does an essay need a works cited page

MLA Citation Guide (9th edition) : Works Cited and Sample Papers

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Works Cited and Sample Papers
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Quick Rules for an MLA Works Cited List

Your research paper ends with a list of all the sources cited in your paper. Here are some quick rules for this Works Cited list:

Begin the works cited list on a new page after the text.
Name it "Works Cited," and center the section label in bold at the top of the page.
Order the reference list alphabetically by author's last name.
Double-space the entire list (both within and between entries).
Apply a hanging indent of 0.5 in. to each entry. This means that the first line of the reference is flush left and subsequent lines are indented 0.5 in. from the left margin.

Sample Paper with Works Cited List

The Modern Language Association (MLA) has compiled several sample papers that include explanations of the elements and formatting in MLA 9th edition.

MLA Title Pages

MLA Title Page: Format and Template This resource discusses the correct format for title pages in MLA style and includes examples.

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A publication of the harvard college writing program.

Harvard Guide to Using Sources

The Honor Code
Works Cited Format

What is a Works Cited list?

MLA style requires you to include a list of all the works cited in your paper on a new page at the end of your paper. The entries in the list should be in alphabetical order by the author's last name or by the element that comes first in the citation. (If there is no author's name listed, you would begin with the title.) The entire list should be double-spaced.

For each of the entries in the list, every line after the first line should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. "Works Cited" should be centered at the top of the page. If you are only citing one source, the page heading should be “Work Cited” instead of “Works Cited.” You can see a sample Works Cited here .

Building your Works Cited list

MLA citations in the Works Cited list are based on what the Modern Language Association calls "core elements." The core elements appear in the order listed below, in a citation punctuated with the punctuation mark that follows the element. For some elements, the correct punctuation will be a period, and for other elements, the correct punctuation will be a comma. Since you can choose the core elements that are relevant to the source you are citing, this format should allow you to build your own citations when you are citing sources that are new or unusual.

The author you should list is the primary creator of the work—the writer, the artist, or organization that is credited with creating the source. You should list the author in this format: last name, first name. If there are two authors, you should use this format: last name, first name, and first name last name. For three or more authors, you should list the first author followed by et al. That format looks like this: last name, first name, et al.

If a source was created by an organization and no individual author is listed, you should list that organization as the author.

Title of source .

This is the book, article, or website, podcast, work of art, or any other source you are citing. If the source does not have a title, you can describe it. For example, if you are citing an email you received, you would use this format in the place of a title:

Email to the author.

Title of container ,

A container is what MLA calls the place where you found the source. It could be a book that an article appears in, a website that an image appears on, a television series from which you are citing an episode, etc. If you are citing a source that is not “contained” in another source—like a book or a film—you do not need to list a container. Some sources will be in more than one container. For example, if you are citing a television episode that aired on a streaming service, the show would be the first container and the streaming service would be the second container.

Contributor ,

Contributors include editors, translators, directors, illustrators, or anyone else that you want to credit. You generally credit other contributors when their contributions are important to the way you are using the source. You should always credit editors of editions and anthologies of a single author’s work or of a collection of works by more than one author.

If you are using a particular version of a source, such as an updated edition, you should indicate that in the citation.

If your source is one of several in a numbered series, you should indicate this. So, for example, you might be using “volume 2” of a source. You would indicate this by “vol. 2” in the citation.

Publisher ,

For books, you can identify the publisher on the title or copyright page. For web sites, you may find the publisher at the bottom of the home page or on an “About” page. You do not need to include the publisher if you are citing a periodical or a Web site with the same name as the publisher.

Publication date ,

Books and articles tend to have an easily identifiable publication date. But articles published on the web may have more than one date—one for the original publication and one for the date posted online. You should use the date that is most relevant to your work. If you consulted the online version, this is the relevant date for your Works Cited list. If you can’t find a publication date—some websites will not include this information, for example—then you should include a date of access. The date of access should appear at the end of your citation in the following format:

Accessed 14 Oct. 2022.

The location in a print source will be the page number or range of pages you consulted. This is where the text you are citing is located in the larger container. For online sources, the location is generally a DOI, permalink, or URL. This is where your readers can locate the same online source that you consulted. MLA specifies that, if possible, you should include the DOI. Television episodes would be located at a URL. A work of art could be located in the museum where you saw it or online.

Your citations can also include certain optional elements. You should include optional elements if you think those elements would provide useful information to your readers. Optional elements follow the source title if they provide information that is not about the source as a whole. Put them at the end of the entry if they provide information about the source as a whole. These elements include the following:

Date of original publication .

If you think it would be useful to a reader to know that the text you are citing was originally published in a different era, you can put this information right after the title of the source. For example, if you are citing The Federalist Papers , you would provide the publication date of the edition you consulted, but you could also provide the original publication date:

Hamilton, Alexander, et al., editors. The Federalist Papers . October 1787-May 1788. Oxford University Press, 2008.

City of publication .

You should only use this information if you are citing a book published before 1900 (when books were associated with cities of publication rather than with publishers) or a book that has been published in a different version by the publisher in another city (a British version of a novel, for example). In the first case, you would put this information in place of the publisher's name. In the second case, the city would go before the publisher.

Descriptive terms .

If you are citing a version of a work when there are multiple versions available at the same location, you should explain this by adding a term that will describe your version. For example, if you watched a video of a presidential debate that was posted to YouTube along with a transcript, and you are quoting from the transcript, you should add the word “Transcript” at the end of your citation.

Dissertations

Citation Management Tools
In-Text Citations
In-Text Citation Examples
Examples of Commonly Cited Sources
Frequently Asked Questions about Citing Sources in MLA Format
Sample Works Cited List

PDFs for This Section

Citing Sources
Online Library and Citation Tools

Creating an MLA Works cited page

General formatting information for your works cited section.

Beginning on a new page at the end of your paper, list alphabetically by author every work you have cited, using the basic forms illustrated below. Title the page Works Cited (not Bibliography), and list only those sources you actually cited in your paper. Continue the page numbering from the body of your paper and make sure that you still have 1–inch margins at the top, bottom, and sides of your page. Double-space the entire list. Indent entries as shown in the models below with what’s called a “hanging indent”: that means the first line of an entry begins at the left margin, and the second and subsequent lines should be indented half an inch from the left margin. Most word-processing programs will format hanging indents easily (look under the paragraph formatting options).

Introduction to the 8th Edition

In 2016, MLA substantially changed the way it approaches works cited entries. Each media type used to have its own citation guidelines. Writers would follow the specific instructions for how to cite a book, a translated poem in an anthology, a newspaper article located through a database, a YouTube clip embedded in an online journal, etc. However, as media options and publication formats continued to expand, MLA saw the need to revise this approach. Since a book chapter can appear on a blog or a blog post can appear in a book, how can writers account for these different formats?

MLA’s solution to this problem has been to create a more universal approach to works cited entries. No matter the medium, citations include the specifically ordered and punctuated elements outlined in the following table.

Elements of a Works Cited Entry

Last name, First name
Italicized If Independent ; “Put in Quotations Marks if Not.”
Often Italicized,
Name preceded by role title (for example: edited by, translated by, etc),
i.e. 2nd ed., revised ed., director’s cut, etc.,
vol. #, no. #,
Name of Entity Responsible for Producing Source,
i.e. 14 Feb. 2014; May-June 2016; 2017,
i.e. pp. 53-79; Chazen Museum of Art; https://www.wiscience.wisc.edu/ (If possible, use a DOI (digital object identifier) instead of a url.)
Optionally included when citing a web source.

If the source doesn’t include one of these elements, just skip over that one and move to the next. Include a single space after a comma or period.

The third category—”container”—refers to the larger entity that contains the source. This might be a journal, a website, a television series, etc. Sometimes a source can also appear nested in more than one container. A poem, for example, might appear in an edited collection that has been uploaded to a database. A television episode fits in a larger series which may be contained by Netflix. When a source is in a larger container, provide information about the smaller one (i.e. the edited collection or the TV series), then provide information for elements 3–10 for the larger container. For example, the works cited entry detailed below is for a chapter from an economics textbook, entitled Econometrics, that is contained on UW–Madison’s Social Science Computing Cooperative website.

Example of a Works Cited Entry

Hansen, Bruce E. “The Algebra of Least Squares.” Econometrics, University of Wisconsin Department of Economics, 2017, pp. 59-87. Social Science Computing Cooperative, UW–Madison, http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~bhansen/econometrics/Econometrics.pdf.

Here is the breakdown of these elements:

Hansen, Bruce E.
“The Algebra of Least Squares.”
Econometrics,
Other Contributors,
University of Wisconsin Department of Economics
Title of source.
Social Science Computing Cooperative,
Other contributors,
UW-Madison,
Publication date,
http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~bhansen/econometrics/Econometrics.pdf.
(This could be included, but this site is fairly stable, so the access date wasn’t deemed to be important.)

One of the benefits of this system is that it can be applied to any source. Whether you’re citing a book, a journal article, a tweet, or an online comic, this system will guide you through how to construct your citation.

A Few Notes

Books are considered to be self-contained, so if you’re citing an entire book, items 2 and 3 get joined. After the author’s name, italicize the title, then include a period and move on items 4–9.
No matter what your last item of information is for a given citation, end the citation with a period.
Also, if it is appropriate to include an access date for an online source, put a period after the full url in addition to one after the access date information.
It is particularly important to include access dates for online sources when citing a source that is subject to change (like a homepage). If the source you are working with is more stable (like a database), it’s not as critical to let your readers know when you accessed that material.

For more information about any of this, be sure to consult the 2016 MLA Handbook itself.

Works Cited page entry: Article

Article from a scholarly journal, with page numbers, read online from the journal’s website.

Shih, Shu-Mei. “Comparative Racialization: An Introduction.” PMLA , vol. 123, no. 5, 2008, pp. 1347-62. Modern Language Association , doi:10.1632/pmla.2008.123.5.1347.

Author last name, First name. “Article title.” Journal name , vol. number, issue number, year of publication, pp. numbers. Publisher , doi

PMLA provides DOI numbers, so this is used in this citation preceded by “doi:” instead of the url address. Also, given the enduring stability of PMLA’s page, no access date has been included, but it could be if the writer preferred.

