How to Write a Basic Bibliography

How to Reference a Book

• 1

  Type the last name of the author, followed by a comma and the author's first name. Add a period.

  For books with two authors, the format is as follows: last name of first author, comma, first name of first author, the word "and," and first and last name of second author.

• 2

  Type the name of the book. Underline or italicize it. Follow with a period.

• 3

  Type the place of publication. Follow with a colon. Type the name of the publisher. Follow with a comma.

  If no publisher is available, indicate it using the letters "n.p."

• 4

  Indicate the copyright date after the publisher information and end with a period. If no date is available, indicate that by using the letters "n.d."

• 5

  Organize the sources alphabetically and indent all but the first line of each entry by half an inch.

How To Reference a Website

• 6

  Type the last name of the author, followed by a comma and the author's first name and end the information with a period. Follow the author's information with the name of the website. The website should be underlined or italicized. End the line with a period.

• 7

  Add the name of the organization or publisher of the website. Include a comma after this information. If no publisher is available, indicate it using the letters "n.p."

• 8

  Include the date that the website was created. If no date is available, indicate it by using the letters "n.d." End the line with a period. Specify that the source came from the Internet by indicating, "Web." Indicate the date that you accessed the website and end the information with a period.

• 9

  Organize the website sources alphabetically and indent all but the first line of each entry by half an inch.