SOURCE CITATION
GUIDE
Guidelines for Creating a Works Cited Page
and Documenting Sources
April 2013
I. Plagiarism
What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism is when you do not give proper credit to sources. When you try to pass off
words that are not yours as your own it is like you are lying to your reader.
Whether you have committed plagiarism on purpose or not the charge is still plagiarism
and it is serious.
How to avoid plagiarism?
To avoid plagiarism you need to cite any idea or fact that you find from a source. Certain
ideas do not have to be cited if they are considered common knowledge. For example,
the fact that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated is common knowledge because most
people know it to be a fact.
II. Works Cited Page
What is a “Works Cited” Page?
A bibliography is called a “Works Cited” page. It lists out all of the sources that you
used in your paper.
Important Information to know:
 The “Works Cited” page is the last page of your paper. You should type
in the words “Works Cited” and center it on the top of your page.
 Each entry is like one long sentence continuing only on the next line if
space ran out on the first line.
 The second and additional lines are indented by 5 spaces or 1 tab buttons
worth.
 Each entry must be accurate. Double and triple check.
 The sources in your “Works Cited” must be arranged in alphabetical order
and match the entries in your text.
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Example of a “Works Cited” page:
Works Cited
Collins, Suzanne. Gregor the Overlander. New York: Scholastic Press, 2003. Print.
Cruson, Daniel. Newtown’s slaves: a case study in early Connecticut rural black history.
Newtown, CT: Newtown Historical Society, 1994. Print.
McKeever, Daniel P., Ed. The Handbook of Private Schools. Westford, MA: Porter
Sargent Handbooks, 2010. Print.
Quart, Alissa. "Dying for melodrama: why does Sylvia Plath still seduce the adolescent
psyche?" Psychology Today Nov.-Dec. 2003: 66+. General OneFile. Web. 23
Mar. 2012.
Praxis I PPST: preprofessional skills test. New York: Learning Express, 2005. Print.
Thomas, Robert B. The Old Farmer’s Almanac 2012. Dublin, NH: Yankee Publishing,
Inc., 2011. Print.
Untermeyer, Louis. American poetry from the beginning to Whitman. New York:
Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1931. Print.
Zimmerman, Andrea. Eleanor Mayer’s history of Cherry Grove Farm. Newtown, CT:
Newtown Historical Society, 2005. Print.
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III.
Examples of Common Forms of Sources for Citation
PRINT RESOURCES
Books by One Author
Last name, First name. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.
Medium of Publication.
For example:
Collins, Suzanne. Gregor the Overlander. New York: Scholastic Press, 2003.
Print.
Books by Two Authors
Last name, First name, and First name Last name. Title of Book. City of Publication:
Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.
For example:
Barnes, Sandra and Dean Hollister. Who Was Who In America: 1607-1896
Historical Volume. New Providence, NJ: Reed Elsevier, Inc., 1996.
Print.
Books with more than three authors
Last name, First name, et al. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of
Publication. Medium of Publication.
For example:
Alberts, Bruce, et al. Molecular Biology of the Cell. New York: Garland Science,
2002. Print.
Book with no author
Title of book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of
Publication.
For example:
Praxis I PPST: preprofessional skills test. New York: Learning Express, 2005.
Print.
An Edition of a Book
Last name, First name. Title of book. Edition. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of
Publication. Medium of Publication.
For example:
Gralla, Preston. How Wireless Works. 2nd ed. Indianapolis: Que, 2006. Print.
A Work Prepared by an Editor
Last name, first name. Title of Book. Ed. Editor’s name. City of Publication:
Publishers, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.
For example:
Peterson, Nancy J., ed. Toni Morrison: Critical and Theoretical Approaches.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1997. Print.
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A Work with an Illustrator
Last name, first name. Title of Book. Illus. Illustrator’s name. City of Publication:
Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication
For example:
Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Illus. Arthur Rackham. New
York: Sea Star Books, 2002.
Chapter of a Book / Poem / Short Stories
Last name, First name. "Title of Essay." Title of Collection. Ed. Editor's Name(s). City of
Publication: Publisher, Year. Page range of entry. Medium of Publication.
For example:
Harris, Muriel. "Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers." A Tutor's Guide:
Helping Writers One to One. Ed. Ben Rafoth. Portsmouth: Heinemann,
2000. 24-34. Print.
Article in a Reference Book (Encyclopedia, Dictionaries)
Last name, First name, and First name Last name. "Article Title" Encyclopedia Name.
City: Publisher, Year Published. Page(s). Medium of Publication.
For example:
Kemp, Martin. "Science and art." The Dictionary of Art. Ed. Jane Turner. Vol. 28.
New York: Grove Dictionaries, 1996. Print.
Multi-volume Book
Last name, First name. Title of book. Vol. number. City: Publisher, Year of Publication.
Medium of Publication.
For example:
Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria. Trans. H. E. Butler. Vol. 2. Cambridge: LoebHarvard UP, 1980. Print.
Article in a Magazine / Newspaper
Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Medium of
Publication.
For example:
Di Rado, Alicia. "Trekking through College: Classes Explore Modern Society
Using the World of Star Trek." Los Angeles Times 15 Mar. 1995: A3.
Print.
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WEB RESOURCES
An Entire Website
Editor, author, or compiler name (If available). Name of Site. Version number. Name of
institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of
resource creation (if available). Medium of Publication. Date of access.
For example:
The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and
Purdue U, 2008. Web. 5 Feb. 2013.
A Page on a Web Site
Author. “Title of the Article.” Name of Site. Name of institution/organization affiliated
with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation. Medium of
Publication. Date of access.
For example:
Gross, Doug. "It's Social Media Day -- again!" CNN.com. Cable News Network,
30 June 2011. Web. 5 Feb. 2013.
An Article in a Web Magazine
Author. “Title of the Article.” Name of Web Magazine. Publisher name, date of
Publication, Medium of Publication, date of access.
For example:
Bernstein, Mark. "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web." A List Apart: For People
Who Make Websites. A List Apart Mag., 16 Aug. 2002. Web. 5 Feb. 2013.
An Article from an Online Database
Last name, First name. “Title of article.” Title of journal or magazine Volume.Issue
(Year): Pages. Title of database. Medium consulted. Date of access.
For example:
Jays, David. “First Love, Last Rites.” Sight & Sound 17.10 (2007): 34-5. Art Full
Text, (H. W. Wilson). Web. 23 Feb. 2010.
Online Encyclopedia
Author. “Title of Article.” Title of Encyclopedia. Date of Publication. Title of service or
database. Date of access.
For example:
“William Shakespeare. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2013. Encyclopedia Britannica
Online. 5 Feb. 2013.
IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT WEB RESOURCES
 Try to find as much of the following information as possible:
o Author or editor
o Article name
o Title of the Website, project or book
o Version numbers (revisions, posting dates, volume numbers)
o Publisher information
o Page numbers
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o Medium of publication
o Date you accessed the material
o URL (although only for your reference, MLA does not require it)
Use n.p. if no publisher name is available.
Use n.d. if no publishing date is given.
For example:
"How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 5 Feb.
2013.
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