assignment 29 works cited

IB Theatre - Director's Notebook (last assessment 2023): MLA Works Cited & In-Text Citations

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MLA In-Text Citations

General Guidelines

Basic in-text citation rules.

In MLA style, referring to the works of others in your text is done by using what is known as parenthetical citation. This method involves placing relevant source information in parentheses after a quote or a paraphrase.

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:

Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).  Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).

Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).

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. London: Oxford UP, 1967. Print.

See Purdue OWL: MLA Formatting and Style Guide -  MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics   for detailed explanations and examples of in-text citations from different sources.

Quick MLA In-Text Citation Guide

Mla parenthetical (in-text) citation quick guide, place the parenthetical citation where there is a pause in the sentence - normally before the end of a sentence or a comma. a period comes at the end of each citation., extra help with citing literary, classic and religious works, citing literary, classic, and religious works.

For works such as novels, plays and other classic works , it’s helpful to provide further identifying information along with the page information. Do this by adding a semicolon and then the identifying information following the page number .

(Tolstoy 5; pt. 2, ch. 3).

When citing c lassic poems and plays , replace page numbers with division numbers (part, book, scene, act).  The example below refers to book 10 line 5. Bear in mind the divisions and the way they are written can vary by source.

Fear plays a role in Homer’s Odyssey (10.5).

The titles of books in the Bible and other famous literary works should be abbreviated.

(New Jerusalem Bible, Gen. 2.6-9).

Extra Help with Placing Parenthetical Citations in Direct Quotations

Placing parenthetical citations in direct quotations.

When  directly quoting  a source, place the parenthetical citation  after the quote.

Sanders explains that economic woes are due to “the mortgage crisis and poor risk assessment” (20).  

Place the parenthetical citation at the end of an indented quotation.  There should be no period after the parenthetical citation.  The last sentence of the indented quote should look like:

It’s unclear whether multilateral tariffs are disruptive to bilateral talks. (Evert 30-31)

Extra Help with Long Quotes

Long quotes.

When quoting four lines or more,  indent every line you are quoting by one inch  (or 10 spaces) and  do not use quotes.  For example:

The use of nuclear weapons in today’s society is strikingly alarming. Though the United States is the only country to employ it in the past, they are at the same time the country that condemns its use the most. While this may seem hypocritical, is it the most proper action for the United States to make as the global leader. (Taparia 9)

Acknowledgment

The MLA Parenthetical (In-text) Citation Quick Guide  and Extra Help boxes were based on the ones found in the   I.B. Theatre - Director's Notebook guide  created by Nancy O'Donnell, School Library Media Specialist, for Kenmore West High School Library in Kenmore, New York.

How Are Those Citations & Works Cited Coming Along?

Any information you use that comes from another source must be cited both in  and  after the paper. This means only including a works cited page at the end of the paper is not sufficient.  You must also include parenthetical, or in-text, citations after each piece of information you reference.

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Table of Contents

Ai, ethics & human agency, collaboration, information literacy, writing process, mla works cited.

• © 2023 by Barbara McLain - The Out-of-Door Academy , Joseph M. Moxley - University of South Florida

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.

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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Harvard Guide to Using Sources 

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• 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. 

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• Examples of Commonly Cited Sources
• Frequently Asked Questions about Citing Sources in MLA Format
• Sample Works Cited List

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Referencing guide: works cited - more examples.

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Works Cited

• Works Cited - Author
• Works Cited - Title
• Works cited - Title of Container
• Works Cited - Other Contributors
• Works Cited - Version & Number
• Works Cited - Publisher & Publication Date
• Works Cited - Location
• Works Cited - Optional Elements
• Works Cited - More Examples
• Simplified Author-date & Writing guide

Works Cited is a list of sources from which you have borrowed information or ideas. You need to acknowledge – or cite – all your sources.

Below are some examples of different types of works formatted according to the MLA style. Omit any elements that are not applicable.

Author. Title of source .  Title of container , Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.

Style Manual

If you cannot find an example for what you are looking for here, consult the MLA website , or the MLA Handbook (below)  

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MLA Citation Guide (9th Edition): Works Cited List & Sample Paper

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Quick rules for an mla works cited list, sample paper & works cited list, end-of-paper checklist.

Your research paper ends with a list of all the sources cited in the text of the paper. This is called a Works Cited list.

See an example in the "Sample Paper & Works Cited List" box on this page.

Here are eight quick rules for this list:

• Start a new page for your Works Cited list (e.g., if your paper is 4 pages long, start your Works Cited list on page 5).
• Centre the title, Works Cited, at the top of the page and do not bold or underline it. Look for the alignment option in Word.
• Double-space the list.
• Start the first line of each citation at the left margin; each subsequent line should be indented (also known as a "hanging indent").
• Put your list in alphabetical order. Alphabetize the list by the first word in the citation. In most cases, the first word will be the author’s last name. Where the author is unknown, alphabetize by the first word in the title, ignoring the words a, an, the.
• For each author, give the last name followed by a comma and the first name followed by a period.
• Italicize the titles of full works: books, audiovisual material,websites.
• Do not italicize titles of parts of works, such as: articles from newspapers, magazines, or journals / essays, poems, short stories or chapter titles from a book / chapters or sections of an Internet document. Instead, use quotation marks.
• MLA Sample Paper Template

This sample paper includes a sample assignment page with example of how to include your student information and a Works Cited list in MLA format.

It can be used as a template to set up your assignment.

