How to Write a 'Works Cited' Page in MLA Format

The "Works Cited" page is used as a reference for the reader to do further study of the sources listed in the text.

The MLA (Modern Language Association) documentation style consists of parenthetical citations of sources in the body of the text and a list of works cited at the end of the essay or article. The "Works Cited" page is used as a reference for the reader to do further study of the sources listed in the text. It also serves as documentation of research performed by the writer while preparing the essay, thus lending credibility to the thesis of the essay or article.

Instructions

1. Format the page with 1-inch margins all the way around.

2. Place the heading "Works Cited" at the top of the page, and center it. Don't underline the heading or place quotation marks around it.

3. Format the sources by indenting only the lines after the first line; the first line is not indented. The indentation should be about five spaces in or 1/2 inch. All lines should be double-spaced, including space between citations. Order the entries alphabetically by last name of the author. If there is no author, use the first word of the title of the source, omitting articles "a," "an" and "the."

4. Cite a book by listing the author's name, last name first. Follow the name with a period and one space. Next, put the title of the book and underline it or set it in italic type. Follow this with a period and one space. After the title of the book, insert the publication information, including the city of publication followed by a colon, then the publisher's name and a comma. Finally, put the year of publication and a period. Example: Jones, Mary. How to Write an Essay. Boston: Educators, Inc., 1999.

5. Cite an article in a magazine or newspaper by citing the author's name, last name first. Use the same punctuation as used in the book citation, but put the title of the article in quotation marks. Finally, put the publication information: Magazine title, (underlined or italic), volume number, year of publication and page numbers. Example: Jones, Mary. "How to Cite Sources." Education Monthly 24 August 2004: 55-56.

Resources

• Son of Citation Machine