work cited in research paper example

MLA Citation Guide (9th edition) : Works Cited and Sample Papers

• Getting Started
• How do I Cite?
• In-Text Citations
• Works Cited and Sample Papers
• Additional Resources

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Quick Rules for an MLA Works Cited List

Your research paper ends with a list of all the sources cited in your paper. Here are some quick rules for this Works Cited list:

• Begin the works cited list on a new page after the text.
• Name it "Works Cited," and center the section label in bold at the top of the page.
• Order the reference list alphabetically by author's last name.
• Double-space the entire list (both within and between entries).
• Apply a hanging indent of 0.5 in. to each entry. This means that the first line of the reference is flush left and subsequent lines are indented 0.5 in. from the left margin.

Sample Paper with Works Cited List

The Modern Language Association (MLA) has compiled  several sample papers  that include explanations of the elements and formatting in MLA 9th edition. 

MLA Title Pages

MLA Title Page: Format and Template   This resource discusses the correct format for title pages in MLA style and includes examples.

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Citing Sources Guide

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Works Cited Page Examples

• In-text Citations Examples
• Sample Research Papers and Formatting Guidelines
• Reference Examples
• In-text Citation Examples
• Notes-Bibliography Page Examples
• Author-Date Reference Page Examples
• Superscript Notes & In-text Citation Author-Date Method Examples
• Research Paper
• Citing Artificial Intelligence
• RefWorks This link opens in a new window
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• Getting More Help
• Work Cited Guidelines
• Author Guidelines
• Books & E-books
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• Government Sources/Reports
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MLA Style -  Works Cited Quick Guide

The Works Cited list provides all bibliographic information on all sources cited in your work.

• Works Cited lists are located at the end of the paper
• Works Cited lists are double-spaced with no space between entries
• Use hanging indent to indent the second and subsequent entry lines .5 inches from the left margin
• Arrange entries in alphabetical order by the first element, usually the author. If there is no author, use the title
• Alphabetize letter by letter of the author's name before the comma. Letters after the comma are used only when authors have the same last name
• For multiple works by the same author, alphabetize by title. Also, replace the author's name with three hyphens on the second and subsequent entries
• Alphabetize titles letter by letter, ignoring initial articles (A, An, The, and foreign equivalents)
• The location of an online work should include a URL or DOI
• End all citations with a period

​​​​​​ Title

• " Article Title "  is in quotation marks
• Journal Title  is in italics
• If there is no author, begin with the "Article Title."

Multiple Authors

• Rettberg, Jill, and Radhika Gajjala
• Wright, Chrysalis, et. al.

Page Numbers: 

• For single pages, use 'p.' followed by the number
• For multiple pages, use 'pp.' followed by the numbers
• If an article is not printed on consecutive pages, cite only the first-page number in the range, followed by a plus sign:  pp. A1+

Publication Date:  

• When available, it is written as Day Month Year

Two authors  

• Only the first author's name is inverted.

Last Name, First Name, and First Name Last Name.

Rettberg, Jill, and Radhika Gajjala.

Three or more authors  

• Use "et. Al." 
• Only the first author is listed

Last Name, First Name, et al. 

Wright, Chrysalis, et al.

Journal Article in a Database

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article."  Title of Journal , volume number, issue number, date, page number.  Name of the database,  doi.

Lee, Derek. "Dark Romantic: F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Specters of Gothic Modernism."  Journal of Modern Literature , vol. 41, no. 4, 2018, pp. 125-42.  Ebsco,  https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113572. 

Journal Article in a Database with a Season

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article."  Title of Journal , volume number, issue number, season date, page number.

Goldman, Anne. "Questions of Transport: Reading Primo Levi Reading Dante." The Georgia Review , vol. 64, no. 1, spring 2010, pp. 69-88. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41403188 .

Journal Article in Print

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article."  Title of Journal , volume number, issue number, date, page number.

Meisenhelder, Susan. "Conflict and Resistance in Zora Neale Hurston's Mules and Men."  Journal of American Folklore , vol. 109, no.433, 1996, pp. 267.

Newspaper Article from a Database

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article."  Title of Newspaper,  Day Month Year of publication,   URL.

Davis, Anna, and Sophia Sleigh. "London Teens in Record A-Level Surge."  Evening Standard , 10 Aug. 2021, www.proquest.com/newspapers/london-teens-record-level-surge/docview/2559699413/se-2?accountid=35757 . 

Newspaper Article by a Group (Opinion or Editorial Board) from a Database

Name of Group. "Title of Article."  Title of Newspaper,  Day Month Year of publication, URL.

Editorial Board. "The Plight of 'Boarder Babies'."  The Christian Science Monitor , 06 Jul. 1992,  http://rocky.iona.edu:2048/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/plight-boarder-babies/docview/291210942/se-2?accountid=35757.

Newspaper Article in Print

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article."  Title of Newspaper, D ay, Month, Year of publication, p. page#.

Mueller, Benjamin. "Despite Another Covid Surge, Deaths Stay Near Lows."  The  New York Times , 21 June 2022, p.A1.

Magazine Article without an Author from a Database

"Title of Article."  Title of Magazine , volume number, issue number, day, month and year of publication, page number.  Name of the  database,  DOI, or permalink. 

"Gustav Mahler."  Billboard , vol. 128, no. 31, 10 Dec. 2016, p. 32.  Gale General OneFile,  https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A481243580/ITOF?u=nysl_me_iona&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=89fd9eaa .

Magazine Article in Print

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article."  Title of Magazine , volume number, issue number, day, month and year of publication, page number.

Coppins, McCay. "The Men Who Are Killing America's Newspapers."  The Atlantic , Nov. 2021, pp. 32-40.

E-book from a Database

​Last name, First name.  Title of the Book.  Publisher, Year of Publication.  Name of E Provider,  URL.

Milne, A A.  Winnie-the-Pooh . Illustrated by Ernest H Shepard, McClelland & Stewart, Ltd, 1926,  Project Guttenberg ,  www.gutenberg.org/files/67098/67098-h/67098-h.htm .

E-book from an App

Last Name, First Name.  Title of the Book . App Source ed., Publisher, Date.

Swartz, Omar.  The View from on the Road: The Rhetorical Vision of Jack Kerouac . Kindle ed., Southern Illinois University Press, 1999.

Print Book with a Single Author

Last Name, First Name.  Title of the Book . Publisher, Date.

Mantel, Hilary.  Wolf Hall: A Novel . 2nd ed., Henry Holt, 2009.

Print Book with Two Authors

Last Name, First Name, and First Name Last Name.  Title of the Book . Publisher, Date.

King, Steven, and Peter Straub.  The Talisman . Viking, 1984.

Print Book with Three or more Authors

*Note only the first author is listed, and then all names are combined into et al.,

Last Name, First Name, et al.  Title of the Book . Publisher, Date.

Griliches, Zvi, et al.,  Handbook of Econometrics . North-Holland Pub. Co, 1983.

Print Book with an  Author and an Editor/Translator/Illustrator

Last Name, First Name.  Title of the Book . Edited/Translated/Illustrated by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Date.

Shakespeare, William.  A Midsummers Night's Dream . Edited by Linda Buckle, Cambridge University Press, 2019.

Flaubert, Gustave.  Madame Bovary . Translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling, Independently Published, 2021.

Baum, Frank L.  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz . Illustrated by W.W. Denslow, SeaWolf Press, 2019.

