How to create a bibliography or reference list

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© History Skills

A list of all cited source materials, known as a bibliography or reference list, must be included at the end of your essay.

 

They are divided into two sections: primary sources and secondary sources. Each of these sections need to be in alphabetical order.

 

Each bibliographical reference needs:

  • the author's last name followed by their first initial(s)
  • the year of publication
  • the name of the work (in italics)
  • the publication details

What is the difference between a bibliography and a reference list?


Depending on the assessment task, you will either be asked to create a bibliography or a reference list. Here are the differences between the two:

  1. A bibliography lists all of the materials that have been consulted during your research, regardless of whether or not you've quoted from them
  2. A reference list states only the sources that you've quoted in your assignment

Regardless of which you're required to create, you must follow the formatting shown below.

Correct Format for Different Source Types


These examples use the popular APA (American Psychological Association) referencing style. 

 

Books

Required Elements:

Author's Surname, First Initials. (Year of Publication). Name of book. City of Publication: Name of Publishing Company.

 

Examples:

Number of Authors Example Bibliographical Reference
1 Author Smith, J. (2004). History is an awesome subject. New York: Harper's Publishing.
2 Authors Smith, J., & Jones, B. (2004). History is an awesome subject. New York: Harper's Publishing.
3 or More Authors Smith, J., Jones, B., & Taylor, A. (2004). History is an awesome subject. New York: Harper's Publishing.

Unknown Author

(Use the book title in place

of the author's name)

History is an awesome subject. (2004). New York: Harper's Publishing.

Unknown Date

(Use "n.d." in place of the year)

Smith, J. (n.d.). History is an awesome subject. New York: Harper's Publishing.

Editor

Smith, J. (Ed.). (2004). History is an awesome subject. New York: Harper's Publishing.

Academic Journal Articles

Required Elements:

Author's Surname, First Initials. (Year, Month day OR Season - if known - of publication). Article title. Name of Journal the Article Appeared In, Journal Volume Number (Issue or Part Number), page number(s) of the article.

 

Examples:

Number of Authors Example Bibliographical Reference
1 Author Smith, J. (2004, January). Studying History at School. History Teachers' Journal, 67 (2), 12-9.
2 Authors Smith, J., & Jones, B. (2004, January). Studying History at School. History Teachers' Journal, 67 (2), 12-9.
3 or More Authors Smith, J., Jones, B., & Taylor, A. (2004, January). Studying History at School. History Teachers' Journal, 67 (2), 12-9.

Unknown Date

(Use "n.d." in place of the year)

Smith, J. (n.d.). Studying History at School. History Teachers' Journal, 67 (2), 12-9.

Online Journal Article

(Include 'Retrieved from' at the end)

Smith, J. (n.d.). Studying History at School. History Teachers' Journal, 67 (2), 12-9. Retrieved from Australia New Zealand Reference Centre database.

Newspaper or Magazine Articles

Required Elements:

Author's Surname, First Initials. (Year, Month day of publication). Article title. Name of Newspaper/Magazine, page number(s) of the article.

 

Examples:

Number of Authors Example Bibliographical Reference
1 Author Smith, J. (2004, January 26). Students gave full attention in class. The Daily News, p. 13.
2 Authors Smith, J., & Jones, B. (2004, January 26). Students gave full attention in class. The Daily News, p. 13.
3 or More Authors Smith, J., Jones, B., & Taylor, A. (2004, January 26). Students gave full attention in class. The Daily News, p. 13.

Unknown Author

(Use the article title in place of the author's name)

Students gave full attention in class. (2004, January 26). The Daily News, p. 13.

Unknown Date

(Use "n.d." in place of the year)

Smith, J. (n.d.). Students gave full attention in class. The Daily News, p. 13.

