Checklist: Formatting a List of Works Cited

CHECKLIST

Formatting a List of Works Cited

  • Start your list on a separate page after the text of your document and any notes.
  • Continue the consecutive numbering of pages.
  • Center the heading Works Cited (not italicized or in quotation marks) one inch from the top of the page.
  • Begin each entry flush with the left margin, but indent subsequent lines one-half inch. Double-space the entire list.
  • List sources alphabetically by the first word. Start with the author’s name, if available, or the editor’s name. If no author or editor is given, start with the title.
  • List the author’s last name first, followed by a comma and the first name. If a source has multiple authors, subsequent authors’ names appear first name first (see model 2).
  • Capitalize every important word in titles and subtitles.Italicize titles of books and long works, but put titles of shorter works in quotation marks.
  • In general, use a period and a space after each element of the entry; look at the models in this chapter for information on punctuating particular kinds of entries.
  • For a book, list the city of publication (add a country abbreviation for non-U.S. cities that may be unfamiliar). Follow it with a colon and a shortened form of the publisher’s name—omit Co. or Inc., shorten names such as Simon & Schuster to Simon, and abbreviate University Press to UP.
  • List dates of periodical publication or of access to electronic items in day, month, year order, and abbreviate months except for May, June, and July.
  • Give a medium, such as Print or Web, for each entry.
  • List inclusive page numbers for a part of a larger work.