Book with an  Unknown Author and an Editor/Translator/Illustrator

Title of the Book . Translated by First Name Last Name, Edited/Translated/Illustrated by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Date.

The Arabian Nights : Tales of 1,001 Nights. Translated by Malcolm C. Lyons, Edited by Robert Irwin, Penguin Classics. 2010.

Chapter in a Print Book

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Chapter."  Title of the Book . Publisher, Date.

Chaucer, Geoffrey. "The Monk's Tale."  The Canterbury Tales.  Penguin Books, 2007.

Chapter in an Print Anthology

Last name, First name. "Title of Chapter."  Title of the Book: Plus a Subtitle,  Edited by First name Last name, Publisher, Year of Publication. Inclusive Page Numbers.

Shikibu, Murasaki. "The Tale of Genji."  The Norton Anthology of World Literature , Edited by Martin Puchner et al., W.W. Norton & Company, 2019, pp. 1237-1418.

Example of Short Story Posted by Professor on a Course Management Platform:

Note if the Professor provides a link to an external site, then use that site for the citation and not the course management platform.

​Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Short Story." Learning Management System,  Day Month Year, URL.

​Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery."  Blackboard , uploaded by Jane Doe, 5 March 2024, learn.iona.edu .

Short Story on a Website:

​Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Short Story." Title of Website,  Year, URL.

​Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery."  AmericanLiterature.com , 2024, URL.

Short Story from an Anthology:

​Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Short Story." Title of Anthology,  edited by First Name Last Name and First Name Last Name, Edition, Publisher, Year, pages.

​Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery."  Novels and Stories: The Lottery, The Haunting of Hill House, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Other Stories and Sketche s. edited by Joyce Carol Oates, Library of America, 2010, pp.. 3-33.

General Information on Citing Shakespeare

Italicize the titles of the plays – Macbeth  (for the play)

Use standard font for the name of a character Macbeth  –  (for the character)

You may abbreviate the title of the play in the parenthetical citation ( check with your instructor first )

• Macbeth –  Mac.
• Hamlet –  Ham.
• Usually use Arabic numbers (1.5.4-5) or (2.1.110-13)
• Some instructors prefer Roman numerals (II.iv.4-6)
• If the author’s name is mentioned in the text, only put the page number in parentheses; otherwise (author’s last name #).
• If there are no different sources between quotes – can use  (#) 

In-Text Citations

Short Quotes 

( Name of Play,  Act. Scene, Line) or (Author, Act, Scene, Line)

• "Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swift" ( Hamlet  1.5.35).
•   "This is a sorry sight" (Shakespeare 2.2.26).

If the quote is more than one line, use the forward-slash between each line/verse.

 "Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swift / As meditation … / May sweep to my revenge" ( Hamlet  1.5.35-37).  

The forward-slash is separated from the text by spaces and indicates a new verse.

 The ellipsis ... indicates that part of the text was excluded.

Play in a Database

Shakespeare, William.  Macbeth . Yale University Press, 2005.  JSTOR ,  www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1nq91p .

Play from a Website

Shakespeare, William.  As You Like It ,  The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.  shakespeare.mit.edu/asyoulikeit/index.html .

Play in an E-book

Shakespeare, William.  The Winter's Tale.  Kindle ed., Simon & Schuster, 2016.

Play in a Print Book

Shakespeare, William.  Macbeth.  Bedford/St. Martins, 1999.

Play in a Print Anthology

Shakespeare, William.  The Tragedy of Macbeth. T he Complete Works , edited by Stanley Well, Oxford University Press, 1998, pp. 2501-2565.

Citing a song is dependent on how you access the song.

Artist or Band name. "Title of Song."  Album Name,  Label Producer, Date. Format.

Chapin, Harry. "Cat's in the Cradle." Verities & Balderdash,  Electra, 1973. Vinyl EP.

Chapin, Harry. "Cat's in the Cradle." Verities & Balderdash,  Electra, 1973. Spotify,  open.spotify.com/track/2obblQ6tcePeOEVJV6nEGD .

Online Dictionary

"Word, Part of Speech. (Number of the definition used)."  Title of Book . Date, URL.

"Victorious, Adj. (2)."  Merriam-Webster , 2021,  www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/victorious . 

Print Dictionary

"Word, Part of Speech. (Number of the definition used)."  Title of Book . Edition, Publisher, Date, page number.

 Example:

"Amity, N. (1)."  Shorter Oxford English, 2020 , 5th ed., Shorter Oxford, 2002, p. 69.

Page on a Website

Last Name, First Name. "Page Title."  Name of Website,  day month year, URL/ DOI.

Carillo, Ellen, et al. "MLA Style Center, the Only Authorized Web Site on MLA Style, Provides Free Resources on Research, Writing, and Documentation."  MLA Style Center , 2021,  style.mla.org/?_ga=2.84140569.1427309408.1637273253153117140.1635779276 .

Page on a Website without an author

Format: 

“Title of Publication.”  Title of the Website . Publisher of the site, year of publication. URL. 

"It's Time to End Solitary Confinement: Ian Manuel Story."   ACLU,  American Civil Liberties Union ,  4 January 2024,  https://www.aclu.org/podcast/its-time-to-end-solitary-confinement-ian-manuels-story .

Page of a Government Website

Name of Government Organization. "Page Name."  Title of Source , Date of Source. URL

The United States Department of Justice. "Readout of Meeting between U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco and United Kingdom Home Secretary Priti Patel."  The United States Department of Justice , 19 Nov. 2021,  www.justice.gov/opa/pr/readoutmeeting-between-us-deputy-attorney-general-lisa-o-monaco-and-united-kingdom-home .

Government Source in Print

Name of Government Organization.  Title of Source.  Date of Source. Publisher, Date of Publication.

United States, Congress, Committee on the Judiciary.  Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure.  2010. Government Printing Office, 2020.

Report Published Online

Name of Author or Agency.  Title of Source.  Date of Source. URL.

D&B Hoovers.  Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. Profile.  June 2023,  w w w.proquest.com/reports/live-nation-entertainment- inc/docview/1860786790/se-2?accountid=35757.

Rules for citing the Bible

Books of the Bible are abbreviated; see the MLA Handbook for standard abbreviations.

Example: (Phil. 3.8)

A period, not a colon, separates chapter and verse.

When you first refer to a particular version, include the name, a comma, and the passage.

Examples: ( New Revised Standard Version , Phil. 3.8) 

After this, only include the scripture reference unless you switch versions.

Online version of the Bible 

Title.  Version, date. URL.

The Bible.  King James Bible Online, 2022.  www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/ .

Print Religious Texts

Title.  Version, Editor, Publisher, year.

The Bible . Authorized King James Version, Oxford University Press, 2010.

The Qu'ran.  Translated by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, Oxford UP, 2015.

The New Jerusalem Bible.  Edited by Henry Wansbrough, Doubleday, 1985.

Author Name. "Title of post." Social Media Forum,  Day Month year, URL

Example of Post:

Modern Language Association. "If you're just beginning your PhD journey or are still in the early years of your program, these five tips can help you make the most of your experience."  LinkedIn , 2021, www.linkedin.com/posts/modern-language-association_lessons-on-how-to-make-the-most-of-ones-activity-6808411708323901440-Xl8Z/.

