On the other, Word gives you the option to work with placeholders. You’ll also find two more options under the “ Insert Citations” option: On the one hand, you can enter a new source directly into your list here. To do so, first insert the footnote and then enter the reference. If you don’t want to enter citations directly into the text, you can also work with footnotes. The reference will now appear in the text (in the selected format). Use the cursor to navigate behind the citation and click on the relevant source.
When you click on it, Word will show you a list of all sources you’ve entered. You’ll find the “ Insert Citation” button under the “ References” tab. Once you’ve used a quote in your work, you can simply add the corresponding reference to the original. Although a short reference is given to the original work in the text itself, the user can find more comprehensive details about the cited work in the bibliography (such as the date of issue and edition in addition to the author and complete title). These references and the bibliography are closely linked: in general, every source of a citation is listed in the closing bibliography. It ensures that you don’t forget a certain reference.Ĭitations directly reproduce the wording from another author, and they are unambiguously marked so that you don’t commit plagiarism. What’s more, a well-structured bibliography can help you do your research even while writing the document. Plus, citations enable you to clearly delineate which ideas and statements are your own and which come from other authors: it’s clear whose knowledge your work builds on. These should be listed at the end of the paper, allowing the reader to delve deeper into the subject’s literature. Remember that you still need to indent the first sentence of each of your annotations.Whether it’s an essay, report, a bachelor’s or master’s thesis or a dissertation, in academic papers you always refer to sources. Now highlight the annotation for the citation and in the Home tab, click Increase Indent.Ĭoninue this format for each citation and annotation. Next, make sure that Line spacing: is set to Double. On the Indents and Spacing tab, under Indentation, choose “ Hanging” from the Special: dropdown menu. Highlight the MLA Citation for your first source, and then right click inside the highlighted area and click Paragraph. Highlight your title and select Align Text Center.
In the Paragraph section of your Home tab, click Line and Paragraph spacing and click 2.0. Press Ctrl+a to highlight your entire document. Now you’re ready to enter your bibliographies: Type “Annotated Bibliography” or another title of the Bibliography. Start at the top of your document, and type your name. In your Home tab, make sure Font Size is 12. My personal preference is to write content before formatting, so I’ll explain the formatting in that manner. Type your last name in and double click below the header section of your document to stop editing the header. This brings your cursor into the header of your document, in front of the page number. To set this up, click the Insert tab, click on Page Number in the Header & Footer section, hover over Top of Page and choose Plain Number 3. Open Microsoft Word to a new, blank document.Īn annotated bibliography requires the pages to be numbered. Please click on the pictures for additional details.
These directions will work for both 20 versions of Word. Here is a screencast walking through the process.
I have included a complete example of an Annotated Bibliography PDF Annotated Bibliography Example for your reference. In this screencast and tutorial, I demonstrate the steps required to create an annotated bibliography in proper MLA format using Microsoft Word. An annotated bibliography is often required in written assignments however, many people are not familiar with the formatting required.