Start your works-cited list on a new page following the last page of your paper. Center the heading Works Cited at the top of the page. List entries alphabetically by the author’s last name—or by the first word (other than an article such as a or the) of the title if an author is not given. Double-space within and between entries. Each entry should begin at the left-hand margin, with subsequent lines indented one-half inch. (This format can be automatically generated if you use the “hanging indent” option in your word processing program.)

Here are some additional guidelines:

When you have completed your list, double-check your parenthetical references to make sure they match the items in your works-cited list.

The following models illustrate the most common kinds of references.

Periodicals

For periodical articles found online or through a full-text database, see Internet Sources below.

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Guidelines for Citing a Periodical Article

To cite a print article in MLA style, include the following:

Journals

Journals are periodicals published for experts in a field. Cite both volume number and issue number when available. In cases where only an issue number is available, cite just the issue.

Magazines

Magazines are periodicals published for a general audience. Do not include a magazine’s volume and issue number, but do include the date (day, month, and year for weekly publications; month and year for those published less frequently). If pages are not consecutive, give the first page followed by a plus sign.

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Newspapers

Include both the letter of the section and the page number. If an article continues on to a nonconsecutive page, give just the first page followed by a plus sign.

Editorial, Letter to the Editor, or Review

Include authors and titles where available as well as a descriptive label—for example Editorial, Letter, or Review. In the case of reviews, include the title and author of the work that is reviewed.

Political Cartoon or Comic Strip

Include the author and title (if available) of the cartoon or comic strip, followed by a descriptive label and publication information.

Advertisement

Cite the name of the product or company that is advertised, followed by the descriptive label and the publication information.

Books

Guidelines for Citing a Book

To cite a book in MLA style, include the following:

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Book by One Author

List the author, last name first, followed by the title (italicized). Include the full publisher’s name, abbreviated when called for, and end with the date of publication.

Book by Two Authors

List authors in the order in which they are listed on the book’s title page. List the first author with last name first, but list the second author with first name first.

Book by Three or More Authors

List only the first author, last name first, followed by the abbreviation et al. (“and others”).

Two or More Books by the Same Author

List the entries alphabetically by title. In each entry after the first, substitute three unspaced hyphens, followed by a period, for the author’s last name.

Edited Book

If your focus is on the author, include the name of the editor (or editors) after the title, preceded by the abbreviation Ed. (for “edited by”). If the book is an edited collection of essays by different authors, treat it as an anthology.

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If your focus is on the editor, begin with the editor’s name followed by editor or editors.

Translation

Revised Edition

Anthology

Include the name of the editor (or editors) of the anthology, followed by editor or editors.

Work in an Anthology

More Than One Work in the Same Anthology

To avoid repeating the entire anthology entry, you may provide a cross-reference from individual essays to the entire anthology.

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Section or Chapter of a Book

Introduction, Preface, Foreword, or Afterword

Multivolume Work

Article in a Reference Work

A reference work is a book (print or electronic)—such as an encyclopedia, a dictionary, a bibliography, an almanac, or a handbook—that contains factual information. If the entries in a reference work are arranged alphabetically, do not include page numbers or volumes. When citing a familiar encyclopedia that publishes new editions regularly, include only the edition (if given) and year. If the article’s author is given, include that as well. For less well-known reference encyclopedias, include publication information.

Audiovisual Sources

TV Show

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Film

Internet Sources

Citing Internet sources can be problematic because they sometimes lack basic information—for example, dates of publication or authors’ names. When citing Internet sources, include all the information you can find.

For particularly long URLs (three lines or greater), you may use the URL for the main website on which you found the content instead of the URL for the specific page which you are referencing. However, your instructor may not require a URL, so be sure to confirm their preference. It is always a good idea, however, to keep a record of the URLs for yourself in case you need to revisit your source.

If you type a URL into a works-cited entry that carries over to the next line, make sure that you break it at an appropriate place—for example, after a slash or a hyphen. If you paste a URL into a works-cited entry, Word will do this for you.

Guidelines for Citing a Website

To cite a website in MLA style, follow these guidelines:

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Entire Website

Include (if available) the author, title of the website, date of last update, and the URL.

Document within a Website

Online Video

Blog Posts and Blog Comments

Tweet

Begin with the author’s real name, followed by the user name in parentheses. Include only the user name if the real name is unknown. Next, include the entire text of the tweet in quotation marks, followed by the date, the time, and the medium (Tweet).

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Podcast

Online Book

Part of an Online Book

Article in an Online Scholarly Journal

Magazine Article Accessed Online

Newspaper Article Accessed Online

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Article from a Library Database

Legal Case

When citing a court opinion, provide the plaintiffs’ names, the legal citation (volume, abbreviation of the source, page numbers), the name of the court, the year of the decision, and any relevant information about where you found it. In many cases, online versions of the opinions will include only the first page; in those cases, supply that page number followed by a plus sign.

Government Document

Include the government agency or body issuing the document, followed by publication information.

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