Works Cited List
For detailed information see Chapter 5 in the MLA Handbook

 

Books  |  Articles from print journals    |   Articles from Library Databases   |   Web sources

Formatting the Works Cited List

 

Citing Books
Basic components of a reference to a book should include the following elements:

     Author's or Editor's name
    
     Title of the book
                    State the full title of the book including any subtitles given on the title page of the book. Underline the entire
                    title including any colon, subtitle, and punctuation in the title, but do not underline the period that follows the
                    title
    
     Edition used, if indicated
                    If an edition is indicated on the title page identify the edition by number (2nd ed., 3rd ed.), by name (Rev.ed.)
                    or by year.
    
     Place of publication, name of the publisher, and date of publication

 

Example of citing a book

The University of Wisconsin - Madison Writing Center provides additional details for a Works Cited entry for a Book.

 

Citing Articles from print journals 
Articles from scholarly journals are commonly used in research papers.  Scholarly journals are issued at regular intervals (usually quarterly), frequently contain original research and are intended not for general readers but for professional and students.  Basic components of a reference to an article should include the following elements.

     Author's name
                   Take the author's name from the beginning or the end of an article. 
                   Reverse the name for alphabetizing and put a period after it.

      Title of the Article
                   State the full title of the article, enclosed in quotation marks (not underlined).
                   Put a period before the closing quotation mark.

     Name of the Journal
                   Underline the journal title.

     Series number or name (if relevant; see 5.7.4)

     Volume number

     Issue number (if needed; see 5.7.2-3)

     Year of publication
                   (in parenthesis)
                   Follow with a colon

     Page numbers
                   Give the inclusive pages

     End with a period

 

Example of citing an article

 

The University of Wisconsin - Madison Writing Center provides additional details for citing an Article

 

Citing articles from Library Databases (Academic Search Premier, MLA, LION etc.)
For detailed information  see 5.9.7.a in the MLA Handbook
Basic components  of a reference to an article from a service to which a library subscribes should include the following elements:

     Name of the database used underlined ...e.g. Academic Search Elite,
     LexisNexis)

     Name of the service

     Name of the library

     Date of access
                        If possible give the URL of the service's home page in angle brackets  
 

Example of citing a database

 

Library Database Names

 

Citing Web Sources
Unlike information in print, electronic information has few standards for organization.  It is often difficult to point the reader to the exact location of the material you use. 

Basic components of a citation to electronic sources should identify the source and give sufficient information to allow a reader to locate it.

In general, a citation for an electronic publication may have as many as five divisions:

    Author's name

     Title of the Document

     Information about  print publication

     Information about Electronic Publication
                    Title of the site, the name of the institution  or organization that sponsors 
                     the site.

     Access Information
                     Provide the date you accessed the site
                     Enclose the URL in angle brackets
 

Example of citing from the Web

 

The MLA site offers detailed information on how to document sources from the Web
                   

Formatting the Works Cited List

• On a separate page at the end of your paper, list alphabetically by author every work cited in your paper, using the basic format for a particular source and format used. (MLA Handbook 5.5)

• List only those sources you actually cited in your paper.

•  Provide the information necessary for a reader to locate and be able to read any sources you cite in the paper.

• Each source you cite in the paper must appear in your works-cited list; likewise, each entry in the works-cited list must be cited in your text

• Begin the works-cited list on a new page and number each page continuing the page numbers of the text. For example, if the text of your research paper ends on  page 10, the works-cited begins on page 11 (5.4)

• The page number appears in the upper right-hand corner, half an inch from the top and flush with the right-hand margin.

• Center the title, Works Cited, an inch from the top of the page.  

The University of Wisconsin - Madison  Writing Center provides additional example of how to format the Works Cited page.

Additional MLA resources

Frequently Asked Questions (MLA sponsored site)
The Writing Center - University of Wisconsin - Madison
Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL)