Overview

List all of the sources for your report, using the style your group has agreed on. The References section is where you credit the sources that contributed to your report. You need References to ensure that readers know which information is yours and which was gathered from outside sources. Without the References section, it will appear that you plagiarized the report.

Where You Can Find Help

From Howdy or Hello? Technical and Professional Communication

• References Section of a Recommendation Report
• Specific Guidelines on Headings
• Bulleted and Numbered Lists
• Use of Color

From LinkedIn Learning

• “How to identify and credit sources” (4m 9s), from the Technical Writing: Reports course.
• “Create a bibliography or works cited section” (2m 29s) from the Research and Create Citations course [on using Microsoft Word].

From Other Sources

• “Add a citation and create a bibliography,” from Microsoft Word.
• “Add citations and a bibliography,” from Google Docs.
• Documentation and Citations for Your Project, on our Canvas site.

From Technical Communication

• Sample Report, Figure 18.8

How You Do It

1. Obtain a full draft of the body of your report before beginning this section so that you know which sources to include in your References.
2. Scroll through your document to the location for your References page.
3. Add the headings for your References:
   1. Add the word References as the heading at the top of the page and center the line.
   2. Format the word so that it is clearly the heading for the page. You can use the built-in headings in your word processor. See the References page from the Sample Recommendation Report for help.
   3. Skip a blank line.

Citation Builder Websites

• NC State Citation Builder creates Council of Science Editors (CSE/CBE), MLA, APA, and Chicago citations for free.
• EasyBib online citation builder creates MLA-format for free.
• MyBib creates MLA, APA, IEEE, ACM, and Chicago citations for free.
• Zotero Bib creates APA, MLA, Turabian, and Chicago for free.
4. Add bibliographic citations for the sources used in your report, using the style that your group has agreed upon.
   1. Check Try-It #19: Secondary Research Discussion to see if one of your group members has already created a citation for the source.
      • If you find it there, copy it and paste it to your References page.
      • If it’s not there, write a citation for the source. If you like, use one of the Citation Builder Websites listed in the box on the right.
   2. Arrange the citations in the order that your style requires. For instance, some styles list references alphabetically by the first author’s last name while others list references in the order they are mentioned in the text
5. Review your citations to check for the following:
   1. Are all sources in the document listed?
   2. Are the citations complete? For instance, are all page numbers included?
   3. Are the citations in the correct order?
   4. Is a line skipped between the citations?
   5. If indentation is required, are all the citations indented?
6. Make any revisions that are needed after your check.
7. Share your draft with your group and make additional revisions as necessary to connect with the other sections of your report.