Researching
Finding information, using the ideas of others, citing sources.
MLA Works Cited
The Works Cited list is a list of sources referenced throughout the document. The Works Cited list works in conjunction with in-text citation so that readers can find your sources if they wish.. The in-text citation lets readers know immediately that the quote or information included in the paper is the work of another writer. Readers can then reference the Works Cited list to see all of the publication information.
To see how entries on an APA Style Reference page compare to those on a MLA Style Works Cited page, click here.
Formatting the Works Cited Page
- The Works Cited page is located at the end of your paper. Begin the list on a new page.
- The Works Cited page uses 1 inch margins, double spacing, and the same header as the rest of your paper.
- Title the list Works Cited. Do not underline or italicize the title. The title should also be centered at the top of the page.
- List the sources alphabetically by the author of the source’s last name, and when there isn’t an author, use the first word(s) of the entry, excluding a, an, and the.
- If a source is longer than one line of text, indent the second and remaining lines ½ inch.
Formatting the Works Cited Entries
MLA follows a general format for entries that usually begins with the author and title. Different kinds of sources, however, need to include specific kinds of information. Here are the MLA guidelines for some of the most common.
TipThere are a number of bibliography generators online, including RefWorks (which FSC subscribes to), EasyBib, and Citation Machine, and they work fairly well. You still need to understand how the citations work, though, because their results aren’t 100% correct and sometimes you need to make adjustments manually. |
Authors
The names of the first authors in a Works Cited list are arranged with the last name first. Use the name of any author just as it is written in the source.
TipIf there are multiple authors, list the authors in the same order the source lists them. Do NOT alphabetize the authors’ names. |
If there are two or three authors, after the first author’s name is listed (with last name first), the rest of the authors names are listed as normal, with and between the last two. With four or more authors, you can either list all the authors’ names, or you can list the first author, followed by et al. (Latin for “and others”). After all the authors are listed, end this part of the entry with a period.
Examples:Burnett, Rebecca E. Williams, Robin, and John Tollett. Himley, Margaret, Christine R. Farris, and Phillip P. Marzluf. Fishman, Jenn, Andrea Lunsford, Beth McGregor, and Mark Otuteye. Fishman, Jenn, et al. |
Books
When citing a book in your Works Cited list, you must include information the following information: the author(s), title, edition, place of publication, the publishing house, and the year of publication.
Example:Burnett, Rebecca E. Technical Communication. 6th ed. Boston: Thomas
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TipMany MLA guides say that you need to use underlining with book titles, but with the rise of the web—and the meaning of underlining in electronic documents—some professors prefer italics. Check with your professor to be sure. |
Scholarly Journal Articles
Scholarly journal articles that you get in print form need the following information in the Works Cited entry: author(s), article title, journal title (abbreviated if appropriate), volume number, issue number, year of publication, and page numbers.
Example:Carter, Michael. “Ways of Knowing, Doing, and Writing in the Disciplines.”
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If the full text of the journal article comes from a database, you need to add the information about that electronic resource, including the name of the database, the name of the service, the library with the subscription to that service, the date you accessed the article, and the URL of the service.
Example:Byrnes, Heidi. “Reconsidering the Nexus of Content and Language: A
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Web Documents
Web document citations include the author(s) (if any), the title of the page (if there is one), the title of the site, the year of publication, the date you accessed the information, and the URL.
Example:Lovested, Brandon G. “A Tale of Two Bostons.” IBoston. 2005. 1 Dec.
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TipDo not break a URL in the middle if the URL will fit on one line, even if it looks strange. If you have to break the URL, do it after a hyphen or a slash. |
Online Scholarly Journal Articles
This citation includes the author(s), the title of the article, the title of the journal, the volume/edition, the date of publication, the date the source was accessed, and the URL.
Example:Fleckenstein, Kristie S. “Who’s Writing? Aristotelian Ethos and the Author
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Online Magazine Articles
These citations include the author(s), the title of the article, the title of the periodical, the date of publication, the date the article was accessed, and the URL.
Example:Flaccus, Gillian, and Associated Press . “After Fires, Calif. Mudslide
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Online Newspaper Articles
These citations include the author(s), the title of the article, the title of the periodical, the date it was published, the date the source was accessed, and the URL.
Example:Depalma, Anthony. “A Rising Number of Birds At Risk.” New York Times
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Sources
Gibali, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: Modern Language Association, 2003
Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007..
Purdue University. “MLA Formatting and Style Guide.” The OWL at Purdue. 4 Dec. 2007. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/.