If you are adding an appendix to your paper there are a few rules to follow that comply with MLA guidelines:

• The Appendix appears before the Works Cited list
• If you have more than one appendix you would name the first appendix Appendix A, the second Appendix B, etc.
• The appendices should appear in the order that the information is mentioned in your essay
• Each appendix begins on a new page
• End of Paper Checklist (MLA)

Finished your assignment? Use this checklist to be sure you haven't missed any information needed for MLA style.

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Generate formatted bibliographies, citations, and works cited automatically

What is mybib.

MyBib is a free bibliography and citation generator that makes accurate citations for you to copy straight into your academic assignments and papers.

If you're a student, academic, or teacher, and you're tired of the other bibliography and citation tools out there, then you're going to love MyBib. MyBib creates accurate citations automatically for books, journals, websites, and videos just by searching for a title or identifier (such as a URL or ISBN).

Plus, we're using the same citation formatting engine as professional-grade reference managers such as Zotero and Mendeley, so you can be sure our bibliographies are perfectly accurate in over 9,000 styles -- including APA 6 & 7, Chicago, Harvard, and MLA 7 & 8.

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• Works Cited Practice
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Creating a Citation for a Journal Article

1) gather core elements information, 2) make decisions, 3) create your citation, 4) practice with an example, mla style center works cited quick guide.

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You can find the core element information you need for most types of sources in the source's "front matter".

What is your use of this source?

• Are you citing a portion of a work, like a chapter or preface?
• Are you citing a film because of a discussion within the text of your paper of the film's director, writer, or actor?

Are optional elements needed?

• Is the original publication date relevant?
• Is the publishing location important to your use of the source?
• Is your source a unique kind of source like a transcript or speech?

Are there containers?

• A source can have one or two containers.
• Some sources are complete in themselves. They are not part of a larger container. A print novel is an example of a source that stands alone and is not part of any container. It is its own container so the title of the novel is placed in Core Element 3: Title of source, is italicized, and followed by a period.
• If the work you are citing is part of a larger whole, like a chapter in a book, then the book containing the chapter is a container. The chapter title is Core Element 2: Title of source and the book is Core Element 3: Title of container. The book chapter title is in quotation marks and followed by a period. The book title is italicized and followed by a comma.
• Some sources are part of two containers. If you are citing a journal article you obtained through a database, for example, you will need to use two containers in your citation. The article is contained in the journal, making the journal the first container. The journal is contained in a database, making the database the second container. List the pertinent core elements for the first container (e.g. journal) followed by the pertinent core elements from title of container through to location again for the second container (e.g. database). 

Now create your citation with the order of the core elements and correct punctuation and italics in mind.

• "Title of source."

[First Container]

• Title of container,  [if there is no Title of Source, use a period after the Title of container]
• Other contributors,
• Publication date,

[Second Container, if applicable]

• Title of Container,

Capitalize the first word in the citation and any words directly after periods. End the Works Cited entry with a period, regardless of which Core Element comes last in your individual citation.

Journal article from a Database

The MLA Style Center walks writers through the creation of Works Cited entries. View their quick guide  and download their practice template .

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Citation Basics

General format for works cited, general format for in-text citations, multiple authors: works cited and in-text citations, corporate author, open license statement.

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When you use someone else's words or ideas in an assignment, you must cite them. By citing them, you are acknowledging that the words/ideas are not your own.

This will make it clear to your instructor what ideas are your own, and what ideas belong to someone else.

It's perfectly okay to use someone else's ideas, as long as you cite them!

There are  TWO  elements to a citation:

In-text citation : These appear in your paper, and indicate to your reader that the information immediately preceding the citation came from another source.

Works Cited : This is the list of sources at the end of your paper that list all of the sources you used in your assignment.

A citation is not complete unless both elements -- an in-text citation, and corresponding Works Cited entry -- are present.

Note : You only have to cite sources that you used in your assignment. If you read an article and it was helpful, but you did not use it in your assignment, do not include it in your Works Cited.

Remember that the specific format for Works Cited varies depending on the type of source. You may omit any element that does not apply, except for title of source:

Works Cited General Format

Author Surname, Author Given Name, Author Initial(s) (if present). Title of Source. Title of Container, Contributor, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.

Hong, Cathy Park. Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning.  One World, 2020.

When a source is part of a larger whole, for example a chapter in a book or an article in a journal, the larger whole is the container.

In the Works Cited list, the part (article, section, chapter or web page) is listed in quotation marks. The container or whole (journal, book, entire website) is listed in italics.

Container General Format

Author, Title of Source. Title of Container, Contributor, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication Date, Location.

Eliot, T.S. "Rum Tum Tugger."  Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats , illustrated by Edward Gorey, Harcourt Brace, 1982, pp. 13-16.

In-Text Citation General Format

When citing a source, include the author(s) surname in your in-text citation.

(Author Surname).

(Rosenberg).

Include a page number if a specific part of the work is quoted or paraphrased.

(Author Surname page number).

(Gupta 12).

If your source does not have page numbers, but uses another label -- such as paragraphs (par. or pars.) section (sec. or secs.), lines (line or lines) chapters (ch. or chs.), or other indicators of place in the work, include them in your in-text citation. Only use numbers that are used by your source!

(Author Surname label)

1 Author For sources with only one author, begin the Works Cited entry with the author's last name, followed by a comma and the rest of the name as presented in the work.

Jones, John R.E.  Fish and River Pollution.  Butterworth, 1964.

