MLA Works Cited Format - StudyGuide.org

Home | MLA Format | Discussion Forum | Contact

Latest Info:

MLA Format: MLA Works Cited

MLA Format: Parenthetical Citations

Note: These citations serve as examples of how to format entries on Works Cited pages of student research papers. These examples may or may not be actual published literary works, and you should not be disappointed if the internet web site URLs are not functional. Again, this page is simply a set of examples to help you format a paper written in MLA style.

When creating your Works Cited Page, remember to:

Begin the Works Cited on a new page, but number consecutively (i.e., if the last page of your essay is page 3, the Works Cited is page 4)
Alphabetize each entry by first letter
Underline all titles of books, magazines, films, etc.
Put quotation marks around the titles of poems, short stories, and articles
Indent the 2^nd line, the 3^rd line, and all subsequent lines of each citation
Double-space all entries...the examples which follow are single-spaced only to save space on this handout

Related Resources:

Correct citation	Type of citation
Gorman, Elizabeth. Prairie Women. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986.	Book (One author)
Caper, Charles and Lawrence T. Teamos. How to Camp. Philadelphia: Doubleday, 1986.	Book (Two authors)
Ellis, Doris et.al. History of Japan. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc., 1989.	Book (Three or more authors)
Vanderkirk, Pamela, ed. Ten Short Plays. Los Angeles: Nowell Book Co., 1982.	Book (One editor)
Lockhard, David J. and Charles Heimler, eds. The Oregon Trail. New York: Bonanza Books, 1992.	Book (Two editors)
Carlson, David et.al., eds. Encyclopedia of Animal Life. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1985.	Book (Three or more editors)
Allende, Isabel. "Toad's Mouth." Trans. Margaret Sayers Peden. A Hammock beneath the Mangoes: Stories from Latin America. Ed. Thomas Colchie. New York: Plume, 1992. 83-88.	Book (Single work from an anthology)
American Medical Association. The American Medical Association Encyclopedia of Medicine. Ed. Charles B. Clayman. New York: Random, 1989.	Book by Corporate Author
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Twice-Told Tales. Ed. George Parsons Lathrop. Boston: Houghton, 1883. 1 Mar. 2002. <http://eldred.ne.mediaone.net/nh/ttt.html>. Keats, John. Poetical Works. 1884. Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Ed. Steven van Leeuwen. May 1998. 5 May 2003 <http://www.columbia.edu/126/>.	Book Online Book Online (Part of Scholarly Project)
Roberts, Sheila. "A Confined World: A Rereading of Pauline Smith." World Literature Written in English. 24(1984): 232-38. Rpt. in Twentieth Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Dennis Poupard. Vol. 25. Detroit: Gale, 1988. 399-402.	Gale Literary Criticism (previously published scholarly article in a collection)
Doctorow, E.L. Introduction. Sister Carrie. By Theodore Dreiser. New York: Bantam, 1985. v-xi.	Introduction, Preface, Foreword, or Afterword
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. "Sojourner Truth, the Libyan Sibyl." 1863. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter et al. Vol. 1. Lexington, Heath, 1994. 2425-33`.`	One volume of multivolume work
Maps 'n' Facts. Computer Software. Broderbund Software, 1995.	Computer Software
Frost, James. "Strawberries in a Field." Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound,_and Sense. Ed. Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson. New York: Heinle and Heinle, 2002.	Poem
Frost, James. "Strawberries in a Field." Literature Resource Center. Alabama Virtual Library. 15 March 2004. <http://www.avl.lib.al.us>.	Poem Online
Crane, Stephen. "The Open Boat." Literature Resource Center. Alabama Virtual Library. 12 March 2004. <http://www.avl.lib.al.us>.	Short Story Online
Cather, Willa. "Paul's Case." Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. Ed. Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson. New York: Heinle and Heinle, 2002.	Short Story in an Anthology
Dunn, Samuel. "Re: Any Ideas for My Country Project." E-mail to Tom Jones. 26 Feb. 2003.	E-mail **
Barnridge, Thomas H. "Baseball." World Book Encyclopedia. 2001.	Encyclopedia (Signed article)*
"Egypt." The New Encyclopedia Britannica. 2002.	Encyclopedia (Unsigned article) *
Ito, Philip J. "Papaya," World Book Encyclopedia, 1998 ed. The World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia, CD-ROM version of The World Book Encyclopedia.	Encyclopedia (CD-ROM) *
