Back to Table of Contents

Next: Writing letters

Bibliographies and references

Introduction to bibliographies and references

Mom provides the ability to format and generate bibliographies, as well as footnote or endnote references, in MLA (Modern Language Association) style. She accomplishes this by working in conjunction with a special groff program called refer.

Refer requires first that you create a database of works that will be cited in your documents. Once that’s done, special macros let you briefly key in references to entries in the database and have mom format them with respect to order, punctuation and italicization in footnotes, endnotes, or a full bibliography.

Refer has been around for a long time. It’s powerful and has many, many features. Unfortunately, the manpage (man refer), while complete and accurate, is dense and not a good introduction. (It’s a classic manpage Catch-22: the manpage is useful only after you know how to use the program.)

In order to get mom users up and running with refer, this section of mom’s documentation focuses exclusively, in a recipe-like manner, on what you need to know to use refer satisfactorily in conjunction with mom. The instructions are not to be taken as a manual on full refer usage.

If you’re already a refer user, the information herein will be useful for adapting your current refer usage to mom’s way of doing things. If you’ve never used refer, the information is essential, and, in many cases, may be all you need.

I encourage anyone interested in what MLA style looks like—and, by extension, how your bibliographies and references will look after mom formats them—to check out
http://www.aresearchguide.com/12biblio.html or any other website or reference book on MLA style.

MLA (Modern Language Association) style

Types of references (endnote, footnote, or embedded in text)

MLA allows for three types of references, or referencing styles:

• short, parenthetical references in the text, linked to a works-cited list (bibliography) at the end of the document
• footnote references
• endnote references

There are significant differences between the way footnote/endnote references should be formatted, and the formatting style of bibliographies. One example is that footnote/endnote references should have their first lines indented, whereas bibliographic references should have their second lines indented. Fortunately, with mom, there’s no need to concern yourself with the differences; they’re taken care of automatically.

In terms of inserting references into your documents, footnote/endnote references are input in a manner similar to entering any other kind of footnote or endnote. Parenthetical references, however, need to be handled differently. See the next section.

Inserting parenthetical references into the text

MLA style prefers restricting the information in parenthetical references to the barest minimum needed to identify works in the works-cited list (the bibliography). Typically, a parenthetical insertion is just the author’s last name followed by the page number of the cited work (if only one work by that author is cited), or by the author, a shortened title of the work, and the page number (if more than one work is cited).

This necessitates a slightly fiddly way of entering parenthetical references, though not by any means difficult or hard to make sense of.

The refer block suggested here for parenthetical references prints only the author’s last name from the database record identified by your keywords (the label command), surrounded by parentheses (the bracket-label command). Therefore, assuming you are citing Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles, and it is the only work by Bradbury mentioned in the text,
...end of sentence. .[ martian chronicles .] A new sentence... will insert “...end of sentence (Bradbury). A new sentence...” into the text. The Martian Chronicles will be added to the works-cited list generated at the end of the document if it is not already present as the result of an earlier reference.

If you need a page number to identify where in The Martian Chronicles to find a specific quote
"...aluminum roaches and iron crickets." .[ [ martian chronicles .] 168) A new sentence... results in “...aluminum roaches and iron crickets.” (Bradbury 168) A new sentence...” (which is excruciatingly correct MLA style). The “[” before martian chronicles tells refer to print the opening parenthesis; any text immediately following the “.]”, including spaces, replaces the closing parenthesis. (Notice that you have to add the closing parenthesis yourself after the page number.)

If your document cites more than one work by Bradbury and you need a title and page number in addition to the author’s name in the inline reference,
"...aluminum roaches and iron crickets." .[ [ bradbury martian .], \fIChronicles\fP 168) A new sentence... will produce ““...aluminum roaches and iron crickets.” (Bradbury, Chronicles 168) A new sentence...”.

The refer database

Introduction

The heart and soul of refer is the bibliographic database. Knowing how to create records (i.e. the entries for works cited in a document) is largely a question matching data (author, title, publisher, etc) with the correct field identifier. For example, if you’re citing from a scholarly journal, you need to know that %J is the field identifier for journal names and %N is the field identifier for the journal number. Use the Quick list of field identifiers as your guide.