Article from a scholarly journal, with multiple authors, without page numbers, read online from the journal’s website

Bravo, Juan I., Gabriel L. Lozano, and Jo Handelsman. “Draft Genome Sequence of Flavobacterium johnsoniae CI04, an Isolate from the Soybean Rhizosphere.” Genome Announcements , vol. 5, no. 4, 2017, doi: 10.1128/genomeA.01535-16.

First author last name, First name, Middle initial., Second author first name Middle initial. Last name, and Third author First name Last name. “Article title.” Journal name , vol. number, issue number, year of publication, doi

Article from a scholarly journal, no page numbers, read through an online database

Mieszkowski, Jan. “Derrida, Hegel, and the Language of Finitude.” Postmodern Culture , vol. 15, no. 3, 2005. Project MUSE, https://muse.jhu.edu/article/186557.

Author Last name, First name. “Article title.” Journal name , vol. number, issue number, year of publication. Database , url.

Article from a scholarly journal, with page numbers, read through an online database

Sherrard-Johnson, Cherene. “‘A Plea for Color’: Nella Larsen’s Iconography of the Mulatta.” American Literature , vol. 76, no. 4, 2004, pp. 833-69. Project MUSE , https://muse.jhu.edu/article/176820.

Author Last name, First name. “Article title.” Journal name , vol. number, issue number, year of publication, pp. numbers. Database , url.

Valenza, Robin. “How Literature Becomes Knowledge: A Case Study.” ELH , vol. 76, no. 1, 2009, pp. 215-45. Project MUSE . https://muse.jhu.edu/article/260309.

Author Last name, First name. “Article title.” Journal name , vol. number, issue number, year of publication, pp. numbers. Database , url.

Article from a scholarly journal, by three or more authors, print version

Doggart, Julia, et al. “Minding the Gap: Realizing Our Ideal Community Writing Assistance Program.” The Community Literacy Journal , vol. 2, no. 1, 2007, pp. 71-80.

First author Last name, First name, et al. “Article title.” Journal name , vol. number, issue number, year of publication, pp. numbers.

Raval, Amish N., et al. “Cellular Therapies for Heart Disease: Unveiling the Ethical and Public Policy Challenges.” Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology , vol. 45, no. 4, 2008, pp. 593–601.

[The Latin abbreviation “et al.” stands for “and others,” and MLA says that you should use it when citing a source with three or more authors.]

Article from a webtext, published in a web-only scholarly journal

Butler, Janine. “Where Access Meets Multimodality: The Case of ASL Music Videos.” Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy , vol. 21, no. 1, 2016, http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/21.1/topoi/butler/index.html. Accessed 7 June 2017.

Author Last name, First name. “Article title.” Journal name , vol. number, issue number, year of publication, url. Date of access.

Balthazor, Ron, and Elizabeth Davis. “Infrastructure and Pedagogy: An Ecological Portfolio.” Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy , vol. 20, no. 1, 2015, http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/20.1/coverweb/balthazor-davis/index.html. Accessed 7 June 2017.

First author Last name, First name and Second author First name Last name. “Article title.” Journal name , vol. number, issue number, date of publication, url. Date of access.

Article from a magazine, print version

Oaklander, Mandy. “Bounce Back.” Time , vol. 185, no. 20, 1 June 2015, pp. 36-42.

Author Last name, First name. “Article title.” Magazine name , vol. number, issue number, month and year of publication, pp. numbers.

Article from a magazine, read through an online database

Rowen, Ben. “A Resort for the Apocalypse.” The Atlantic , vol. 319, no. 2, Mar. 2017, pp. 30-31. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db =aph&AN=120967144&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Author Last name, First name. “Article title.” Magazine name , vol. number, issue number, month and year of publication, pp. numbers. Database name , url.

Article from a newspaper, read through an online database

Walsh, Nora. “For Frank Lloyd Wright’s 150th, Tours, Exhibitions and Tattoos.” New York Times , 27 May 2017, international ed. ProQuest , https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/1903523834/fulltext/71B144CD12054C76PQ/2?accountid=465.

Author Last name, First name. “Article title.” Newspaper name , day month and year of publication, edition. Database name , url.

Works Cited page entry: Short Story

Short story in an edited anthology.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Minister’s Black Veil.” Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Tales , edited by James McIntosh, Norton, 1987, pp. 97–107.

Author Last name, First name. “Short story title.” Anthology title , edited by Editor name, Publisher, year of publication, pp. numbers.

Works Cited page entry: Book

Book, written by one author, print version.

Bordwell, David. Figures Traced in Light: On Cinematic Staging . U California P, 2005.

Britland, Karen. Drama at the Courts of Queen Maria Henrietta . Cambridge UP, 2006.

Card, Claudia. The Atrocity Paradigm : A Theory of Evil . Oxford UP, 2005.

Cronon, William. Nature’s Metropolis . Norton, 1991.

Mallon, Florencia E. Courage Tastes of Blood: The Mapuche Community of Nicholás Ailío and the Chilean State , 1906–2001. Duke UP, 2005.

Author Last name, First name. Book title . Publisher, year of publication.

Book, written by more than one author, print version

Bartlett, Lesley, and Frances Vavrus. Rethinking Case Study Research: A Comparative Approach . Taylor & Francis, 2016.

First author Last name, First name, and Second author First name Last name. Book title . Publisher, year of publication.

Flanigan, William H., et al. Political Behavior of the American Electorate . CQ Press, 2015.

First author last name, First name Middle initial., et al. Book title . Publisher, year of publication.

Book, an edited anthology, print version

Olaniyan, Tejumola, and Ato Quayson, editors. African Literature: An Anthology of Criticism and Theory . Blackwell, 2007.

First editor Last name, First name, and Second editor first name Last name, editors. Anthology title . Publisher, year of publication.

Book, edited, revised edition, print version

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself . Edited by William L. Andrews and William S. McFeely, revised ed., Norton, 1996.

Author Last name, First name. Book title . Edited by first editor First name Middle initial. Last name and Second editor First name Middle initial. Last name, edition., publisher, year of publication.

A play in an edited collection, print version

Shakespeare, William. The Comedy of Errors: A New Variorum Edition of Shakespeare . Edited by Standish Henning, The Modern Language Association of America, 2011, pp. 1–254.

Author Last name, First name. Play title . Edited by editor First name Last name, publisher, year of publication, pp. numbers.

[Page numbers are included in this entry to draw attention to the play itself since this edition includes an additional 400 pages of scholarly essays and historical information.]

Bordwell, David. Foreword. Awake in the Dark: Forty Years of Reviews, Essays, and Interviews , by Roger Ebert, U of Chicago P, 2006, pp. xiii–xviii.

Foreward author Last name, First name. Title of work in which foreward appears , by author of work, publisher, year of publication, pp. numbers.

Chapter in an edited anthology, print version

Amodia, David, and Patricia G. Devine. “Changing Prejudice: The Effects of Persuasion on Implicit and Explicit Forms of Race Bias.” Persuasion: Psychological Insights and Perspectives , edited by T.C. Brock and C. Greens, 2nd ed., SAGE Publications, 2005, pp. 249–80.

Chapter first author Last name, First name, and Second author First name Middle initial. Last name. “Chapter title.” Anthology title , edited by first editor First initial. Middle initial. Last name and Second editor first initial. Last name, edition number, publisher, year of publication, pp. numbers.

Hawhee, Debra, and Christa Olson. “Pan–Historiography: The Challenges of Writing History across Time and Space.” Theorizing Histories of Rhetoric , edited by Michelle Ballif, Southern Illinois University Press, 2013, pp. 90–105.

Chapter first author Last name, First name, and Second author First name Last name. “Chapter title.” Anthology title, edited by editor First name Last name, publisher, date of publication, page #s.

Shimabukuro, Mira Chieko. “Relocating Authority: Coauthor(iz)ing a Japanese American Ethos of Resistance under Mass Incarceration.” Representations: Doing Asian American Rhetoric , edited by LuMing Mao and Morris Young, Utah State UP, 2008, pp. 127–52.

Author Last name, First name Middle name. “Chapter title.” Anthology title , edited by first editor First name Last name and second editor First name Last name, Publisher, year of publication, pp. numbers.

Works Cited page entry: Electronic source

Since MLA’s 8th edition does not substantially differentiate between a source that is read in print as opposed to online, see our information about citing articles for examples about citing electronic sources from periodicals.

Non-periodical web publication, with no author and no date of publication

“New Media @ the Center.” The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison . U of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center, 2012, http://www.writing.wisc.edu/[email protected]. Accessed 8 March 2017.

“Title of publication.” Title of the containing website . Publisher of the site, year of publication. Url. Accessed date.

The syntax for a non-periodical web publication is: author (if no author, start with the title); title of the section or page, in quotation marks; title of the containing Web site as a whole, italicized; version or edition used (if none is specified, omit); publisher or sponsor of the site (if none is mentioned, then just skip this); date of publication (if none is listed, just skip this); use a comma between the publisher or sponsor and the date; the source’s url address; date of access.

Non–periodical scholarly web publication, no date of publication

Stahmer, Carl, editor. “The Shelley Chronology.” Romantic Circles . University of Maryland, https://www.rc.umd.edu/reference/chronologies/shelcron. Accessed 26 March 2017.

Editor Last name, First name, editor. “Title of publication.” Title of the containing website . Publisher, Url. Accessed date.

Non–periodical web publication, web publication, corporate author

Rhetoric Society of America. “Welcome to the website of the Rhetoric Society of America and Greetings from Gregory Clark, President of RSA!” RSA , Rhetoric Society of America, 2017, http://www.rhetoricsociety.org/aws/RSA/pt/sp/home_page. Accessed 27 March 2017.

Name of Corporate Author. “Title of publication.” Title of the containing website , Publisher of the website, year of publication, url. Accessed date

The syntax for this entry is: corporate author; title, in quotation marks; title of the overall Web site, in italics; publisher or sponsor of the site; date of publication; the source’s url address; date of access.

Since the material on homepages is subject to change, it is particularly important to include an access date for this source.

E-mail message

Blank, Rebecca. “Re: A request and an invitation for Department Chairs and Unit Leaders.” Received by Brad Hughes, 30 August 2016.

Sender Last name, First name. “Email subject line.” Received by recipient First name Last name, day month and year email was sent and received.

@UW-Madison. “Scientists at @UWCIMSS used a supercomputer to recreate the EF-5 El Reno tornado that swept through Oklahoma 6 years ago today. #okwx.” Twitter, 24 May 2017, 2:23 p.m., https://twitter.com/UWMadison/status/867461007 362359296.

@Twitter Handle. “Entire tweet word-for-word.” Twitter, day month year of tweet, time of tweet, url.

When including tweets in the works cited page, alphabetize them according to what comes after the “@” symbol.

Include the full tweet in quotation marks as the title.

Works Cited page entry: Government publication, encyclopedia entry

Government publication.

National Endowment for the Humanities. What We Do . NEH, March 2017, https://www.neh.gov/files/whatwedo.pdf.

Name of Government entity. Title of publication . Publisher, date of publication, url.

This is treated as a source written by a corporate author.

Signed encyclopedia entry

Neander, Karen. “Teleological Theories of Mental Content.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy , edited by Edward N. Zalta, spring ed., 2012, https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2012/entries/content-teleological/.

Author Last name, First name. “Entry title.” Title of encyclopedia , edited by editor First name Middle initial. Last name, ed., year of publication, url.

Works Cited page entry: Personal interview, film, tv program, and others

An interview you conducted.

Brandt, Deborah. Personal Interview. 28 May 2008.

Interviewee Last name, First name. Personal Interview. Day month year of interview.

A published interview, read through an online database

García, Cristina. Interview by Ylce Irizarry. Contemporary Literature , vol. 48, no. 2, 2007, pp. 174-94. EBSCOhost. http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer /pdfviewer?vid=5&sid=f95943f6-5364-49e7-8b83-7341edc4b434%40sessionmgr104. Accessed 26 March 2017.

Interviewee Last name, First name. Interview by interviewer First name Last name. Journal title , vol. number, issue number, year of publication, pp. numbers. Database name. Url. Accessed day month and year.

Film or DVD

Sense and Sensibility . Directed by Ang Lee, performances by Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, and Kate Winslet, Sony, 1999.

Title of film . Directed by director First name Last name, performances by first actor First name Last name, second actor First name Last name, and third actor First name Last name, Production company, year of release.

You only need to include performers’ names if that information is relevant to your work. If your paper focuses on the director, begin this entry with the director, i.e., Lee, Ang, director. Sense and Sensibility . . . . If your primary interest is an actor, begin the entry with the actor’s name, i.e., Thompson, Emma, perf. Sense and Sensibility . . . .

Television broadcast

“Arctic Ghost Ship.” NOVA . PBS, WPT, Madison, 10 May 2017.

“Title of episode.” Television series name . Broadcasting network, Broadcasting station, City, day month year of broadcast.

PBS is the network that broadcast this show; WPT is the Wisconsin PBS affiliate in Madison on which you watched this show.

Media accessed through streaming network

“Self Help.” The Walking Dead , season 5, episode 5, AMC, 9 Nov. 2014. Netflix , https://www.netflix.com/watch/80010531?trackId=14170286&tctx=1%2C4%2C04bba31e-60a0-4889-b36e-b708006e5d05-911831.

“Title of episode.” Title of television series , season number, episode number, Broadcasting channel, date month year of release. Name of streaming service used to access episode , url.

Gleizes, Albert. The Schoolboy . 1924, gouache or glue tempera on canvas. U of Wisconsin Chazen Museum of Art, Madison, WI.

Artist Last name, First name. Title of piece. Year of composition, medium. Name of institution housing art piece, City, State initials.

Address, lecture, reading, or conference presentation

Desmond, Matthew. “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City.” 1 Nov. 2016, Memorial Union Theater, Madison, WI.

Lecturer Last name, First name. “Title of lecture.” Day month year lecture is given, Location of lecture, City, State initials.

Modern Language Association Documentation

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MLA Table of Contents

Orientation to MLA

Creating an MLA works cited page

Using MLA in–text citations

Abbreviating references to your sources

What Is a Works Cited Page?

It’s a list of all of the sources that you use in your paper.
When you put a source on your Works Cited page, it is called an “entry.”

When Do I Need A Works Cited Page?

Whenever you use a source in your paper
You should have one entry for each source that you use in your paper.

Characteristics of a Works Cited Page

Start the Works Cited on its own page.
Double-space everything.
Use 12 point Times New Roman font.
Leave only one space after punctuation.
Continue your running header with your last name and page number on the top right side
Center the title Works Cited – do not bold , underline or italicize it.
Alphabetize the Works Cited page by using the first word of the entry. Skip articles “a,” “an,” and “the.”
Use hanging indents for each entry. The second, third, fourth (or more) lines should be indented ½ inch from the left margin.
Put a period at the end of each entry.

General Guidelines for All Entries

All entries begin with the following: author’s last name, first name, middle initial (if given).
If you have two authors, reverse the order for the first author only.
If you have more than two authors, use only first author in reverse order followed by a comma and et al.
If there is no author, begin with the title of the source capitalized according to MLA rules and in “quotation marks.”

What Is a Works Cited Page? Copyright © by Sami Lange; Vicki Brandenburg; and Leila Palis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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MLA Works Cited refers to the rules for compiling a list of references at the end of a text that cites sources according to the MLA Handbook, 9th Edition. Learn how teachers and editors evaluate an MLA works cited page.

Jimmy Wales and two others hold aloft a Citation Needed sign

What is MLA Works Cited?

MLA Works Cited refers to t he MLA’s (Modern Language Association’s) guidelines for formatting a list of references at the end of a text that cites sources.

The MLA Handbook, 9th Edition requires authors to provide a list of references — aka a works cited page — at the end of their texts

to acknowledge the people and ideas that have informed their thinking and writing
to provide citations for summarized , quoted, and paraphrased sources.

MLA Works Cited vs. MLA In Text Citation

The bibliographical information (e.g., who is the author? publisher? and so on) that MLA requires for a Works Cited Page differs from the bibliographic information it requires for an MLA citation in the body of a text.

Works Cited Page See the article below to learn about MLA’s guidelines for formatting a works cited page

In Text Citation See MLA Citation to explore creative ways to introduce and vet sources inside the body of your paper

Scholars use a variety of terms to refer to a works cited page , including references, sources, endnotes, citations.

Related Concepts: Annotated Bibliography ; Copyright & Writing ; Intellectual Property ; Page Design ; Plagiarism ; Rhetorical Analysis ; Textual Research Methods

Writers provide a works cited page so that their readers can

learn more about the topic
evaluate the currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, purpose of sources they’ve used in a text
distinguish the author’s ideas and language from the ideas of others
better understand the flow of a scholarly conversation for a particular topic over time (aka historiography)

In academic writing , teachers are likely to scrutinize the works cited page to see

whether students have cited all of the sources they referenced in the body of the text
whether or not the sources reflect the best available information on the topic, including the gated web
whether the sources you have selected are appropriate given the rhetorical situation
whether or not students have introduced new information, new sources, in ways that help readers with flow

In both academic and workplace writing, people

cite sources to acknowledge the author’s copyright, intellectual property, ideas
cite sources to add additional evidence , backing or qualifications for claims .

MLA Works Cited Page

Required bibliographical information.

Entries on your works cited list will include the following elements.

Please note that every element listed below won’t necessarily apply to your source. For example, some sources won’t have an author identified, and periodicals don’t require publisher information. If the element listed doesn’t apply to your source, skip it and move on to the next element.
list author’s name, last name first, followed by a period.
Capitalize the first word and any major words in the title; enclose titles of articles in quotation marks and titles of larger works such as books, journals, or newspapers in italics.
If the source you are citing is contained or included in a larger work, such as a journal or edited collection, provide the name of the container here, followed by a comma.
List the names of other contributors, such as translators or editors, if appropriate, followed by a comma.
For example, the 9th edition of the MLA Handbook is the version we are following here. For journals or magazines, you may instead have a volume number. Follow this with a comma.
Issue numbers are preceded by the abbreviation “no.” and followed by a comma.
You can usually find the publisher of a book on the title or copyright page. You do not need to include a publisher’s name for periodicals. Follow the publisher’s name with a comma.
Provide the year of publication for books; for periodical publications, give the month and year, or day-month-year, if applicable. Follow the publication date with a comma if you have location information.
For most publications, the location indicates the page number or numbers of the article and is preceded by the abbreviation “p.” for a single page or “pp.” for two or more pages. For online publications, the location is commonly designated by the URL or Web address, or the DOI (Digital Object Identifier), if available. Conclude the entry with a period.
For an article in a journal accessed through an online database, list the title of the database as the container and whatever other information is available

Skip any information that is not available or applicable. For example, a book in print will not have a container, and a journal will usually not require information about a publisher.

Do include other pertinent information, such as the name of a translator, for instance, if available, in the order in which it is listed above.

MLA Format Citation

How to Cite Work in MLA Format

Below are the common templates for citing sources.

Works Cited Rubric

The criteria for evaluating a works cited page may vary across academic and professional disciplines.

The rubric below distinguishes failing works cited pages from passing works cited pages . In this framework, a professional works cited list shows a sensitivity to the ongoing scholarly conversations on a topic . The author’s use of quotations, paraphrases, and summaries suggests the author is aware of the thought leaders and scholarly conversations on particular topics .

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MLA Documentation

Formatting the works cited page (mla).

Whenever you incorporate outside sources into your own writing, you must provide both in-text citations (within the body of the paper) and full citations (in the works cited page). The in-text citations point your reader toward the full citations in the works cited page.

That’s why the first bit of information in your in-text citation (generally, the author’s name; if no name is provided, the title of the article/book/webpage) should directly match up with the beginning of your works cited entry for that source. For further information about in-text citations, please read “ Formatting In-Text Citations .”

For example, let’s say I have a quote from Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities in my research paper. Within the body of the paper, following the quote, I include the following in-text citation: (Anderson 56). This information points to the book’s entry in my works cited page:

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism . London: Verso, 2006. Print.

When your reader sees the in-text citation in your essay, she may decide that the source might be valuable for her own research. When she looks at the works cited page, she can easily locate the source (because the works cited page is alphabetized and because she has the in-text citation as her referent) and then can use the full citation to retrieve a copy of the source for her own research. But aside from providing the reader with resources for her own research, the works cited page serves another function: it establishes the writer’s credibility. If a writer fails to include in-text citations and/or a works cited page, that writer has plagiarized because he or she has neglected to provide the publication information of the source. In addition, when a reader locates undocumented information in an essay, she will likely think that the information was made up by the writer or that the information was stolen from a source, or plagiarized. And when a reader peruses a writer’s works cited page, she can see the types of sources used by the writer, assessing those sources in terms of their credibility. For instance, if a reader reads my works cited page and sees I cite sources from university presses such as Oxford UP and Cambridge UP, she will know that I’ve incorporated credible sources into my research paper. Thus, including both in-text citations and a works cited page in a research paper provides the writer with ethos, or credibility.

Now let’s take a look at how to properly format a works cited page according to MLA guidelines:

According to MLA style guidelines, the works cited page should appear after the body of your paper and any accompanying endnotes. It should begin on a new page, and the pagination should continue from the body of the paper. In the above example, the works cited page begins on page 38, which means that the essay concluded on page 37.

General format

The works cited page should be double-spaced throughout. The first line of each entry should be flush with the left margin; if the entry extends more than one line, ensuing lines should be indented 1/2 inch from the left margin. The first page of the works cited list should have the title “Works Cited,” not “Bibliography.” The works cited title should appear in the same manner as the paper’s title: capitalized and centered—not bolded, within quotation marks, italicized, underlined, or in a larger font.

The entries should be alphabetized based on the author’s last name. According to MLA guidelines, author names come first in an entry, then titles, then the publication information (city of publication, publisher, and date of publication), and then the type of media—the details for different types of sources vary, but this is the general structure followed. Note that if the city is not “well-known” and there is more than one city with that name, unlike New York and London, then the state or territory should be included after the city, e.g., “Roswell, GA: 2006.” If no name is provided for a given source, the title of the work/webpage will take the place of the author’s last name and should still be placed in its proper alphabetical location. Also note that “university” and “press” are always abbreviated “U” and “P” in works cited entries.

Here are some guidelines for commonly used sources:

Single-Authored Book

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book . Place of Publication: Publisher, Date of Publication. Type of media.

Bratlinger, Patrick. Rule of Darkness: British Literature and Imperialism, 1830–1914 . Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1988. Print.

Book with Multiple Authors

Last Name, First Name (of first author listed), and First Name Last Name (of second author, etc.). Title of Book . Place of Publication: Publisher, Date of Publication. Type of media.

Sabherhagen, Fred, and James V. Hart. Bram Stoker’s Dracula: A Francis Ford Coppola Film . New York: Signet, 1992. Print.

Article or Chapter in an Edited Collection (or Textbook)

Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Title of Book . Ed. First Name Last Name (of Editor). Place of Publication: Publisher, Date of Publication. Page Range of Article. Type of Media.

Vieregge, Quentin. “Writing as Process.” Negotiating Writing Spaces . Ed. Jennifer Yirinec and Lauren Cutlip. Plymouth, MI: Hayden-McNeil, 2011. 57–59. Print.

Article in a Print Journal

Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Title of Journal . Volume #.Issue # (Date of publication): Page Range of Article. Print.

Rogers, Pat. “Crusoe’s Home.” Essays in Criticism 24.4 (Oct. 1974): 375–90. Print.

Journal Article Accessed Using an Electronic Database

Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Journal Name Volume #.Issue # (Date of publication): Page Range of Article. Database . Web. Date of Access.

Lamont, Rose C. “Coma versus Comma: John Donne’s Holy Sonnets in Edson’s WIT .” The Massachusetts Review 40.4 (Winter 1999–2000): 569–75. JSTOR . Web. 30 April 2012.

Article Accessed from an Online Journal

Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Journal Name Volume #.Issue # (Date of publication): n.pag. Web. Date of Access.

Haynsworth, Leslie. “All the Detective’s Men: Binary Coding of Masculine Identity in the Sherlock Holmes Stories.” Victorians Institute Journal 38 (2010): n.pag. Web. 16 May 2012.

Article from a Webpage

Last Name, First Name (if given). “Title of Webpage.” Website Title . Publisher of website (often found at the bottom of the page), date of last update . Web. Date of Access. See (URL is only necessary if you think your reader won’t easily be able to locate the webpage).

“Opening Night: Wit Starring Cynthia Nixon.” Broadway.com . Broadway.com, Inc., 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2012.

Entire Website

Website Title. Publisher of website, date of last update. Date of Access. See (URL is only necessary if you think your reader won’t easily be able to locate the webpage).

Broadway.com . Broadway.com, Inc., 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2012.

For information about how to format the works cited entries for different sources, consult The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th edition). Or, consult the Purdue OWL: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/06/ .

“Formatting the Works Cited Page (MLA)” was written by Jennifer Yirinec, University of South Florida

Formatting the Works Cited Page (MLA). Authored by : Jennifer Yirinec. Provided by : University of South Florida. Located at : http://writingcommons.org/open-text/writing-processes/format/mla-format/608-formatting-the-works-cited-page-mla . Project : Writing Commons. License : CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives

ENGL001: English Composition I

Formatting the works cited page (mla).

Read this article on the correct way to format your Works Cited pages using MLA citation.

That's why the first bit of information in your in-text citation (generally, the author's name; if no name is provided, the title of the article/book/webpage) should directly match up with the beginning of your works cited entry for that source.

For example, let's say I have a quote from Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities in my research paper. Within the body of the paper, following the quote, I include the following in-text citation: (Anderson 56). This information points to the book's entry in my works cited page:

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism . London: Verso, 2006. Print.

When your reader sees the in-text citation in your essay, they may decide that the source might be valuable for their own research. When they look at the works cited page, they can easily locate the source (because the works cited page is alphabetized and because they have the in-text citation as their reference) and then can use the full citation to retrieve a copy of the source for their own research. But aside from providing the reader with resources for their own research, the works cited page serves another function: it establishes the writer's credibility.

If a writer fails to include in-text citations and/or a works cited page, that writer has plagiarized because he or she has neglected to provide the publication information of the source. In addition, when a reader locates undocumented information in an essay, she will likely think that the information was made up by the writer or that the information was stolen from a source, or plagiarized.

And when a reader peruses a writer's works cited page, they can see the types of sources used by the writer, assessing those sources in terms of their credibility. For instance, if a reader reads my works cited page and sees I cite sources from university presses such as Oxford UP and Cambridge UP, they will know that I have incorporated credible sources into my research paper. Thus, including both in-text citations and a works cited page in a research paper provides the writer with ethos , or credibility.

Now let's take a look at how to properly format a works cited page according to MLA guidelines:

General Format

The works cited page should be double-spaced throughout. The first line of each entry should be flush with the left margin; if the entry extends more than one line, ensuing lines should be indented 1/2 inch from the left margin. The first page of the works cited list should have the title "Works Cited", not "Bibliography". The works cited title should appear in the same manner as the paper's title: capitalized and centered – not bolded, within quotation marks, italicized, underlined, or in a larger font.

The entries should be alphabetized based on the author's last name. According to MLA guidelines, author names come first in an entry, then titles, then the publication information (city of publication, publisher, and date of publication), and then the type of media – the details for different types of sources vary, but this is the general structure followed. Note that if the city is not "well-known" and there is more than one city with that name, unlike New York and London, then the state or territory should be included after the city, e.g., "Roswell, GA: 2006".

If no name is provided for a given source, the title of the work/webpage will take the place of the author's last name and should still be placed in its proper alphabetical location. Also note that "university" and "press" are always abbreviated "U" and "P" in works cited entries.

Here are some guidelines for commonly used sources:

Single-Authored Book

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book . Place of Publication: Publisher, Date of Publication. Type of media.

Bratlinger, Patrick. Rule of Darkness: British Literature and Imperialism, 1830–1914 . Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1988. Print.

Book with Multiple Authors

Last Name, First Name (of first author listed), and First Name Last Name (of second author, etc.). Title of Book . Place of Publication: Publisher, Date of Publication. Type of media.

Sabherhagen, Fred, and James V. Hart. Bram Stoker's Dracula: A Francis Ford Coppola Film . New York: Signet, 1992. Print.

Article or Chapter in an Edited Collection (or Textbook)

Last Name, First Name. "Article Title." Title of Book . Ed. First Name Last Name (of Editor). Place of Publication: Publisher, Date of Publication. Page Range of Article. Type of Media.

Vieregge, Quentin. "Writing as Process." Negotiating Writing Spaces . Ed. Jennifer Yirinec and Lauren Cutlip. Plymouth, MI: Hayden-McNeil, 2011. 57–59. Print.

Article in a Print Journal

Last Name, First Name. "Article Title." Title of Journal . Volume #. Issue # (Date of publication): Page Range of Article. Print.

Rogers, Pat. "Crusoe's Home." Essays in Criticism 24.4 (Oct. 1974): 375–90. Print.

Journal Article Accessed Using an Electronic Database

Last Name, First Name. "Article Title." Journal Name Volume #. Issue # (Date of publication): Page Range of Article. Database . Web. Date of Access.

Lamont, Rose C. "Coma versus Comma: John Donne's Holy Sonnets in Edson's WIT ." The Massachusetts Review 40.4 (Winter 1999–2000): 569–75. JSTOR . Web. 30 April 2012.

Article Accessed from an Online Journal

Last Name, First Name. "Article Title." Journal Name Volume #. Issue # (Date of publication): n.pag. Web. Date of Access.

Haynsworth, Leslie. "All the Detective's Men: Binary Coding of Masculine Identity in the Sherlock Holmes Stories." Victorians Institute Journal 38 (2010): n.pag. Web. 16 May 2012.

Article from a Webpage

Last Name, First Name (if given). "Title of Webpage." Website Title . Publisher of website (often found at the bottom of the page), date of last update . Web. Date of Access. See (URL is only necessary if you think your reader won't easily be able to locate the webpage).

"Opening Night: Wit Starring Cynthia Nixon." Broadway.com . Broadway.com, Inc., 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2012.

Entire Website

Website Title. Publisher of website, date of last update. Date of Access. See (URL is only necessary if you think your reader won't easily be able to locate the webpage).

Broadway.com . Broadway.com, Inc., 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2012.

For information about how to format the works cited entries for different sources, consult The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th edition).

Research Writing

In-Text Citations

Works Cited Page

The Works Cited page, alphabetized by author’s last name, should appear at the end of your essay. It provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any sources you cite in the essay. Each source you cite in the essay must appear in your Works Cited list.

Authors' names are inverted (last name first); if a work has more than one author, invert only the first author's name, follow it with a comma, then continue listing the rest of the authors. If you have cited more than one work by a particular author, order them alphabetically by title, and use three hyphens in place of the author's name for every entry after the first. If no author is given for a particular work, alphabetize by the title of the piece (if the title begins with an article, such as "A," "An," or "The," alphabetized by the second word).

