MLA Formatting:
The Works Cited Page
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
Updated based on the 8th
Edition of the MLA Handbook
IMPORTANT MLA UPDATES
2016 changes in MLA:
MLA has changed to a general style of
documentation which makes it easier to cite
any type of source.
Namely, the new MLA formatting rules make
punctuation in citations much simpler.
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
IMPORTANT MLA UPDATES
MLA citations now focus on the
following (note the punctuation that
comes after each part of a source):
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
1. Author. 6. Number,
2. Title of Source. 7. Publisher,
3. Title of Container, 8. Publication Date,
4. Other Contributors, 9. Location.
5. Version,
IMPORTANT MLA UPDATES
Note, the new MLA refers to CONTAINERS frequently. A “container” is only a larger work that has smaller works contained in it. As a hint, think of a bucket full of small pieces of something. See the following examples for more clarification:
A magazine is a “container,” and an article from that magazine would be the smaller work.
A newspaper is a “container,” and an article from that newspaper would be the smaller work.
A book is a “container,” and a chapter would be the smaller work. If the book is a collection of smaller works, such as short stories, the book would still be the “container,” and each short story would be a smaller work contained in the book.
A television show would be a “container,” and each individual episode would be a smaller work “contained” in the show.
A music album would be a “container,” and each song would be a smaller work “contained” in the album.
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
#1 RULE FOR ANY FORMATTING STYLE:
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
Always follow your
teacher’s guidelines!
WORKS CITED PAGE: THE BASICS
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
Title - Centered
½”
Hanging Indent • Notice how this indent differs from
an indented paragraph. Instead
of the first line being indented, a
hanging indent will indent each
line after the first.
• The indention should be ½ inch.
On the Works Cited Page, you cite all of the information for your sources: author, title (both the container and smaller work, if applicable), publisher, year of publication, and location.
WHY IS CITING SOURCES IMPORTANT?
First, you want to give an author credit if you use his/her work.
Think about it: if someone took portions of your paper,
wouldn’t you want to get credit for the good work you’ve
done?
Second, you want to make it easier for your reader to look up
your sources. This is not a “gotcha” tool that teachers use to
catch plagiarism. Actually, it is a helpful resource for other
researchers. Often, in academic writing, a researcher finds a
book or an article that cites a quote by another author. If the
cited author’s words or publication title seem as if they would
be perfect for YOUR paper as well, you may want to look up
the source yourself to see what else the author had to say on
the topic. It could be useful in your own paper.
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
WORKS CITED PAGE: BOOKS
Basic Format:Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication,
Location (page numbers, if you only used a portion of the book).
Examples:Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. Penguin, 1987.
Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to
Peer Tutoring. Allyn, 2000.
Palmer, William J. Dickens and New Historicism. St.
Martin's, 1997.
---. The Films of the Eighties: A Social History. Southern Illinois
UP, 1993. (c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
Where you have
more than one work
by the same author,
you give the author’s
name for the first
entry, and you use
dashes instead for
entries that follow.
Book entry with 2
authors (note, there’s
a different format if
you have 3 or more):
Basic Entry
Example
WORKS CITED PAGE: BOOK PARTS
Format:
Lastname, Firstname. “Article or Section Title.” Title of
Book (i.e. title of container). Edited by Editor’s
Name (if applicable). Publisher, Year of Publication,
Location.
Blanchard, Drew. “Idle.” Best New Poets 2006. Edited by Eric
Pankey. Samovar, 2006, pp. 74-75.
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
WORKS CITED PAGE: PERIODICALS
Periodicals Include:
Magazines
Newspapers
Scholarly Journals
Online articles
Articles from Databases
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
WORKS CITED PAGE: PERIODICALS
Article in a Magazine:
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical, Volume (if applicable), Issue Number or Date
(if applicable), Year of Publication, Location.
Buchman, Dana. "A Special Education." Good Housekeeping, March Issue, 2006,
pp. 143-8.