Author Name. Comment on "Title of post," by Author of Post First Name Last Name.  Social Media Forum,  Day Month year, URL

Example of Comment:

Varro-reatinus. Comment on U/reggiew07's review of  King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa  by Adam Hochschild.  Reddit , 31 Oct. 2020, www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/jlbrs4/king_leopolds_ghost_a_story_of_greed_terror_and/ .

The description of the image can vary (Photo of or Cover of) and is only italicized if the name of a book,

Author Name. Description.  Social Media Forum,  Day Month year, URL

Thomas, Angie. Photo of  The Hate U Give  cover.  Instagram , 4 Dec. 2018,  www.instagram.com/p/Bq_PaXKgqPw /.

Profile 

Name [@name]. "Description of Post."  Social Media Platform,  URL. Accessed Day Month Year.

Meg [@literaturewithmeg]. "Finish a book with me."  TikTok , www.tiktok.com/@literaturewithmeg/video/ . Accessed 22 April 2020.

Thread 

@name. "Description of Post."  Social Media Platform,  Day Month Year of Post, URL.

@roopikarisam (Roopika Risam). "Thank you, @annetiquate & @caitduffy49 for the opportunity to speak today and to all of you who are participating. . . . " Twitter , 18 July 2019,  twitter.com/roopikarisam/status/1151919685149036545 .

Author Last Name, First Name, or Account Name. "Description of Post."  Title of Blog ,  Day Month Year of Post, URL.

Liddon, Angela. "Perfect Little Pumpkin Cookies with Spiced Buttercream."  Oh She Glows, An Elite Cafemedia a Food Publisher , 23 Feb. 2021,  ohsheglows.com/2020/09/20/perfect-little-pumpkin-cookies-with-spiced-buttercream/.

Sender Last Name, Sender First Name. Email to. day month year.

Kane, Doris. Email to Standards Committee. 21 June 2020.

X (Formally Twitter)

Use X now that Twitter no longer exists as older posts are now hosted on X. Also refer to "posts" rather than "tweets."

Author of the post or the account name "Title of the material or a description." Title of the social media site, Day Month Year of post, URL.

O’Connor, Kim. “Kelly Link on ‘nighttime logic.’”  X , 13 Feb. 2024, twitter.com/shallowbrigade/status/1757476492647219227.

Keys, Alicia. “Videos.”  TikTok , 2020, www.tiktok.com/@aliciakeys?lang=en.

Creator. "Title."  Name of Series,   hosted by First name Last name. episode #,   day Month Year, URL.

Turow, Scott. "How Scott Turow Writes."  How Writers Write , hosted by Brian Murphy, episode 90, 23 Sept. 2021,  podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-writers-write-by-happywriter/id1484859401 .

Creator. "Title (Video)."  YouTube,  uploaded by First name Last name,   day Month Year of upload, URL.

Frost, Robert. "The Road not Taken (Video)."  YouTube,  uploaded by QuestioVerum2010, 8 Nov. 2012,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUaQgRiJukA .

Generating citations is a quick and easy way to begin the citation process. Be careful, though, as the generators are not 100% accurate. They will get you part of the way there, and then you will need to tailor each citation.

From the video home screen (the page after selecting a video before playing the video):

• Click the more tab
• Click the citation tool
• Choose between: MLA, APA & Chicago citation styles

TV Series Watched on an App

"Title of Episode."   Directed by First Name Last Name.  Name of Series,  season #, episode #, Film Studio, Date.  Name of app  app.

"A Seat at the Table." Directed by Mimi Leder.  The Morning Show , season 1, episode 2, Amazon Prime, 1 Nov. 2019.  Amazon Prime Video  app.

Film Watched on an App

Title.  Film Studio, Date.  Name of app  app.

Freedom Writer s. Paramount Pictures, 2007.  Netflix  app.

TV Series Watched on a Website

"Title of Episode."  Name of Series,  season #, episode #, Film Studio, Date.  Name of Website, URL.

"The One Where the Monkey Gets Away."  Friends , season 1, episode 20, Warner Bros., 9 Mar. 1995.  Netflix ,  www.netflix.com .

Film watched on TV or in a Theater

Title.  Directed by First Name Last Name, Film Studio, Date.

The Godfather . Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Paramount Pictures, 1972.

Images Viewed Online

Artist Last Name, First Name.  Title of Piece . Date.  Name of Institute , URL.

Kandinsky, Wassily.  Composition VII . 1913.  The State Tretyakov Gallery ,  artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/vasily-kandinsky-counterpointcomposition-vi-composition-vii/UgKCjKX9MXThIw . 

Images Viewed in Person

Artist Last Name, First Name.  Title of Piece . Date, Name of Institute, Place.

Matisse, Henri.  Dance . 1910, Museum of Modern Art, New York City.

Image Viewed in a Print Book 

Artist Last Name, First Name.  Title of Piece . Date of Piece, Name of Institute.  Title of Book,  by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Date, Page.

Hirkoshige, Andō . Yamabushi Valley in Mimasaka Provinces . Circa 1853-56, Österreichische Museum für Angewandte Kunst.  Japonisme: The Japanese Influence on Western Art in the 19th and 20th Centuries , by Siegfried Wichmann, Park Lane, 1980, p. 277.

On a learning management system - Blackboard, Moodle, Canvas...

"Slides Name or Number." Title of Course, taught by First Name Last Lame.   Learning Management System,  University, Day Month Year, URL.

"Slides on Fitzpatrick." English 102, taught by Sally Smith.  Moodle,  Iona University, 9 Oct. 2019,  URL.

In-Text Citation Example:

(Instructor's last name, Slide #)

Example of Short Story Posted by Professor:

Note: if the Professor provides a link to an external site, use that site for the citation and not the course management platform.

If your professor permits the use of AI, you need to create a reference and use in-text citations when quoting or paraphrasing AI-generated information.

"Title of posed request" prompt.  Name of AI tool,  version of AI tool, Name of company, Date prompt was generated, URL.

"Describe how Animal Farm is an allegory" prompt.  ChatGPT,  5 May version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.

MLA Style guidance:

• Cite all quotes and paraphrased information generated by AI that you include in your writing
• Add an acknowledgment if you use AI to edit your writing
• Evaluate all sources suggested by AI

Core Elements:

• Author : do not use AI as an author
• Title of Source : use the prompt you entered in the AI tool
• Title of Container : name of AI tool
• Version : version of AI
• Publisher: company or creator of the AI tool
• Date: date the content was generated
• Location : If your generated response is retrievable, use that URL; otherwise, use the general URL of the tool

Additional examples are available on the MLA Style - Ask The MLA - How do I cite generative AI in MLA style page found at  style.mla.org/citing-generative-ai/?utm_campaign=sourcemar23&utm_medium=email&utm_source=mlaoutreach .

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MLA Citation Guide (9th Edition): Works Cited List & Sample Paper

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• Newspaper Articles
• Personal Communication (Interviews, Emails)
• Primary Sources
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• When Creating Digital Assignments
• When Information Is Missing
• Works Quoted in Another Source
• Paraphrasing
• Works Cited List & Sample Paper
• Annotated Bibliography

On This Page

Quick rules for an mla works cited list, sample paper & works cited list, end-of-paper checklist.

Your research paper ends with a list of all the sources cited in the text of the paper. This is called a Works Cited list.

See an example in the "Sample Paper & Works Cited List" box on this page.