The first line of each entry in your list should be flush left. Subsequent lines should be indented one-half inch (5 spaces or a tab). This is known as a "hanging indent." All references should be double-spaced with no extra spaces between the entries.

Capitalize the first work in the title of the work and all important words (articles—“a,” “the,” etc, prepositions—“in,” “for,” etc, and conjunctions—“and,” “but,” etc, should not be capitalized unless as the first word). Italicize titles of books, journals, magazines, newspapers, and films. Indicate the publication medium with a marker such as Print, Web, or other form (i.e. DVD or TV).

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CITING SOURCES: MLA FORMAT

MLA FORMAT: WORKS CITED PAGE

MLA FORMAT: IN-TEXT CITATIONS
MLA FORMAT: BOOKS & PAMPHLETS
MLA FORMAT: WEBSITES AND ONLINE SOURCES
MLA FORMAT: PERIODICALS
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Also Read: MLA FORMAT GUIDELINES FOR CITING SOURCES

Formatting & Design

When formatting your MLA format Works Cited page, do the following:

Put the Works Cited page on its own page at the end of your document.
Keep your last name and page number in the header as you do on the rest of your document in MLA format.
Keep margins the same as the rest of your document at 1”.
Space your text the same as the rest of your document, whether single or double-spacing.
Double-space between sources.
Create hanging indents by indenting 0.5” the second and subsequent lines of each source.

Alphabetization

Insert sources in alphabetical order by the first word in the entry (most often authors’ last names). If your entry doesn’t begin with a last name (if your source is a corporate author or there is no known author), alphabetize the entry by the first word of the entry, be it a company name or part of the title.

Capitalization

Following MLA formatting and style standards, be sure to capitalize words appropriately. Do the following:

Capitalize the first word of any source or title, regardless of the word.
Capitalize the first name, last name, and middle initials of all authors.
Capitalize all words in titles of works expect for prepositions (to, from, by, above, in, etc.); articles (a, an, the); and conjunctions (but, and, so, if, yet, etc.).

Punctuation & Italics

Follow the punctuation guidelines as shown on the MLA Format Overview Page or as shown in the examples for each source type. In general, your punctuation should follow these standards:

Use a period after author names and titles of containers.
Use commas after all sources that come after the title of the container.
Use a period at the end of each source entry.
Use quotation marks around all shorter titles (such as journal articles, magazine articles, chapters, song titles, and TV episodes)
Use italics around all larger titles (such as books, films, albums, and TV series.)

Citing Multiple Sources from the Same Author

When you cite multiple works that were written or created by the same author, MLA style requires that you include the author’s name on the first entry. Every subsequent entry that includes the same author should begin with three hyphens (—), followed by a period. This helps readers quickly recognize which sources all came from the same author.

Citing Sources When You Don’t Know the Author

Occasionally you’ll come across a source where there is no clear author or organization. If there is no known author, cite the source by including the title of the source in alphabetical order as you would any other source. Make sure the title you include corresponds with the in-text reference where you addressed it your document.

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6 In-text Citations & Works Cited Pages ~ MLA Format

Knowledge preview.

Try this quiz before you watch the video:

What Is a Citation? Why Do We Need Citations?

We give credit to other scholars by using citations in two places: in-text citations, and Works Cited pages. Watch the short video for some background information.

Note : Since I did not create this video, I need to include a citation here. In textbooks, you may find the citation for imported material directly under the material, and/or at the end of the chapter or book. In this textbook, you can find examples of both. Here is the citation for this video (not in MLA format):

A (Very) Brief Introduction. Authored by : libnscu. Provided by : NC State University. Located at : https://youtu.be/IMhMuVvXCVw . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Any time we use another person’s ideas, spoken or written words, research, or other material, we must provide citations. This ensures that we maintain our academic honesty, and that we bring other scholars in to our written conversation by acknowledging their ideas.

We do not need to provide citations for common knowledge such as well-known scientific facts, historical events, or proverbs.

What Do We Need to Cite?

For all academic writing, we must be careful to give attribution for other people’s work, or for any information that is not common knowledge. This means two things:

including information about the source directly in the text we have written (in-text citations), and
including a list of materials used at the end of the essay (a Works Cited page)

Your in-text citations must always have a matching entry on your Works Cited page. That way, your readers can find more information about your source, so they can investigate more about your sources’ ideas on their own.

MLA (Modern Language Association) Format

MLA In-Text Citations

In your paper, when you quote directly from a source in its words, or when you paraphrase someone else’s idea, you need to tell the reader what that source is so the author gets credit. When you do this in the text of your paper, this is called an in-text citation.

In-Text citations are placed in parentheses, and have two components

The first word found in the full citation on the Works Cited page (usually the last name of the author)
The location of the direct quote or paraphrase (usually a page number)

In-Text citations should be placed directly after the direct quote or paraphrase, or in a place that is a natural pause and does not cause the reader to become distracted while reading the body of your work.

When using the author’s name in the sentence, only include the page number in the parentheses.

As Carol Dweck asserts, “The fixed mindset makes you concerned with how you’ll be judged; the growth mindset makes you concerned with improving” (13).

Your in-text citations would then need to have corresponding entries in your Works Cited page (see below).

How can we be sure if we need a citation? Use this graphic to help you decide:

Graphic showing when and how to create MLA In-text citations. If it is your own work, you do not need a citation. Otherwise, you need to look for the author's name (or title if there is no author name), and then the page number(s). Put the author's name and page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence, before the period, like: (Wilson 38).

When and How to Create MLA Citations graphic. Authored by : Kim Louie for Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution

Integrating Sources

A. Two-minute Activity – Reporting Verbs

Work in groups of three.

Partner A: leave the room for 30 seconds

Partner B: tell Partner C about your favorite vacation spot. Give details.

Partner C: listen to Partner B and take notes

Next, Partner A returns to the room

Partner A & Partner B: listen to Partner C

Partner C: tell Partner A what Partner B just said

How does Partner C start the conversation? What ‘reporting verbs’ can Partner C use here? Did they use a paraphrase or a direct quotation?

Finally, brainstorm a list together of possible reporting verbs to use.

If time allows, switch roles with your partners, and choose a new topic from this list:

your favorite restaurant
someone you admire
your favorite superhero
top three bucket list items
favorite movie
least favorite food you’ve eaten
your perfect day
person you’d swap lives with for a day
your spirit animal

To avoid ‘choppy’ writing, or writing that sounds like you just ‘dropped in’ a quote or paraphrase from another source, you will want to integrate other scholars’ ideas seamlessly into your own writing. Reporting verbs help to signal your reader that you are incorporating other scholars’ ideas. Notice that we use the present tense for these reporting verbs:

Check this list of MLA Signal Phrases from author Robin Jeffrey for more examples of reporting verbs. In your notebook, write some reporting verbs that are comfortable for you (ones you’ve used before) and some that are new for you (ones you’d like to try).

Works Cited Pages

A Works Cited page in MLA format is an alphabetical listing of all of the sources you have paraphrased, quoted, summarized, or reproduced (as in, for example, a photo or graph) in your essay; in other words, any source that you created an in-text citation for. Your Works Cited page will have an entry for each resource you used so that your readers can find the original source, in case they want to learn more from that expert. Each entry will include this information (if available): the author, title of source, title of container, other contributors, the version, number, publisher, date of publication, and location (page numbers, a DOI, or a URL, for instance). Check the links near the bottom of this page for more information and formatting guides.

As you conduct your research, it is helpful to keep a list of Works Consulted. As you write your essay, move the sources that have in-text citations to your Works Cited page. Then, when you are finished writing, attach your Works Cited page (the final, separate sheet of paper) to your essay.

Sample Works Cited entries:

North, Emily J, and Rolf U Halden. “Plastics and environmental health: the road ahead.” Reviews on environmental health vol. 28,1 (2013): 1-8. doi:10.1515/reveh-2012-0030

Dweck, Carol S. Mindset: the New Psychology of Success . Ballantine, 2016.

There are specific guidelines to follow for every kind of source (websites, blogs, videos, books, scholarly journals, etc.). The “Works Cited: A Quick Guide ” from the MLA Style Center has the most recent advice on formatting your Works Cited pages.

Also, there are several citation generators available on the internet. Check with your instructors to find out about their policies regarding the use of citation generators.

B. Practice Activity

Try this practice activity.

Is this chapter

…too easy, or you would like a more comprehensive guide? –> Check this page on MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics, MLA Works Cited Page Basic Format, and the MLA Sample Works Cited Page, all from Purdue OWL.

…about right, but you would like to see more samples? –> Check “ Building Credibility through Source Integration ” from Lumen Learning’s Writing Skills Lab, and “ Creating a Works Cited Page ” and “ Crediting and Citing Your Sources ” from The Word on College Reading and Writing .

…too difficult, or you’d like more examples? –> Watch this video on “ In-Text Citations for Beginners ” for help. See also Lumen’s MLA Works Cited page for formatting help.

Portions of this chapter were adapted from “ MLA In-Text Citations ” from Developmental English: Introduction to College Composition . Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. and “ MLA Documentation ” from Basic Reading and Writing . Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike .

The final practice activity is from “ Practice: Using Sources ” from Writing Skills Lab . Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike .

Note: links open in new tabs.

information that most people know, or that you can easily find in several readily-available sources

fields or subjects of study

ENGLISH 087: Academic Advanced Writing Copyright © 2020 by Nancy Hutchison is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics

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Guidelines for referring to the works of others in your text using MLA style are covered throughout the MLA Handbook and in chapter 7 of the MLA Style Manual . Both books provide extensive examples, so it's a good idea to consult them if you want to become even more familiar with MLA guidelines or if you have a particular reference question.

Basic in-text citation rules

In MLA Style, referring to the works of others in your text is done using parenthetical citations . This method involves providing relevant source information in parentheses whenever a sentence uses a quotation or paraphrase. Usually, the simplest way to do this is to put all of the source information in parentheses at the end of the sentence (i.e., just before the period). However, as the examples below will illustrate, there are situations where it makes sense to put the parenthetical elsewhere in the sentence, or even to leave information out.

