A bibliography is a list of sources that you have used in your research or cited in your writing. It is a crucial element of any research paper, as it allows you to give credit to the original authors of the materials you have used and helps your readers to find and evaluate your sources.
There are several different citation styles that you might use for a high school research paper, including the Modern Language Association (MLA) style, the American Psychological Association (APA) style, and the Chicago style. Each of these styles has its own set of rules and guidelines for formatting your bibliography.
In general, a bibliography entry should include the following elements:
Author's name: This should be listed in the format "last name, first name." If there are multiple authors, you should list all of their names in this format.
Title of the source: This should be written in italics.
Place of publication: This should include the city and state or country of publication.
Publisher: This is the company or organization that published the source.
Year of publication: This should be listed in parentheses after the publisher.
Page numbers: If you are citing a specific page or range of pages from a book or article, you should include the page numbers in your bibliography entry.
Here is an example of a bibliography entry in MLA style:
Smith, John. "The History of the Internet." New York: Random House, 2000.
And here is an example in APA style:
Smith, J. (2000). The history of the Internet. New York: Random House.
It is important to follow the specific guidelines for formatting your bibliography, as each style has its own rules for punctuation, capitalization, and other formatting details. It is also a good idea to consult your teacher or a style guide for more detailed instructions on how to format your bibliography.
In addition to these basic elements, you may need to include other information in your bibliography depending on the type of source you are citing. For example, if you are citing a website, you may need to include the URL and the date you accessed the site. If you are citing an online article, you may need to include the name of the database or journal in which the article was published.
It is important to carefully record all of the information you will need to include in your bibliography as you do your research, so that you can accurately cite your sources in your paper. A well-formatted bibliography is an essential part of any research paper, and following the guidelines for your chosen citation style will ensure that your bibliography is professional and easy to read.