Guide to spelling, punctuation and grammar

18
BIBLIOGRAPHIES AND 
REFERENCE LISTS
For coursework assignments, it is sometimes
obligatory to list the reference books you have read or
consulted in preparing to write your essay. This is
demanded partly to check that you have not been
plagiarising from these books, that is, copying chunks
of text from them and inserting them in your essay. Plagiarism of this
kind needs to be avoided like the plague: the plagiarised sections will
stand out like the proverbial sore thumb in the surrounding context of
your essay and could lead to your being awarded no grade at all. So, if a
bibliography is demanded, here is how to approach it. 
The name of the author of the text comes first in reverse order: surname,
then a comma, then first name and the initial of any other names
followed by another comma: 
Peabody, Arthur J.,
Then the title of the book or text printed in italics or underlined:
Shakespeare and His Many Identities
Then comes the place of publication, the name of the publisher and the
date of publication within brackets:
(London: Bergman and Co., 2005).
151

---

So the entry would look like this:
Peabody, Arthur J., Shakespeare and His Many Identities (London:
Bergman and Co., 2005)
All these details are printed in the book you have used and should be
noted at the time of your using it and listed in the reference or
bibliography section at the end of your essay.
If you have consulted an essay or unique section of a longer book, then
there is a slightly different method of listing this reference.
The author’s name comes first (first name, any initial and surname) then
the name of the essay or chapter within single inverted commas followed
by a comma. Thus:
‘Significant Developments in Shakespearian Studies’,
Then the title of the book in which the section appears: it is best to use
italics for this to distinguish it from the title of the section or essay:
in A Shakespearian Guide,
Then ‘ed.’ to denote ‘editor’, followed by the name of the editor in the
order of first name and then surname:
ed. Margaret Medway
Then within brackets the place of publication, the name of the publisher
and the date of publication:
(Edinburgh: Scotia Press, 2005)
The last, but important detail is on which pages of the book the essay or
section appears:
pp. 102–112
152
H
OW TO WRITE ESSAYS

---

Thus, the complete entry looks like this:
Sarah Jones, ‘Significant developments in Shakespearian Studies’,
in A Shakespearian Guide, ed. Margaret Medway (Edinburgh:
Scotia Press, 2006), pp. 102–112
The amount of detail demanded of reference section and bibliographies
will vary according to the level you are working at and the particular
demands of the school, college or university at which you are studying. 
Make sure you know what the rules are about providing
bibliographies and references. Find out what the standard
style of listing is for your particular needs and institution
and follow those to the letter.
153
18 – B
IOGRAPHIES AND REFERENCE LISTS

---