Follow this example for in-text citations:

2 Authors For sources with two authors, include them in the order in which they appear on the source. Begin the Works Cited entry with the first author's last name, followed by a comma and the rest of the name. Follow the first author's name with the word and then the second author's name in the normal order (first name initials last name).

Jones, Thomas B. and Nenad G. Nenadic.  Electromechanics and MEMS . Cambridge UP, 2013.

In-text citations include both author last names and the page number (if applicable):

3 or more Authors For sources with 3 or more authors, include the first author followed by a comma and et al. (et al. replaces the additional authors):

Friedman, Marilyn M., et al. Family Nursing: Research, Theory, & Practice.  Prentice Hall, 2003.

In-text citations include only the first author's last name followed by et al. and the page number (if applicable):

When a corporate entity is the author of a source, use the corporate name:

Public Health Agency of Canada. Curbing Childhood Obesity: A Federal, Provincial and Territorial Framework for Action to Promote Healthy Weights. Government of Canada, 2012, www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/hp-ps/hl-mvs/framework-cadre/pdf/ccofw-eng.pdf.

When a source is published by an organization that is also it's author, begin the entry with the title, skipping the author element, and list the organization only as publisher:

Bridging Learning Gaps for Youth: UNESCO Regional Education Response Strategy for the Syria Crisis (2016-2017).  UNESCO, 2016, unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002443/244333e.pdf.

MLA Style  by Centennial College Libraries is licensed under a CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license unless otherwise stated.

How you specify a source's location depends on the format of the source. 

Print Sources

A range of page numbers preceded by pp. specifies the location of a chapter, section or article in a book or journal.

Online Sources

If available, use a DOI number or permalink  for online sources. Otherwise, copy the URL from the browser.

For eBooks and articles from library databases, include the database or platform name in italics.

Punctuation & In-text Citations

Citations are part of your sentence structure, and closing punctuation follows the citation .

Citations mid-sentence

When a quote appears in the middle of a sentence, follow the quote with the in-text citation, then complete your sentence immediately following the citation.

Citations at the end of a sentence

When a quote appears at the end of your sentence, close the quote with double quotation marks and follow immediately with the in-text citation. Follow the citation with the closing punctuation for the sentence.

Access Date

Include an access date if the work lacks a publication date , or if you suspect the work has been altered or removed.

If you choose to include an access date, it appears after the location information (URL or DOI).

Publication Date

Write the date as it is presented on your source in the format Day Month Year, Time. Use as much information as is available and relevant to the retrieval of the source.

For example, year of publication is sufficient for books, while Day Month and Year is required for daily newspapers.

Months longer than 4 letters should be abbreviated -- for example, November becomes Nov.

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Citation: MLA Style 9th ed.

• Formatting an MLA Style Paper
• In-Text Citations

Formatting Rules for the Works Cited Page

Core Elements of MLA 9 : Citation Building Basics

Print source citation examples in mla 9, examples of electronic source citations, electronic source citation tips, personal interview citation in mla 9, mla handout.

• MLA Handout This handout has examples of in-text and Works cited entries. Also contains formatting quick tips.

Abbreviated Months

On your Works Cited list, abbreviate months as follows:

January= Jan.

February= Feb.

March= Mar.

April= Apr.

August= Aug.

September= Sept.

October= Oct.

November= Nov.

December= Dec.

• The words Works Cited should be centered at the top of the page
• Double space all citations
• 12 pt. Times New Roman or Calibri are the preferred fonts
• this means that each line after the first line of your citation should be indented by .5 inches. (see a sample at the link below)
• List citations in alphabetical order by the first word of each citation
• Sample Works Cited Page This is a link to a sample Works Cited page from the OWL (Online Writing Lab) at Purdue University. The Works Cited page, found at the end of a paper, is where you provide citations for the sources for information you used in your paper.

Citation Core Elements

(1) Identify elements in your source

(2) Build a citation in the order below.

     U se the punctuation mark listed for each element. If it is the final element, it should end with a period.

(3) Leave out any elements that are not relevant to the work being cited.

*A DOI  is a digital object identifier. Online journal articles are often given a DOI, consisting of a series of digits and

letters. The DOI should always be used if there is one, instead of the URL-see the example in the location core element.

Order of Core Elements:

• Book-Dictionary
• Articles in Print Publications

Printed Book Format:

Author Last Name, First Name. Book Title (in italics). Publisher, Publication Year.

For books with three or more authors cite the first author’s last name, then first name and follow it with a comma and et al.

Book by One Author

Heos, Bridget. Vampires in Literature . The Rosen Publishing Group, 2012.

Book by Two Authors

Lyons, Tony, and Kim Stagliano. 101 Tips for the Parents of Girls with Autism . Skyhorse Publishing, 2015.

Book by Three or More Authors

Ginsberg, Benjamin, et al. We the People: An Introduction to American Politics . 9th Georgia Essentials Ed., W.W. Norton, 2013.

Literature in a Collection e.g. Short Story, Poem, etc. with Authors of Each Section/Chapter of the Book plus an Editor (include page numbers of the work or chapter) 

O’Connor, Flannery. “A Good Man is Hard to Find.”  The Norton Introduction to Literature , edited by   Kelly J. Mays,  Portable 11 th  ed.,

W. W. Norton, 2014, pp. 404-418.

Dictionary Entry-Unknown Author:

"Title of Entry." Title of Dictionary in Italics, edited by Editor's First Name, Last Name, Edition if given and not first edition, Publisher Name, Year of

             Publication, pp. First Page-Last Page.