Here are eight quick rules for this list:

• Start a new page for your Works Cited list (e.g., if your paper is 4 pages long, start your Works Cited list on page 5).
• Centre the title, Works Cited, at the top of the page and do not bold or underline it. Look for the alignment option in Word.
• Double-space the list.
• Start the first line of each citation at the left margin; each subsequent line should be indented (also known as a "hanging indent").
• Put your list in alphabetical order. Alphabetize the list by the first word in the citation. In most cases, the first word will be the author’s last name. Where the author is unknown, alphabetize by the first word in the title, ignoring the words a, an, the.
• For each author, give the last name followed by a comma and the first name followed by a period.
• Italicize the titles of full works: books, audiovisual material,websites.
• Do not italicize titles of parts of works, such as: articles from newspapers, magazines, or journals / essays, poems, short stories or chapter titles from a book / chapters or sections of an Internet document. Instead, use quotation marks.
• MLA Sample Paper Template

This sample paper includes a sample assignment page with example of how to include your student information and a Works Cited list in MLA format.

It can be used as a template to set up your assignment.

If you are adding an appendix to your paper there are a few rules to follow that comply with MLA guidelines:

• The Appendix appears before the Works Cited list
• If you have more than one appendix you would name the first appendix Appendix A, the second Appendix B, etc.
• The appendices should appear in the order that the information is mentioned in your essay
• Each appendix begins on a new page
• End of Paper Checklist (MLA)

Finished your assignment? Use this checklist to be sure you haven't missed any information needed for MLA style.

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Project guides, digital resources, reading lists, quick access.

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MLA Citation Help

• In-Text Citations
• Creating a Works Cited Page
• MLA Style Research Paper

Works Cited Examples

Here are examples for an MLA-style Works Cited Page. The Works Cited page contains citations for various resources and materials that you encountered throughout your research process. Each reference will provide the formatting and an example.

The examples on this page were taken from the MLA Handbook, 8th Edition.

Books (Print): One Author  (Find this example on page  21  of the handbook)

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book . Publisher, Publication date.

Jacobs, Alan.  The Pleasure of Reading in an Age of Distraction . Oxford UP, 2011.  

Books (Print): Two Authors (Find t his e xample on page  21  of the handbook)

Last Name. First Name, & First Name Last Name.  Title of Book .

Publisher, Publication date.

Dorris, Michael & Louise Erdrich.  The Crown of Columbus .

HarperCollins Publishers, 1999.

Journal Article (Print) (Find t his e xample on page  21  of the handbook)

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article."  Title of Journal , vol. #, no. #,

Publication date, pp. #.

Baron, Naomi S. "Redefining Reading: The Impact of Digital Communication

Media."  PMLA , vol. 128, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 193-200.

Selected Work in Reference Collection or Anthology (Print) (Find t his e xample on page  27  of the handbook)

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Work." Ti tle of Collection , edited by

Editor's Name(s),  Publisher(s), Year, page range of entry .

Dewar, James A., and Peng Hwa Ang. "The Cultural Consequences of Printing

and the Internet."  Agents of Change:  Print Culture Studies after Elizabeth L.

Eisenstein , edited by Sabrina Alcorn Baron et al., University of  Massachusetts

Press/Center for the Book, Library of Congress, 2007, pp. 365-77.

Government Document (Print) (Find more information on corporate authors in  section 2.1.3 , or  page 104 ,  of the handbook)

Organizational Author. Ti tle of Document . Publication Office, Publication date.

United States Government Accountability Office.  Climate Change: EPA and DOE

Should Do More to Encourage Progress Under Two Voluntary Programs .

Government Printing Office, 2006.

Photograph, Painting, or Sculpture (Find a similar  e xample on page 49   of the handbook)

Last Name, First Name.  Title of Artwork .  Composition  date, medium of the piece,

location of institution where artwork is held.

Goya, Francisco.  The Family of Charles IV . 1800, oil on canvas, Museo del Prado, 

eBooks (Find t his e xample on page  34  of the handbook)

Last Name, First Name.  Title of Book . Publisher, Publication date.

eBook host , http://www.xxxxx .

Gikandi, Simon. Ngugi wa Thiong'o . Cambridge University Press, 2000.  

ACLS Humanitites E-Book ,  hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.07588.0001.001 .

Online Resources

Journal Article (Online) (Find t his e xample on page 48   of the handbook)

Publication date.  Database title,   doi: or  URL.

Chan, Evans. "Postmodernism and Hong Kong Cinema."   Postmodern Culture , vol. 10,

no. 3, May 2000. Project Muse , doi: 10.1353/pmc.2000.0021.

Web Post or Article (Online) (Find t his e xample on page  44  of the handbook)

Last Name, First Name. "Article Title." Title of Website , Day Month Year,

Hollmichel, Stefanie. "The Reading Brain: Differences between Digital and Print."

So Many Books,  25 Apr. 2013, 

somanybooksblog.com/2013/04/25/the-reading-brain-differences-between-

digital-and-print .

Website with an Author* (Find t his e xample on page  28  of the handbook)

Last Name, First Name. Website  Title . Publication Date,

www.xxxxx .

Hollmichel, Stefanie. So Many Books . 2003-16,

somanybooksblog.com .

*   websites with no author or date will omit the Author and Publication sections.

Audio/Visual

Motion Picture (Find t his e xample on page  41  of the handbook)

Last Name, First Name, director.  Title of Motion Picture.  Studio, Publication date.

Jonze, Spike, director.  Adaptation . Columbia Pictures, 2002.

Episode in Television Series (Find t his e xample on page  28  of the handbook)

"Title of episode."  Television Series , created by First-Last Name [series creator],

performance by First Name, Last Name [lead actor/actress], season #,

episode #, Publisher, Production date.

"Hush."  Buffy the Vampire Slayer , created by Joss Whedon, performance by

Sarah Michelle Gellar, season 4, episode 10, Mutant Enemy, 1999.  

Sound Recording (Song) (Find t his e xample on page  28  of the handbook)

Artist Title. "Song title."  Title of Album .  Publisher , Publication date.

Beyonce. "Pretty Hurts." Beyonce . Parkwood Entertainment, 2013.  

Photograph, Painting, or Sculpture (Online/Reproduction of Work) (Find a similar  e xample on page  50  of the handbook)

Last Name, First Name. Title of Artwork . Composition  date, medium of the piece,

location of image.

Campbell, William. Pittsburgh 1904 . 1903,

chromolithograph,  www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2006676672/ .

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MLA Citation Guide (MLA 8th Edition): Works Cited List & Sample Paper

• Introduction
• Advertisements
• Books, eBooks & Pamphlets
• Business Reports from Library Databases
• Class Notes & Presentations
• Encyclopedias & Dictionaries
• Court & Government Documents
• Images, Charts, Graphs, Maps & Tables
• Interviews and Emails (Personal Communications)
• Journal Articles
• Legal Resources
• Magazine Articles
• Newspaper Articles
• Religious Texts
• Social Media
• Videos & DVDs
• Websites (Blogs, Wikipedia, Facebook)
• When Creating Digital Assignments
• Missing Information (No author, date, page numbers,database name)
• Works Quoted in Another Source
• In-Text Citation
• Works Cited List & Sample Paper
• Annotated Bibliography
• Citation Software

Sample Paper & Works Cited List

• MLA Sample Paper Template

This sample paper includes a sample assignment page with example of how to include your student information and a Works Cited list in MLA format.

