Citing Electronic Sources in Your Bibliography
APA, MLA, & Chicago Manual of Style
by: Joan Whetzel
All academic papers require a Reference List - also known as Bibliography or a List of Works Cited. The list is placed at the end of the document. Every source used to write the paper - especially at the college and professional scholarly level - needs a bibliography entry. Begin your bibliography on a separate page and give it a title: "References", "Bibliography", or "List of Works Cited." Center the title at the top of the page, with no bold, italics, quotation marks or underlining. In general, double space all text entries in the bibliography, placing the first line of each entry flush left and indenting succeeding lines 1/2 inch or 5 spaces.
Separate the entries by category and list the entries in each cagetroty in alphabetical order. Bibliography entries have their own format that are specific to the category (books, periodicals, encyclopedias, internet, etc.). Check the APA, MLA, and Chicago Manual of Style for the specifics of each category. Here we'll only be dealing with electronic sources (internet, e-mails, computer software, online forums, blogs) and electronic media (MP3, Kindle, CDs, DVD Movies, PDFS, JPEGS).
APA Bibliography Format, Electronic Resources:
Articles from Online Periodicals
Author, A. & Author, B. (Publication Date). Article Title. Online Periodical Title, volume number (issue number if one exists). Downloaded from URL
Bernstein, M. (2002). 10 Tips on writing the living Web. A list apart: For people who make websites, 149. Downloaded from: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writeliving
Newspaper Article
Author, A. (Year, Month Day). Article Title. Newspaper Title. Downloaded from URL
Radcliffe, Jennifer. (2011, August21). Lessons for parents for the new school year. Houston Chronicle. Downloaded from http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Lessons-for-parents-for-new-school-year-2134435.php
Electronic Books
Stockett, Kathryn. The Help. (Kindle Format). ASIN: B002YKOXB6 Downloaded from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/The-Help-ebook/dp/B002YKOXB6/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital- text&ie=UTF8&qid=1313938371&sr=1-1#_
Online Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
Bibliography. Merriam Webster Dictionary. Downloaded from
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bibliography?show=0&t=1313951382
Computer Software for Specialized Software
Purchased package:
Ludwig, T. (2002). Psych Inquiry [computer software]. New York: Worth.
Downloaded:
Hayes, B., Tesar, B., & Zuraw, K. (2003). OTSoft: Optimality Theory Software (Version 2.1) [Software]. Available from http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/hayes/otsoft/
E-Mail APA doesn't include E-Mail entries in the bibliography. These are cited only in the body of the paper.
Online Discussion Board (forum)
Frook, B.D. (1999, July 23). New inventions in the cyberworld of toylandia [Msg 25].
Message posted to http://groups.earthlink.com/forum/messages/00025.html
Blog Posting
TenBrook, Catherine. Humor Me [Blog]. Downloaded from: http://www.myspace.com/quackalishus/blog
Movie
Producer, P. P. (Producer), & Director, D. D. (Director). (Date of publication). Title of motion picture [Motion picture]. Country of origin: Studio or distributor.
Scorseese, M. (Producer), & Lonegran, K. (Writer/Director). (2000). You can count on me (Motion Picture) [DVD]. United States: Paramount Pictures.
Recorded Music
Songwriter, W. W. (Date of copyright). Title of song [Recorded by artist if different from song writer]. On Title of album [Medium of recording]. Location: Label. (Recording date if different from copyright date).
Shocked, M. (1992).Over the Waterfall, on Arkansas Traveler. [CD]. New York: PolyGram Music.
Maroon 5. Moves Like Jagger Hands, on Hands All Over. [MP3}. ASIN: B0059H09DC
Downloaded from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Moves-Like- Jagger/dp/B0059H09DC/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1313952847&sr=1-5
MLA Bibliography Format, Electronic Resources
Online resources no longer require URLs in MLA format. This is because websites change frequently. Entries need to include basic information author(s), article name, website name, version number, publisher information, page number (if listed), medium of publication (DVD, CD, Web, etc.) and download date. Some professors may still require URLs, in which case enclose the URL in <angle brackets>.
Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. S. H. Butcher. The Internet Classics Archive. Web Atomic and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 13 Sept. 2007. Web. 4 Nov. 2008. ‹http://classics.mit.edu/›.
TenBrook, Catherine. "Re: Architectural Drawings." Message to the author. 29 Aug., 2011. E- mail.
Discussion Groups (forums)
Editor, screen name, author/ compiler (if listed). "Title of posting." Forum Site Name. Version number (if listed). Institution/ Organization associated with the site. Medium of publication. Download date.
Digital files (PDF, MP3, JPEG)
Smith, George. “Pax Americana: Strife in a Time of Peace.” 2005. Microsoft Word file.
Bentley, Phyllis. “Yorkshire and the Novelist.” The Kenyon Review 30.4 (1968): 509-22.
JSTOR. PDF file.
Maroon 5. Moves Like Jagger Hands, on Hands All Over. [MP3}. ASIN: B0059H09DC
Downloaded from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Moves-Like- Jagger/dp/B0059H09DC/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1313952847&sr=1-5
Recorded Sound
Shocked, M. Over the Waterfall, on Arkansas Traveler. New York: PolyGram Music (1992). CD.
Movie
Title. Director. Actors. Distributor. Year of Release. Medium.
Chicago Manual of Style, Electronic Resources
Internet Article and Website
Radcliffe, Jennifer.. "Lessons for parents for the new school year." Houston Chronicle.
<http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Lessons-for-parents-for-new-school-year-2134435.php> (21 August 2011).
“Google Privacy Policy,” last modified March 11, 2009, http://www.google.com/intl/en/privacypolicy.html.
TenBrook, Catherine. <cattenbr@yahoo.com> "Architectural Drawings." Personal E-mail.
29 Aug., 2011.
Listserv and Newsgroup
Wirth, Ann Welpton. < afwirth@sunset.backbone.olemiss. edu > "Desserts." 27 May 1997. < asle@unr.edu > (28 May 1997).
< kunk@astro.phys. unm.edu > "What Did the Vandals Learn?" 30 May 1997. <soc.history.ancient> (2 June 1997).
FTP Files
Wang, Zheng. "EIP: The Extended Internet Protocol: A Long-Term Solution to Internet Address Exhaustion." June 1992. < ftp://munnari.OZ.AU/big-internet/eip.txt >
(5 June1997).
Movie
Scorseese, M. (Producer), & Lonegran, K. (Writer/Director). (2000). You can count on me (Motion Picture) [DVD]. United States: Paramount Pictures.
Recorded Music
Shocked, M. (1992).Over the Waterfall, on Arkansas Traveler. [CD]. New York: PolyGram Music.
As you can see, the formula for these electronic format resources varies from one stylebook to the next, which illustrates the necessity of double checking your work before handing it into a your professor. Many a professor took off points for even smallest of transgressions in citation and bibliography format. So make sure you have access to the correct style book - APA, MLA or Chicago Manual of Style - before you start writing. Yes you can organize it after the paper is written, but it's much easier if you know the basics ahead of time and make it a regular habit of writing, organizing and citing in the proper format every time. If you need help with Word when building your bibliography try this site: Microsoft Office 2007 Help and How-to, "Create a Bibliography". It can be found at:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/create-a-bibliography-HA010067492.aspx