General Guidelines

The source information required in a parenthetical citation depends (1) upon the source medium (e.g. print, web, DVD) and (2) upon the source’s entry on the Works Cited page.
Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on the Works Cited page. More specifically, whatever signal word or phrase you provide to your readers in the text must be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of the corresponding entry on the Works Cited page.

In-text citations: Author-page style

MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. For example:

Both citations in the examples above, (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tell readers that the information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by an author named Wordsworth. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works Cited page, where, under the name of Wordsworth, they would find the following information:

Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads . Oxford UP, 1967.

In-text citations for print sources with known author

For print sources like books, magazines, scholarly journal articles, and newspapers, provide a signal word or phrase (usually the author’s last name) and a page number. If you provide the signal word/phrase in the sentence, you do not need to include it in the parenthetical citation.

These examples must correspond to an entry that begins with Burke, which will be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of an entry on the Works Cited page:

Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method . University of California Press, 1966.

In-text citations for print sources by a corporate author

When a source has a corporate author, it is acceptable to use the name of the corporation followed by the page number for the in-text citation. You should also use abbreviations (e.g., nat'l for national) where appropriate, so as to avoid interrupting the flow of reading with overly long parenthetical citations.

In-text citations for sources with non-standard labeling systems

If a source uses a labeling or numbering system other than page numbers, such as a script or poetry, precede the citation with said label. When citing a poem, for instance, the parenthetical would begin with the word “line”, and then the line number or range. For example, the examination of William Blake’s poem “The Tyger” would be cited as such:

The speaker makes an ardent call for the exploration of the connection between the violence of nature and the divinity of creation. “In what distant deeps or skies. / Burnt the fire of thine eyes," they ask in reference to the tiger as they attempt to reconcile their intimidation with their relationship to creationism (lines 5-6).

Longer labels, such as chapters (ch.) and scenes (sc.), should be abbreviated.

In-text citations for print sources with no known author

When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name, following these guidelines.

Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work (such as an article) or italicize it if it's a longer work (e.g. plays, books, television shows, entire Web sites) and provide a page number if it is available.

Titles longer than a standard noun phrase should be shortened into a noun phrase by excluding articles. For example, To the Lighthouse would be shortened to Lighthouse .

If the title cannot be easily shortened into a noun phrase, the title should be cut after the first clause, phrase, or punctuation:

In this example, since the reader does not know the author of the article, an abbreviated title appears in the parenthetical citation, and the full title of the article appears first at the left-hand margin of its respective entry on the Works Cited page. Thus, the writer includes the title in quotation marks as the signal phrase in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader directly to the source on the Works Cited page. The Works Cited entry appears as follows:

"The Impact of Global Warming in North America." Global Warming: Early Signs . 1999. www.climatehotmap.org/. Accessed 23 Mar. 2009.

If the title of the work begins with a quotation mark, such as a title that refers to another work, that quote or quoted title can be used as the shortened title. The single quotation marks must be included in the parenthetical, rather than the double quotation.

Parenthetical citations and Works Cited pages, used in conjunction, allow readers to know which sources you consulted in writing your essay, so that they can either verify your interpretation of the sources or use them in their own scholarly work.

Author-page citation for classic and literary works with multiple editions

Page numbers are always required, but additional citation information can help literary scholars, who may have a different edition of a classic work, like Marx and Engels's The Communist Manifesto . In such cases, give the page number of your edition (making sure the edition is listed in your Works Cited page, of course) followed by a semicolon, and then the appropriate abbreviations for volume (vol.), book (bk.), part (pt.), chapter (ch.), section (sec.), or paragraph (par.). For example:

Author-page citation for works in an anthology, periodical, or collection

When you cite a work that appears inside a larger source (for instance, an article in a periodical or an essay in a collection), cite the author of the internal source (i.e., the article or essay). For example, to cite Albert Einstein's article "A Brief Outline of the Theory of Relativity," which was published in Nature in 1921, you might write something like this:

See also our page on documenting periodicals in the Works Cited .

Citing authors with same last names

Sometimes more information is necessary to identify the source from which a quotation is taken. For instance, if two or more authors have the same last name, provide both authors' first initials (or even the authors' full name if different authors share initials) in your citation. For example:

Citing a work by multiple authors

For a source with two authors, list the authors’ last names in the text or in the parenthetical citation:

Corresponding Works Cited entry:

Best, David, and Sharon Marcus. “Surface Reading: An Introduction.” Representations , vol. 108, no. 1, Fall 2009, pp. 1-21. JSTOR, doi:10.1525/rep.2009.108.1.1

For a source with three or more authors, list only the first author’s last name, and replace the additional names with et al.

Franck, Caroline, et al. “Agricultural Subsidies and the American Obesity Epidemic.” American Journal of Preventative Medicine , vol. 45, no. 3, Sept. 2013, pp. 327-333.

Citing multiple works by the same author

If you cite more than one work by an author, include a shortened title for the particular work from which you are quoting to distinguish it from the others. Put short titles of books in italics and short titles of articles in quotation marks.

Citing two articles by the same author :

Citing two books by the same author :

Additionally, if the author's name is not mentioned in the sentence, format your citation with the author's name followed by a comma, followed by a shortened title of the work, and, when appropriate, the page number(s):

Citing multivolume works

If you cite from different volumes of a multivolume work, always include the volume number followed by a colon. Put a space after the colon, then provide the page number(s). (If you only cite from one volume, provide only the page number in parentheses.)

Citing the Bible

In your first parenthetical citation, you want to make clear which Bible you're using (and underline or italicize the title), as each version varies in its translation, followed by book (do not italicize or underline), chapter, and verse. For example:

If future references employ the same edition of the Bible you’re using, list only the book, chapter, and verse in the parenthetical citation:

John of Patmos echoes this passage when describing his vision (Rev. 4.6-8).

Citing indirect sources

Sometimes you may have to use an indirect source. An indirect source is a source cited within another source. For such indirect quotations, use "qtd. in" to indicate the source you actually consulted. For example:

Note that, in most cases, a responsible researcher will attempt to find the original source, rather than citing an indirect source.

Citing transcripts, plays, or screenplays

Sources that take the form of a dialogue involving two or more participants have special guidelines for their quotation and citation. Each line of dialogue should begin with the speaker's name written in all capitals and indented half an inch. A period follows the name (e.g., JAMES.) . After the period, write the dialogue. Each successive line after the first should receive an additional indentation. When another person begins speaking, start a new line with that person's name indented only half an inch. Repeat this pattern each time the speaker changes. You can include stage directions in the quote if they appear in the original source.

Conclude with a parenthetical that explains where to find the excerpt in the source. Usually, the author and title of the source can be given in a signal phrase before quoting the excerpt, so the concluding parenthetical will often just contain location information like page numbers or act/scene indicators.

Here is an example from O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh.

WILLIE. (Pleadingly) Give me a drink, Rocky. Harry said it was all right. God, I need a drink.

ROCKY. Den grab it. It's right under your nose.

WILLIE. (Avidly) Thanks. (He takes the bottle with both twitching hands and tilts it to his lips and gulps down the whiskey in big swallows.) (1.1)

Citing non-print or sources from the Internet

With more and more scholarly work published on the Internet, you may have to cite sources you found in digital environments. While many sources on the Internet should not be used for scholarly work (reference the OWL's Evaluating Sources of Information resource), some Web sources are perfectly acceptable for research. When creating in-text citations for electronic, film, or Internet sources, remember that your citation must reference the source on your Works Cited page.

Sometimes writers are confused with how to craft parenthetical citations for electronic sources because of the absence of page numbers. However, these sorts of entries often do not require a page number in the parenthetical citation. For electronic and Internet sources, follow the following guidelines:

Include in the text the first item that appears in the Work Cited entry that corresponds to the citation (e.g. author name, article name, website name, film name).
Do not provide paragraph numbers or page numbers based on your Web browser’s print preview function.
Unless you must list the Web site name in the signal phrase in order to get the reader to the appropriate entry, do not include URLs in-text. Only provide partial URLs such as when the name of the site includes, for example, a domain name, like CNN.com or Forbes.com, as opposed to writing out http://www.cnn.com or http://www.forbes.com.

Miscellaneous non-print sources

Two types of non-print sources you may encounter are films and lectures/presentations:

In the two examples above “Herzog” (a film’s director) and “Yates” (a presentor) lead the reader to the first item in each citation’s respective entry on the Works Cited page:

Herzog, Werner, dir. Fitzcarraldo . Perf. Klaus Kinski. Filmverlag der Autoren, 1982.

Yates, Jane. "Invention in Rhetoric and Composition." Gaps Addressed: Future Work in Rhetoric and Composition, CCCC, Palmer House Hilton, 2002. Address.

Electronic sources

Electronic sources may include web pages and online news or magazine articles:

In the first example (an online magazine article), the writer has chosen not to include the author name in-text; however, two entries from the same author appear in the Works Cited. Thus, the writer includes both the author’s last name and the article title in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader to the appropriate entry on the Works Cited page (see below).

In the second example (a web page), a parenthetical citation is not necessary because the page does not list an author, and the title of the article, “MLA Formatting and Style Guide,” is used as a signal phrase within the sentence. If the title of the article was not named in the sentence, an abbreviated version would appear in a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence. Both corresponding Works Cited entries are as follows:

Taylor, Rumsey. "Fitzcarraldo." Slant , 13 Jun. 2003, www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/fitzcarraldo/. Accessed 29 Sep. 2009.

"MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL , 2 Aug. 2016, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/. Accessed 2 April 2018.

Multiple citations

To cite multiple sources in the same parenthetical reference, separate the citations by a semi-colon:

Time-based media sources

When creating in-text citations for media that has a runtime, such as a movie or podcast, include the range of hours, minutes and seconds you plan to reference. For example: (00:02:15-00:02:35).

When a citation is not needed

Common sense and ethics should determine your need for documenting sources. You do not need to give sources for familiar proverbs, well-known quotations, or common knowledge (For example, it is expected that U.S. citizens know that George Washington was the first President.). Remember that citing sources is a rhetorical task, and, as such, can vary based on your audience. If you’re writing for an expert audience of a scholarly journal, for example, you may need to deal with expectations of what constitutes “common knowledge” that differ from common norms.

Other Sources

The MLA Handbook describes how to cite many different kinds of authors and content creators. However, you may occasionally encounter a source or author category that the handbook does not describe, making the best way to proceed can be unclear.

In these cases, it's typically acceptable to apply the general principles of MLA citation to the new kind of source in a way that's consistent and sensible. A good way to do this is to simply use the standard MLA directions for a type of source that resembles the source you want to cite.

You may also want to investigate whether a third-party organization has provided directions for how to cite this kind of source. For example, Norquest College provides guidelines for citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers⁠ —an author category that does not appear in the MLA Handbook . In cases like this, however, it's a good idea to ask your instructor or supervisor whether using third-party citation guidelines might present problems.

Home / Guides / Citation Guides / APA Format / APA Reference Page

How to Format an APA Reference Page

In APA, the “Works Cited” page is referred to as a “Reference List” or “Reference Page.” “Bibliography” also may be used interchangeably, even though there are some differences between the two.

If you are at the point in your article or research paper where you are looking up APA bibliography format, then congratulations! That means you’re almost done.

In this guide, you will learn how to successfully finish a paper by creating a properly formatted APA bibliography. More specifically, you will learn how to create a reference page . The guidelines presented here come from the 7 th edition of the APA’s Publication Manual .

A note on APA reference page style: In this guide, “bibliography” and “references” may be used interchangeably, even though there are some differences between the two. The most important thing is to use the label “References” when writing your paper since APA style recommends including a reference page.

Here’s a run-through of everything this page includes:

Difference between an APA bibliography and a reference page

What about annotated bibliographies, understanding apa reference page format, apa reference page formatting: alphabetizing by surname, q: what should not be on an apa reference page.

The difference between a bibliography and a reference page is a matter of scope. A bibliography usually includes all materials and sources that were used to write the paper. A reference page, on the other hand, only includes entries for works that were specifically cited in the text of the paper.

There are some cases in which a professor or journal might request an annotated bibliography . An annotated bibliography is basically a reference page that includes your comments and insights on each source.

An annotated bibliography can be a document all on its own, or part of a bigger document. That means creating an annotated bibliography by itself could be an assignment, or you may have to include one as part of your research paper, journal submission, or other project.

If you do need to add an APA annotated bibliography , it goes after the reference page on its own page, inside the appendices.

A properly formatted APA reference page begins on a new page, after the end of the text. It comes before any figures, tables, maps, or appendices. It’s double-spaced and features what’s called a hanging indent , where the first line of each reference is not indented, and the second line of each reference is indented 0.5 inches. The reference page is also labeled with a bold, center-justified, and capitalized “References.”

To summarize, the reference page should be:

Placed on its own page, after the text but before any tables, figures, or appendices.
In the same font as the rest of the paper.
Double-spaced the whole way through (including individual references).
Formatted with hanging indents (each line after the first line of every entry indented 0.5 inches).
Labeled with a bold, center-justified, and capitalized “References.”

Note: You can use the paragraph function of your word processing program to apply the hanging indent.

Q: What font am I supposed to use for the reference page or bibliography?

The APA reference page/bibliography should be in the same font as the rest of your paper. However, APA Style does not actually call for one specific font. According to Section 2.19 of the Publication Manual , the main requirement is to choose a font that is readable and accessible to all users. Some of the recommended font options for APA style include:

Sans serif fonts: Calibri (11pt), Arial (11pt), or Lucida (10pt).
Serif fonts: Times New Roman (12pt), Georgia (11pt), or Normal/Computer Modern (10pt).

Q: What are the margins supposed to be for the reference page or bibliography?

Aside from the 0.5 inch hanging indent on the second line of each reference entry, you do not need to modify the margins of the reference page or bibliography. These should be the same as the rest of your paper, which according to APA is 1-inch margins on all sides of the page. This is the default margin setting for most computer word processors, so you probably won’t have to change anything.

Q: What information goes into an APA style reference page or bibliography?

An APA style reference page should include full citations for all the sources that were cited in your paper. This includes sources that were summarized, paraphrased, and directly quoted. Essentially, if you included an in-text citation in your paper, that source should also appear in your reference list. The reference list is organized in alphabetical order by author.

The formatting for reference list citations varies depending on the kind of source and the available information. But for most sources, your reference list entry will include the following:

The last name(s) and initials of the author(s).
The date the source was published (shown in parentheses).
The title of the source in sentence case. The title should be in italics if the source stands on its own (like a book, webpage, or movie).
The name of the periodical, database, or website if the source is an article from a magazine, journal, newspaper, etc. Names of periodicals are usually italicized; names of databases and websites usually are not.
The publisher of the source and/or the URL where the source can be found.

Here are a few templates and examples for how common sources should be formatted in an APA style reference list. If your source is not found here, there is also a guide highlighting different APA citation examples .

Citing a Book

Author’s last name, Author’s first initial. Author’s middle initial. (Year of publication). Title of work . Publisher.

James, Henry. (2009). The ambassadors . Serenity Publishers.

Citing a Journal

Author’s last name, Author’s first initial. Author’s middle initial. (Year, Month Date published). Article title. Journal Name , Volume(Issue), page number(s). https://doi.org/ or URL (if available)

Jacoby, W. G. (1994). Public attitudes toward government spending. American Journal of Political Science , 38(2), 336-361. https://doi.org/10.2307/2111407

Citing a Website

Author’s last name, Author’s first initial. Author’s middle initial. (Year, Month Date published). Article title or page title . Site Name. URL

Limer, E. (2013, October 1). Heck yes! The first free wireless plan is finally here . Gizmodo. https://gizmodo.com/heck-yes-the-first-free-wireless-plan-is-finally-here

Next, let’s take a look at a real example of a properly formatted APA reference page to see how these pieces come together.

APA reference page example

Creating an APA reference page is actually a lot easier than creating a bibliography with other style guides. In fact, as long as you are aware of the formatting rules, the reference page practically writes itself as you go.

Below is an example reference page that follows the guidelines detailed above. EasyBib also has a guide featuring a complete APA style sample paper , including the reference page.

All APA citations included in the reference page should be ordered alphabetically, using the first word of the reference entry. In most cases, this is the author’s surname (or the surname of the author listed first, when dealing with citations for sources with multiple authors ). However, there are times when a reference entry might begin with a different element.

Creating an alphabetized reference page or bibliography might seem like a simple task. But when you start dealing with multiple authors and similar last names, it can actually get a little tricky. Fortunately, there are a few basic rules that can keep you on track.

The “nothing precedes something” rule

When the surnames of two or more authors begin with the same letters, the “nothing precedes something” rule is how to figure it out. Here is an example of how it works.

Imagine your reference page includes the authors Berg, M.S. and Bergman, H.D. The first four letters of each author are the same. The fifth letters are M and H respectively. Since H comes before M in the alphabet, you might assume that Bergman, H.D. should be listed first.

APA Style requires that “nothing precede something,” which means that Berg will appear before Bergman. Similarly, a James would automatically appear before a Jameson, and a Michaels before a Michaelson.

Disregard spaces and punctuation marks

If a surname has a hyphen, apostrophe, or other punctuation mark, it can be ignored for alphabetization purposes. Similarly, anything that appears inside of parentheses or brackets should be disregarded.

Ordering multiple works by the same author

It is not uncommon for a research paper to reference multiple books by the same author. If you have more than one reference entry by the same person, then the entries should be listed chronologically by year of publication.

If a reference entry has no year of publication available, then it should precede any entries that do have a date. Here’s an example of a properly alphabetized order for multiple entries from the same author:

Guzman, M.B. (n.d.).

Guzman, M.B. (2016).

Guzman, M.B. (2017).

Guzman, M.B. (2019).

Guzman, M.B. (in press).

“In press” papers do not yet have a year of publication associated with them. All “in press” sources are listed last, like the one shown above.

Ordering works with the same author and same date

If the same author has multiple entries with the same year of publication, you need to differentiate them with lowercase letters. Otherwise, the in-text citations in your paper will correspond to more than one reference page entry.

Same author and same year of publication

Here’s a look at how to use lowercase letters to differentiate between entries with the same author and same year of publication:

Guzman, M.B. (2020a).

Guzman, M.B. (2020b).

Guzman, M.B. (2020c).

These lowercase letters are assigned to make the in-text citations more specific. However, it does not change the fact that their year of publication is the same. If no month or day is available for any of the sources, then they should be ordered alphabetically using the title of the work.

When alphabetizing by title, ignore the words “A,” “An,”,and “The” if they’re the first word of the title.

Same author and same year of publication, with more specific dates

If more specific dates are provided, such as a month or day, then it becomes possible to order these entries chronologically.

Guzman, M.B. (2020b, April 2).

Guzman, M.B. (2020c, October 15).

Ordering authors with the same surname but different initials

Authors who share the same surname but have different first or middle names can be alphabetized by their first initial or second initial.

Guzman, R.L. (2015).

Ordering works with no listed author, or an anonymous author

If you have reference entries with no listed author, the first thing to double-check is whether or not there was a group author instead. Group authors can be businesses, task forces, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, etc.

If there is no individual author listed, then have another look at the source. If it is published on a government agency website, for instance, there is a good chance that the agency was the author of the work, and should be listed as such in the reference entry. You can read more about how to handle group authors in Section 9.11 of the Publication Manual .

What if the work is actually authored by “Anonymous”?

If the work you’re referencing actually has the word “Anonymous” listed as the author, then you can list it as the author and alphabetize it as if it were a real name. But this is only if the work is actually signed “Anonymous.”

What if there is no listed author and it’s definitely not a group author?

If you have confirmed that there is no individual or group author for the work, then you can use the work’s title as the author element in the reference entry. In any case where you’re using the work’s title to alphabetize, you should skip the words “A,” “An,” and “The.”

An APA reference page should not contain any of the following:

The content of your paper (the reference page should start on its own page after the end of your paper).
Entries for works for further reading or background information or entries for an epigraph from a famous person (the reference page should only include works that are referenced or quoted in your paper as part of your argument).
Entries for personal communications such as emails, phone calls, text messages, etc. (since the reader would not be able to access them).
Entries for whole websites, periodicals, etc. (If needed, the names of these can be mentioned within the body of your paper instead.)
Entries for quotations from research participants (since they are part of your original research, they do not need to be included).

Published October 28, 2020.