Article in Scholarly Journal (Print):
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume (if applicable), Issue Number (if
applicable), Year of Publication, Location.
Duvall, John N. "The (Super)Marketplace of Images: Television as Unmediated
Mediation in DeLillo's White Noise." Arizona Quarterly, vol. 50, no. 3, 1994,
pp. 127- 53.
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
WORKS CITED PAGE: PERIODICALS
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
Article in Online Scholarly Journal:
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume (if applicable), Issue Number (if applicable), Year of
Publication, Location (the URL, if applicable, and the date you accessed it).
Buchenot, Andy and Kristi Prins. “Doing Digital: A Production-focused Pedagogy.” Kairos, vol. 17,
no. 1, 2012, http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/praxis/tiki-index.php?page=Doing_Digital.
Accessed 19 November 2016.
Article in Scholarly Journal (From Database):
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume (if applicable), Issue Number (if applicable), Year of
Publication, Location (Database Name and date you accessed it).
Medium of publication. Date Accessed.
Leonard, Laurence B. “Speech Selection and Modification in Language-Disordered Children.“
Topics in Language Disorders, vol. 4, no. 1, 1983. ERIC. Accessed 2 Jan. 2013.
WORKS CITED PAGE: PERIODICALS
You may need to adjust the periodical format depending on the source:
No Issue Number – omit the issue number:
Charles, Camille Zubrinsky. "The Dynamics of Racial Residential
Segregation." Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 29, 2003, pp. 167-207.
Only a Date, No Volume or Issue Number – put the month and year where you would normally put the volume and issue:
Birnbaum, Charles A. “Cultivating Appreciation.” Dwell, September Issue, 2007, pp. 196+.
Daily Newspaper – daily periodicals have no volume or issue number, so put only the date:
Rozek, Dan. “Girls’ Squabble over iPod Over: And in the End, Neither Will Get Music
Player.” Chicago Sun-Times, 10 Nov. 2006, p. 3.
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
WORKS CITED PAGE: PERIODICALS
Weekly or Bi-Weekly Journal or Magazine – do not give the volume
and issue number even if they are listed, and do not put parentheses
around the date
Gorman, Christine. “To an Athlete, Aching Young.” Time, 18 Sept. 2006, p. 60.
Print.
Monthly or Seasonal Journal or Magazine – same as above (do not
give the volume and issue number even if they are listed, and do not
put parentheses around the date)
Freedman, David H. “The Perfected Self.” Atlantic, June 2012, p. 42+.
WORKS CITED PAGE: PERIODICALS
Non-Sequential Pages
In newspapers and magazines, articles are often
broken across non-sequential pages (pages that do
not come one after the other).
In this case, give the number of the first page,
followed by a + (a plus sign):
If the article below is on pages 54-55 and then
continues on 66-71:
Lenzer, Jean. “Citizen, Heal Thyself.” Discover, Sept. 2007,
p. 54+.
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
WORKS CITED PAGE:
ONLINE SOURCES
Online Source:
Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). “Article Name.” Name of Site, Date, URL.
Date of access.
Example:
Cain, Kevin. "The Negative Effects of Facebook on Communication." Social Media Today RSS,
29 June 2012, http://www.socialmediatoday.com/. Accessed 02 Jan. 2013.
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
WORKS CITED PAGE:
ONLINE SOURCES
More Examples
Bernstein, Mark. "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web.” A List Apart: For People Who Make
Websites, 16 Aug. 2002, http://alistapart.com/article/writeliving. Accessed 4 May 2009.
Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory. Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003,
https://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/. Accessed 10 May 2006.
Michelle, Julia. "How to Make Homemade Chili in a Slow Cooker." eHow.com, n.d.,
http://www.ehow.com/how_4867606_make-homemade-chili-slow-cooker.html. Accessed
19 Nov. 2016.
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
Note the abbreviation “n.d.” You should use this abbreviation when no date is given for a particular source.