"Egypt." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Vers. 97.1.1. Mar. 1997. Encyclopedia Britannica. 29 Feb. 2000 <http://www.search.eb.com/>.	Encyclopedia (Internet) *
The Empire Strikes Back. Dir. George Lucas. Perf. Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher. Twentieth Century Fox, 1980.	Film
United States Office of Management and Budget. Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 1999. Washington: GPO, 1999.	Government Publication
Whitehurst, Daniel, former mayor of Fresno. Personal interview. 5 Mar. 2003.	Interview (Personal)
Smith, John. "Beowulf: Archetypal Hero." English 102 Class. Vestavia Hills High School, Vestavia Hills, AL. 28 March 2003.	Lecture
Lin, Michael. "Compressing Online Graphics." Online posting. 27 April 1999. MacWeb. 28 Feb. 2003 <http://www.graphica.com/digitizing/intor.html>.	Listserv Posting
Cannon, Angie. "Just Saying No to Tests." U.S. News & World Report. Oct. 1999: 34.	Magazine
Cannon, Angie. "Just Saying No to Tests." U.S. News & World Report 18 Oct. 1999: 3. Alabama Virtual Library. Vestavia Hills High School Library, Vestavia Hills, AL. 28 Feb. 2003. <http://www.avl.lib.al.us>.	Magazine, Online News Subscription Service (Alabama Virtual Library)
Elliott, Michael. "The Biggest Fish of Them All." Time. 8 March 2003. 11 March 2003. <http://www.time.com/time>.	Online Magazine (Magazine web site)
Barrow, Matthew. "Skipping School? Plan On Walking." Sacramento Bee. 13 Oct. 1999, California final ed.: A1+.	Newspaper Article, (Signed)
"Gorilla attacks Martian." National Enquirer 16 Mar. 1999: A-14.	Newspaper Article, (Unsigned)
Bradley, Donald. "Is There a Right Way?" Kansas City Star 23 May 1999: 2-4. SIRS Researcher. Alabama Virtual Library.. 28 Feb. 2003. <http://www.avl.lib.al.us/>.	Newspaper Article, Online News Subscription Service (SIRS)
"Charles Frazier." Contemporary Authors Online. 2001. Galegroup.com. Alabama Virtural Library. 28 February 2003 <http://www.avl.lib.al.us/>.	Gale Literary Criticism Online (Unsigned)
McCarron, Bill. "Images of War and Peace: Parallelism and Antithesis in the Beginning and Ending of Cold Mountain." The Mississippi Quarterly. 52.2 (1999): 273. Galegroup.com. Alabama Virtual Library. 25 February 2003. <http://www.avl.lib.al.us>..	Gale Literary Criticism Online (Signed)
Achenbach, Joel. "America's river." Washington Post. 5 May 2002. 20 July 2003 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13425-2202May1.html>.	Newspaper Article (Newspaper Website)
Your Health. New York: Modern Woman, 1996.	Pamphlet
"Karma Chameleon." Northern Exposure. CBS. KCRA, Sacramento. 29 Feb. 2000.	Television or Radio (Live)
Smith, Greg. "Rhesus Monkeys in the Zoo." No date. Online image. Monkey Picture Gallery. 3 May 2003. <http://monkeys.online.org/rhesus.jpg>.	Published Photograph
"Candy Cotton at the Fair." Birmingham, AL. Personal photograph taken by Quincy Adams. 5 March 2004.	Personal Photograph
Adams, Mindy. "Critical Eye for the Fantasy Guy." 4 January 2004. Online PowerPoint. Studyguide.org. 7 March 2004. <www.studyguide.org/fantasy.htm>.	Power Point Online
Civil War Diary. Videotape. New World Entertainment, 1990.	Videotape
Springsteen, Bruce. "Dancing in the Dark." Born in the USA. Columbia, 1984. Music video. Dr. Brian De Palma. VH1. 10 May 2002.	Music Video
"Cabinet Nominations," Chapter 20. Powers of the President. Laser videodisc. Pioneer Communications of America, Inc. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., 1995.	Video Laserdisc
"Castles in Medieval Times." yourchildlearns.com. 2000. Owl and Mouse Educational Software. 9 March 2003. <http://www.yourchildlearns.com/castle_history.htm>.	Web Page that is part of a larger web site
Schrock, Kathleen. "Digital Gadgets." Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators. 20 February 2002. Discovery Channel. 11 March 2003. <http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/gadgets.html>. "Great Gatsby Study Guide." studyguide.org. 5 January 2002. 11 March 2003. <http://www.studyguide.org/gatsby_study_guide.htm>. Note: If no title for the page is provided, write Home page (do not underline and do not use quotation marks).	Web page (Personal or Professional)
The Cinderella Project. Ed. Michael N. Salda. Vers. 1.1.Dec. 1997. De Grummond Children's Lit. Research Collection, University of Southern Mississippi. 9 March 2003. <http://www-dept.usm.edu/~engdept/cinderella/cinderella.html>.	Web page from a university (scholarly online project)
"Langston Hughes Poetry Circles." February 2003. National Council of Teachers of English. 10 March 2003. <http://www.ncte.org/special/LangstonHughes/>.	Web page (Professional Organization)