"Diversity." Concise Oxford American Dictionary , Oxford University Press, 2014, p.262.

Academic (Peer-Reviewed) Journal Article Citation Format:

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of the Article." Journal Title (in italics), vol.#, no. #, Day Month Year, pp.xx-xx.

• If the journal issue is numbered, insert the abbreviated labels for volume: vol. and number: no. with the numbers listed.

Caponi, Vincenzo,  and Miana Plesca.  "Empirical Characteristics of Legal And Illegal Immigrants in the USA."  Journal of Population

 Economics,   Oct. 2014, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 923-960.

Three or More Authors :

Karwowksi, Mateusz P., et al. "Zika Virus Disease: A CDC Update for Pediatric Health Care Providers." Pediatrics , vol. 137, no.5,

May 2016, pp.1-13.

• Article from GALILEO
• Webpage from a Website
• Article from a Library Online Database
• Online Videos (YouTube)
• Generative AI
• Dictionary Entry or Encyclopedia Article
• Electronic Book
• Film or Movie
• Television Show

Article Citation in an Academic (Peer-Reviewed) Journal, Periodical, or Newspaper in Galileo:

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of the Article." Title of Journal or Periodical or Newspaper in italics , vol.#, no. x, Day Month Year,

 pp.xx-xx. Name of Database in italics , DOI* or URL (Permalink*, if available).

• The location of an online work is typically indicated by a URL or DOI. You should always use the DOI* if it is included with the article.
• If there is no DOI for a journal article, include the permalink*.
• If there is no permalink given use whatever URL is present .
• If the publication date includes a season, do not capitalize it. Example: fall 2021
• When you use the URL, copy it in full but omit http:// or https:// . Do include www if that is part of the URL.
• When an article has 3 or more authors, reverse the first of the names, last name, first name, and follow it with a comma and et al.     e.g.  Brown, Charles, et al.   See the example below for a full citation.

* What's a DOI ?   A DOI is a digital object identifier. Online academic journal articles are often give a DOI, consisting of a series of digits and  numbers. 

* What's a permalink ?  *Permalinks (permanent URLs) are often found for articles in databases. The permalink is a shortened, stable version of a URL and can usually be found in the list of tools to the right of an article when it is pulled up.

Article with No DOI:

Flora, Joseph M.  "Desire, Faith, and Flannery O'Connor." Mississippi Quarterly ,  vol. 67, no.2, spring 2014, pp. 327-333. 

            Academic Search Complete , eds.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=d139efe4-90b5-413a-862c-a20e46538cf8% -.

           40sessionmgr4010&vid=21&hid=4108&bdata=#AN=114322313&db=a9h .

Article with a DOI and 3 or More Authors :

Becker, Nir, et al. "Consumers’ Preferences Toward Organic Tomatoes: A Combined Two-Phase Revealed-Stated Approach."

         Journal Of International Food & Agribusiness Marketing ,  vol. 28, no.1 , Jan. 2016, pp. 1-17. Academic Search Complete ,

         doi:10.1080/08974438.2014.940.

Newspaper Article in a Daily Newspaper with no Page Numbers or DOI, but Permalink is included :

Laufer, Peter. "Five Myths about Organic Food." The Washington Post ,  20 Jun. 2014. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

       proxygsu-cht2.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

       direct=true&db=edsgov&AN=edsgcl.372137072&site=eds-live&scope=site

Tips for citing a Webpage :

• Include an author, if available.
• Include the article name, often the website page, in quotation marks.
•  A website or another work may be "created by a corporate author-an institution, an association, a government agency, or another kind or organization.
• When an entry starts with the government agency as the author, begin the entry with the name of the government, followed by a comma and the name of the agency." (MLA Handbook 104)
• The publisher's name..and publishing date... can often be found in a copyright notice at the bottom of the home page or on a page that gives information about the site." (MLA Handbook 41)
• If the publisher's name is the same as the website name, only list it once.
• Remember to omit the http:// when listing the website.
• Including the date of access is now Optional: Since online works at websites do change, the date of access may be important to include. "The date of access is especially crucial if the source provides no date of publication."(MLA Handbook 53) Check with your instructor to see if they want you to include the date of access .

Webpage Citation Format :

Author Last Name, First Name (if different from organization/company responsible for the site). "Title of the Article/Web Page."

Website Name in Italics , Publisher (Name of Organization or Company Responsible for Website), Day Month Year of

Publication or Last Update, URL.

With date website was accessed:

Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of the Web Page." Website Name in Italics, Publisher, Day Month Year of Pubication or Last Update, URL.

       Accessed Day Month Year.

Website with a Publisher

Mayo Clinic Staff. "Zika Virus Disease." Mayo Clinic ,  Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 3 Aug. 2016,

www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/zika-virus/home/ovc-20189269.  

Online Government Website with Different Author and Website Name  Example: Occupational Outlook Handbook

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. "Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers." Occupational Outlook Handbook , 

30 Jan. 2018, www.bls.gov/ooh/production/welders-cutters-solderers-and-brazers.htm. Accessed 19 March 2018.

Government Agency Website with the Same Publisher, Author, and Website Name

"Safe and Drug-Free Schools." Georgia Department of Education ,  2015,   www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-    

         Assessment/Curriculum-and-Instruction/Pages/Safe-and-Drug-Free-Schools.aspx.

Government Agency with Different Website and Publisher

"Total Water Use." U.S. Geological Survey , U.S. Department of the Interior, 2 May 2016, water.usgs.gov/watuse/wuto.html.