WORKS CITED: REFERENCE BOOKS
Article from a Reference Book (Print)
“Taoism.” The New York Public Library Desk Reference,
1989.
Article from a Reference Book (Online)
“Abraham Lincoln.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online,
2007, https://www.britannica.com/biography/
Abraham-Lincoln. Accessed 25 Feb. 2009.
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
Please note that Wikipedia
is NOT a legitimate
encyclopedia!
Do NOT use it as a source!
WORKS CITED PAGE:
SPECIAL RULES
No Author Named
If you cannot find an author’s name, begin the citation with the title of the book or article.
“Idol Worship.” Rolling Stone, 8 Feb. 2007, p. 7.
One Author Whether you have one author or more, the first author listed in the
source should always appear as Lastname, Firstname.
Shelburne, Ramona. “How LeBron has Changed the League.”
ESPN.com, 11 Feb. 2015, http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/
id/12302382/lebron-james-changing-game. Accessed 19 Nov. 2016.
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
WORKS CITED PAGE:
SPECIAL RULES
Three or More Authors:
Last Name, First Name, et al. Book Title. Publisher, Year, Location (if using only a portion
of a book or a smaller piece of a larger container).
Lowi, Theodore, et al. Analyzing American Government: American Government, Freedom
and Power. 3rd ed., Norton, 1994.
Another Example:
Plag, Ingo, et al. Introduction to English Linguistics. Berlin: Mouton, 2007.
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
In some instances, the city of publication may be important to your research, so it is appropriate to include it at times. At other times, the name of the publisher is
all you need to provide.
WORKS CITED PAGE:
SPECIAL RULES
Corporate Author:
Begin with the name of the corporation exactly as it is listed in the source (but omit A,
An, and The).
Museum of Modern Art. The Changing of the Avant-Garde: Visionary Architectural Drawings from the
Howard Gilman Collection. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2002.
Government Author: Country Name. Government Department. Title. Place of Publication: Publisher (or
government office which printed it), 2002. Print.
Ex 1) United States. Dept. of the Interior. Keweenaw. Washington. GPO, 2002.
Ex 2) United Nations. Development Program. Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty, and the Global Water
Crisis. New York: United Nations, 2006.
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
WORKS CITED PAGE:
SPECIAL RULES
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
Edited Collection
One Editor:
Yetman, Norman R., editor. When I Was a Slave: Memoirs from the
Slave Narrative Collection. Dover, 2002.
Two Editors:
Hocks, Mary, and Michelle Kendrick, editors. Eloquent Images:
Word and Image in the Age of New Media. MIT P, 2003.
Three or More Editors:
Baron, Sabrina Alcorn, et al., editors. Agent of Change: Print Culture Studies
after Elizabeth L. Eisenstein. U of Massachusetts P / Center for the Book,
Library of Congress, 2007.
Note that “Center for the Book, Library of Congress” is included with the name of the publisher because it may be important to the research conducted or provide important information regarding the location of the source.
Place of Publication
Give the name of the city only if the city is important to the publishing of the book. For instance, certain works published long ago may have been published in specific cities, so you may want to give that information if it is important to your research.
Otherwise, you do not need to give the city prior to the name of the publisher any longer.
You also no longer need to provide the type of medium at the end of a citation (e.g. print, web, etc.)
Old MLA: Eisner, Will. Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative. Tamarac:
Poorhouse, 1996.
New MLA: Eisner, Will. Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative.
Poorhouse, 1996.
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
WORKS CITED PAGE:
SPECIAL RULES
WORKS CITED PAGE:
SPECIAL RULES
If No Information on Place of Publication:
Use the abbreviation n.p. to signify that there is no publication
information (note that n.p. will be capitalized if it follows a period).
Cain, Kevin. "The Negative Effects of Facebook on Communication." Social
Media Today RSS, n.p., 29 June 2012, http://www.socialmediatoday.com/
content/. Accessed 02 Jan. 2013.