Online Article

(Include 'Retrieved from' at the end)

Smith, J. (2004, January 26). Students gave full attention in class. The Daily News, p. 13. Retrieved from http://thisisnotarealurl.com/notarealarticle

Speeches

Required Elements:

Speaker's Surname, First Initials. (Year, Month Day Speech was Given). Title of Speech. Institution, City the Speech was Given at/in.

 

Examples:

Number of Authors Example Bibliographical Reference
1 Speaker Smith, J. (2004, January 26). History is an Awesome Subject. Capital University, New York.

Unknown Author

(Use the speech title in place of the author's name)

History is an Awesome Subject. (2004). Capital University, New York.

Unknown Date

(Use "n.d." in place of the year)

Smith, J. (n.d.). History is an Awesome Subject. Capital University, New York.

Web Page

Required Elements:

Author's Surname, First Initials. (Year of Publication). Name of webpage. Retrieved from URL.

 

Examples:

Number of Authors Example Bibliographical Reference
1 Author James, M. (2019). Bibliographies.  Retrieved from https://www.historyskills.com/referencing/bibliographies/.

Unknown Author

(Use the web page title in place of the author's name)

Bibliographies. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.historyskills.com/referencing/bibliographies/.

Unknown Date

(Use "n.d." in place of the year)

James, M. (n.d.). Bibliographies. Retrieved from https://www.historyskills.com/referencing/bibliographies/.

Ancient Sources

Required Elements:

Ancient Author's Name. Name of Ancient Work. (Name of Modern Translator that You're Using, trans.). Location of Modern Translation's Publisher: Name of Modern Translation's Publishing Company, Year of Modern Translation's Publication.

 

Examples:

Number of Authors Example Bibliographical Reference
1 Author Appian. The Civil Wars.  (John Carter, trans.). New York: Penguin, 1996.

Referencing a Source Found in Another Source


On some occasions you find a source in the pages of different source. Your first task should be to try and quote the source you have found separately from the book that it is in. Do this, look in the bibliography of the book in order to gain the necessary details.

 

However, if you cannot find the information necessary to create a separate bibliographical entry, you will need to create a bibliographical entry that acknowledges the book that the source was found in.

 

To do this you will need:

  • as many of the details that you can find of the source you are using. (Anything you don't know is left out).
  • the full bibliographical details of the book it was found in, along with the page number in the book where the source was found. This is preceded by the phrase "As found in" and the entire bibliographical reference is placed in brackets.

 

For example:

 

Nixon, R. (1969). (As found in US Government Printing Office 1969, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Richard Nixon, Washington D.C.: US Government Printing Office, pp. 903).

Example Reference List


Reference List

Primary Sources

 

Appian. The Civil Wars. (John Carter, trans). New York: Penguin, 1996.

 

Department of Defence. (1959). Strategic basis of Australian defence policy. Canberra: Department of Defence.

 

Department of Defence. (1976). Defence White Paper. Canberra: Department of Defence.

 

Millar, T. (1979). The political-military relationship in Australia. Strategic and Defence Studies Centre Working Paper, 6, p. 12.

 

Nixon, R. (1969). (As found in US Government Printing Office 1969, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Richard Nixon, Washington D.C.: US Government Printing Office, p. 903).

 

Secondary Sources

 

Dibb, P. (2007). The self-reliant defence of Australia: The History of an Idea. (As found in  Huisken, R., & Thatcher., M. (eds). History as policy: Framing the debate on the future of Australia’s defence policy. Canberra: ANU Press and Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, p. 11-26).

 

Horner, D. (1997). Security objectives. (As found in Mediansky, F. (ed). Australian foreign policy: Into the new millennium. South Melbourne: Macmillan, p. 73-92).

 

Lawson, E. (2009). The Australian defence environment. Australian Defence Force Journal, 179, p. 70-81.

 

White, H. (2007). Four decades of the defence of Australia: Reflections on Australian defence policy over the past 40 years. (As found in Huisken, R & Thatcher, M. (eds). History as policy: Framing the debate on the future of Australia’s defence policy. Canberra: ANU Press and Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, p. 163-187).