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Term Paper Bibliography and How to Cite Sources in a Term Paper

How to Cite Sources in a Term Paper in a Nutshell

Table of Contents

What Is a Bibliography for a Term Paper?
Term Paper Bibliography: Its Importance & Purpose
Citing Sources You Can Use
How to Cite Sources in a Term Paper: Citing Features
Term Paper Bibliography APA: Formatting Rules
How to Write MLA Bibliography for a Term Paper: Formatting Rules
Chicago/Turabian Formatting Rules
ASA Formatting Rules
Term Paper Bibliography Citations: Handy Tips You Can Use


Citing your sources is an important practice for a term paper. The fact is that your research will be based on scientific articles, books, other studies, or scientific interviews. One of the most important reasons to cite sources correctly is that you can easily establish the context and relevance of your work. That is why it is crucial to adhere to all academic rules and not deviate from the standards when crafting your term paper bibliography and other parts. So, delve into our guide to learn all the peculiarities of bibliography formatting to implement them in your term papers. And if you don't feel like writing the assignment yourself, click on the chat window, type "write my term paper cheap," and get professional assistance immediately.

What Is a Bibliography for a Term Paper?

A bibliography is a list of works on a subject that were used or consulted to write a term paper. It can also be referred to as a list of works cited. As a general rule, you should place the bibliography at the end of your paper. Here is an example of the aspects you should mention in the case of books and journals.

  • author name;
  • title of publication;
  • article title;
  • date & place of publication;
  • publisher;
  • volume number;
  • page number(s).

But how to cite sources in a term paper? What if you decide to use the website as a source for collecting the information? In this case, the approach to quoting is slightly different from the previous one. Here are the details you need to point out.

  • author name;
  • website title;
  • a company that owns or posts to the website;
  • website address;
  • date of access.

Now you know how to cite a website in a term paper and are unlikely to make any serious mistakes. However, there is something else you need to know. Many young students don't see the obvious difference between a bibliography reference list. They think that the differences between these academic pieces of paper are minimal.

At the same time, a reference list contains only sources you have cited in your assignment. A bibliography is a list of all the sources you used to craft your ideas about the topic, including those cited in your assignment and those you did not cite. Now you know what the key difference between these two paper parts is.

Term Paper Bibliography: Its Importance & Purpose

Not all young students understand the importance of a bibliography when crafting a term paper. However, your bibliography is essential for communicating important information to your readers. Thanks to this paper, you provide full details of every source you used. In addition, the purpose of a bibliography is to provide links or places to look up information that you have used to support your idea or research findings. In other words, your professor can check how deep you dug to find reliable data.

Citing Sources You Can Use

Now let's take a look at the citing sources you can use. Generally, students have freedom of choice regarding how important research information is obtained. So here are the resources available to you as a student.

  1. Books, chapters in books.
  2. Scientific journals and articles.
  3. Magazine articles.
  4. Newspaper articles.
  5. Websites.

Check out any term paper bibliography example; you'll see that these sources can be used effectively to make your paper look credible. But do not forget that your website article or book must have academic value and authority. In other words, a Wikipedia article and a Harvard article have different degrees of credibility.

How to Cite Sources in a Term Paper: Citing Features

Here are various examples of sources and how to cite them. With these instructions, you will be able to compose your bibliography correctly.

Books: Author's last name, first name. Book Title. Place of publication: publisher, date of publication.

Example: Hartz, Paula. Abortion: A Doctor's Perspective, a Woman's Dilemma. New York: Donald I. Fine, Inc., 1992.

Journals & articles: Author's last name, first name. "Title of the Article." Magazine. Month and year of publication: page numbers.

Example: Crowley, J.E., T.E. Levitan, and R.P. Quinn. "Seven Deadly Half-Truths About Women." Psychology Today March 1978: 94–106.

Magazine articles: Author, A. A. (year, Month day). Title of the article. Title of Periodical, xx, pp-pp.

Example: Bottoms, L. (2020, July 5). Building community, offering hope. Ministering to Women. 24.

Newspaper articles: Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of the article. Title of Newspaper, xx, pp-pp.

Example: Garcia, K. (2019, October 31). Highway billboard aims to promote body positivity. San Luis Obispo New Times, 16.

Website pages: Author. "Document Title." Publication or Web site title. Date of publication. Date of access.

Example: Dodman, Dr. Nicholas. "Dog-Human Communication." Pet Place. 23 January 2014 <http://www.petplace.com/dogs/human-communication/page1.aspx>

As you can see, creating a bibliography is simple, especially if you know the key rules. So now let's move on to the most important details.

