Preparing the bibliography

Before you start researching

• Ask your lecturer which bibliographic referencing style you should use.
  You will choose a bibliographic referencing style so that you know how to
  • write the elements down in the correct order and
  • use the prescribed punctuation within and between the elements.
• You need to establish what bibliographic details (information) are required for the various types of information sources that you might use, e.g. books, periodical articles, videos, interviews, etc. For help on this see "Compiling the bibliography".
• As soon as you consult a source take note of the bibliographic detail which you will find on the TITLE PAGE and the IMPRINT PAGE (back of the title page) of the book.
• Note that a bibliography is always listed in alphabetical order by author or title in the case of no author.
• "A", "an" and "the" ("'n", "die" in Afrikaans) are ignored in the filing, e.g. The book of trees is filed under b for "book" and not under t for "the".
• The main entry (the first part of the entry which could be the name of the author or the title or the word "Anon" when there is no author) can be in upper case (capital letters) or in lower case. The important thing is to be consistent.
• As soon as you have consulted a source, write the bibliographic details down on a card. See Writing the report: Reading and making notes for more information on this method. Use the method prescribed by the referencing style you have chosen, e.g., APA or Harvard. Use a separate card for each entry.
• NB. Punctuation and spacing are vitally important. This is not a matter of individual choice. It is essential that you are consistent in your punctuation, underlining or italicising, spacing and use of abbreviations. These are internationally accepted academic conventions, and not a matter of personal preference.