*While you may wish to consult a general reference source like a comprehensive encyclopedia for background information, avoid using and citing such resources in documented literary papers. More specialized sources are preferred.
** The following resources are NOT credible and should never be used or cited in a documented literary paper: SparkNotes^©, Cliff's^© Notes, PinkMonkey Notes^©,and similar sources. Be very cautious in your use of resources from the Internet. Essays by middle school and high school students should certainly not be deemed reliable. Similarly, comments on books which are randomly submitted by readers lack credibility.

Note: The above citations serve as examples of how to format entries on Works Cited pages of student research papers. These examples may or may not be actual published literary works, and you should not be disappointed if the internet web site URLs are not functional. Again, this page is simply a set of examples to help you format a paper written in MLA style.

For discussion, Post on the Forum!

	Ask a Question: This has NOT already been asked.		Leave a Comment: Name: Are you Human? (Not a Spam Bot)

Q&A: ???? (7/29/2010) Question has been submitted and is awaiting approval. Question: (7/29/2010) _ citations and you _ _ page work hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other. Please fill in the blanks Question: (7/28/2010) How do I cite a Supreme Court case in my work cited? Question: (7/25/2010) How do I attach photos with its citations? Do I put the photos on a separate page? Or do I put the work cited information underneath the image separately from the general information cited page? Question: (7/21/2010) how do i cite an article on a works cited page, should I put the volume and issue number before the date? Question: (7/19/2010) how do i cite a book by a corporate author in text? Question: (7/19/2010) How do you cite an amendment in the constitution? how do you cite it in text too? Question: (7/13/2010) How do you cite when an article was written by one person and reviewed by someone else? Question: (7/7/2010) how do I cite a web page with no date, i.e Smithsonian? Question: (7/5/2010) How do I quote from my own essay? ...More Questions/Answers...		Comments: Simon Norman (7/6/2010) Kind of nerdy but correct - For the Film citation example, George Lucas did not direct THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. It was Irvin Kershner. Geeez (6/15/2010) If it wasnt for this website i would fail at this mla stuff =) thank you!!! thanx (6/13/2010) Thank you, this was so helpful!!!!! :) tish (6/8/2010) this helped alot kimmi (6/7/2010) wow thanks sooo much!!! lifesavers right here :D girl (6/6/2010) thanks i can finally do my mla right ;) py (6/3/2010) thankyou so much! Carolyn (5/23/2010) Thanks you saved my life :) Cin (5/20/2010) thank you thank you thank you!!!! Jill K. (5/19/2010) Thank you so much! I would've gotten a bad grade for my works cited if it wasn't for this! Kate S (5/12/2010) I love this website it is soo helpful! I might've failed if it weren't for this!! wcm (5/5/2010) this website is perfect for my project. ty E.D (5/3/2010) This is a great site... and very helpful. Thanks!! tim (5/2/2010) to the point. good resource. thanks. Scott Thompson (4/20/2010) thanks, you saved my life Kim (4/20/2010) This website helped me a ton. Now if I could only get it to write my paper....... Bryan (4/19/2010) Thans it was short, straight to the point and informative all at the same time. THANKYOU SO MUCH!!!!!! Jenna (4/16/2010) Thanks for making it look simple! kristy (4/16/2010) does this site show any help with parenthetical documentation? Angelique (4/14/2010) This was very helpful for my research paper, thanks.

Categories:

Latest Info:

MLA Format: MLA Works Cited

Ask a Question:

Leave a Comment:

Q&A:

Comments: