A bibliography is a list of books, journals and other resources that, combined, give great information about a particular subject. You might find it as a written works cited page at the end of a report or a collection printed on its own to give more information about a topic.

A bibliography generally gives the author, publication title, publisher, date and city of publication and other information--such as volume number or number of pages accessed--as needed to describe the resource. Bibliography format changes slightly depending on the style used, but is most often arranged in descending order by author's last name.

Learn how to do a bibliography and add the information to your business report to:

1. List your sources for easy references back to them. As you write the report and as you explain it, you can quickly reference your resources.

2. Prove that your information is legitimate and that you did not plagiarize your report.

3. Give the readers more information. Use an annotated bibliography to summarize your sources for your readers.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find bibliography format and citation resources

Use a general bibliography MLA format for source information if you aren't required to use a specific style. The typical format for an entry is 'Author. Publication title. Publication City: Publisher, Year published. Pages accessed.' By consulting specific style guides, you will find how to create entries for multiple authors, films, electronic sources and other non-typical resources.

I recommend: Browse your local bookstore or visit websites to purchase style guides that will show you how to write a bibliography. A Pocket Style Manual deals with multiple styles and gives you tips for using correct grammar and punctuation in your writing. The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Publication Manual of the APA and the Chicago Manual of Style give detailed formatting notes and bibliography entry examples.

Focus on the specific style required when learning how to make a bibliography

No matter what the writing style, bibliography pages are always located at the end of your manuscript. However, the way you should format the pages depends on your industry and business's personal requests. For example, as a general rule, choose MLA style if you're in humanities fields, APA for psychology, Turabian or Chicago for media, CBE for science and ASA for sociology.

I recommend: Format your source entries according to your chosen style. Look for MLA bibliography style examples for the style most widely accepted across the world. Find APA bibliography examples as well as Turabian, CSE and ASA to make sure your works cited page is uniform and organized within its style.

Create an annotated bibliography for your report research

Annotated bibliographies give a summary of research along with the bibliographic information. This gives the reader a more concise idea of what you found from each source. Though the bibliography will vary by style, you can use the author's qualifications, purpose of the resource, bias or point of view and your own summary to fill your annotated bibliography.

I recommend: Find examples of general annotated bibliography format to get an idea of how your page should look. Use annotated CBE style and MLA bibliography format examples for specific style requirements. For an easy solution, plug your information into the automatic bibliography composer to see exactly how your bibliography, annotated or not, should look.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Make sure to cite every source you use and include it in your bibliography. Summarize all your research and use quotations when necessary to avoid accidentally plagiarizing a source.
• •  Create an MLA style bibliography if you aren't sure which style to use. This style is often considered the most basic as it is taught in colleges across the country. Keep your reports uniform, using the same style each time, and you will show a professional edge to your clients and coworkers.