Tips for citing an Article in a Library Database:

• Include the article name in quotation marks.
• Next comes the title of the database in italics.
• Then the publisher's name..and publishing date... can often be found in a copyright notice at the bottom of the page.
• The URL. Remember to omit the http://
• Including the date of access is now optional:  If the online information in the database gets updated and will cahnge over time , th e date of access may be important to include.  Check with your instructor to see if they want you to include the date of access .

Database Article Citation Format :

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of the Article." Title of the Database in Italics , Publisher's Name, Publication Date, URL, Date of Access.

Colgan, Alex. ""Austria: Country Snapshot." Global Road Warrior , World Trade Press, 2017,

www.globalroadwarrior.com/#mode=country&regionId=8&uri=country-content&nid=65&key=snapshot-overview, 13 July 2017.

The general format for citing online videos:

"Title of video."  YouTube,  uploaded by Screen Name, day month year, www.youtube.com/xxxxx.

If the author of the video is not the same as the person who uploaded the video:

Author last name, First Name. "Title of video."  YouTube,  uploaded by Screen Name, day month year, www.youtube.com/xxxxx.

Example of citation with different author and uploader:

Beyoncé. "Sorry."  YouTube , uploaded by BeyFan123, 17 December 2016, www.youtube.com/xxxx.

Example of citation with no known author or same author and uploader:

"Day in the Life."  YouTube , uploaded by janedoe, 19 December 2016, www.youtube.com/xxxx.

Your in-text citation will depend on whether you have the author's last name. Basically, you will want to cite in-text whatever appears first in the citation on your Works Cited page. If you are referencing a specific part of the video, MLA format also requires that you specify the time in the video when that part begins.

In-text citation with author:

(Last name, 00:01:15 - 00:02:00). 

In-text citation with no author or same author and uploader:

("Title of video," 00:01:15 - 00:02:00). 

“Describe the symbolism of the green light in the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald” prompt . ChatGPT , 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.

Note that the title of the entry is the prompt used for the AI search.

The in-text citation would be ("Describe the symbolism").

For more information, visit " How do I cite generative AI in MLA style ?" found on the MLA Style Center website.

Dictionary Entry or Encyclopedia Article from a Library Database-Unknown Author:

"Title of Entry." Title of Encyclopedia or Dictionary in Italics,  Publication or Update Date,   Database Name in Italics,  URL.

"Charles Dickens." Encyclopedia Britannica , 12 Jan. 2018, Britannica Academic ,  academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/Charles-

             Dickens/1083 .

Dictionary Entry or Encyclopedia Article from a Website-Unknown Author:

"Title of Entry." Title of Dictionary or Encyclopedia in Italics , Publication or Update Date, Website Name in Italics,  URL. Accessed Day Month Year (access date is optional).

"Diversity." Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 10 July 2018, Merriam Webster , www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diversity.  

EBook from a Database Citation Format:

Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of the Book in Italics . Publisher, Year. Name of Database in Italics ,  URL-Permalink.

Remember that when you include a URL you do not include the http://

One author :

Figone, Albert J. Cheating the Spread : Gamblers, Point Shavers, and Game Fixers in College Football and Basketball . University of

Illinois Press, 2012. ProQuest ebrary ,   site.ebrary.com/lib/chattcollege/detail.action?docID=10634379 .

Two authors :

Novik, Eric, and Timothy J. Maguire. Methods In Bioengineering : Alternatives To Animal Testing . Artech House, Inc, 2010. eBook

Collection (EBSCOhost), proxygsu-cht2.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

 direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=339510.

Chapter in an EBook:

Phillips, Morrigan. “The Long Memory.”   Octavia's Brood : Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements , edited

by Walidah Imarisha and Adrienne Maree Brown, AK Press, 2015, pp.  46-61. ProQuest ebrary ,

site.ebrary.com/lib/chattcollege/reader.action?docID=11199626&ppg=12.

One Page in an EBook that is not the First Edition :

Kawasaki, Guy. The Art of the Start 2.0: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything . 2nd ed., Penguin, 2015, p.16.

EBSCOhost , search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip, shib&db=nlebk&AN=400668&custid=cht2.

For a Film or Movie that you are Dealing with as a Whole:

Film Title . Directed by [First Name Last Name], performances by [name featured actors], Film Studio,  release year.

     Example :

Pride & Prejudice. Directed by Joe Wright, performances by Kiera Knightly and Matthew Macfadyen, Focus Features, 2005.

When you Watch/Use a Movie from any Streaming Service, including Netflix, Google Play, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc.: 

Film Title . Directed by [First name Last name], performances by [name featured actors], Film Studio,  release year. Streaming Service Name,  URL.

     Example:

Beauty and the Beast . Directed by Bill Condon, performances by Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, and Josh Gad, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2017. Netflix , www.netflix.com/watch/798356483?

To feature a particular performance of an actor or direction by a director, begin the citation with their name, followed by the appropriate title for that person.

     Examples:

Kurosawa, Akira, director. Seven Samurai . Performances by Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, and Keiko Tsushima, Toho Company, 1956.

Craig, Daniel, actor. Knives Out . Directed by Rian Johnson, Lionsgate, 2019.

Online Image Citation (For a Photograph, Painting, or Sculpture) :

Creator's Name. Work of Art in Italics . Date of Creation. The Institution, City where the work is housed. Website or Database in Italics ,

       URL.  Date of Access.