The rules

Entering the data correctly is also important. Fortunately, there are very few rules, and those there are make sense. In a nutshell:

• enter the data in each field in natural order; author John Smith is “John Smith”, editor Jane Doe is “Jane Doe”
• capitalize all proper nouns and words in titles as you expect to see them; otherwise, use lowercase
• use no terminating punctuation unless required; typically, required punctuation is the period after a shortform (“ed.” or “eds.”, “Jr.”, etc) or a question mark or exclamation mark at the end of a title
• if part of a field needs to be set off in single-quotes, use \[oq] and \[cq] (openquote, closequote) rather than the single-quote (or apostrophe) character on your keyboard
• if part of a field needs to be forced into italics, use the escapes \*[IT] and \*[PREV]; if the italicized portion concludes the field, omit \*[PREV]
• if you require characters with accents, ligatures or special symbols, use groff’s “named” glyphs (e.g. \['e] for é); a full list can be found in man groff_char

Quick guide to field identifiers (click on any that are links for more information)

Field identifiers: specifics, usage and examples

%A – author field

For multiple authors, enter each in a separate %A field in the order in which they should appear. If the author on the title page is the editor (say, a book of short stories edited by Ray Bradbury), add , ed. to the end of the %A field, like this:
%A Ray Bradbury, ed. Do not use the %E field in these instances. If the work has several such editors, enter each in a separate %A field, as for multiple authors, and add , eds. to the last one, like this:
%A Jane Dearborne %A Bill Parsons, eds.

%Q – exceptional entries

Sometimes, a work has no author or title information, for example a book review in a newspaper. In such cases, use %Q, like this:
%Q Rev. of \*[IT]Mean Streets Omnibus\*[PREV], ed. Raymond Hammett %M Times Literary Supplement %D 7 July 1972

%m – multiple authors (et al.)

Whenever it’s desirable to abbreviate a list of authors with “et al.” enter it in the %m field, like this:
%A Paul Lauter %A Doug Scofield %m et al.

%i – idem

Whenever there are several works by the same author, fill out the %A field with the author’s name and follow it with the %i idem, like this:
%A Jonathon Schmidt %i idem Per MLA style, the author’s name will be replaced by a long dash.

If it’s necessary to state the role the author served (say, editor or translator), fill out the %i field with the information minus idem, like this:
%A Ray Bradbury %i ed. %T Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow

%p – post-author information

When citing from a preface, foreword, introduction, afterword, or appendix, MLA requires that the information come between the author’s name and the work’s title, like this:
%A Martin Packham, Jr. %p appendix %T Why the West was Won Do not capitalize the first word in the %p field unless it is a proper noun.

%q – force title into double-quotes

Occasionally, you may not be able to use %T for the title because doing so will cause it to come out in italics when double-quotes are called for. An example of this is when citing from a dissertation. Use %q to get around the problem, like this:
%A Carol Sakala %q Maternity Care Policy in the United States %O diss., Boston U, 1993

%E – editor

Use this only if the author and the editor are not one in the same, e.g.
%A Geoffrey Chaucer %T The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer %E F. W. Robinson

%l – translator

If there is more than one translator, enter all the names, with appropriate conjunctions and punctuation, like this:
%A Feodor Dostoevsky %T Crime and Punishment %l Jessie Coulson, Marjorie Benton, and George Bigian

%O – other

Occasionally, MLA requires additional information after the title but before the publication data (city/publisher/date), for instance, the number of volumes in a series, or the fact that the work cited is a dissertation. Here are two examples:
%A Arthur M. Schlesinger %T History of U.S. Political Parties %O 4 vols. %C New York %I Chelsea %D 1973 %A Carol Sakala %q Maternity Care Policy in the United States %O diss., Boston U, 1993 Do not capitalize the first word of the %O field unless it is a proper noun.

Generally, consider %O a catch-all for information that does not match the criterion of any existing field identifier.

