When conducting research, it is important to list the sources of your information. In MLA (Modern Language Association) style, an alphabetical list is created as a separate page at the end of your paper. This list should be titled Works Cited. Each citation contains enough information for anyone reading your paper to find the source.
Listed below are many types of sources you might use in your research and the type of information you need from each source to create a citation. Included with each type is an outline of the citation’s format. Punctuation and words in red are required. The following guidelines have been taken from the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, seventh edition.
Books Title. City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Print.
Book with One Author Author Last Name, First Name.Title: Subtitle (if any). City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Print.
Book with No Author Title: Subtitle (if any). City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Print.
Book with Two or Three
Authors (List the authors in the same order as on the book’s title page.) Author1 Last Name, First Name, Author2 First Name Last Name, and Author3 First Name Last Name. Title. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. Print.
Book with More than Three Authors (Give the first author’s name only followed by et al.) Author1 Last Name, First Name, et al.Title. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. Print.
eBook Author Last Name, First Name.Title. City of Publication: Publisher, Year. EPUB file or azw file or iBook file.
Book with One Editor or Compiler Editor Last Name, First Name, ed (or comp).Title. City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Print.
Book with Two or More Editors Editor1 Last Name, First Name, and Editor 2 First Name Last Name, eds.Title. City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Print.
Book by a Corporate Author (A corporate author may be a commission, an association, a committee, or other group) Name of association or committee.Title. City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Print.
Essay or Article in an Anthology (An anthology is a book or collection of selected writings by various authors.) Author Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.”Title of Anthology. Ed (or Comp). First Name Last Name. City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page numbers. Print.
Brochure or Pamphlet (Treat a brochure or pamphlet as you would a book.)
Articles Article in an Encyclopedia Author Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.”EncyclopediaTitle. Edition number ed. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. Print. Article from a Scholarly Journals (from a print source) Author Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.”Title of Journal Volume number. Issue number (year of publication): page numbers. Print.
Magazine Article (from a print source) Author Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.”Name of Magazine Day Month Year published: Page numbers. Print.
Newspaper Article (from a print source) Author Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.”Name of Newspaper Day Month Year published, Edition: Page numbers. Print. Editorial Author Last Name, First Name. “Editorial Title.” Editorial. Title of Magazine or Newspaper Day Month Year published: Page numbers. Print.
Letter to the Editor Author’s Last Name, First Name. Letter.Title of Magazine or Newspaper Day Month Year published, edition, sec. section letter or number: Page numbers. Print.
E-mail Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of message from subject line (if any).” Description (such as Message to Susan Smith). Day Month Year. Email.
Internet Sources Website Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Page." Name of Web Site. Publisher or Sponsor. Day Month Year of Publication.Web. Day Month Year accessed.
Magazine or Journal Article (from a research database) Author Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Name of Magazine Day Month Year: Page-Page.Name of Database.Web. Day Month Year accessed.
Newspaper Article (from a research database) “Article Title.”Name of Newspaper Day Month Year. Edition: Section Letter.Name of Database. Web. Day Month Year accessed. Blog or Podcast Author Last Name, First Name.“Title.”Name of overall website. Site Sponsor (i.e., Blogspot or N.p.), Day Month Year posted. Web. Day Month Year accessed.<URL optional>.
Other Sources Broadcast (Radio or Television) “Title of the episode or segment.” Title of the program’s series (if any). Name of the network. Call letters of the local station (if any), City of the local station (if any), Broadcast Day Month Year. Radio or Television.
Film Title.Dir. Director’s First Name Last Name. Perf. First and Last Names of leading actors. Distributor of film, Year of release. Film or DVD.
Interview (from a published source) Person being interviewed Last Name, First Name. "Title of interview (if any).” If no title Interview. If interviewer is known, add by Interviewer’s First Name Last Name. Complete remainder of the citation with source of interview. Example: Wiesel, Elie. Interview by Ted Koppel. Nightline. ABC. WCPO, Cincinnati. 18 Apr. 2002. Television.
Letter (Personal, unpublished) Author’s Last Name, First Name. Description (such as Letter to Susan Smith). Day Month Year. Type of material (see below). Types of material: Written by hand – use MS for manuscript Typed on a machine – use TS for typescript
Song or Sound Recording Performer’s Last Name, First Name. “Song Title.”Album/CD Title. Manufacturer or Publisher. Year. Publication Medium. Day Month Year accessed (if online).
Citation Builder
World Book Citation Builder This is a great tool if you are doing fairly simple citations. and login to World Book Advanced. Under "Research Tools" on the left side of the screen, click on Citation Builder. Select the appropriate citation type (i.e., book, podcast) and enter the appropriate information. Fill in available information requested. Not all fields may need to be completed (i.e., Edition, Country). Click Create Citation…your citation will appear at the bottom of the page. Copy and paste into a Word document, correcting spacing and indentation, if needed.
Works Cited Page
The list of works cited appears on a new page at the end of the paper. The page number appears in the upper right-hand corner ½ inch from the top, continuing the page numbers of the paper.
> Center the title, Works Cited, one inch from the top. > Double space the entire list, both between and within entries. > Begin each entry at the left margin then indent any subsequent lines ½ inch (hanging indent.) > Alphabetize the list of entries by the author’s last name or by title if no author is given. Ignore “a”, “an,” or "the” as the first word. > Use state abbreviations (i.e., OH instead of Ohio). > Use month abbreviations: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May, June, July, Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. > If several cities are listed as the place of publication, give only the first. > Use abbreviations ed. for edited by and comp. for compiled by. > If a source has no publication information: n.p. = no place of publication or publisher given n.d. = no date of publication given n. pag. = no pagination given Examples: No place………….n.p.: Penguin, 2012 No publisher…New York: n.p. 2012. No date……New York: Penguin, n.d.
Where to find information for your citation: Book – Use the title page, not the cover of the book. If several cities are listed as the place of publication, give only the first city name.
Magazines and journals – Publication information usually appears on the cover or title page.
Newspapers – If the city is not included in the name of the newspaper, add the city in square brackets, not italicized, after the name (e.g. Plain Dealer [Cleveland])