bibliographies: translation

The title and the place of publication may be translated in a bibliographic entry. Follow the guidelines given below.

Titles of bilingual works

For a publication in which both French and English titles are given, both titles should be included in the bibliographic entry:

  • Canada. Department of Canadian Heritage. Convention on the Rights of the Child. First Report of Canada / Convention relative aux droits de l’enfant. Premier rapport du Canada. Ottawa, May 1994.

Note the space on each side of the oblique.

Titles of works published in another language

If the translated (English) title appears on the title page of a work published in another language, the English title follows the primary title in the bibliographic entry and is italicized, with a period separating the two elements:

  • Von Keitz, S., and W. von Keitz. Bibliotheks- und Informationswissenschaft. Library and Information Science. Weinheim, Germany: VCH Verlagsgesellschaft, 1989.

When no translation is given on the title page, check whether translations of the work are already on record at the National Library of Canada, the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI) or elsewhere before translating the primary title. Accuracy of translation is essential.

If you yourself must provide a translation, insert the English version of the title (no italics) in square brackets after the primary title, capitalize the initial word, and place a period after the closing bracket:

  • Chang-Rodríguez, Eugenio. Latinoamérica: su civilización y su cultura [Latin America: its culture and civilization]. Boston: Heinle and Heinle, 1991.

Place of publication

The publisher’s name should not be translated, but for the benefit of the unilingual reader the place of publication may be:

  • L’Europa mediterranea: Spagna, Portogallo, Francia. Arnoldo Mondadori, ed. Milano (Milan): Panorama, 1990.

Copyright notice for Writing Tips Plus

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Public Services and Procurement
A tool created and made available online by the Translation Bureau, Public Services and Procurement Canada

Search by related themes

Want to learn more about a theme discussed on this page? Click on a link below to see all the pages on the Language Portal of Canada that relate to the theme you selected. The search results will be displayed in Language Navigator.