one or both of those places. 

If you need to create a citation from scratch, use your style guide to help you.

Each style guide has a section titled "Citation Examples."  Click the type of source you'll be citing to see examples of proper citations.  For instance, if you need to cite a:

• Lesson or lecture in your classroom : use the COURSE NOTES & LECTURES examples
• Textbook or book chapter: use the BOOKS & BOOKS-ELECTRONIC examples
• Article from a journal: use the JOURNAL ARTICLES examples
• Website or web page : use the WEBSITES & BLOGS examples
• Video: use the VIDEO RECORDINGS & PODCASTS examples

These tips may help you find all of the information you need to craft your citations:

• Where do I find all of the information I need to cite an ebook?
• Where do I find all of the information I need to cite an article?
• Where do I find all of the information I need to cite a website?
• How do I know the page number while reading an e-book?
• How do I cite a web page that doesn't list a publication date?
• Which URL do I need to include in my citation?

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / Harvard Referencing / Harvard Referencing Style Examples / How to Reference a Movie in Harvard Referencing Style

How to Reference a Movie in Harvard Referencing Style

This article will help you learn the correct way of citing a film based on the Harvard style of referencing. Specifically, you’ll need to cite your source in two places:

• In your paper via an in-text citation
• In your reference list via a full reference

An in-text citation is when you refer to the source material within the body of your work or text. The reference list is usually placed at the end of your work. It has a full reference for every source that has an in-text citation. The reference list goes beyond the in-text citation and gives a complete list of information about the works you have cited, so that the reader can find and read the original source.

If you are trying to cite a source that was posted on YouTube, you’ll instead need to know how to cite a YouTube video in Harvard style .

Here are some examples of how to reference films in Harvard style:

Film seen at the cinema

To reference a film seen at a cinema, you’ll need the following information:

• Title (in italics)
• Release year (in round brackets)
• Director name
• [Feature film]
• Place of distribution: Distributor

The Help (2011) Directed by Tate Taylor. [Feature film]. Burbank, CA: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

For the in-text citation, the title of the film is used, followed by the release year separated by a comma, if the film title is not mentioned already. If the title is mentioned in the text, then only the year should be given, in round brackets.

The characters in The Help (2011) reveal…

The film showcases race relations during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi ( The Help , 2011).

Film from a streaming service

If you are referencing a film you viewed via a streaming service, here’s the information you’ll need for your reference:

• Name of the streaming service or DOI
• (Accessed: date)

Changeling (2008) Directed by Clint Eastwood. Available at: Netflix (Accessed: 22 September 2020).

For the in-text citation, the title of the film and date are used, separated by a comma, if the film title is not already mentioned. If it is, then only the date is necessary.

In Changeling (2008), Angelina Jolie plays the character…

Angelina Jolie ( Changeling , 2008) plays the character of a mother whose…

Film from a physical copy (DVD/Blu-ray)

If you want to reference a film you viewed on DVD or Blu-ray, you’ll need the following information:

• [DVD, catalogue number] or [Blu-ray, catalogue number] (in square brackets)

The BFG: Big Friendly Giant (2016) Directed by Steven Spielberg. [Blu-ray, 8042180]. Burbank, CA: Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

The in-text citation method is the same as in the previous two examples.

Key takeaways

• The methods for referencing films and videos differ according to the mode of viewing.
• The name of the film and year suffice for in-text citations of films viewed at the cinema, on DVD or through a streaming platform.

Published October 29, 2020.

Harvard Formatting Guide

Harvard Formatting

• et al Usage
• Direct Quotes
• In-text Citations
• Multiple Authors
• Page Numbers
• Writing an Outline
• View Harvard Guide

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PERSPECTIVE article

This article is part of the research topic.

Un-Graying of the Fleet: Young People and Their Futures in Search for Sustainable Fisheries

Charting a New Course: Ungraying the Fleet and Comprehensively Supporting Fishing Livelihoods & Communities Provisionally Accepted

• 1 University of Alaska Fairbanks, United States
• 2 Coastal Cultures Research, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

This article provides perspectives on the graying of the fleet and research efforts to understand it in Alaska fisheries, discusses recent abrupt multifaceted challenges faced by Alaskan fishermen, and compares divergent public perceptions and support programs for farmers and fishermen in the United States. Equity concerns have seen a resurgence in academic and policy realms and the graying of the fleet is now a common example of distributional inequity, yet despite in-depth research attention on the issue, few substantive programmatic modifications have been made to address it in Alaska. Aging trends in United States fisheries have typically been framed as one of changing aspirational preferences. Research suggests coastal youth do desire and highly value fishing careers, but structural and financial barriers limit opportunities for new generations. The precarity of the fishing industry was highlighted in 2023 with sudden global seafood market instability, rising interest rates and operating costs, destabilized geopolitical tensions, and hastening climate change impacts. This recent industry turmoil disproportionately impacts those on the margins and adds an additional layer of complexity to addressing graying of the fleet trends. Unlike in fisheries, there are numerous federal programs to support young farmers and the agricultural industry. This paper calls for proactive and comprehensive measures to stabilize and support fishing communities and the viability of next generation pathways amidst recent fishing industry market turmoil and longer term inequities in fishery governance.

Keywords: Graying of the fleet, Privatization, Coastal livelihoods, Fishing communities, Alaska seafood, commercial fishing, Fishermen

Received: 29 Feb 2024; Accepted: 10 May 2024.

Copyright: © 2024 Ringer, Donkersloot and Carothers. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Mx. Danielle Ringer, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, 99775, Alaska, United States

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