APA Formatting Guide

APA Formatting

Annotated Bibliography
Block Quotes
et al Usage
In-text Citations
Multiple Authors
Paraphrasing
Page Numbers
Parenthetical Citations
Reference Page
Sample Paper
APA 7 Updates
View APA Guide

Citation Examples

Book Chapter
Journal Article
Magazine Article
Newspaper Article
Website (no author)
View all APA Examples

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The following rules will help you identify when to use DOIs and when to use URLs in references:

Use a DOI wherever available, be it a print version or online version.
For a print publication that does not have a DOI, do not add a DOI or URL (even if a URL is available).
For an online publication, if both a DOI and URL are given, include only the DOI.
For online publications that only have a URL (and no DOI), follow the below recommendations:
Add a URL in the reference list entry for publications from websites (other than databases). Double check that the URL will work for readers.
For publications from most academic research databases, which are easily accessible, do not include a URL or database information in the reference. In this case, the reference will be the same as the print version.
For publications from databases that publish limited/proprietary work that would only be available in that database, include the database name and the URL. If the URL would require a login, include the URL for the database home page or login page instead of the URL for the work.
If a URL will not work for the reader or is no longer accessible, follow the guidance for citing works with no source.

To format your APA references list, follow these recommendations:

Begin the references on a new page. This page should be placed at the end of the paper.
All sides of the paper should have a 1-inch margin.
Set the heading as “References” in bold text and center it.
Arrange the reference entries alphabetically according to the first item within the entries (usually the author surname or title).
Add a hanging indent of 0.5 inches (i.e., indent any line after the first line of a reference list entry).

See above for a visual example of a reference page and additional examples.

Special Cases

Multiple entries with the same author(s) are arranged by publication year. Entries with no dates first, then in chronological order. If the year published is also the same, a letter is added to the year and the entries are arranged alphabetically (after arrangement by year).

Robin, M. T. (n.d.)
Robin, M. T. (1987)
Robin, M. T. (1989a)
Robin, M. T. (1989b)

Single-author source and multi-author source that share one author. One-author entries are listed first even if the multi-author entries were published earlier.

Dave, S. P., Jr. (2006)
Dave, S. P., Jr., & Glyn, T. L. (2005)

For references with multiple authors that have the same first author but different subsequent authors, alphabetize the entries by the last name of the second author (or third if the first two authors are the same).

APA Citation Examples

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COMMENTS

MLA Works Cited
Formatting the Works Cited page. The Works Cited appears at the end of your paper. The layout is similar to the rest of an MLA format paper: Title the page Works Cited, centered and in plain text (no italics, bold, or underline). Alphabetize the entries by the author's last name.
MLA Works Cited Page: Basic Format
Begin your Works Cited page on a separate page at the end of your research paper. It should have the same one-inch margins and last name, page number header as the rest of your paper. Label the page Works Cited (do not italicize the words Works Cited or put them in quotation marks) and center the words Works Cited at the top of the page.
MLA Citation Guide (9th edition) : Works Cited and Sample Papers
Begin the works cited list on a new page after the text. Name it "Works Cited," and center the section label in bold at the top of the page. Order the reference list alphabetically by author's last name. Double-space the entire list (both within and between entries). Apply a hanging indent of 0.5 in. to each entry.
Formatting the Works Cited Page (MLA)
In the above example, the Works Cited page begins on page 38, which means that the essay concluded on page 37. General format. The Works Cited page should be double-spaced throughout. The first line of each entry should be flush with the left margin; if the entry extends more than one line, ensuing lines should be indented 1/2 inch from the ...
MLA Works Cited: Develop an MLA Works Cited Page!
Only 1 reference = "Work Cited". Multiple references ="Works Cited". Whether you're making an MLA work cited page or an MLA works cited page, here are some general rules to follow: Align the title to the center of the document. Add a one-inch margin below the top edge of the paper.
Works Cited Format
For each of the entries in the list, every line after the first line should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. "Works Cited" should be centered at the top of the page. If you are only citing one source, the page heading should be "Work Cited" instead of "Works Cited.". You can see a sample Works Cited here .
Creating an MLA Works cited page
Title the page Works Cited (not Bibliography), and list only those sources you actually cited in your paper. Continue the page numbering from the body of your paper and make sure that you still have 1-inch margins at the top, bottom, and sides of your page. Double-space the entire list. Indent entries as shown in the models below with what ...
MLA: Works Cited Page
Center the words "Works Cited" at the top of the new page. The page should have your last name and the next page number in the header, as on all the other essay pages. Double space every line—no additional spacing required. Alphabetize entries by authors' last names. If author names are unavailable for an entry, alphabetize by the first ...
How to Cite an Essay in MLA
To cite an essay in MLA style, you need to have basic information including the author(s), the essay title, the book title, editor(s), publication year, publisher, and page numbers. The templates for citations in prose, parenthetical citations, and works-cited-list entries for an essay by multiple authors, and some examples, are given below:
What Is a Works Cited Page?
Leave only one space after punctuation. Center the title Works Cited - do not bold, underline or italicize it. Alphabetize the Works Cited page by using the first word of the entry. Skip articles "a," "an," and "the.". Use hanging indents for each entry. The second, third, fourth (or more) lines should be indented ½ inch from the ...
MLA Works Cited
MLA Works Cited refers to t he MLA's (Modern Language Association's) guidelines for formatting a list of references at the end of a text that cites sources. The MLA Handbook, 9th Edition requires authors to provide a list of references — aka a works cited page — at the end of their texts. to acknowledge the people and ideas that have ...
MLA Works Cited Page Formatting
Page numbers: Just as the rest of your paper, the top of the page should retain the right-justified header with your last name and the page number. Title: On the first line, the title of the page—"Works Cited"—should appear centered, and not italicized or bolded. Spacing: Like the rest of your paper, this page should be double-spaced ...
Formatting the Works Cited Page (MLA)
In the above example, the works cited page begins on page 38, which means that the essay concluded on page 37. General format. The works cited page should be double-spaced throughout. The first line of each entry should be flush with the left margin; if the entry extends more than one line, ensuing lines should be indented 1/2 inch from the ...
ENGL001: Formatting the Works Cited Page (MLA)
In the above example, the works cited page begins on page 38, which means that the essay concluded on page 37. General Format. The works cited page should be double-spaced throughout. The first line of each entry should be flush with the left margin; if the entry extends more than one line, ensuing lines should be indented 1/2 inch from the ...
Works Cited Page
The Works Cited page, alphabetized by author's last name, should appear at the end of your essay. It provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any sources you cite in the essay. Each source you cite in the essay must appear in your Works Cited list. Authors' names are inverted (last name first); if a work has more ...
MLA FORMAT: WORKS CITED PAGE
Put the Works Cited page on its own page at the end of your document. Keep your last name and page number in the header as you do on the rest of your document in MLA format. Keep margins the same as the rest of your document at 1". Space your text the same as the rest of your document, whether single or double-spacing.
6 In-text Citations & Works Cited Pages ~ MLA Format
This means two things: Your in-text citations must always have a matching entry on your Works Cited page. That way, your readers can find more information about your source, so they can investigate more about your sources' ideas on their own. At HCC, most ENGL 121 instructors require MLA format for students' essays.
MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics
MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. This resource, updated to reflect the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page.
APA Reference Page: How to Format Works Cited
3.7. ( 155) In APA, the "Works Cited" page is referred to as a "Reference List" or "Reference Page." "Bibliography" also may be used interchangeably, even though there are some differences between the two. If you are at the point in your article or research paper where you are looking up APA bibliography format, then ...
Setting Up the APA Reference Page
On the APA reference page, you list all the sources that you've cited in your paper. The list starts on a new page right after the body text. Follow these instructions to set up your APA reference page: Place the section label "References" in bold at the top of the page (centered). Order the references alphabetically. Double-space all text.

MLA Citation Guide (9th edition) : Works Cited and Sample Papers

Header Image

Quick Rules for an MLA Works Cited List

Sample Paper with Works Cited List

MLA Title Pages

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What is a Works Cited list?

Building your Works Cited list

PDFs for This Section

Creating an MLA Works cited page

Introduction to the 8th Edition

Elements of a Works Cited Entry

Example of a Works Cited Entry

A Few Notes

Works Cited page entry: Article

Article from a scholarly journal, with multiple authors, without page numbers, read online from the journal’s website

Article from a scholarly journal, no page numbers, read through an online database

Article from a scholarly journal, with page numbers, read through an online database

Article from a scholarly journal, by three or more authors, print version

Article from a webtext, published in a web-only scholarly journal

Article from a magazine, print version

Article from a magazine, read through an online database

Article from a newspaper, read through an online database

Works Cited page entry: Short Story

Works Cited page entry: Book

Book, written by more than one author, print version

Book, an edited anthology, print version

Book, edited, revised edition, print version

A play in an edited collection, print version

Chapter in an edited anthology, print version

Works Cited page entry: Electronic source

Non-periodical web publication, with no author and no date of publication

Non–periodical scholarly web publication, no date of publication

Non–periodical web publication, web publication, corporate author

E-mail message

Works Cited page entry: Government publication, encyclopedia entry

Signed encyclopedia entry

Works Cited page entry: Personal interview, film, tv program, and others

A published interview, read through an online database

Film or DVD

Television broadcast

Media accessed through streaming network

Address, lecture, reading, or conference presentation

Modern Language Association Documentation

MLA Table of Contents

What Is a Works Cited Page?

When Do I Need A Works Cited Page?

Characteristics of a Works Cited Page

General Guidelines for All Entries

Share This Book

Table of Contents

What is MLA Works Cited?

MLA Works Cited vs. MLA In Text Citation

MLA Works Cited Page

MLA Format Citation

Works Cited Rubric

Brevity - Say More with Less

Clarity (in Speech and Writing)

Coherence - How to Achieve Coherence in Writing

Flow - How to Create Flow in Writing

Inclusivity - Inclusive Language

The Elements of Style - The DNA of Powerful Writing

Suggested Edits

Other Topics:

Citation - Definition - Introduction to Citation in Academic & Professional Writing

Collaboration - What is the Role of Collaboration in Academic & Professional Writing?

Information Literacy - Discerning Quality Information from Noise

Rhetoric: Exploring Its Definition and Impact on Modern Communication

The Writing Process - Research on Composing

Writing Studies

Featured Articles

Academic Writing – How to Write for the Academic Community

Professional Writing – How to Write for the Professional World

Authority – How to Establish Credibility in Speech & Writing

MLA Documentation

General format

Single-Authored Book

Book with Multiple Authors

Article or Chapter in an Edited Collection (or Textbook)

Article in a Print Journal