What's the difference between a bibliography and works cited? (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between a bibliography and works cited? ›

In Works Cited you only list items you have actually referred to and cited in your paper. A Bibliography lists all of the material you have consulted in preparing your essay whether or not you have actually referred to and cited the work.

Bibliographies are sometimes called "References" or "Works Cited" depending on the style format you are using. A bibliography usually just includes the bibliographic information (i.e., the author, title, publisher, etc.). An annotation is a summary and/or evaluation.

Works cited means the same as references but differs from a bibliography. A works cited page is a list of works that you referenced in the body of your paper, whereas a bibliography is a list of all sources you used in your research.

Although they do not differ too much, the difference is important. A works cited page (in MLA) or a reference page (in APA) is simply the first part of an annotated bibliography. It is the part where the source is fully cited in the proper format (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.).

The main thing to remember is that a bibliography—or Works Consulted page—cites every source you examined while researching your topic. The Works Cited page cites only the sources you used in your paper.

Works Cited and Bibliography are not the same. In Works Cited you only list items you have actually referred to and cited in your paper. A Bibliography lists all of the material you have consulted in preparing your essay whether or not you have actually referred to and cited the work.

The Works Cited page is the list of sources used in the research paper. It should be its own page at the end of the paper. Center the title, "Works Cited" (without quotation marks), at the top of the page. If only one source was consulted, title the page "Work Cited". Double space the entire list of sources.

A reference list is the detailed list of references that are cited in your work. A bibliography is a detailed list of references cited in your work, plus the background readings or other material that you may have read, but not actually cited.

A reference list contains works that specifically support the ideas, claims, and concepts in a paper; in contrast, a bibliography provides works for background or further reading and may include descriptive notes (e.g., an annotated bibliography).

APA Style^® calls for a list of references instead of a bibliography. The requirements of a reference list are that all references cited in the text of a paper must be listed alphabetically by first author's last name in the list of references and that all references listed must be cited within the text.

What should a bibliography look like? ›

What does a bibliography look like? Depending on the style guide you are using, bibliographies can look different. In general, bibliographies have the page number, title, and all the works you used in alphabetical order. Annotated bibliographies also include a short summary of the text.

A bibliography is a list of all of the sources you have used in the process of researching your work. In general, a bibliography should include: the authors' names. the titles of the works. the names and locations of the companies that published your copies of the sources.

Both reference lists and bibliographies appear at the end of a written work and are usually organized alphabetically. A paper can have both a reference list and a bibliography. For more information on how to cite your sources, check out the De Paul Library's Citation Guide.

The in-text citation should provide the minimum information required for the reader to find the full citation in your reference list (which is usually titled “Works Cited”). The bibliography should be alphabetized by author's last name or, if no author, the first word of the listing.

Both present the exact same information; the only difference is the placement of the year in source citations: In a reference list entry, the publication year appears directly after the author's name. In a bibliography entry, the year appears near the end of the entry (the exact placement depends on the source type).

Bibliography is a list of books, a reference is an article, book, website or any other piece of information quoted to back up a claim or to signify where a claim comes from. Basically a source.

Though the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, there is a difference in meaning: A reference list only includes sources cited in the text – every entry corresponds to an in-text citation. A bibliography also includes other sources which were consulted during the research but not cited.