When preparing a written paper, such as a research paper or a thesis, finding sources and compiling a bibliography are crucial steps. But first, do we know what a bibliography is and what it’s for?
A bibliography is an alphabetically ordered list of all the documents consulted during research (monographs, articles, encyclopedia entries, statistical reports, etc.). Bibliographic citations provide the essential details of the cited documents, thereby offering a reference point for the paper being written. This allows readers to identify the sources used and, if necessary, locate them.
Among the tools available, we recommend Cite Them Right , a subscription platform designed to help you choose the correct citation style. It features articles and videos that address frequently asked questions, including how to distinguish between primary and secondary sources.
Verifying and citing your sources is also essential to respect copyright, to promote and disseminate the work of other scholars, and to avoid plagiarism.
Below, you'll find guides to help you compile your bibliography:
- Gnoli, Claudio. Bibliographic citations: an introductory guide to correctly interpreting and drafting citations for bibliographic sources;
- Dell'Orso, Francesco. Bibliographic citations: according to the Chicago Manual of Style (with notes from Umberto Eco's How to Write a Thesis);
- The University of Chicago. Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide (in English);
- American Psychological Association. APA Style Guidelines (in English);
- American Sociological Association. ASA style quick tips (in English);
- Modern Language Association (MLA) (in English).
You can also find some very practical tips with numerous examples for each citation style on the Mendeley Citation Hub , with guidance on:
With the “Cite this document” feature, Luiss Library Discovery lets you create citations for bibliographic documents in various internationally recognized formats.
Bibliography management systems
Bibliography management systems, also known as BMS or RMS, are software tools designed for managing and compiling bibliographies. With the help of these tools, you can transform the bibliographic information you’ve collected into citations that are consistent with the most common and accepted styles.
Most of these software programs are compatible with the major operating platforms (primarily Windows, but also macOS, Linux, Unix, and others). The collected data can typically be output as files with extensions such as .rtf, .doc, .txt, .html, .xml, and .odt, among others. The most widely used free online software options include EndNote Basic, Mendeley, and Zotero.
EndNote Basic is the free version of Clarivate Web of Science's EndNote for managing bibliographic references.
Once you're on Web of Science (a subscription-based database that's also accessible remotely), you can find the program in the menu bar at the top. You can collect references directly by browsing Web of Science or by using the plug-in to capture metadata from the web. Online registration is required to access and download the plug-in for Office Word integration, which allows you to add citations in the text and create bibliographies.
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Mendeley is a program provided by Elsevier for managing bibliographic references, which also features social networking functions for academic environments. To use it, you need to register online to create an account and then download a program locally to sync your data. It allows you to import PDF documents or folders of documents and extract their bibliographic references.
The tool is fully integrated with Scopus, a subscription-based database that's also accessible remotely. It contains abstracts and citations from scientific literature and authoritative web sources across the fields of science and technology, as well as the humanities and social sciences.
Luiss users with an institutional account can register directly on the platform by clicking on "Create account" and then on "You can log in through your institution" by entering their Luiss email or the name of the university.
For more information, check out the online guides.
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Zotero is an open-source program designed to capture bibliographic references from documents viewed on the web. To access it, you need to register online and download the software.
For more information, see the guide Bibliographic Management Systems: Zotero.
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