A bibliography is one of the most important elements of any academic writing, such as a research paper, dissertation, or thesis. It is a collection of all the sources that are referred while researching information on the topic. In a layman’s language bibliography is a list of sources that are used by the students, to inform their work on a given/ chosen topic. It is also referred to as “works cited”. A bibliography consists of various components such as author’s name, the title of the source, publication information, and date.
Any bibliography has to have above-mentioned components. If one explores further, one would come across the types of bibliographies that exist. They are as follows:
The reference bibliography is further divided into:
Physical Bibliography is subdivided into:
1. To validate your study
Any research work needs validation by the evaluators and the readers. Having a bibliography shows the reader, the extent of research that you did for your paper. While researching on a topic, you come across a number of sources, so you need to list only those sources that you will be using in your work. By showing the list of sources in the bibliography, you provide credence and creditability to your work. Most students refer to sources that are not authentic or which have outdated information. Hence, you are advised to use only that information which is taken from credible sources. For example, you can take the information available at government websites, documents, reports, etc.
2. To authenticate your research
There are a number of specialists and writers who constantly contribute to their respective fields of study. So when you conduct a research, there are some sources which must be referred. Those sources are considered to be the most important contributions in that area. By referring such sources, you assure the reader that you know the basic information about your research topic. This would also indicate that your research is original and unique. With the availability of information, there are many students who would write in the same area, what segregates a good work from a low quality work, is their research. This is known by seeing the bibliography of the paper.
3. Acts as a source tracker
A bibliography helps you, to keep a track of all the resources that were referred for the research. There are times when the evaluator would want to cross verify your fact, so he/ she can simply look at the bibliography and see the source of information to confirm. For example, if you read some information during the research work and you want to include that bit of information in your paper. What do you do? If you do not have a bibliography you will have to go through the whole searching process, which would waste a lot of time and energy. But if you have a bibliography, you can simply refer it and get your information in no time. Having a bibliography makes it easier for you, to track your information. You get to build your own database for your topic in the form of a bibliography.
4. Elevates the value of your paper
A bibliography reveals the hard work and dedication shown by a student to write a research paper or a dissertation. The longer the list of sources, longer is the time devoted to research. For example, if students present their research work without a bibliography, what happens then? The evaluator or the reader is unable to check the authenticity of the work and credibility of information that has been included. This can bring down the scores and the number of readers who read the essay. But, if you have a list of bibliography, the readers can cross verify their facts by referring to your list.
5. To spread the knowledge
Bibliography influences the content of the paper. The types of sources give a direction to the content of a paper. So, if a reader shows interest in your paper, then he/ she would want to know the sources that were referred. This way a bibliography helps in the spread of knowledge.
6. To give credit to others work
Plagiarism is a looked down method in the field of writing. Students are instructed to not simply copy paste information, rather write in their own words. Citing a piece of information from a book or an article and giving recognition to that source, in your bibliography is the right way to use the work of other authors. A bibliography gives recognition to the work done by others and it increases the value of your paper.
Any bibliography has to have above-mentioned components. If one explores further, one would come across the types of bibliographies that exist. They are as follows:
- Reference Bibliography
- Historical Bibliography
- Physical Bibliography
The reference bibliography is further divided into:
- Enumerated Bibliography- In this type of bibliography you have to list the basic information about the source. For example, you need to mention author’s name, date, and title of the source, place of publication, and page numbers depending on the format of the bibliography.
- Annotated Bibliography- This type of bibliography includes the basic information about the source and also has an abstract, description or the summary of the source. For example, if you cite a source from a book, then you need to mention an abstract about the book. You have to write what the author talks about in that book, what are the main arguments and his conclusion. The description should not be more than a paragraph. The format of the bibliography would be dependent on the format prescribed by your professor.
Physical Bibliography is subdivided into:
- Analytical Bibliography- It examines the material aspects of a textual artifact such as types, paper, format, ink, and so on. The analysis is done in order to recreate the conditions of its production.
- Descriptive Bibliography- In this type of bibliography you have to provide sufficient data so that the reader is able to identify the described book, and recognize the precise content. As the name suggests, there has to be some description provided in the referred source.
1. To validate your study
Any research work needs validation by the evaluators and the readers. Having a bibliography shows the reader, the extent of research that you did for your paper. While researching on a topic, you come across a number of sources, so you need to list only those sources that you will be using in your work. By showing the list of sources in the bibliography, you provide credence and creditability to your work. Most students refer to sources that are not authentic or which have outdated information. Hence, you are advised to use only that information which is taken from credible sources. For example, you can take the information available at government websites, documents, reports, etc.
2. To authenticate your research
There are a number of specialists and writers who constantly contribute to their respective fields of study. So when you conduct a research, there are some sources which must be referred. Those sources are considered to be the most important contributions in that area. By referring such sources, you assure the reader that you know the basic information about your research topic. This would also indicate that your research is original and unique. With the availability of information, there are many students who would write in the same area, what segregates a good work from a low quality work, is their research. This is known by seeing the bibliography of the paper.
3. Acts as a source tracker
A bibliography helps you, to keep a track of all the resources that were referred for the research. There are times when the evaluator would want to cross verify your fact, so he/ she can simply look at the bibliography and see the source of information to confirm. For example, if you read some information during the research work and you want to include that bit of information in your paper. What do you do? If you do not have a bibliography you will have to go through the whole searching process, which would waste a lot of time and energy. But if you have a bibliography, you can simply refer it and get your information in no time. Having a bibliography makes it easier for you, to track your information. You get to build your own database for your topic in the form of a bibliography.
4. Elevates the value of your paper
A bibliography reveals the hard work and dedication shown by a student to write a research paper or a dissertation. The longer the list of sources, longer is the time devoted to research. For example, if students present their research work without a bibliography, what happens then? The evaluator or the reader is unable to check the authenticity of the work and credibility of information that has been included. This can bring down the scores and the number of readers who read the essay. But, if you have a list of bibliography, the readers can cross verify their facts by referring to your list.
5. To spread the knowledge
Bibliography influences the content of the paper. The types of sources give a direction to the content of a paper. So, if a reader shows interest in your paper, then he/ she would want to know the sources that were referred. This way a bibliography helps in the spread of knowledge.
6. To give credit to others work
Plagiarism is a looked down method in the field of writing. Students are instructed to not simply copy paste information, rather write in their own words. Citing a piece of information from a book or an article and giving recognition to that source, in your bibliography is the right way to use the work of other authors. A bibliography gives recognition to the work done by others and it increases the value of your paper.