How to Make a Bibliography for a Textbook

It’s critical that a textbook have an accurate bibliography because the statements and conclusions drawn by a textbook are used as the basis for the content of many K-12 and college courses. If there is any confusion over a topic, students and teachers will consult the bibliography to locate the original source and learn more about how the textbook authors arrived at their information. A missing or incorrect bibliography entry makes it difficult to track down resources.

Add a new section to the end of the textbook. Title it "Works Cited," if you are following MLA style guidelines, or "References," if you are following APA style guidelines.

Cite another textbook by using this format:

MLA Style:

[Editor's Last Name], [Editor's First Name], ed. [Title of Textbook]. [Place of Publication]: [Publisher Name], [Copyright Year].

APA Style:

[Editor's Last Name], [Editor's First Name] (Ed.). ([Copyright Year]). [Title of Textbook]. [Place of Publication]: [Publisher Name].

Replace the bracketed items with the specifics of the textbook you're citing. Italicize the textbook title.

Cite another kind of book using this format:

MLA Style:

[Author's Last Name], [Author's First Name]. [Title of Book]. [Place of Publication]: [Publisher Name], [Copyright Year]. Print.

APA Style:

[Author's Last Name], [Author's First Name] ([Copyright Year]). [Title of Book]. [Place of Publication]: [Publisher Name].

Replace the bracketed items with the specifics of the book you're citing. Italicize the name of the book.

Cite a textbook author's interview using this format:

MLA Style:

[Interviewee's Last Name], [Interviewee's First Name]. Personal interview. [Date of Interview] [Abbreviated Month of Interview] [Year of Interview].

Replace the bracketed items with the specifics of the interview you're citing.

APA Style:

Interviews and other personal correspondence (i.e. emails) are not listed in a bibliography following APA style. Instead, cite the source in parentheses in the section of the textbook where you refer to it.

Cite an article in an academic journal using this format:

MLA Style:

[Author's Last Name], [Author's First Name]. "[Title of Article]." [Title of Journal] [Volume #].[Issue #] ([Publication Year]): [Page #s]. Print.

APA Style:

[Author's Last Name], [Author's First Name] ([Publication Year]). [Title of Article]. [Title of Journal], Volume#, [Page #s].

Replace the bracketed items with the specifics of the article you're citing. Italicize the name of the journal and the volume number.

Alphabetize your bibliography entries by the first word of each entry. This will usually mean alphabetizing by the authors' last names.

Consult the official MLA and APA style guides for details on how to cite other types of sources.