How to Write a Bibliography for Elementary Children

If your child is in elementary school, you might wish you could remember how to write a basic bibliography page. Most elementary schools use the Modern Language Association (MLA) format, and they usually don't have complicated sources such as online journals or scholarly research. At the same time, you must clearly understand the basic format of a bibliography (or Works Cited page, in MLA jargon) to write one for elementary children.

Instructions

Bibliography Basics

• 1

  Write "Works Cited" at the top of the page, and center it.

• 2

  Alphabetize all citations by the first word in each citation. Usually this will be the author's last name, but when there is no cited author, it might be the first word of another piece of information.

• 3

  Double-space the entire page, but do not leave additional spaces between citations.

• 4

  Start each citation against the left margin. The second and subsequent lines of each citation should be indented.

Citing a Print Source (Book or Magazine)

• 5

  Write the author's last name, and then put a comma. Write the author's first name and middle initial, and then put a period.

• 6

  Write the title of the article (if applicable) in quotation marks, with a period at the end.

• 7

  Write the name of the book or magazine in italics, followed by a period.

• 8

  Write the place of publication, and then put a colon.

• 9

  Write the publishing company's name, and then put a comma, the date of publication and a period.

Citing an Online Source

• 10

  Write the name of the author or editor (if you can find it on the website), and then put a period.

• 11

  Write the name of the article, and put it in quotation marks. Then put a period.

• 12

  Write the name of the overall website in italics, and then put a period.

• 13

  Write the name of the publisher, if available. If this information is not available, write "n.p." (no publisher). Then write the date of publication, if available. If this information is not available, write "n.d." (no date).

• 14

  Write the word "Web" to show that you got the information from the Internet, and then put a period.

• 15

  Write the date that you accessed the website, in the form [day] [month] [year]. For example, you might write "17 Jan. 2010." Then put a period.