It can be used as a template to set up your assignment.

If you are adding an appendix to your paper there are a few rules to follow that comply with MLA guidelines:

• The Appendix appears before the Works Cited list
• If you have more than one appendix you would name the first appendix Appendix A, the second Appendix B, etc.
• The appendices should appear in the order that the information is mentioned in your essay
• Each appendix begins on a new page
• MLA Sample Paper - with Appendix (Purdue OWL example) Note that while this example shows the correct way to format your Appendix, the individual MLA citations are incorrect as they are formatted according to the 7th (not 8th) edition of MLA.

Quick Rules for an MLA Works Cited List

Your research paper ends with a list of all the sources cited in the text of the paper. This is called a Works Cited list.

See an example in the "Sample Paper & Works Cited List" box on this page.

Here are eight quick rules for this list:

• Start a new page for your Works Cited list (e.g., if your paper is 4 pages long, start your Works Cited list on page 5).
• Centre the title, Works Cited, at the top of the page and do not bold or underline it.
• Double-space the list.
• Start the first line of each citation at the left margin; indent each subsequent line five spaces (also known as a "hanging indent").
• Put your list in alphabetical order. Alphabetize the list by the first word in the citation. In most cases, the first word will be the author’s last name. Where the author is unknown, alphabetize by the first word in the title, ignoring the words a, an, the.
• For each author, give the last name followed by a comma and the first name followed by a period.
• Italicize the titles of full works: books, audiovisual material,websites.
• Do not italicize titles of parts of works, such as: articles from newspapers, magazines, or journals / essays, poems, short stories or chapter titles from a book / chapters or sections of an Internet document. Instead, use quotation marks.
• End-of-Paper Checklist

Finished your assignment? Use this checklist to be sure you haven't missed any information needed for MLA style.

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MLA Works Cited Page: Format, Template & Examples

The Works Cited page is a part of research papers written in the Modern Language Association (MLA) format where all sources used by the author are listed. While writing research papers, authors may consult several sources and use their data or paraphrase parts of the original text. It is essential to give due credit to the used sources and cite them appropriately to avoid plagiarism. This list of sources offers an easy reference for readers who may want to refer to the original source for their own research.  

A well-formatted and accurate Works Cited page can provide readers with specific details to help them access that source. For example, for a journal article, in addition to basic details like author name, title, journal name, etc., the MLA Works Cited page also provides the volume and issue numbers, page numbers, publisher, etc. A Works Cited page gives credibility to the research paper, proving that the information published is accurate and backed by evidence. 

This article describes the template of an MLA Works Cited page along with examples and suggests steps to ensure accurate formatting of all entries. 

Table of Contents

• What is a Works Cited Page? 
• Basic Rules for an MLA Works Cited Page 
• Online journal article with DOI or URL 
• Online newspaper article 
• Specific type of e-book (Kindle, Nook) 
• Print book 
• Chapter in edited book 
• Web page with an author 
• Web page with no author 
• Web page with no author or organization 
• YouTube video 
• Conference paper presentation 
• Dissertation from a database 
• Twitter (now X) posts 
• Format of an MLA Works Cited Page 
• Formatting Headings and Citation Titles on an MLA Works Cited Page 
• Single author 
• Two authors 
• Three or more authors 
• General rules 
• Key Takeaways 
• Frequently Asked Questions 

What is a Works Cited Page?  

The MLA Works Cited page 1 lists all the sources used while writing research papers. This page is always the last one after the main content. A Works Cited page uses the official MLA format and has similar content as reference lists used by other styles such as the Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style), the American Psychological Association (APA), and the American Medical Association (AMA). Each style uses a different format, emphasizing different elements. 

The Works Cited page helps avoid plagiarism by crediting the sources and allows readers to quickly locate the sources. Papers in MLA format should always have a Works Cited page and each entry on this page should be cited in the text at the corresponding location. 

Basic Rules for an MLA Works Cited Page  

Here are some basic rules for writing the MLA Works Cited page: 2  

• Start your Works Cited list on a fresh page at the end of your paper, with the same formatting as other sections, such as one-inch margins, last name, page number, and header. 
• Align the title, “Works Cited,” at the top center. Don’t use italicization, boldfacing, quotation marks, or all-caps to highlight the title. 
• Left align the citations and arrange them alphabetically by authors’ last names. If author names are unavailable, arrange by the first letter in the title (other than A, An, or The). 
• Do not use serial numbering or bullets to list the entries. 
• Double space all citations. 
• Indent the second and subsequent lines of citations by 0.5 inches to create a hanging indent (Figure 1). 

• List page numbers of the sources correctly. If only one page of a print source is used, use the abbreviation “p.” before the page number (e.g., p. 232). If a page range is used, use “pp.” (e.g., pp. 232-38). 
• For online sources, include a location, like a URL or a digital object identifier (DOI). Delete “http://” from URLs. The DOI or URL is usually the last element in a citation. 
• End all entries with a period. 

Citing Sources in MLA  

A citation in an MLA Works Cited page requires the following core elements. These elements should be written in the order given below, followed by the punctuation mark shown unless the particular element is the final element of the entry, in which case, it should end with a period. 4,5  

• Author’s name
• Title of source
• Title of the container, (a container is the larger publication in which the text is published. For example, if citing an article from a journal, the journal is the container) 
• Other editors, translators, contributors
• Publication date
• Location (page numbers in print versions; DOI or URL in online versions) 

A few optional elements can be included, if available: 

• Date of access (the date you last accessed the online source) 
• Date of original publication 
• Format of media source 

All style guides have their own specific formats for writing different sources in a reference list—journal articles, printed and digital books, videos, websites, etc. The MLA-style format for different types of sources is listed below: 4

Skip the hassle of manually generating citations. Auto-generate citations in MLA and 10,000+ styles for FREE.

Online journal article with DOI or URL  

Author’s last name, First name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal , vol., no. (issue), date of publication, pp. (if available). Database Name , DOI or URL. 

Online newspaper article  

Author’s last name, First name. “Title of Article.” Name of Newspaper , Publication Date, p. (if available), URL. Access date. 

Author’s last name, First name. Title of Book . E-book, publisher, publication year, DOI or URL (if available). 

Specific type of e-book (Kindle, Nook)  

Author’s last name, First name. Title of Book , editor or translator (if necessary), (Kindle/Nook) ed., publisher, year. 

Print book  

Author’s last name, First name. Title of Book . City*, Publisher, Publication Date. 

*City is cited only if the book is published before 1900 or if the publisher has multiple offices worldwide. 

Chapter in edited book  

Author’s last name, First name. Title of Book . Edited by FirstName LastName, publisher, year, page range of chapter. 

Web page with an author  

Author’s last name, First name. “Title of Webpage.” Title of Website , URL. Access date. 

Web page with no author  

“Title of Article.” Title of Website , date of publication, URL. Access date. 

Web page with no author or organization  

“Title of Webpage.” Title of Website (if different), publication year, URL. Access date. 

Blog post  

Author’s last name, First Name (or, in some cases, screen name, editor, etc.). “Title of Post.” Name of Website , version or date of post, name of organization (if different), URL. Access date. 

Title of Motion Picture/Film . Directed by First Name Last Name, performances by First Name Last Name, Studio Name, Year. Access date, Media format. 

Last Name, First Name, director/writer/producer. Title of Motion Picture/Film . Studio, Year. Access date, Media format. 

