How to Write a Works-Cited List
In order to write a works-cited list you must :
Format the Works-Cited List
When formating your works-cited list, adhere to the following guidlines.
Click Start on the visual below.
Start your works-cited list on a new page.
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Keep the formatting consistent with the rest of your paper. Use the same font, keep the margins equal, and maintain double-spacing.
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Keep a header in the upper-right corner that includes your last name and the page number.
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Title the page Works Cited. Center the title at the top of the page. Do not underline, place quotations marks around, or punctuate the title in any way.
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List entries in alphabetical order by the authors' last names. For works with no author, alphabetize by the first word of the entry ignoring A, An, or The.
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Create a hanging indent. After the first line of each entry, all lines should be indented 1/2 inch or five spaces.
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Do not add any extra spaces between entries.
Document the Sources
Every source you use in your paper needs to appear on your works-cited list. Also, each source needs to be documented in a very specific way, and it likely won't be the same for all of your sources. For example, a newspaper article will need to be documented one way in your works-cited list, and a book by a single author will need to be documented another way.
To cite all of your sources correctly, you'll need to look up how to document each one of your sources. The table below lists many of the kinds of sources you can use. Use the links in the table to see how to document each kind of source.
Printed Sources
Book with One Author
Author's Last Name, First Name and Middle Initial. Book's Title. Volume or Edition.
Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of publication. Publication medium.
Example:
Alcott, Louisa M. Little Women. New York: Penguin Books, 1997. Print.
Book with Two or Three Authors
First Author's Last Name, First Name and Middle Initial, and Second Author's First and Last
Name. Book Title. Volume or Edition. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of publication.
Publication medium.
Example:
Powell, Thomas A., and Dan Whitworth. HTML Programmer's Reference. 2nd ed. Berkeley:
McGraw-Hill, 2001. Print.
Book with More Than Three Authors
First Author's Last Name, First Name, et al. Book Title. Volume or Edition. Place of Publication:
Publisher, Year of publication. Publication medium.
Example:
Edwards, Bruce H., et al. Calculus with Analytic Geometry. 5th ed. Massachusetts: D.C. Heath
and Company, 1994. Print.
Two or More Books by the Same Author
Author's Last Name, First Name and Middle Initial. Book's Title. Volume or Edition. Place of
Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Publication medium.
---.Book's Title. Volume or edition. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of publication.
Publication medium.
Example:
Card, Orson Scott. Ender's Game. New York: Tor Books, 1994. Print.
---.The Memory of Earth. New York: Tor Books, 1993. Print.
Citing an Entire Anthology
Editor's Last Name, First Name and Middle Initial, ed(s). Title of Anthology. Volume or
Edition. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of publication. Publication medium.
Example:
Cain, William E., ed. American Literature. Vol. 2. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2004. Print.
Citing an Excerpt from an Anthology
Last name, First name. "Title of Excerpt." Title of Anthology. Ed. Editor name(s). Volume or
Edition. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of publication. Pages used. Publication
medium.
Example:
London, Jack. "To Build a Fire." American Literature. Ed. William E. Cain. 2nd ed. New York:
Pearson Education, Inc., 2004. 280-294. Print.
Religious Works
Name of Religious Work, Specific Version. Place of Publication: Publisher or Entity, Year of
publication. Publication medium.
Example:
The Book of Mormon. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1989.
Print.
An Article in a Magazine
If the article has more than one page, and the pages are not consecutive, put the first page number and a plus sign. Ex: 1A+
Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine Day Month Year: Page
Numbers. Publication medium.
Example:
Hansen, Aaron. "The Pacific Ocean." Marine Biology 20 Mar. 2007: 24-27. Print.
An Article in a Newspaper
If a newspaper has two editions in one day, cite the edition also.
Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Newspaper [City Name, State (only if not well-known)] Day Month Year: Page Numbers. Publication medium.
Example:
Hale, Hollie. "Lighting the Flames of Spirit." The Scroll [Rexburg, ID] 16 Oct. 2007: 5. Print.
An Anonymous Article
"Article Title." Title of Publication Day Month Year: Page Number. Publication medium.
Example:
"A Longing for Peace" Ensign 1 July 2009: 52. Print.
A Letter to the Editor
Author's Last name, First name. Letter. Title of Periodical Date published, edition., section. page
number. Publication medium.
Example:
Buzzell, John A. Letter. Post Register 21 July 2009,sec. A:5. Print.
An Article in a Scholarly Journal
Author's last name, first name. "Title of the article." Journal Title Volume Number. Issue Number (year of publication): Page Numbers. Publication medium.
