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How to Indent a Bibliography

Adhering to proper style as a scholar is essential for the correct and efficient presentation of your research. Structure, tone and the scope of the material you present all affect the way readers interact with your findings. Bibliographies provide an invaluable resource for your readers to follow the development of your thought and pursue the topic in greater detail. However, they must be formatted properly depending on the style guide that applies to your field of research. Proper indentation of entries is one aspect you must pay careful attention to in order to satisfy style rules.

Instructions

    • 1

      Make the first line of your bibliography flush with the left side of the margin. Indent all subsequent lines in the entry four spaces from the left margin.This rule is stipulated by the American Psychological Association style guide, which covers research topics in the social sciences.

    • 2

      Keep the first line of your entry flush with the left margin. Indent all subsequent lines five spaces from the left margin. This is the style for bibliographies in the Chicago Manual of Style, which covers a wide range of academic and r

      esearch fields.

    • 3

      Make the first line of your bibliographic entry flush with the left margin. Indent all subsequent lines a half inch from the left margin. This is the format recommended by the Modern Languages Association style guide, which applies to research in the humanities, literature and language.

    • 4

      Keep the first line of your bibliographic entry flush with the left margin. Indent all other lines as you would with a normal "body text" paragraph indent in the word processing software of your preference. This is the style advised by the Turabian style guide, which is an offshoot of the Chicago Manual of Style and is used, among other disciplines, in the natural sciences.

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