TL;DR:
A bibliography page identifies your sources, gives credit to their authors, and helps readers check your information. Together with citations in your paper, it shows how your research supports your conclusions and helps readers explore the subject further.
You can tell me all these things by including a properly formatted source list at the end of your paper. A paper without that list makes it difficult for me to assess the research behind your writing or distinguish your ideas from those you borrowed.
If you did research, list your sources on a separate page at the end of your paper. For my assignments, use MLA format unless the assignment specifies otherwise.
Although "bibliography" is often used as a general term for a source list, MLA calls the list of sources cited in your paper Works Cited. If you are asked to list additional sources that you consulted but did not cite, place them in a separate Works Consulted list.
Alphabetize entries by their first element, usually the author's last name. Use double spacing and a hanging indent: the first line begins at the left margin, and each following line is indented one-half inch. Cite the edition you actually used.
These examples illustrate MLA formatting for books. Check each source's title page and publication information rather than copying details from an entry for a different edition.
Douglas, J. D., and Merrill C. Tenney. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Zondervan, 2011.
Mayfield, Joseph H., and Ralph Earle. Beacon Bible Commentary. Vol. 7, John-Acts, Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1965.
For another book, use this basic pattern, adding edition, editor, translator, or volume information when applicable:
Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.
For detailed guidance, use the MLA Style Center's citation examples.
Many courses require written research reports. Even students giving oral reports in Introduction to Biblical Literature at Southern Nazarene University must submit a two- to three-page paper.
Document direct quotations, paraphrases, and information borrowed from your sources. A source list alone does not identify where you used each source. In MLA style, a brief citation within the text usually gives the author's last name and the relevant page number, such as (Smith 24). If you have already named the author in the sentence, give only the page number in parentheses. Do not invent page numbers for sources that have none.
Each citation should lead readers to the corresponding Works Cited entry. Follow the citation style your instructor requires throughout the paper.
English Bible translations vary in wording, so identify the edition you are using. Italicize the title of a specific published edition, but do not italicize general references to the Bible or the names of its books. In MLA parenthetical citations, identify the book, chapter, and verse rather than a page number, using a period between chapter and verse.
For example, this paraphrase identifies the edition and passage: Ezekiel saw four living creatures, each with human, lion, bull, and eagle faces (The New Jerusalem Bible, Ezek. 1.5-10).
This sentence is a paraphrase, so it has no quotation marks. When quoting Scripture directly, reproduce the wording of the named translation exactly.
After identifying the edition in your first citation, you can generally give just the book, chapter, and verse in subsequent citations from that edition. If you change editions, identify the edition in the new citation.
Include the edition you used in Works Cited. For example:
The New Jerusalem Bible. General editor, Henry Wansbrough, Doubleday, 1985.
For a different Bible, use its actual title, version, editor or translator when identified, publisher, and publication year. An ordinary citation to Judges or another biblical book points to the entry for the Bible edition; it does not require a separate entry for that book.
Using MLA style: Help from the Modern Language Association
Beyond documenting your research, a source list gives readers a starting point for further study and helps them trace the development of ideas. If an assignment calls for an annotated bibliography, add a brief description and evaluation of each source to explain its relevance and usefulness.
Proper documentation gives credit to the people whose work you use. It also helps readers verify your claims and build on your research.
-- Howard Culbertson, hculbert@snu.edu