*Remember: do not include the http:// with the URL

Klee, Paul. Twittering Machine . 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Artchive ,

www.artchive.com/artchive/K/klee/twittering_machine.jpg.html. Accessed 7 Sept. 2016.

If a work is found only on the web, then provide the name of the artist if available, the title of the work, and then follow the citation format for a website or database.

Photograph found in a Database with no Author

"Honeysuckle Flowers Open." Britannica ImageQuest , Encyclopedia Britannica,  25 May 2016, 

 quest.eb.com/search/132_1333315/1/132_1333315/cite .

Photograph found on a Website with no Author

"Jamaican National Bird-The Doctor Bird." Jamaica Foundation of Houston ,  www.jamaicafoundationofhouston.org/national-bird/. Accessed 16 Oct. 2017.

Recorded Television Episode:

“Episode Name.” Series N ame , written by [First Name Last Name], directed by [First Name Last Name], Distributor Name, year.

"Encounter at Farpoint."  Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Complete Sixth Season , written by D.C. Fontana and Gene Roddenberry, directed by                     Corey Allen, Paramount, 2016.

Broadcast TV or Radio Program

Begin with the title of the episode in quotation marks. Provide the name of the series or program in italics. Also include the network name, call letters of the station, followed by the city and date of broadcast:

“Episode.” Series/Program Name. Network, Station Call Letters, City, broadcast date.

        Examples:

“The Rising Sea.” Georgia Outdoors . PBS, GPB, Atlanta, 26 June 2019.

“Succession.” The Windsors . CNN, Atlanta, 9 Jan. 2020.

Netflix, Hulu, Google Play, Amazon Prime, etc. (Video streaming Services)

Generally, when citing a specific episode use the Broadcast TV template and add the Streaming Service Name (italicized), URL:

“Top Banana.”  Arrested Development,  season 1, episode 2, Fox, 6 June 2004.  Netflix,  www.netflix.com/watch/70152031.

An Entire TV Series or Season of a TV Series

When citing the entire series of a TV show or a season of a TV show, use the following format:

[Creator’s Last name, First], creator. Title. Production Company, year.

       Example:

Roddenberry, Gene, creator . Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Complete Sixth Season . Paramount, 2016.

A Specific Performance or Aspect of a TV Show

To emphasize a performance by a specific character in a particular episode:

"Encounter at Farpoint."  Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Complete Sixth Season , written by D.C. Fontana and Gene Roddenberry,

             performance by Patrick Stewart, directed by Corey Allen, Paramount, 2016.

Performance of a particular character through an entire series:

Stewart, Patrick, performer.  Star Trek: The Next Generation. Paramount, 1987-1994.

From the OWL at Purdue:

• "Include a URL or web address to help readers locate your sources.
• Since web addresses change often MLA encourages the use of citing containers such as YouTube, a GALILEO database, etc. in order to easily access and verify sources.
• MLA only requires the www. address so eliminate all https:// when citing URLs ."
• Including the date of access is now Optional: Since online works at websites do change, the date of access may be important to include for websites. "The date of access is especially crucial if the source provides no date of publication."(MLA Handbook 53) Check with your instructor to see if they want you to include the date of access.
• A date of access is usually not needed for a journal article, or online article from a database, unless the information from a particular source is likely to change over time.

Personal interviews refer to those interviews that you conduct yourself. List the interview by the name of the interviewee (the person you have interviewed). Include the descriptor Personal interview and the date of the interview.

Last name, First Name of Person Interviewed. Personal interview. Day Month Year.

McDuff, James. Personal interview. 19 March 2017.

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MLA Citation Guide (8th Edition): Works Cited & Paper Format

• Advertisements
• Books, Ebooks, & Pamphlets
• Business Reports from Library Databases
• Class Notes & Presentations
• Wikipedia, Encyclopedias, & Dictionaries
• Government and Legal Documents
• Images, Charts, Graphs, & Tables
• Interviews and Emails (Personal Communications)
• Journal Articles
• Magazine Articles
• Newspaper Articles
• Religious Texts
• Social Media
• Videos & DVDs
• When Creating Digital Assignments
• When Information Is Missing
• When a Work Is Quoted in Another Source
• In-Text Citation
• Works Cited & Paper Format
• Annotated Bibliography
• Permalinks, URLs, & DOIs!
• Conscious Language
• Citation Tools
• EndNote Basic
• Informal Citations

Quick Rules for an MLA Works Cited List

Your research paper ends with a list of all the sources cited in the text of the paper. This is called a Works Cited list.

See examples in the "Sample Paper & Works Cited List" box on this page.

Here are eight quick rules for this list:

• Start a new page for your Works Cited list (e.g., if your paper is 4 pages long, start your Works Cited list on page 5).
• Center the title, Works Cited, at the top of the page and do not bold or underline it.
• Double-space the list.
• Start the first line of each citation at the left margin; indent each subsequent line 0.5 inches (also known as a "hanging indent").
• Put your list in alphabetical order. Alphabetize the list by the first word in the citation. In most cases, the first word will be the author’s last name. Where the author is unknown, alphabetize by the first word in the title, ignoring the words a, an, the.
• For each author, give the last name followed by a comma and the first name followed by a period.
• Italicize the titles of full works: books, audiovisual material, websites.
• Do not italicize titles of parts of works, such as: articles from newspapers, magazines, or journals / essays, poems, short stories or chapter titles from a book / chapters or sections of an Internet document. Instead, use quotation marks.
• End-of-Paper Checklist

Finished your assignment? Use this checklist to be sure you haven't missed any information needed for MLA style.