YouTube video  

If author is different from the uploader: 

Author Last Name, First Name. “Title of Video.” YouTube , uploaded by [Screen name], date, URL. Access date, Media format. 

If author and uploader are the same OR if there is no clear author: 

“Title of Video.” YouTube , uploaded by [Screen name], date, URL. Access date, Media format. 

Artist’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Image , date of creation, institution, city. Name of web site , URL. 

Title of Piece . Date of creation. Name of Website , URL. 

Conference paper presentation  

Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Conference Paper Title.” Conference Title that Includes Date and Location , edited by Conference Editor(s). Publisher. Date of Publication. 

Dissertation from a database  

Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Dissertation (Doctoral dissertation) . Database name, date of publication, URL (if available). 

Twitter (now X) posts  

Twitter Handle (First Name Last Name if Known). “The entire tweet word-for-word.”  Twitter , Day Month Year of Tweet, Time of Tweet, URL. 

Format of an MLA Works Cited Page  

Here’s a list of steps for formatting the MLA Works Cited page:

• Place one-inch margins around the entire document except for the “running head.” In the page setup settings, you can view and modify the margin size. 
• Double space the entire page using the “Line spacing” or “Paragraph spacing” options in your word processing program. 
• Organize the Works Cited entries in either alphabetical (by author name or title) or non-alphabetical order. 1,2

Benjamin, Chloe. The Immortalists . Penguin, 2018. 

Black Panther . Directed by Ryan Coogler, performance by Chadwick Boseman, Marvel Studios, 2018. 

Egan, Jennifer. Manhattan Beach . Scribner, 2017. 

Formatting Headings and Citation Titles on an MLA Works Cited Page  

The following points outline the basic format for headings and titles used on a Works Cited page. 1 The running head is at the top right corner of every page of the document. It displays the last name of the author and the page number (e.g., Letterman 6). 

• The running head should be placed half an inch from the top of the page and along the right side’s one-inch margin. 
• The page title (Work/Works Cited) should be written below the running head.  
• No center alignment 
• No boldfacing, italicization, or underlining 
• Same font size (12 point) and type as the entire document 
• Separated by a double space from the first citation on the page 

Consider the following rules while formatting source titles: 1,5,7,8  

• List the full title as the original source and use title case (capitalize all principal words, except articles [a, an, the], prepositions, or coordinating conjunctions [and, for, but, or, so, nor, yet] when in the middle of the title). 

Examples:  

The Code of the Exiled, Wizard of Oz, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire  

Cheyfitz, Eric. The Poetics of Imperialism: Translation and Colonization from The Tempest to Tarzan. Expanded ed., U of Pennsylvania P, 1997. 

• Separate the subtitle from the title with a colon and space. 

Goldman, Anne. “Questions of Transport: Reading Primo Levi Reading Dante.” The Georgia Review , vol. 64, no. 1, 2010, pp. 69-88. 

• Italicize titles if the source is self-contained and independent, e.g., titles of books, plays, films, periodicals, journals, magazines, databases, and websites. 

Example: Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye . Little Brown, 1991. 

• Enclose titles in quotation marks if the source is part of a larger work, e.g., articles, essays, chapters, poems, short stories, webpages, songs, television episodes, and speeches. 
• Titles beginning with numbers are placed in the reference list as if the title was written out alphabetically.

Auto-generate citations in the MLA format with Paperpal. Try it for FREE. 

Formatting Author Names on an MLA Work Cited Page    

Few important rules to consider when formatting author names: 1,2  

Single author  

• List author names alphabetically by the author’s last name (or, for entire edited collections, editor names). The format for writing author names is as follows: 

Last name, first name, middle name or middle initial  

Said, Edward W. Culture and Imperialism . Knopf, 1994. 

• To cite more than one work by the same author, order the entries alphabetically by title, and use three hyphens in place of the author’s name for every entry after the first. 

Alcott, Louisa May. “Eight Cousins.” Project Gutenberg , 2018, www.gutenberg.org/files/2726/2726-h/2726-h.htm . 

—. Little Women . Bantam Classics, 1983. 

—. Rose in Bloom . CreateSpace, 2018. 

Two authors  

The first listed author’s name on the source is the first author in the reference.  

Last name, First name of author 1, and First name Last name of author 2 

Pavear, Richard, and Larissa Volokhonsky, translators. Crime and Punishment . By Feodor Dostoevsky, Vintage eBooks, 1993. 

Three or more authors  

Include only the first listed author’s last name, followed by a comma and their first name, followed by another comma and then “et al.”  

Baron, Sabrina Alcorn, et al., editors. Agent of Change: Print Culture Studies after Elizabeth L. Eisenstein. U of Massachusetts P / Center for the Book, Library of Congress, 2007. 

General rules  

• Do not list titles (Dr., Sir, etc.) or degrees (PhD, MA, MD, etc.) with names but include suffixes like “Jr.” or “II.”  

King, Martin Luther, Jr. 

• Alphabetize works with no known author by their title; use a shortened version of the title in the parenthetical citations in your paper. 

Baudrillard, Jean. Simulacra and Simulations . […] 

Boring Postcards USA […] 

• To cite works by authors using a pseudonym or stage-name, cite the better-known name if the person is well known. For example, Lewis Carroll is the pseudonym of Charles Dodgson, and is the better-known name so only the pseudonym should be used. If the pseudonym is less well known, cite the real name in square brackets after the pseudonym.  

Van Dyne, Edith [L. Frank Baum]. Aunt Jane’s Nieces At Work . 1st World Library, 2006. 

Key Takeaways  

To summarize, an MLA Works Cited page should have the following format: 

• Starts on a new page at the end. 
• Centered page title without any highlights. 
• Double-spaced citations, preferably in Times New Roman 12-pt font. 
• Left-justified entries with a hanging indent of 0.5 inches. 
• Source titles in title case. 
• Entries ordered by the first word, typically author name or the first word in the title (except articles a, an, the). If the title begins with a year or a number, alphabetize it as if the number/year is spelled out. 

Frequently Asked Questions  

A1. The Works Cited page and references have a similar purpose; both include sources that have been specifically cited or paraphrased in the paper and whose data have been directly used. A bibliography includes a list of sources related to the content in a research paper, that is, sources that you may have consulted while writing your research paper, but may not have actually used, cited, or paraphrased from. 1   

A2. Yes, there are a few other styles for citing references, such as the Chicago Style, AMA Manual of Style, APA Manual of Style, and the IEEE style. All of these have different referencing formats. In addition, organizations may create their own referencing styles, commonly called a house style. 

A3. No, the Works Cited page should include only those sources that you have cited or whose data you have used in your research paper. Sources that you have only consulted while conducting research should be included in a bibliography. 

A4. Per MLA format, ignore symbols, such as hashtags when alphabetizing. Use the first letter in the entry to alphabetize. 9   Example:  @AP. “It’s been four years since the #MeToo movement took over social media. . . .” X, 15 Oct. 2021, https://twitter.com/AP/status/1449019990741590025.  “#MeToo Poll: Many in US More Willing to Call Out Misconduct.” Associated Press , 15 Oct. 2021, https://apnews.com/article/sexual-misconduct-metoo-79688da3a0c3519d2a76b5b6e6b23ba7.  “#MeToo Protest in Amsterdam after Allegations at TV Show.” Associated Press , 29 Jan. 2022, https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-business-arts-and-entertainment-netherlands-amsterdam-4bb589aae061e534b1a47ac453e9d85f . 

