Works Cited Page

Basic Rules for a Works Cited Page

The list of Works Cited comes at the end of a research paper and follows MLA format. This alphabetized list gives the reader complete information to locate your original sources if they wish to learn more or check your work. Even your final product is creative in nature, you should write a Works Cited to document your sources.

Every in-text citation should have a corresponding entry in the Works Cited and every entry in your Works Cited must be used and cited in the text of your paper. If you took notes on a source but did not use it in your final product, it should be removed from your Works Cited page; leaving it in is not just sloppy but may be considered a form of academic dishonesty.

Formatting for the Works Cited page:

    • The Works Cited begins a new page in your paper.

    • It has the same header (last name and page number) as the rest of your paper. See Writing a Paper for how to correctly format MLA headers.

    • Give the page the title Works Cited, centered at the top of the page, in plain text. No bold, quotes, italics, underlines, pink sparkly fonts, etc.

    • Double space the entire page with no extra spaces between citations or before or after the title Works Cited.

    • For each citation, all lines after the first should have a 0.5 inch hanging indent.

    • Entries are alphabetized by the first letter of the citation.

    • Use NoodleTools to format your Works Cited page quickly and easily!

For each entry on the Works Cited page:

    • The author's name appears last name, followed by a comma and the first name.

    • All words in titles should be capitalized except for short articles, prepositions, and conjunctions, unless they are the first word of a title or subtitle: a, an, and, but, between, for, into, nor, so, to, the, yet.

    • Titles of longer works like books and magazines are italicized and shorter works like articles and short stories appear in quotation marks. Do not underline anything.

    • Not sure? Consider whether the source could be considered part of a larger work; if yes, it should appear in quotation marks. For example: a collection of poetry is italicized but an individual poem is in quotes; the name of an encyclopedia is italicized but an encyclopedia article is in quotes; a website is italicized but an individual webpage within it is in quotes; a television series is italicized, but a single episode is in quotes; and so on.

    • If you are using a portion of a source, such as a single chapter of a book or essay in an anthology, give the information for the shorter work, then the longer one.

Did you include every source you cited? Did you remove any sources you did not cite? Great, now go check again. You don't want to make this guy angry.


Source: Godzilla by Hideya HAMANO under a Creative Commons license

Core Elements of a Citation

MLA uses these core elements as a template for any works cited entry. They appear in this order with this punctuation. Elements that are not relevant are omitted and the citation always ends with a period.

Author.

Title of source.

Title of container,

Other contributors,

Version,

Number,

Publisher,

Publication date,

Location.

Research Tip

When your product is something other than a traditional research paper, how do you do a Works Cited page?

You still need to give credit to your sources. Your teacher may ask you to submit a printed Works Cited to accompany an alternative project. If your final product is online, however, your broader audience will not have access to your sources. In that case you might link to an online Works Cited page such as a Google Doc. If it is difficult to include a long URL consider using a link shortener or QR code.

Common Works Cited Entries

Because there are so many variations and types of sources, this guide includes only a small sample of the most common forms. For more information:

In the finished Works Cited, all entries should have a hanging indent of 0.5 inches as in the sample paper.

Book in print

  • Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Back Bay Books, 2010.

The author is listed by last name, followed by a comma and the first name. In the latest edition of MLA format, the city of publication is no longer required for books except in limited circumstances where it would help the reader identify the source.

Database article

  • Cobb, William. "The Matter of Black Lives." The New Yorker, vol. 96, no. 21, 27 July 2020, p. 18. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A631117898/AONE?u=mlin_m_ahs&sid=AONE&xid=14bf039e. Accessed 15 Dec. 2020.

For articles in databases, first list the complete publication information for the original source (often an article from a periodical or reference book), then give the information for the database itself. Do not include http:// or https:// in the URL. MLA recommends that using a DOI (digital object identifier) instead of the URL if available, because they are more permanent, but your AHS instructors may prefer the URL. Many of our databases offer pre-made citations which can be copied or exported directly into your Works Cited pages.

Website

  • Doyne, Shannon. "Should Your School Day Start Later." The New York Times, 28 Oct. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/10/28/ learning/should-your-school-day-start-later.html. Accessed 15 Dec. 2020.

MLA format encourages including the URL for electronic sources, as well as the date you accessed it. Because websites can change you may wish to save or print a copy of the page when you consulted it. You may use a compiler name if no single author is available. If the website name and publisher are the same, only list it once.

Image from the internet

  • Magritte, René. The False Mirror. 1928. Museum of Modern Art, New York. Museum of Modern Art, https://www.moma.org/collection/works/78938. Accessed 15 Dec. 2020.

List the artist's name, the name of the work (italicized), the date it was created, and the museum (or other place) and city where the work is kept. Then list the name and URL of the website, and finally the date of access.

For an image that exists only online, name the artist and title of the work, then follow the citation format for a website. If the artist is posting under a username, use that username.

E-Book

  • Curley, Robert. Renewable and Alternative Energy. E-book, Britannica Digital Learning, 2012.

Citations for e-books are nearly identical to citations for physical books. Add "e-book" into the "version" slot of the basic MLA template. If the book is formatted for a specific device or service you can include that as edition information (e.g., "Kindle ed."). If the e-book content is from a normal webpage with a URL, follow the format for a website citation above.

Digital Handouts

Works Cited Sample

This sample Works Cited page shows the correct formatting for the document.

This short video will show you how to make a hanging indent for each entry. Do not hit return and tab at the end of each line, this is the right (and easier) way!

Learn More