Sample Paper & Works Cited List

• MLA Sample Paper Template

This sample paper includes a sample assignment page with example of how to include your student information and a Works Cited list in MLA format.

It can be used as a template to set up your assignment.

• MLA Sample Paper (Purdue OWL example)
• MLA Sample Works Cited Page OWL Purdue gives a detailed example of how your Works Cited page should look.

If you are adding an appendix to your paper there are a few rules to follow that comply with MLA guidelines:

• The Appendix appears before the Works Cited list
• If you have more than one appendix you would name the first appendix Appendix A, the second Appendix B, etc.
• The appendices should appear in the order that the information is mentioned in your essay
• Each appendix begins on a new page
• MLA Sample Paper Template - with Appendix
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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

MLA Works Cited Page: Basic Format

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

According to MLA style, you must have a Works Cited page at the end of your research paper. All entries in the Works Cited page must correspond to the works cited in your main text.

Basic rules

• 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.
• Only the title should be centered. The citation entries themselves should be aligned with the left margin.
• Double space all citations, but do not skip spaces between entries.
• Indent the second and subsequent lines of citations by 0.5 inches to create a hanging indent.
• List page numbers of sources efficiently, when needed. If you refer to a journal article that appeared on pages 225 through 250, list the page numbers on your Works Cited page as pp. 225-50 (Note: MLA style dictates that you should omit the first sets of repeated digits. In our example, the digit in the hundreds place is repeated between 2 25 and 2 50, so you omit the 2 from 250 in the citation: pp. 225-50). If the excerpt spans multiple pages, use “pp.”   Note that MLA style uses a hyphen in a span of pages.
• If only one page of a print source is used, mark it with the abbreviation “p.” before the page number (e.g., p. 157). If a span of pages is used, mark it with the abbreviation “pp.” before the page number (e.g., pp. 157-68).
• If you're citing an article or a publication that was originally issued in print form but that you retrieved from an online database, you should type the online database name in italics. You do not need to provide subscription information in addition to the database name.
• For online sources, you should include a location to show readers where you found the source. Many scholarly databases use a DOI (digital object identifier). Use a DOI in your citation if you can; otherwise use a URL. Delete “http://” from URLs. The DOI or URL is usually the last element in a citation and should be followed by a period.
• All works cited entries end with a period.

Additional basic rules new to MLA 2021

New to MLA 2021:

• Apps and databases should be cited only when they are containers of the particular works you are citing, such as when they are the platforms of publication of the works in their entirety, and not an intermediary that redirects your access to a source published somewhere else, such as another platform. For example, the Philosophy Books app should be cited as a container when you use one of its many works, since the app contains them in their entirety. However, a PDF article saved to the Dropbox app is published somewhere else, and so the app should not be cited as a container.
• If it is important that your readers know an author’s/person’s pseudonym, stage-name, or various other names,  then you should generally cite the better-known form of author’s/person’s name. For example, since the author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is better-known by his pseudonym, cite Lewis Carroll opposed to Charles Dodgson (real name).
• For annotated bibliographies , annotations should be appended at the end of a source/entry with one-inch indentations from where the entry begins. Annotations may be written as concise phrases or complete sentences, generally not exceeding one paragraph in length.

Capitalization and punctuation

• Capitalize each word in the titles of articles, books, etc, but do not capitalize articles (the, an), prepositions, or conjunctions unless one is the first word of the title or subtitle: Gone with the Wind, The Art of War, There Is Nothing Left to Lose .
• Use italics (instead of underlining) for titles of larger works (books, magazines) and quotation marks for titles of shorter works (poems, articles)

Listing author names

Entries are listed alphabetically by the author's last name (or, for entire edited collections, editor names). Author names are written with the last name first, then the first name, and then the middle name or middle initial when needed:

Do not  list titles (Dr., Sir, Saint, etc.) or degrees (PhD, MA, DDS, etc.) with names. A book listing an author named "John Bigbrain, PhD" appears simply as "Bigbrain, John." Do, however, include suffixes like "Jr." or "II." Putting it all together, a work by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would be cited as "King, Martin Luther, Jr." Here the suffix following the first or middle name and a comma.

More than one work by an author

If you have cited more than one work by a particular author, order the entries alphabetically by title, and use three hyphens in place of the author's name for every entry after the first:

Burke, Kenneth. A Grammar of Motives . [...]

---. A Rhetoric of Motives . [...]

When an author or collection editor appears both as the sole author of a text and as the first author of a group, list solo-author entries first:

Heller, Steven, ed. The Education of an E-Designer .

Heller, Steven, and Karen Pomeroy. Design Literacy: Understanding Graphic Design.

Work with no known author

Alphabetize works with no known author by their title; use a shortened version of the title in the parenthetical citations in your paper. In this case, Boring Postcards USA has no known author:

Baudrillard, Jean. Simulacra and Simulations.  [...]

Boring Postcards USA  [...]

Burke, Kenneth. A Rhetoric of Motives . [...] 

Work by an author using a pseudonym or stage-name

New to MLA 9th edition, there are now steps to take for citing works by an author or authors using a pseudonym, stage-name, or different name. 

If the person you wish to cite is well-known, cite the better-known form of the name of the author. For example, since Lewis Carroll is  not only a pseudonym of Charles Dodgson , but also the better-known form of the author’s name, cite the former name opposed to the latter. 

