9.08 Compiling a bibliographic entry

(a) Books

A bibliographic entry for a book should generally comprise the following:

• Author’s name (one or several authors; corporate author; editor or compiler, if there is no author; translator or illustrator, if either is the focus of the study)
• Title (includes title and subtitle)
• Secondary responsibility (includes editor, translator, compiler, preface writer, etc.)
• Edition (other than the first)
• Publication data (place of publication, publisher, date)

These components are separated by periods and a space, and the second and subsequent lines of an entry are indented.

(b) Articles

An entry for an article in a periodical should contain the following:

• Author’s name
• Title of the article
• Name of the periodical
• Volume and issue number (if any)
• Date
• Page number(s) (inclusive)

The article title is enclosed in quotation marks and followed by a period inside the closing quotation marks. Note that the date is placed in parentheses and no comma separates it from the volume or issue number. In accordance with International Standard ISO 690: 1987, the abbreviation p. or pp. may be omitted, and a colon then precedes the page number(s). However, if the volume number has not been given, the abbreviation is used and is preceded by a comma:

• Moore, Jason. "Understanding Old Age." Popular Medicine 7, 3 (August 1991): 210–14.
• Luna, James. "Allow Me to Introduce Myself: The Performance Art of James Luna." Canadian Theatre Review 68 (Fall 1991), pp. 46–7.

(c) Specialized periodicals

Bibliographic, footnote and endnote entries for articles in specialized periodicals in the natural, applied and social sciences are generally presented as follows:

• Only the first word in the article title and proper nouns and their derivatives are capitalized.
• Since most scientific publications use the author-date system in references, the date of publication is placed directly after or below the author’s name.
• No quotation marks are used for the title of the article.
• The title of the publication is invariably abbreviated and in most cases not italicized.
• The volume or issue number is followed by a colon, and p. or pp. is not used.

  Ivanovic, M., and K. Higita. 1991. Advances in cellular and development biology. Can. J. Biochem. 125: 539–41.

Note the use of periods with the abbreviations.

See 9.25 In-text notes for the author-date system and 9.29 Common abbreviations in notes and bibliographies for title abbreviations.

9.11 Title

Transcribe the title as it appears on the title page; the original capitalization and punctuation need not be retained. Italicize titles of published works such as books or periodicals. If the work being listed is published within another document, such as an article in a periodical, set the title off in quotation marks:

• Horsman, Jenny. "Something in My Mind Besides the Everyday": Women and Literacy in Nova Scotia. Toronto: Women’s Press, 1990.
• Clement, Lesley D. "Artistry in Mavis Gallant’s ‘Green Water, Green Sky’: The Composition of Structure, Pattern, and Gyre." Canadian
  Literature 129 (Summer 1991), pp. 57–73.

If the title is in two or more languages, transcribe the titles as they appear, separating them with an oblique (/) and a space on each side of the oblique:

• The Future of Canadian Programming and the Role of Private Television: Keeping Canada on the Information Highway / L’avenir des émissions canadiennes et le rôle de la télévision privée : Maintien du Canada sur l’autoroute électronique. Report to the Minister of Canadian Heritage. March 1995.

See 9.06 Translation for information on translated titles.

Any subtitle should follow the title after a colon and a space. If the title and subtitle are italicized, so is the colon:

• Schwartz, Ellen. Born A Woman: Seven Canadian Singer-Songwriters. Vancouver: Polestar Press, 1988.

9.14 Place, publisher and date

(a) Place of publication

If a document has more than one place of publication, choose the Canadian city, if any, or the first city mentioned. When it is necessary to differentiate a place of publication from others with the same name or to identify one that is not well known, add a geographic identifier (name of country, province or state), in an abbreviated form:

• Willmot, Elizabeth. When Anytime Was Train Time. Erin, Ont.: Boston Mills, 1992.

If the place of publication is not given, insert "N.p." for "no place of publication," in square brackets.

(b) Publisher

Listed after the place of publication, the publisher’s name is preceded by a colon and a space, and followed by a comma. The publisher’s name should be transcribed as it appears in the document, but articles and abbreviations such as Co., Ltd. and Inc. are usually dropped:

• Harris, R. Cole, and John Warkentin. Canada Before Confederation: A Study in Historical Geography. Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 1991.

The publisher’s name may be given in full or in an acceptable abbreviated form. For abbreviations of publishers’ names, consult Canadian Books in Print and Books in Print.

If the name of the publisher is not provided, insert "n.p." for "no publisher," in square brackets.

(c) Date of publication

The date of publication is preceded by a comma and is always written in Arabic numerals. If the date of publication is not provided, add the copyright date instead.

If neither the date of publication nor the copyright date can be ascertained, check library records for the missing information. You can either give an estimated date of publication followed by a question mark, enclosing both in square brackets, or add "n.d." for "no date of publication." Give inclusive dates for a multivolume work:

• Banicek, Edward. A History of Indonesia. 3 vols. Philadelphia: Ross and Kittredge, 1988–93.

If a multivolume work has yet to be completed and all the volumes in print are listed, indicate the date of the first volume, followed by an en dash:

• Skelton, Margaret. A Critical History of Modern Dance. 2 vols. to date. Chicago: Terpsichore Press, 1987–.

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