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
No Date Given
If a publication does not list a date of publication, put the abbreviation n.d. (for no date) where the year of publication usually goes in a citation:
Baudrillard, Jean. Simulations. Semiotext(e), n.d.
Book or Article Translated from Another Language
In addition to the other required citation information, you will need to include the name of the translator, preceded by Trans. (for Translated by):
Plato. “Meno.” The Collected Dialogues of Plato. Edited by Edith Hamilton
and Huntington Cairns. Translated by W.K.C. Guthrie. Princeton UP,
1961, pp. 353-85.(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
WORKS CITED PAGE:
SPECIAL RULES
Part of a Multi-Volume Series
If you need to cite only one part of a multi-volume set, list only the volume you are using.
Rothenberg, ,Jerome, and Pierre Joris, eds. Poems for the Millennium: The University of California
Book of Modern & Postmodern Poetry. Vol. 1. U of California P, 1995.
If you need to refer to two or more parts, give the total number of volumes in the entire work
following the title.
Rothenberg, ,Jerome, and Pierre Joris, eds. Poems for the Millennium: The University of California
Book of Modern & Postmodern Poetry. 2 vols. U of California P, 1995.
Book is Second (or Later) Edition
Put the number of the edition, followed by ed. after the title.
Crowley, Sharon, and Debra Hawhee. Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students. 3rd ed.
Pearson/Longman, 2004.(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
WORKS CITED PAGE:
SPECIAL RULES
WORKS CITED PAGE: OTHER
Personal Interview Example:
Smith, John. Personal interview. 1 Dec. 2013.
Address, Speech, or Lecture Example:
Atwood, Margaret. “Silencing the Scream.” Boundaries of the Imagination
Forum. MLA Annual Convention, 29 Dec. 1993, Royal York Hotel.
Address.
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
WORKS CITED PAGE: OTHER
Film Example
Because film and television works usually involve multiple people as directors, performers,
etc., if your discussion of the work focuses on the contribution of a particular person,
begin the works cited entry with his or her name followed by a descriptive label or title.
Singer, Bryan, director. The Usual Suspects. Polygram, 1995.
Gellar, Sarah Michelle, performer. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mutant Enemy, 1997-2003.
Musical Composition
Entire Album:
Bach, J.S. The Goldberg Variations, Performed by Simone Dinnerstein, Telarc, 2007.
One Song:
Allman, Gregg. “Midnight Rider.” Mycology, Sony, 1998.
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
CAPITALIZATION & PUNCTUATION
Capitalize all words in a title except for:
Articles (a, an, the)
Prepositions (to, at, by, for, from, with, . . .)
Conjunctions (and, but, or, for, . . .)
The word to when it is part of an infinitive (e.g. in to
read or to fly)
Capitalize the first word and the last word of the
title, even if the words are one of the exceptions listed above.
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
ITALICS & QUOTATION MARKS
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
To determine whether to use italics or quotation marks for a
title, think about a PIE:
If it is a whole pie (a whole work), you use italics:
Books, Magazines, Newspapers, Scholarly Journals, Music
Albums, Film Names
Works of Art (it’s hard to divide a painting into slices, so it has
to be whole)
To borrow the new MLA’s terminology, if it’s a “container,”
use italics.
If it is a slice of pie (part of a larger work), you use quotes:
Chapters in Books
Articles in Magazines, Newspapers, or Journals
Individual Songs, Scenes from a Film
Whole Pie = Italics
Slice = Quotes
ITALICS & QUOTATION MARKS
Always use quotation marks around direct quotes.
Remember, when using other punctuation with quotation marks:
These go inside the end quotation mark:
Periods & Commas – “Pointers for Pets.”
Question Marks & Exclamation Points – She asked, “Where did
Jane go?”
The go outside the end quotation mark:
Colons & Semi-Colons – Teachers should not just “teach”: they
should model what it is to be a good learner as well.
(c) Bree Lowry 2009, 2014, 2016
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