%C – city

Normally, %C takes the name of the city of publication, and that’s all. In the case of a republished book, if new material has been added, put such information in the %C field, like this:
%A Theodore Dreiser %T Sister Carrie %d 1900 %C Introd. E. L. Doctorow, New York

%d – original date of publication

Normally, all that is required in the %d field is the original date of publication. However, if supplementary original publication data is desired, include it in the field, like this:
%A Kazuo Ishiguro %T The Remains of the Day %d London: Faber, 1989 %C New York %I Knopf %D 1990

%K – keywords

Refer hates ambiguity, and complains when encountering it. Ambiguities result from the duplication of any word in more than one database record when that word is used to identify a reference in your input file. Use %K to create unique keywords found nowhere else in the database.

Imagine, for example, that your database contains records for Ray Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man, another record for The Illustrated Bradbury and a third for Bradbury, Illustrated. %K can be used to clear up any ambiguities by assigning a unique word to each record, for example %K ill-man for the first, %K ill-brad for the second, and %K brad-ill for the third.

%P – pages

When citing page numbers, which is often the case with footnotes and endnotes, it is not necessary to put the numbers in the database records. The %P field can be added underneath the keyword(s) in the .[ / .] entries in your input file, allowing you to recycle database records. For example,
%A Frye %T Anatomy %K frye-anat could be your short record for Northrop Frye’s The Anatomy of Criticism. Any time you wanted to cite a particular page or range of pages from that work in a footnote or endnote, you can put
.REF .[ frye-anat %P 67-8 .] .REF in your input file, and have it show up with the correct page(s).

%n – annotations

Annotations come at the very end of references. Capitalize all words that require it, including, for bibliographic references (but not for footnotes/endnotes) the first.

The macro REF tells mom that what follows is refer-specific, a keyword-identified reference to a refer database record. Depending on whether you’ve issued a .FOOTNOTE_REFS or .ENDNOTE_REFS instruction, the reference will be formatted and placed in a footnote, or collected for output in the endnotes. Parenthetical insertion of references into the text do not require .REF (see Inserting parenthetical references into the text.)

Before you use REF, you must create a refer block containing refer commands (see Required refer commands in the tutorial, above).

REF usage always looks like this:
.REF .[ keyword(s) .] .REF Notice that REF “brackets” the refer instructions, and never takes an argument.

What REF really is is a convenience. One could, for example, put a reference in a footnote by doing
.FOOTNOTE .[ keyword(s) .] .FOOTNOTE OFF However, if you have a lot of references going into footnotes (or endnotes), it’s much shorter to type .REF/.REF than .FOOTNOTE/.FOOTNOTE OFF. It also helps you distinguish—visually, in your input file—between footnotes (or endnotes) which are references, and footnotes (or endnotes) which are explanatory, or expand on the text.

FOOTNOTE_REFS is an instruction to REF, saying, “put all subsequent references bracketed by the REF macro into footnotes.” You invoke it by itself, with no argument.

When FOOTNOTE_REFS is in effect, regular footnotes, (i.e. those introduced with .FOOTNOTE and terminated with .FOOTNOTE OFF) continue to behave normally.

You may switch between FOOTNOTE_REFS and ENDNOTE_REFS at any time.

By default, FOOTNOTE_REFS sets the FOOTNOTE_MARKER_STYLE to NUMBER (i.e. superscript numbers). You may change change that if you wish by invoking FOOTNOTE_MARKER_STYLE, with the argument you want, after FOOTNOTE_REFS.

If you have a lot of footnote references, and are identifying footnotes by line number rather than by markers in the text, you may want to enable FOOTNOTES_RUN_ON in conjunctions with FOOTNOTE_REFS.

ENDNOTE_REFS is an instruction to REF, saying, “add all subsequent references bracketed by the REF macro to endnotes.” You invoke it by itself, with no argument.

When ENDNOTE_REFS is in effect, mom continues to format regular endnotes, (i.e. those introduced with .ENDNOTE and terminated with .ENDNOTE OFF) in the normal way.

You may switch between ENDNOTE_REFS and FOOTNOTE_REFS at any time.

• <indent> requires a unit of measure

MLA-style requires that footnote or endnote references should have their first lines indented, whereas bibliographic references should have their second and subsequent lines indented. Thus, if you invoke INDENT_REFS with a first argument of FOOTNOTE or ENDNOTE, the value you give to <indent> sets the indent of the first line for those types of references; if you invoke it with BIBLIO, the value you give <indent> sets the indent of second and subsequent lines in bibliographies.

