When you want to demonstrate that you did "due diligence" in terms of research even if you do not use any direct quotes from sources you consulted.
When you want me to know you did not concoct your paper out of thin air or simply copy and paste it from the Internet. [ SNU's statement on plagiarism ]
When you want your work to look professional. A bibliography page enhances and strengthens your writing (That means it can improve your grade!).
You can tell me all these things by including a proper bibliography page at the end of what you've written. On the other hand, . . . . a paper lacking a bibliography page may lead me to think one of two things (neither of which would be good for your grade):
If you did any research at all, give me a listing of your sources on a separate bibliography page. Use MLA format for those listings.
Use these actual student entries as a pattern for constructing your bibliography.
Taken from a student paper for Introduction to Biblical Literature at Southern Nazarene University
Broadman & Holman Reference. Holman Concise Bible Dictionary. Wheaton, Illinois: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996.
Mayfield, Joseph H. and Ralph Earle, eds. Beacon Bible Commentary. Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill Press, 1965.
McGee, Vernon J. Thru the Bible. Volume IV. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1976.
Nelson's Pocket Reference. Nelson's Pocket Bible Dictionary. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999
Tenney, Merrill C., ed. The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1967.
Many of your courses in school require you to submit written research reports. With oral reports [ read more ] in Introduction to Biblical Literature at Southern Nazarene University, for example, students must still turn in a two- to three-page paper.
In these research papers, you must document your sources for quotes as well as for factual material. Rather than a traditional Turabian-style footnote at the bottom of a page, you may use a format like the APA (American Psychological Association) style in which a brief reference with the author's name and a page number is placed within the text of your paper.
English Bible versions vary in wording. Therefore you need to make clear in your first parenthetical citation which Bible version you're using (italicize or underline the version title), followed by book (do not italicize or underline the book name), chapter and verse.
For example: Ezekiel saw what seemed to be four living creatures,"each with faces of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle" (New Jerusalem Bible, Ezekiel 1:5-10).
In all future references, only give the Bible book and chapter and verse numbers, since you've established which edition of the Bible you will be using.
Bibliography entries for the Bible
(be sure to indent the second and following lines):
The Jerusalem Bible. A. Jones, ed. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1966.
Judges. Holy Bible: New international version. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1978.
The Bible: A new translation, James Moffatt, translator. New York: Harper and Row, 1954.
Using MLA style formats:
How to write papers following Modern
Language Association guidelines
-- Howard Culbertson
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