MLA-4: Documenting sources

MLA-4Documenting sources

MORE HELP IN YOUR HANDBOOK

A works cited list includes all the sources cited in the text of a paper.

  • MLA works cited list: MLA-4b
  • Preparing the list of works cited: MLA-5a
  • Sample lists of works cited: pages A4-h, MLA-5b

In English and other humanities classes, you may be asked to use the MLA (Modern Language Association) system for documenting sources, which is set forth in the MLA Handbook, 8th edition (MLA, 2016).

MLA recommends in-text citations that refer readers to a list of works cited. A typical in-text citation names the author of the source, often in a signal phrase, and gives a page number in parentheses. At the end of the paper, the list of works cited provides publication information about the source; the list is alphabetized by authors’ last names (or by titles for works without authors). There is a direct connection between the in-text citation and the alphabetical listing. In the following example, that connection is highlighted in orange.

in-text citation

Bioethicist David Resnik emphasizes that such policies, despite their potential to make our society healthier, “open the door to excessive government control over food, which could restrict dietary choices, interfere with cultural, ethnic, and religious traditions, and exacerbate socioeconomic inequalities” (31).

entry in the list of works cited

Resnik, David. “Trans Fat Bans and Human Freedom.” American Journal of Bioethics, vol. 10, no. 3, Mar. 2010, pp. 27-32.

For a list of works cited that includes this entry, see MLA-5b.

Directory to MLA in-text citation models

General guidelines for the MLA works cited list