Writing Tips has been archived and won’t be updated before it is permanently deleted.
For the most up-to-date content, please consult Writing Tips Plus, which combines content from Writing Tips and The Canadian Style. And don’t forget to update your bookmarks!
In creating bibliographic entries for sources other than books and articles, follow the guidelines below.
Conference proceedings are identified by the title of the conference:
Give the speaker’s name, the title of the lecture in quotation marks, followed by a descriptive identifier (seminar, address, lecture, etc.), the sponsoring organization, the location and the date:
List a published dissertation in the same way as other books, but identify the work as a dissertation and mention the academic institution:
Leave the title of an unpublished dissertation in roman type and enclose it in quotation marks:
Documents stored on a CD-ROM, computer disk or database are generally listed by title. The citation must specify, in square brackets, the type of document being listed and include information needed to identify and retrieve the work:
For further information regarding the listing of electronic sources, refer to International Standard ISO 690-2 Information and Documentation—Bibliographic References—Electronic Documents or Parts Thereof.
Depending on the focus of your study, a film or videotape can be listed under its title or the name of the director, producer, screenwriter or principal actor. Whatever the first component of the bibliographic entry may be, specify the medium of the work in square brackets at the end of the entry:
Give the name of the composer, title of the recording (or works on the recording), artist’s name (where applicable), manufacturer, catalogue number (if known), year of issue, and any other pertinent information:
Bibliographic entries for published musical scores are similar to those for books.
Enter the name of the interviewee, the type of interview (personal, telephone, etc.), and the date:
List the entry under the title of the program and include the network or local station, the city, the broadcast date, together with other pertinent information. Note that titles of television and radio shows are italicized and that segments and episodes are set off in quotation marks:
In addition to the title of the play, the playwright, director and principal actor, give the name of the theatre, the city and the date of performance, along with any other pertinent information:
Acts, regulations and legal notices are published in federal and provincial government gazettes, which should be listed as follows:
Note that the title of the gazette is italicized and that the jurisdiction and legislative body need not be mentioned.
Adopt the following order for order papers and notices: name of government; name of department, agency or institution; title of document; legislature and session numbers; volume and issue numbers (if any); issue date; and publication data:
© Public Services and Procurement Canada, 2024
TERMIUM Plus®, the Government of Canada's terminology and linguistic data bank
Writing tools – Writing Tips
A product of the Translation Bureau