Now with 2009
MLA update!
MLA DOCUMENTATION STYLE: WORKS CITED PAGE
Most humanities disciplines use Modern Language Association (MLA) style to cite sources.
MLA-style documents include brief in-text citations (see quicktip on “MLA Documentation Style:
In-Text Citations”) in combination with a more detailed listing of sources in a separate Works
Cited page at the end of a document.
The requirements for what to include in Works Cited entries are designed so that another
researcher could find and refer to the same sources you’ve included. Below are guidelines
adapted from Diana Hacker’s Pocket Style Manual, 5th ed., that show the basic principles of
most forms of MLA citation:
Book
1 Author
2 Title and subtitle
3 City of publication
4 Publisher
5 Date of publication
6 Medium
1
3
Black, Laurel Johnson. Between Talk and Teaching: Reconsidering the Writing Conference. Logan, UT:
Utah State UP, 1998. Print.
4
Article (print)
1 Author
2 Title and subtitle
3 Name of periodical
4 Volume and issue
numbers (for
scholarly journal)
5 Date or year of
publication
6 Page numbers
7 Medium
2
6
5
1
2
Breuch, Lee-Ann Kastman. “The Idea(s) of an Online Writing Center: In Search of a Conceptual Model.”
The Writing Center Journal 25.2 (2005): 21–38. Print.
3
4
5
6
7
Short work from a website
1 Author
2 Title of short work
3 Title of website
4 Sponsor of website
5 Update date (“n.d.”
if there is no date)
6 Medium
7 Date of access
2
1
3
George Mason University Writing Center. “Who is Allowed to Be Original?” Valuing Written Accents:
International Voices in the U.S. Academy. George Mason University, n.d. Web. 13 Aug. 2009.
4
3
5
6
7
Article from a database
1 Author
2 Title and subtitle
3 Name of periodical
4 Volume and issue
numbers
5 Date or year of
publication
6 Page numbers
7 Name of database
8 Medium
9 Date of access
2
1
3
4
5
Haneda, Mari. “The Joint Construction of Meaning in Writing Conferences.” Applied Linguistics 25.2 (2004):
178–219. ERIC. Web. 13 Aug. 2009.
6
7
8
9
Here is an example of what an MLA-style works cited page typically looks like. Using
standard formats for your entries enhances your credibility with academic readers, and
alphabetizing your list helps fellow researchers quickly locate the sources that you refer
to in the body of your text. For more formats & source types, visit
http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/.
Every entry
begins flush left;
additional lines
are indented 0.5”
from the left
margin.
Label your page
“Works Cited” in
the center of the
first line.
MLA-style Works Cited pages
are evenly double-spaced, with
one-inch margins all around.
Entries are alphabetical by
author, or, if no author, by title.
Works Cited
film or video
The Big Lebowski. Dir. Ethan Coen and Joel Coen. Perf. Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, and
Julianne Moore. Gramercy, 1998. DVD.
work in a print anthology
Bruffee, Kenneth. “Collaborative Learning and the ‘Conversation of Mankind.’” The Norton
Book of Composition Studies. Ed. Susan Miller. New York: Norton, 2009. 545–62. Print.
 online newspaper article
Fahim, Kareem. “School Official Apologizes for Removing Photo of Kiss.” New York Times.
New York Times, 26 June 2007. Web. 12 Aug. 2009.
lecture or public address
Gutjahr, Paul. “The Godfather: Seeing Double.” Department of English. Indiana University,
Bloomington, IN. 18 Nov. 1998. Lecture.
 entire website
 short work from a website
Immigration History Research Center. U of Minnesota, 21 Apr. 2009. Web. 12 Aug. 2009.
Lee, Taehohn. “The Financial Crisis and Refugees.” Immigration History Research Center.
U of Minnesota, 2 Apr. 2009. Web. 12 Aug. 2009.
entire edited print anthology
print book with 2+ authors
Miller, Susan, Ed. The Norton Book of Composition Studies. New York: Norton, 2009. Print.
Peregoy, Suzanne, and Owen F. Boyle. Reading, Writing, and Learning in ESL. New York:
Longman, 1997. Print.
print book with one author
 online book with one author
translated print book
Puzo, Mario. The Godfather. New York: Signet, 1978. Print.
Sherman, Ben. Medic!: The Story of a Conscientious Objector in the Vietnam War. New York:
Random House, 2004. Google Books. Google Books, n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2009.
Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina. Trans. Joel Carmichael. Toronto: Bantam Books, 1960. Print.
United States. Selective Service System. Fast Facts: Conscientious Objection and Alternative
 online government
publication
print journal article
Service. US Selective Service System, 30 Apr. 2002. Web. 12 Aug. 2009.
Villanueva, Victor. “Blind: Talking about the New Racism.” The Writing Center Journal 26.1
(2006): 3–19. Print.
Wall, Brian. “‘Jackie Treehorn Treats Objects Like Women!’: Two Types of Fetishism in The
 work from a database such
as Academic Search Premier
Big Lebowski.” Camera Obscura 23.69 (2009): 110–135. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12
Aug. 2009.
 = electronic resource