Thanks to the technology, bibliography generators are some of the recent additions to writers’ most important tools which have greatly changed the way of writing. This tool is a program that is capable of converting the source information a writer while writing his/her paper into a referencing list.
It is usually done at the end of a document and should be on a separate page. It is a list of all sources you may have used while writing your paper and should include the author’s name, the date it was published, and the title of the source. Before the invention of the tool, a writer had to document every source manually which was not only difficult but also time-consuming considering he had deadlines to meet.
But this great tool gives a writer a chance to generate references within seconds as long as you give the correct information. This is clear proof that this tool is indeed superior. However, a writer is required to thoroughly familiarize himself with this tool since it can easily alter the writing task in a great way.
When used correctly, these tools are capable of making the referencing work easier, allowing you to concentrate on more important things like putting your ideas down in an organized manner. On the other hand, when used unwise, the tool can cause mistakes which the writer might be unaware of.
source:pxfuel.com
How does the Bibliography Generator work?
There are a number of these tools available online but the good thing is that most of them follow the below basic procedures;
- The user will type the information to the tool regarding the source by filling t in the provided fields. The information includes the author’s name, the source’s title, the date of publication, and the page number the text was extracted from.
- The generator will, therefore, process the above information according to the user’s specified settings such as referencing medium and style e.g. MLA, APA, or Havard.
- Lastly, the bibliography generator will produce a reference that the user can use. This is usually in a text form whereby the user will be able to paste and copy directly to his paper.
However, the most important point to note is that the generator tool relies entirely on the user’s input and follows patterns that are set.
Below are tips that can help writers to use bibliography generators wisely;
source:pxfuel.com
Ensure the information you input is correct
“Garbage in, garbage out” is the main rule here. Whenever you feed incorrect information to the bibliography generator, it will most likely give you incorrect results. You should, therefore, be very keen to check your input information as you key it to the tool to ensure that you get accurate results.
By this, you should make sure the author’s name is correctly spelled, correct punctuations and capitalizations should also be adhered to, to ensure accurate final product. Never use secondary information regarding a source such as a web page, whereby you could easily miss some minor details such as editor’s name and edition numbers. Instead, you should work from the original copies of the sources you have.
Make sure to use accurate, reputable sources
Bibliography generators work with the information fed to them and are not capable of evaluating whether the source information given is either correct or wrong. This means that it is very possible to compile a bibliography that is absolutely useless even though it is flawless technically. This can be avoided by making sure to evaluate each source you are using is accurate, reputable, and not biased in any way.
source:pxfuel.com
Re-check the reference you received
After you are through with keying the information and receiving a reference, you should refrain from copying the citation into your work before doing a thorough check for accuracy. In case the bibliography tool made an error, even though it is rare, you will be able to rectify it before you can use it. It is important to pay attention to how the tool has handled formatting and capitalization.
There are different rules for capitalizing titles for each formatting style. Another point to note is that different styles handle numbering differently. For instant, some require page ranges to include all pages (e.g. 233-239) while others allow some numbers to be omitted (e.g. 233-9). In case you were not able to find some piece of information for your source, such as the author’s name, you should check to ensure the information has been left out instead of it being rendered a generic placeholder.
Make sure you cite each source in the text in a way that makes sense
The beauty of using this tool is that it is capable of automatically generating in-text citations once you have provided bibliographic information.
However, the correct usage of in-text citations depends more on the context than it is for bibliography entries. This means that before using the in-text citation you have generated from the tool, you should verify whether it is logical instead of just copying it to your document.
source:pxfuel.com
Make sure you designate the correct medium, version, and edition for each source
Basically, the bibliography generator is unable to tell whether the information given makes sense or not. It is not able to “know” when you have accidentally cited a website article as an academic journal, according to Peachy Essay. Therefore, you must be sure with the source you are citing and not confuse with another source.
To prevent unnecessary confusion for your audience, it is always important to double-check whether you have indicated correctly the source you are using. Don’t forget that edited collections involve more than one editor who needs to be acknowledged in the reference in addition to the author of the information you are using. In addition, if unsure of what medium your source of information will be classified as, you should consult the general rules of formatting for the referencing style you are using.
From the above tips, it is evident that this is an efficient tool, capable of doing so much work for you. The only rule is that it cannot do the thinking for you! You need to feed the correct information to the tool in order to give you accurate feedback. Therefore, custom writers should use the bibliography generator with caution if they want to get the correct bibliographies for their documents. The correct names of authors, correct formatting styles, and capitalization must be used for better results.
