bibliography

A bibliography is a systematic list of sources and related material prepared for use in research. It appears at the end of a scholarly work and serves to acknowledge the works that shaped the research, document the evidentiary basis for the arguments, and guide readers to additional information. Bibliographies may include works cited, consulted but not cited, or both, depending on the purpose of the list.

Entries typically provide bibliographic details such as author(s), title, publisher, place and year of publication, and identifiers such as ISBN, ISSN, or DOI. Many fields follow formal citation styles—APA, MLA, Chicago, and Vancouver—with specific rules for typography, order, and punctuation. A separate section called References or Works Cited lists only sources that were cited in the text, while a bibliography may be broader and include sources consulted in the research.

Annotated bibliographies add a short evaluative or descriptive note for each entry. Subject bibliographies arrange sources by topic, and comprehensive bibliographies aim to exhaustively cover all known literature on a topic. In the digital era, bibliographies often include URLs and DOIs, and some rely on library catalogs and digital repositories; access dates are sometimes required for online materials.

Historically, bibliographies emerged in ancient scholarship and evolved into formalized cataloging and citation practices in the early modern period. Today they are essential tools in academia, libraries, and publishing, offering transparency, acknowledgment, and a navigational aid for researchers.