Formatting a Bibliography

You've written an outstanding article and you're ready to submit it to a children's magazine. Have you included a bibliography?  You should.  A bibliography assures an editor that the information presented is reliable and accurate.  It lists all of the sources used to research the article.  A bibliography may contain as few as three sources or as many as twenty depending on the requirements of the publication. 

There are specific ways to format a bibliography.  Most magazine editors make their preferences known in the writer's guidelines.  Some editors prefer the Chicago Style.  The University of Chicago Press created the Chicago Manual of Style, which provides guidelines for citing sources as well as for formatting papers.  Other editors like the MLA Style (the Modern Language Association) which is used primarily for subjects related to the humanities and liberal arts, such as literature, mass communications, and media studies.

Regardless of which formatting style you use, the bibliography should be arranged in alphabetical order.  A compilation of book titles in random order (and I've seen this in submissions) is not acceptable. 

If you're not sure how to format a bibliography visit https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/06/  or http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html 

With a little practice, you will be able to master formatting all kinds of sources—books, newspaper articles, emails and more.  Refer to the links listed above whenever in doubt.
When you format your bibliography correctly, an editor will take note.