A5. Here is one way of adding a hanging indent in MS Word: 10   1. Highlight the text that you want to format.   2. Click the Home tab at the top of the page; in the “Paragraph” section click the small arrow in the lower-right corner to open a window with different paragraph setting options.   3. In that settings window, look for a section, “Indentation,” which has an option, “Special.” Click the drop-down menu beneath Special and select Hanging.   4. MS Word will mostly have the default spacing of the hanging indent set to 0.5 inches. To adjust the spacing, change the number in the By section.  5. Click OK to save and apply the hanging indent to your highlighted text. 

To summarize, an MLA Works Cited page is an essential part of a manuscript written using the MLA style and includes all sources used by the author to write the research paper. As described in the article, the Works Cited page and its entries have a specific format that should be strictly followed, and all the core elements included in the individual entries.  

We hope this article has provided a deeper understanding of the MLA style and will help you apply this format to all your Works Cited pages. 

References  

• What is a works cited page? EasyBib website. Accessed May 14, 2024. https://www.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides/mla-format/how-to-format-a-mla-works-cited-list/  
• MLA Works Cited page: Basic format. Purdue Online Writing Lab. Accessed May 14, 2024. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_page_basic_format.html  
• MLA Citation: Works Cited Example. Press Books @ MSL website. Accessed May 16, 2024. https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/csu-fyw-rhetoric/chapter/12-4-mla-works-cited-examples/  
• MLA Works Cited Page. The University of Arizona Global Campus Writing Center. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://writingcenter.uagc.edu/mla-works-cited-page  
• Section 5. List of Works Cited. MLA Handbook eighth edition. 
• Sample MLA Works Cited Page. College of San Mateo library website. Accessed May 17, 2024. https://www.collegeofsanmateo.edu/library/docs/MLAWorksCited7.pdf  
• MLA Style Guide, 8 th & 9 th Editions: Title of Source. Accessed May 18, 2024. https://irsc.libguides.com/c.php?g=483085&p=3303403#:~:text=Italicize%20titles%20if%20the%20source,are%20placed%20in%20quotation%20marks . 
• Frequently Asked Questions about Citing Sources in MLA Format. Harvard Guide to Using Sources. Accessed May 20, 2024. https://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu/frequently-asked-questions-about-citing-sources-mla-format  
• How do I alphabetize a works-cited-list entry that begins with a hashtag or another symbol? MLA Style Center. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://style.mla.org/alphabetizing-hashtags-and-other-symbols/  
• Hanging Indents and Microsoft Word. MLA Style Center. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://style.mla.org/hanging-indents/  

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MLA Citation Guide (MLA 9th edition) CGS

• Advertisements
• Books & e-Books
• Class Notes & Presentations
• Creative Commons Licensed Works.
• Encyclopedias & Dictionaries
• Generative AI
• Government Documents
• Images, Charts, Graphs, Maps & Tables
• Interviews and Emails (Personal Communications)
• Journal Articles
• Magazine Articles
• Newspaper Articles
• Religious Texts
• Social Media
• Videos & DVDs
• When Information Is Missing
• Works Cited in Another Source
• Annotated Bibliography

Quick Rules for an MLA Works Cited List

Sample mla paper, end-of-paper checklist.

• Citation Help

Your research paper ends with a list of all the sources cited in the text of the paper. This is called a Works Cited list. See an example in the "Sample Paper & Works Cited List" box on this page.

Here are eight quick rules for this list:

• Start a new page for your Works Cited list (e.g., if your paper is 4 pages long, start your Works Cited list on page 5).
• Center the title, Works Cited, at the top of the page and do not bold or underline it.
• Double-space the list.
• Start the first line of each citation at the left margin; indent each subsequent line five spaces (also known as a "hanging indent").
• Put your list in alphabetical order. Alphabetize the list by the first word in the citation. In most cases, the first word will be the author’s last name. Where the author is unknown, alphabetize by the first word in the title, ignoring the words a, an, the.
• For each author, give the last name followed by a comma and the first name followed by a period.
• Italicize the titles of full works: books, audiovisual material, websites.
• Do not italicize titles of parts of works, such as: articles from newspapers, magazines, or journals / essays, poems, short stories or chapter titles from a book / chapters or sections of an Internet document. Instead, use quotation marks.
• Formatting Your Research Project - MLA Style Center This free book chapter offers explanations and examples of MLA formatting such as margins, title, page numbers and works cited lists. Click on the name of the book chapters (to the left of the free button) to learn more about each topic.

The MLA Sample Paper Template may be used to set up your assignment. The template includes:

• A sample assignment page;
• and a Works CIted list in MLA format.
• MLA 9 Sample Paper

Finished your assignment? Use this checklist to be sure you haven't missed any information needed for MLA style.

• End of Paper Checklist
• << Previous: Annotated Bibliography
• Next: Citation Help >>
• Last Updated: May 29, 2024 4:06 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.uwm.edu/c.php?g=1207476

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The following overview should help you better understand how to cite sources using MLA  9 th edition, including how to format the Works Cited page and in-text citations.

Please use the example at the bottom of this page to cite the Purdue OWL in MLA. See also our MLA vidcast series on the Purdue OWL YouTube Channel .

Creating a Works Cited list using the ninth edition

MLA is a style of documentation that may be applied to many different types of writing. Since texts have become increasingly digital, and the same document may often be found in several different sources, following a set of rigid rules no longer suffices.

Thus, the current system is based on a few guiding principles, rather than an extensive list of specific rules. While the handbook still describes how to cite sources, it is organized according to the process of documentation, rather than by the sources themselves. This gives writers a flexible method that is near-universally applicable.

Once you are familiar with the method, you can use it to document any type of source, for any type of paper, in any field.

Here is an overview of the process:

When deciding how to cite your source, start by consulting the list of core elements. These are the general pieces of information that MLA suggests including in each Works Cited entry. In your citation, the elements should be listed in the following order:

• Title of source.
• Title of container,
• Other contributors,
• Publication date,

Each element should be followed by the corresponding punctuation mark shown above. Earlier editions of the handbook included the place of publication and required different punctuation (such as journal editions in parentheses and colons after issue numbers) depending on the type of source. In the current version, punctuation is simpler (only commas and periods separate the elements), and information about the source is kept to the basics.

Begin the entry with the author’s last name, followed by a comma and the rest of the name, as presented in the work. End this element with a period.

Bhabha, Homi K. The Location of Culture. Routledge, 1994.

Title of source

The title of the source should follow the author’s name. Depending upon the type of source, it should be listed in italics or quotation marks.

A book should be in italics:

Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House . MacMurray, 1999.

An individual webpage should be in quotation marks. The name of the parent website, which MLA treats as a "container," should follow in italics:

Lundman, Susan. "How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow, www.ehow.com/how_10727_make-vegetarian-chili.html.*

A periodical (journal, magazine, newspaper) article should be in quotation marks:

Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi's Bashai Tudu." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature , vol. 15, no. 1, 1996, pp. 41-50.

A song or piece of music on an album should be in quotation marks. The name of the album should then follow in italics:

Beyoncé. "Pray You Catch Me." Lemonade, Parkwood Entertainment, 2016, www.beyonce.com/album/lemonade-visual-album/.