By default, the indent for all three types of references is 1/2-inch for PRINTSTYLE TYPEWRITE and 2 ems for PRINTSTYLE TYPESET.

If you’d like to change the indent for footnote, endnote or bibliography references, just invoke .INDENT_REFS with a first argument saying which one you want the indent changed for, and a second argument saying what you’d like the indent to be. For example, if you want the second-line indent of references on a bibliography page to be 3 picas,
.INDENT_REFS BIBLIO 3P is how you’d set it up.

If you have hyphenation turned on for a document (see HY), and in most cases you probably do, mom will hyphenate references bracketed by the REF macro. Since references typically contain quite a lot of proper names, which shouldn’t be hyphenated, you may want to disable hyphenation for references.

HYPHENATE_REFS is a toggle macro; invoking it by itself will turn automatic hyphenation of REF-bracketed references on (the default). Invoking it with any other argument (OFF, NO, X, etc.) will disable automatic hyphenation for references bracketed by REF.

An alternative to turning reference hyphenation off is to prepend to selected proper names in your refer database the groff discretionary hyphen character, \%. (See here in the tutorial for an example.)

To append a bibliography to your document, whether of references inserted parenthetically into text or a comprehensive reading list derived from a large refer database, all you need do is invoke .BIBLIOGRAPHY. .BIBLIOGRAPHY breaks to a new page, prints the title (BIBLIOGRAPHY by default, but that can be changed), and awaits refer instructions. How to create bibliographies is covered in the tutorial section, Generating a bibliography from parenthetical insertions and Generating a comprehensive bibliography. When all the required data has been entered, type
.BIBLIOGRAPHY OFF to complete the bibliography.

See the Bibliography control macros and defaults for macros to tweak, design and control the appearance of bibliography pages.

Mom offers two styles of bibliography output: plain, or numbered list style. With the argument, PLAIN, bibliography entries are output with no enumerators. With the argument, LIST, each entry is numbered.

The two optional arguments, <list separator> and <list prefix> have the same meaning as the equivalent arguments to LIST (i.e. <separator> and <prefix>).

You may enter the BIBLIOGRAPHY_TYPE either before or after .BIBLIOGRAPHY. It must, however, always come before any refer commands. See Generating a bibliography from parenthetical insertions and Generating a comprehensive bibliography.

Mom’s default BIBLIOGRAPHY_TYPE is PLAIN.

1. General bibliography page style control

• Base family/font/quad

• Base point size

Unlike most other control macros that deal with size of document elements, BIBLIOGRAPHY_PT_SIZE takes as its argument an absolute value, relative to nothing. Therefore, the argument represents the size of bibliography type in points, unless you append an alternative unit of measure. For example,
.BIBLIOGRAPHY_PT_SIZE 12 sets the base point size of type on the bibliography page to 12 points, whereas
.BIBLIOGRAPHY_PT_SIZE .6i sets the base point size of type on the bibliography page to 1/6 of an inch.

The type size set with BIBLIOGRAPHY_PT_SIZE is the size of type used for the text of the bibliographies, and forms the basis from which the point size of other bibliography page elements is calculated.

The default for PRINTSTYLE TYPESET is 12.5 points (the same default size used in the body of the document).

• Leading

• Does not require a unit of measure; points is assumed

Unlike most other control macros that deal with leading of document elements, BIBLIOGRAPHY_LEAD takes as its argument an absolute value, relative to nothing. Therefore, the argument represents the leading of bibliographies in points unless you append an alternative unit of measure. For example,
.BIBLIOGRAPHY_LEAD 14 sets the base leading of type on the bibliography page to 14 points, whereas
.BIBLIOGRAPHY_LEAD .5i sets the base leading of type on the bibliography page to 1/2 inch.

If you want the leading of bibliographies adjusted to fill the page, pass BIBLIOGRAPHY_LEAD the optional argument, ADJUST. (See DOC_LEAD_ADJUST for an explanation of leading adjustment.)

