theguide11e

Directory to Works-Cited-List Models

Author Listings

One author

Two or three authors

Four or more authors

Unknown author

Corporation, organization, or government agency as author

Two or more works by the same author

Books (Print, Electronic, Database)

Basic format

Anthology or edited collection

Work in an anthology or edited collection

Introduction, preface, foreword, or afterword

Translation

Graphic narrative

Religious work

Multivolume work

Later edition of a book

Republished book

Title within a title

Book in a series

Dictionary entry or article in another reference book

Government document

Published proceedings of a conference

Pamphlet or brochure

Doctoral dissertation

Articles (Print, Online, Database)

From a scholarly journal

From a newspaper

From a magazine

Editorial or letter to the editor

Review

Multimedia Sources (Live, Print, Electronic, Database)

Lecture or public address

Letter

Map or chart

Cartoon or comic strip

Work of art

Musical composition

Performance

Television, radio program, or podcast

Film

Online video

Music recording

Interview

Other Electronic Sources

Web page or other document on a Web site

Entire Web site or online scholarly project

Book or a short work in an online scholarly project

Blog

Wiki article

Discussion group or newsgroup posting

E-mail message

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Format your list of works cited.

In your MLA-style research paper, every source you cite must have a corresponding entry in the list of works cited, and every entry in your list of works cited must correspond to at least one citation in your research project.

Follow these rules when formatting your list of works cited in MLA style:

On a new page, type “Works Cited” (centered), and double-space the whole works-cited list.
Alphabetize entries by the first word in the citation (usually the first author’s last name, or the title if the author is unknown, ignoring A, An, or The).
Use a “hanging indent” for all entries: Do not indent the first line, but indent second and subsequent lines of the entry by half an inch.
Abbreviate the names of university presses, shortening the words University and Press to U and P. Spell out other publishers’ names in full, omitting only initial articles like The and corporate-sounding words or abbreviations (Limited, Co.). Do include words like Press or Books. If a work has more than one publisher, separate them with a slash, like so: University of Texas / International Digital Media Arts.

Cite all sources, regardless of medium.

Nowadays, many print sources are also available in an electronic format, either online or through a database your school’s library subscribes to. For most online versions of a source, follow the form of the corresponding print version. For example, if you are citing an article from an online periodical, put the article title in quotation marks and italicize the name of the periodical.

For sources accessed through a database, include the following:

Title of the database (in italics)
Location where you accessed the source. Ideally this is a DOI, or digital object identifier, but when one is not available, provide a URL (if available, use a permalink).

For other online sources, include the following:

Title of the Web site (in italics)
Version or edition used (if any)
Publisher of the site, but only if distinct from its title
Date of publication or last update; if not available, provide the date you last accessed the source at the end of the entry.
DOI if one is available. If not, a URL (ideally a permalink).

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Some content on the Web frequently changes or disappears, and because the same information that traditionally published books and periodicals provide is not always included for Web sources, giving your reader a complete citation is not always possible. Always keep your goal in mind: to provide enough information so that your reader can track down the source. If you cannot find all of the information listed here, include what you can.