Footnotes or Bibliography

[KPK]

Hi,

 

In English world literature essay and (and other IAs), do we need to use both footnotes and bobliograpgy?   I am bit confused about when to use footnotes, when to use bibliography and when to use both of them. 

[eross]

Hi,

 

In English world literature essay and (and other IAs), do we need to use both footnotes and bobliograpgy?   I am bit confused about when to use footnotes, when to use bibliography and when to use both of them. 

 

hi! As far as I understand: 

 

footnotes are used for in-text citations (they are an alternative to parenthetical citations, in which you "write some quote" (author, page number).). So if you were to quote something in your essay (or even paraphrase it), you'd go: Jane Doe explains that "one should always reference stuff to avoid plagiarism"¹ and blah blah.

 

1. Doe, Jane. Plagiarism, 1995 (or something like that)

 

Different citation styles use different methods- MLA uses parenthetical citations, while Chicago uses footnotes.

 

The bibliography is the page where you list all the sources you've referenced in the essay. So, suppose you had quoted Jane Doe and John Miller, your bibliography at the end of the essay would be: 

 

Bibliography

 

Doe, Jane. Plagiarism 1995, New York. (make sure the citations are in a proper format; I'm making this one up as an example)

Miller, John. Some Book Title, 2008, London. 

 

hope this helped to clarify  

[Slovakov]

A bibliography (or more gnerally list of references) is a list that you put at the end of your piece of work. It should include all sources you have taken any information from, be it by quotations or just mentioning the information in your text. The footnotes or in-text references are used in the same cases - whenever you used a non-obvious information from some external source. Thye don't need to contain as many details as your bibliography, they only serve to indicate that this given piece of information is taken from this specific source, the details of which  are shown in the bibliography. 

 

Of course this is also a little system-dependent. For example in some systems you don't have to put sources such as in-person interviews in your reference list, but have to refer to them in text. But the rule of the thumb is that whatever sources you use, should be referred to both in text and at the end of it.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Slovakov

[ellie]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there actually the distinction that a bibliography is the list of books you've read for that paper, but not directly referenced from (consulted), while references (APA)/works cited (MLA) are for your citations?

 

And yes, you can choose between footnotes, endnotes (all footnotes as a list at the end of the paper) or brackets. Not sure how you choose. I know APA wants in-text/bracket citations and I've done footnotes for Chicago, though.

[Vioh]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there actually the distinction that a bibliography is the list of books you've read for that paper, but not directly referenced from (consulted), while references (APA)/works cited (MLA) are for your citations?

 

Technically yes, you're correct. However, I think the IBO stresses that bibliography should only contain the sources that you have cited/used in your essay. All materials that are not directly referenced should be omitted in the bibliography. At least that's what it says in the EE guide. I'm not sure about the IAs though, but I assume that the same rule applies.