The default for PRINTSTYLE TYPESET is the prevailing document lead (16 by default), adjusted.

• Adjust the space between bibliography entries

• Requires a unit of measure

By default, mom inserts no space between bibliography entries. If you’d prefer she add some, instruct her to do so with BIBLIOGRAPHY_SPACING. Say, for example, you want a half a linespace between entries,
.BIBLIOGRAPHY_SPACING .5v would do the trick.

• Singlespace bibliography (TYPEWRITE only)

If your PRINTSTYLE is TYPEWRITE and you use TYPEWRITE’s default double-spacing, bibliographies are double-spaced. If your document is single-spaced, bibliographies are single-spaced.

If, for some reason, you’d prefer that bibliographies be single-spaced in an otherwise double-spaced document (including double-spaced collated documents), invoke .SINGLESPACE_BIBLIOGRAPHY with no argument.

• Turning off column mode during bibliography output

By default, if your document is set in columns, mom sets the bibliographies in columns, too. However, if your document is set in columns and you’d like the bibliographies not to be, just invoke .BIBLIOGRAPHY_NO_COLUMNS with no argument. The bibliography pages will be set to the full page measure of your document.

If you output bibliographies at the end of each document in a collated document set in columns, column mode will automatically be reinstated for each document, even with BIBLIOGRAPHY_NO_COLUMNS turned on. In such circumstances, you must re-enable BIBLIOGRAPHY_NO_COLUMNS for each separate collated document.

2. Pagination of bibliographies

• Page numbering style

Use this macro to set the page numbering style of bibliography pages. The arguments are identical to those for PAGENUM_STYLE. The default is digit. You may want to change it to, say, alpha, which you would do with
.BIBLIOGRAPHY_PAGENUM_STYLE alpha

• Setting the first page number of bibliographies

Use this macro with caution. If the bibliography for a collated document is to be output at the document’s end, BIBLIOGRAPHY_FIRST_PAGENUMBER tells mom what page number to put on the first page of the bibliography.

However, if you’re outputting a bibliography at the end of each section (chapter, article, etc) of a collated document, you have to reset every section’s first page number after COLLATE and before START.

• Omitting a page number on the first page of bibliographies

This macro is for use only if FOOTERS are on. It tells BIBLIOGRAPHY not to print a page number on the first bibliography page. Mom’s default is to print the page number.

• Suspending pagination during bibliography output

SUSPEND_PAGINATION doesn’t take an argument. Invoked immediately prior to BIBLIOGRAPHY, it turns off pagination for the duration of the bibliography. Mom continues, however to increment page numbers silently.

To restore normal document pagination after bibliographies, invoke .RESTORE_PAGINATION (again, with no argument) immediately after you’ve finished with your bibliography.

3. Header/footer control

• Modifying what goes in the bibliography header/footer

If you wish to modify what appears in the header/footer that appears on bibliography pages, make the changes before you invoke .BIBLIOGRAPHY, not afterwards.

Except in the case of DOCTYPE CHAPTER, mom prints the same header or footer used throughout the document on bibliography pages. Chapters get treated differently in that, by default, mom does not print the header/footer centre string (normally the chapter number or chapter title.) In most cases, this is what you want. However, should you not want mom to remove the centre string from the bibliography pages’ headers/footers, or you would like her to add one in cases where there hasn’t been one before (e.g. DOCTYPE DEFAULT) invoke .BIBLIOGRAPHY_HEADER_CENTER with no argument.

An important change you may want to make is to put the word “Bibliography” in the header/footer centre position. To do so, invoke
.BIBLIOGRAPHY_HEADER_CENTER .HEADER_CENTER "Bibliography" or .BIBLIOGRAPHY_FOOTER_CENTER .FOOTER_CENTER "Bibliography" prior to invoking .BIBLIOGRAPHY.

• Header/footer centre string when doctype is CHAPTER

If your DOCTYPE is CHAPTER and you want mom to include a centre string in the headers/footers that appear on bibliography pages, or if you do not have a running header/footer centre string in the body of the document, invoke .BIBLIOGRAPHY_HEADER_CENTER (or .BIBLIOGRAPHY_FOOTER_CENTER) with no argument before defining the centre string . Mom’s default is NOT to print the centre string.

If, for some reason, having enabled the header/footer centre string on bibliography pages, you wish to disable it, invoke the same macro with any argument (OFF, QUIT, Q, X...).

• Allow headers on bibliography pages

By default, if HEADERS are on, mom prints page headers on all bibliography pages except the first. If you don’t want her to print headers on bibliography pages, do
.BIBLIOGRAPHY_ALLOWS_HEADERS OFF If you want headers on every page including the first, do
.BIBLIOGRAPHY_ALLOWS_HEADERS ALL

4. Bibliography first-page title control

• Title string

Alias: BIBLIOGRAPHY_HEADER

By default, mom prints the word “BIBLIOGRAPHY” as a title at the top of the first page of a bibliography. If you want her to print something else, invoke .BIBLIOGRAPHY_STRING with the title you want, surrounded by double-quotes.

If you don’t want a title at the top of the first bibliography page, invoke .BIBLIOGRAPHY_STRING with a blank argument (either two double-quotes side by side—""—or no argument at all).

• Title string control macros and defaults

• Title string placement

• Argument requires a unit of measure

By default, mom places the title (the docheader, as it were) of bibliographies (typically "BIBLIOGRAPHY") on the same baseline that is used for the start of running text. If you’d prefer another location, higher or lower on the page (thereby also raising or lowering the starting position of the bibliography itself), invoke .BIBLIOGRAPHY_STRING_ADVANCE with an argument stating the distance from the top edge of the page at which you’d like the title placed.

The argument requires a unit of measure, so if you’d like the title to appear 1-1/2 inches from the top edge of the page, you’d tell mom about it like this:
.BIBLIOGRAPHY_STRING_ADVANCE 1.5i

• Title string underscoring

Alias: BIBLIOGRAPHY_STRING_UNDERLINE

• The argument <underscore weight> must not have the unit of measure, p, appended to it

Invoked without an argument, .BIBLIOGRAPHY_STRING_UNDERSCORE will place a single rule underneath the bibliography’s first-page title. Invoked with the argument, DOUBLE, BIBLIOGRAPHY_STRING_UNDERSCORE will double-underscore the title. Invoked with any other non-numeric argument, (e.g. OFF, NO, X, etc.) the macro disables underlining of the title.

In addition, you can use BIBLIOGRAPHY_STRING_UNDERSCORE to control the weight of the underscore rule(s), the gap between the title and the underscore, and, in the case of double-underscores, the distance between the two rules.

Some examples:
.BIBLIOGRAPHY_STRING_UNDERLINE 1 - turn underlining on; set the rule weight to 1 point .BIBLIOGRAPHY_STRING_UNDERLINE 1 3p - turn underlining on; set the rule weight to 1 point; set the gap between the string and the underline to 3 points .BIBLIOGRAPHY_STRING_UNDERLINE DOUBLE .75 3p - turn double-underlining on; set the rule weight to 3/4 of a point; set the gap between the string and the upper underline to 3 points; leave the gap between the upper and the lower underline at the default .BIBLIOGRAPHY_STRING_UNDERLINE DOUBLE 1.5 1.5p 1.5p - turn double-underlining on; set the rule weight to 1-1/2 points; set the gap between the string and the upper underline to 1-1/2 points; set the gap between the upper and the lower underline to 1-1/2 points Note, from the above, that in all instances, underscoring (single or double) is enabled whenever BIBLIOGRAPHY_STRING_UNDERSCORE is used in this way.

By default, mom double-underscores the title if your PRINTSTYLE is TYPEWRITE.

• Title string capitalization

Invoked by itself, .BIBLIOGRAPHY_STRING_CAPS will automatically capitalize the bibliography first-page title. Invoked with any other argument, the macro disables automatic capitalization of the title.

If you’re generating a table of contents, you may want the bibliography first-page title to be in caps, but the toc entry in caps/lower case. If the argument to BIBLIOGRAPHY_STRING is in caps/lower case and BIBLIOGRAPHY_STRING_CAPS is on, this is exactly what will happen.

Mom’s default is to capitalize the bibliography first-page title.

Back to Table of Contents

Top

Next: Writing letters