Example:
Brody, Benjamin. "Who Has Capacity?" The New England Journal of Medicine 121. 1
(2009): 232-233. Print.
An Editorial
Author's Name. "Title." Editorial. Title of Periodical Date, edition: page numbers. Publication
medium.
Example:
Larsen, Michelle. "Everyone Needs a Hero." Editorial. Scroll 14 July 2009:28. Print.
A Book without Stated Publication Information or Pagination
When a book does not list the publisher, where or when it was published, or pagination, just supply as much information as you can. Use square brackets to show that information did not come from the source.
Example:
New York: U of Gotham P, [2008].
If the date can only be approximated, put it after a c., for circa 'around': "[c.2008]." If you are uncertain about the accuracy of the information you supply, add a question mark: "[2008?]." Use the following abbreviations for information you cannot supply.
n.p. No place of publication given
n.p. No publisher given
n.d. No date of publication given
n. pag. No pagination given
Example:
N.p.: U of Gotham P, 2008.
Non-Print Sources
Personal Interview
Person's Last Name, First Name. Personal (or Telephone) Interview. Day Month Year.
Example:
Clark, Kim B. Personal Interview. 3 Oct. 2007.
Lecture or Speech
Speaker's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Speech (if any)" or type of speech. Meeting or event
where the speech was given. Exact Location, City, State. Day Month Year. Descriptive label.
Example:
Hammond, Ronald J. "First-person Faith in God." Hart Auditorium. Brigham Young
University-Idaho, Rexburg, ID. 2 Oct. 2007. Devotional.
Films and Movies
Title of Film. Dir. Director's Name. Perf. Performer's Name, Performer's Name. Original Release
Year. Videocasette or DVD. Film Studio or Distributor. Release year.
Example:
Rogers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music. Dir. Robert Wise. Perf. Julie Andrews and
Christopher Plummer. 1965. DVD.Twentieth Century Fox. 2005.
A Television or Radio Broadcast
"Title of the episode or segment." Title of the program or series. Name of the network (if any).
Call letters, city of the local station (if any), Broadcast date. Medium of reception.
Supplementary information.
Example:
"That's the Way it Was: Remembering Walter Cronkite." Sixty Minutes. CBS. WCBS, New
York, 19 July 2009. Television.
Electronic Sources
While website entries still include authors, article names, and website names, when available, MLA no longer requires URLs. Writers are, however, encouraged to provide a URL if the citation information does not lead readers to easily find the source. If you provide a URL, give it immediately following the date of access, a period, and a space. Enclose the URL in angle brackets, and conclude with a period. If a URL must be divided between two lines, break it only after the double slashes or a single slash; do not include a hyphen at the break.
An Entire Web Site
Author's Last Name, First Name, if any. Title of the website. Latest update of website or original
publication date. Name of web site sponsors, if any. Publication medium.Day month year of
access.
Example:
Mormon.org. 2007. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Web. 19 Oct.
2007.
One Page on a Web Site
Author's Last Name, First Name, if any. "Title of the document." Title of the website. Latest
update of website or original publication date. Name of web site sponsors, (if any).
Publication medium. Day month year of access. URL with specific description.
Example:
"Edgar Allan Poe." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 18 Oct. 2007. Web. 19 Oct. 2007.
.
Long URLs
If you feel you need to include the URL and it is over two lines long, don't include the entire Web address in your citation. Use the URL of the search page instead.
Author's Last Name, First Name, (if any). "Title of the document." Title of the website. Latest
update of website or original publication date. Name of web site sponsors, (if any).
Publication medium. Day month year of access.
Example:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "The Family: A Proclamation to the World."
lds.org. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Oct. 2007. Web. 19 Oct. 2007.
If linking to a specific search page is not appropriate, use "path" followed by the sequence of links used to get to the document from the home page.
Author's Last Name, First Name, if any. "Title of the document." Title of the website. Latest
update of website or original publication date. Name of web site sponsors, if any. Day month
year of access. Path: Links Followed.
Example:
Amazon.com. "General Returns Policy." Amazon.com. 19 Oct. 2007.
Path: Help; Returns.
An Periodical Publication in an Online Database
Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of the document." Title of Periodical Volume Number
(date): Page Numbers. Database. Publication medium. Day month year of access.
Example:
Canaday, Jr., Nicholas. "Ironic Humor as Defense in The Scarlet Letter." The South Central
Bulletin 21 (1961): 17-18. JSTOR. Web. 31 May 2007.