Term Paper Bibliography APA: Formatting Rules

  1. Left aligned running head 1\2” down all caps (optional)
  2. Right aligned page number 1\2” down from the top of page
  3. Center aligned References’ title 1” down from the top of page
  4. Use sentence case (capitalize only the first letter) for titles
  5. Use a hanging indent for citations that are more than one line
  6. No period at the end of a citation for a URL
  7. Use a period at the end of a citation for everything else
  8. Double space and List in alphabetical order
  9. ‘References’ page goes after the body of the term paper

Examples:

Book: Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origins and spread of nationalism. Verso.
Magazine: Mogelson, L. (2021, January 25). The storm. The New Yorker, 5–12.
Scientific article: Mounier-Kuhn, P. (2012). Computer science in French universities: Early entrants and latecomers. Information & Culture: A Journal of History, 47(4), 414–456. https://doi.org/10.7560/IC47402
Website: Lee, C. (2020, February 19). A tale of two reference formats. APA Style Blog. https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/two-reference-formats

How to Write MLA Bibliography for a Term Paper: Formatting Rules

  1. Last name and page number 1\2” down from the top of the page and right-aligned
  2. ‘Works Cited’ title is entered and 1” down from the top of the page
  3. Use a hanging indent for citations that are more than one line
  4. Include DOI (or URL) at the end of citation when referenced
  5. Place a period at the end of each citation
  6. Double space
  7. Do not add additional line space between entries
  8. The ‘Works Cited’ page goes after the body of your research paper

Examples:

Book: Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Allyn and Bacon, 2000.
Magazine: Weinstein, Becca. "Trying Before Buying." Psychology Today, vol. 45, no. 3, May-June 2012, pp. 46-47. CINAHL Complete.
Scientific article: Buchman, Dana. "A Special Education." Good Housekeeping, Mar. 2006, pp. 143-48.
Website: Smith, Helena. “The Women Who Brought Down Greece’s Golden Dawn.” The Guardian, 22 Oct. 2020, www.theguardian.com/­world/­2020/­oct/­22/­the-­women-­who-­brought-­down-­greeces-­golden-­dawn.

Chicago/Turabian Formatting Rules

  1. Right aligned page number 1/2” down from the top of page
  2. Center aligned References’ title 1” down from the top of page
  3. Leave 2 blank lines below ‘References’ title
  4. The period is at the end of the citation
  5. Use a hanging indent for citations that are more than one line
  6. Single space, blank line space between citations
  7. List in alphabetical order
  8. ‘References’ page goes after the body of your research paper

Examples:

Book: Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea (London: Penguin, 1997), 34.
Magazine: Van, Bobby. On Location Aboard. Green Places, February 2011.
Scientific article: Williamson, Betty. 2019. “A Dash of National Recognition and a Swirl of Nostalgia.” Eastern New Mexico News, November 20, 2019.
Website: Caulfield, Jack. “A Step-by-Step Guide to the Writing Process.” Scribbr. April 24, 2020. https://www.scribbr.com/­academic-writing/­writing-process/.

ASA Formatting Rules

  1. Left aligned running head 1\2” down all caps (optional)
  2. Right aligned page number 1\2” down from the top of page
  3. Center aligned References’ title 1” down from the top of page
  4. References must be arranged in alphabetical order
  5. Use a hanging indent for citations that are more than one line
  6. No period at the end of a citation for a URL
  7. Use a period at the end of a citation for everything else
  8. Double space and List in alphabetical order

Examples:

Book: Bursik, Robert J., Jr. and Harold G. Grasmick. 1993. Neighborhoods and Crime: The Dimensions of Effective Community Control. New York: Lexington Books.
Magazine: Feldman, Bob. 2003. 'Savage Inequalities'. Dollars & Sense, 385, 386.
Scientific article: Gabs, Herbert J. 2005. “Race as Class.” Contexts 4(4): 17-21.
Website: Cawley, Leo. 2012. 'An Ex-Marine Sees Platoon'. Monthly Review. Retrieved June 14, 2014 (http://monthlyreview.org/2012/11/01/an-ex-marine-sees-platoon).

Term Paper Bibliography Citations: Handy Tips You Can Use

There is one perfect piece of advice that works in any situation. You should always check the instructions and sample bibliography before crafting your paper. Also, you can use bibliography generators, which are quite a lot on the Internet. And don't forget that there are quite a few samples with similar term paper topics on the net, so you can easily find content for your bibliography and the basis for crafting your term paper.

One more actionable piece of advice is to order your term papers online from experienced academic writers. Thus, you won't worry about lacking time or skills and will get a first-class term paper with a properly formatted bibliography.