If the real name of the author is less well-known than their pseudonym, cite the author’s pseudonym in square brackets following the citation of their real name: “Christie, Agatha [Mary Westmacott].”

Authors who published various works under many names may be cited under a single form of the author’s name. When the form of the name you wish to cite differs from that which appears on the author’s work, include the latter in square brackets following an italicized published as : “Irving, Washington [ published as Knickerbocker, Diedrich].”.

Another acceptable option, in cases where there are only two forms of the author’s name, is to cite both forms of the author’s names as separate entries along with cross-references in square brackets: “Eliot, George [ see also Evans, Mary Anne].”.

Citations - MLA: Formatting - Essay, Works Cited, Appendix, & Sample Paper

• Advertisements
• Books, eBooks, & Pamphlets
• Class Notes & Presentations
• Encyclopedias & Dictionaries (Reference Works)
• Government Documents
• Images, Charts, Graphs, Maps & Tables
• Journal Articles
• Magazine Articles
• Newspaper Articles
• Pesonal Communication (Interviews, Emails, & Telephone)
• Religious Texts
• Social Media
• Videos & DVDs
• When Creating Digital Assignments
• When Information Is Missing
• Works in a Foreign Language
• Works Quoted in Another Source (Secondary Source)
• In-Text Citations - Quotations & Paraphrasing
• Formatting - Essay, Works Cited, Appendix, & Sample Paper
• Annotated Bibliography

On This Page

• Word Document  Formatting

Sample Paper

Works cited.

• Diane Hacker MLA Sample Paper

If you are adding an appendix to your paper there are a few rules to follow that comply with MLA guidelines:

• The Appendix appears  before  the Works Cited list
• If you have more than one appendix you would name the first appendix Appendix A, the second Appendix B, etc.
• The appendices should appear in the order that the information is mentioned in your essay
• Each appendix begins on a new page
• MLA Sample Paper - with Appendix (Purdue OWL example) Note that while this example shows the correct way to format your Appendix, the individual MLA citations are incorrect as they are formatted according to the 7th (not 8th) edition of MLA.

Word Document

• Type using a  word processing  program such as  Microsoft Word
• Double-space
• 8.5" x 11" paper
• 1" margins on all sides
• ​12 pt. Times New Roman font
• Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks (unless otherwise instructed by your instructor).
• Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin, use the Tab key as opposed to pushing the Space Bar.
• Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor may ask that you omit the number on your first page. Always follow your instructor's guidelines.)
• Use italics throughout your essay for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis.
• If you have any endnotes, include them on a separate page before your Works Cited page. Entitle the section Notes (centered, unformatted).

M LA 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.
• Double space  all citations, but do not skip spaces between entries.
• All entries on your Works Cited page must be listed alphabetically by the first component.
• Indent the second and subsequent lines of citations by 0.5 inches to create a  hanging indent .
• If you refer to a journal article that appeared on pages 225 through 250, list them as  225-50.  
• The  URL  should be used by  deleting http:// or https:// .
• Accessed date is optional.

Abbreviations Commonly Used

Placeholders for unknown information like n.d. (“no date”) are no longer used. If facts missing from a work are available in a reliable external resource, they are cited in square brackets (2.6.1). Otherwise, they are simply omitted.

Visit the MLA Style Center for more information:  MLA Style Center

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Citation Manuals

• APA Citations
• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Chapters and Parts of Books
• Unpublished Manuscripts/Informal Publications (i.e. course packets and dissertations)
• MLA Citations
• MLA Works Cited Page
• Chicago Citations
• Chicago Bibliography
• Installation
• How to Gather Citations
• Word Processing with Zotero
• Basic Formatting - Microsoft Word
• Basic Formatting - Google Docs

Works Cited Basic Rules

A works-cited list should be included at the end of your research paper after any endnotes. All entries in the works-cited list must correspond to the works cited in your main text.

• Begin your Works Cited page on a separate page at the end of your research paper. The heading, Works Cited, should be centered one inch from the top of the page. If there is only one work in the list, call it Work Cited.  
• Double-space between the heading and the first entry.
• Each entry should be flush against the left margin.
• For entries that run longer than a sentence, indent the second and subsequent lines of citations by 0.5 inches to create a hanging indent.
• Double-space the entire list.

Image source: MLA Sample Works Cited Page, Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)

One Author:

Last Name, First Name.  Title of Book .  Publisher, Publication Date.

Two Authors:

Last Name, First Name, and First Name Last Name. Title of Work.  Publisher, Publication Date.

More than Two Authors:

Last Name, First Name, et al. Title of Work . Publisher, Publication Date. 

Unknown Author:

Title of Work. Publisher, Publication Date. 

Short Stories

Short Story from Edited Collection:

Last name, First name. “Story Title.”  Book Title , edited by Editor first name Last name, vol, Publisher, Year, pp.

Short Story from Author's Collection:

Last name, First name. “Story Title.”  Book Title , Publisher, Year, pp.

Journal Articles

Journal Article in a Database with DOI

Last Name,  First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Periodical,  vol. no, year, pp. Source,  DOI.

Journal Article in a Database with a Permalink

Last Name,  First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Periodical,  vol. no, year, pp. Source, Permalink .

•   The MLA Style Center, Works Cited: A Quick Guide. 
• MLA Citations by Format
• Purdue Online Writing Lab sample MLA Works Cited

 MLA Handbook, Ninth Edition . Modern Language Association of America, 2021. 

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• Last Updated: Oct 23, 2023 1:26 PM
• URL: https://libguides.thomasu.edu/citations