*The MLA handbook recommends including URLs when citing online sources. For more information, see the “Optional Elements” section below.

Title of container

The eighth edition of the MLA handbook introduced what are referred to as "containers," which are the larger wholes in which the source is located. For example, if you want to cite a poem that is listed in a collection of poems, the individual poem is the source, while the larger collection is the container. The title of the container is usually italicized and followed by a comma, since the information that follows next describes the container.

Kincaid, Jamaica. "Girl." The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories, edited by Tobias Wolff, Vintage, 1994, pp. 306-07.

The container may also be a television series, which is made up of episodes.

“94 Meetings.” Parks and Recreation, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, performance by Amy Poehler, season 2, episode 21, Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, 2010.

The container may also be a website, which contains articles, postings, and other works.

Wise, DeWanda. “Why TV Shows Make Me Feel Less Alone.”  NAMI,  31 May 2019,  www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/May-2019/How-TV-Shows-Make-Me-Feel-Less-Alone . Accessed 3 June 2019.

In some cases, a container might be within a larger container. You might have read a book of short stories on Google Books , or watched a television series on Netflix . You might have found the electronic version of a journal on JSTOR. It is important to cite these containers within containers so that your readers can find the exact source that you used.

“94 Meetings.” Parks and Recreation , season 2, episode 21, NBC , 29 Apr. 2010. Netflix, www.netflix.com/watch/70152031?trackId=200256157&tctx=0%2C20%2C0974d361-27cd-44de-9c2a-2d9d868b9f64-12120962.

Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England.” Historical Journal , vol. 50, no. 1, 2007, pp. 173-96. ProQuest, doi:10.1017/S0018246X06005966. Accessed 27 May 2009.

Other contributors

In addition to the author, there may be other contributors to the source who should be credited, such as editors, illustrators, translators, etc. If their contributions are relevant to your research, or necessary to identify the source, include their names in your documentation.

Foucault, Michel. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason. Translated by Richard Howard , Vintage-Random House, 1988.

Woolf, Virginia. Jacob’s Room . Annotated and with an introduction by Vara Neverow, Harcourt, Inc., 2008.

If a source is listed as an edition or version of a work, include it in your citation.

The Bible . Authorized King James Version, Oxford UP, 1998.

Crowley, Sharon, and Debra Hawhee. Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students. 3rd ed., Pearson, 2004.

If a source is part of a numbered sequence, such as a multi-volume book or journal with both volume and issue numbers, those numbers must be listed in your citation.

Dolby, Nadine. “Research in Youth Culture and Policy: Current Conditions and Future Directions.” Social Work and Society: The International Online-Only Journal, vol. 6, no. 2, 2008, www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/60/362. Accessed 20 May 2009.

Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria. Translated by H. E. Butler, vol. 2, Loeb-Harvard UP, 1980.

The publisher produces or distributes the source to the public. If there is more than one publisher, and they are all are relevant to your research, list them in your citation, separated by a forward slash (/).

Klee, Paul. Twittering Machine. 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Artchive, www.artchive.com/artchive/K/klee/twittering_machine.jpg.html. Accessed May 2006.

Women's Health: Problems of the Digestive System . American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2006.

Daniels, Greg and Michael Schur, creators. Parks and Recreation . Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, 2015.

Note : The publisher’s name need not be included in the following sources: periodicals, works published by their author or editor, websites whose titles are the same name as their publisher, websites that make works available but do not actually publish them (such as  YouTube ,  WordPress , or  JSTOR ).

Publication date

The same source may have been published on more than one date, such as an online version of an original source. For example, a television series might have aired on a broadcast network on one date, but released on  Netflix  on a different date. When the source has more than one date, it is sufficient to use the date that is most relevant to your writing. If you’re unsure about which date to use, go with the date of the source’s original publication.

In the following example, Mutant Enemy is the primary production company, and “Hush” was released in 1999. Below is a general citation for this television episode:

“Hush.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer , created by Joss Whedon, performance by Sarah Michelle Gellar, season 4, Mutant Enemy, 1999 .

However, if you are discussing, for example, the historical context in which the episode originally aired, you should cite the full date. Because you are specifying the date of airing, you would then use WB Television Network (rather than Mutant Enemy), because it was the network (rather than the production company) that aired the episode on the date you’re citing.

“Hush.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon, performance by Sarah Michelle Gellar, season 4, episode 10, WB Television Network, 14 Dec. 1999 .

You should be as specific as possible in identifying a work’s location.

An essay in a book or an article in a journal should include page numbers.

Adiche, Chimamanda Ngozi. “On Monday of Last Week.” The Thing around Your Neck, Alfred A. Knopf, 2009, pp. 74-94 .

The location of an online work should include a URL.  Remove any "http://" or "https://" tag from the beginning of the URL.

Wheelis, Mark. "Investigating Disease Outbreaks Under a Protocol to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention." Emerging Infectious Diseases , vol. 6, no. 6, 2000, pp. 595-600, wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/6/6/00-0607_article. Accessed 8 Feb. 2009.

When citing a physical object that you experienced firsthand, identify the place of location.

Matisse, Henri. The Swimming Pool. 1952, Museum of Modern Art, New York .

Optional elements

The ninth edition is designed to be as streamlined as possible. The author should include any information that helps readers easily identify the source, without including unnecessary information that may be distracting. The following is a list of optional elements that can be included in a documented source at the writer’s discretion.

Date of original publication:

If a source has been published on more than one date, the writer may want to include both dates if it will provide the reader with necessary or helpful information.

Erdrich, Louise. Love Medicine. 1984. Perennial-Harper, 1993.

City of publication:

The seventh edition handbook required the city in which a publisher is located, but the eighth edition states that this is only necessary in particular instances, such as in a work published before 1900. Since pre-1900 works were usually associated with the city in which they were published, your documentation may substitute the city name for the publisher’s name.

Thoreau, Henry David. Excursions . Boston, 1863.

Date of access:

When you cite an online source, the MLA Handbook recommends including a date of access on which you accessed the material, since an online work may change or move at any time.

Bernstein, Mark. "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web." A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites, 16 Aug. 2002, alistapart.com/article/writeliving. Accessed 4 May 2009.

As mentioned above, while the MLA handbook recommends including URLs when you cite online sources, you should always check with your instructor or editor and include URLs at their discretion.

A DOI, or digital object identifier, is a series of digits and letters that leads to the location of an online source. Articles in journals are often assigned DOIs to ensure that the source is locatable, even if the URL changes. If your source is listed with a DOI, use that instead of a URL.

Alonso, Alvaro, and Julio A. Camargo. "Toxicity of Nitrite to Three Species of Freshwater Invertebrates." Environmental Toxicology , vol. 21, no. 1, 3 Feb. 2006, pp. 90-94. Wiley Online Library, doi: 10.1002/tox.20155.

Creating in-text citations using the previous (eighth) edition

Although the MLA handbook is currently in its ninth edition, some information about citing in the text using the older (eighth) edition is being retained. The in-text citation is a brief reference within your text that indicates the source you consulted. It should properly attribute any ideas, paraphrases, or direct quotations to your source, and should direct readers to the entry in the Works Cited list. For the most part, an in-text citation is the  author’s name and the page number (or just the page number, if the author is named in the sentence) in parentheses :

When creating in-text citations for media that has a runtime, such as a movie or podcast, include the range of hours, minutes and seconds you plan to reference. For example: (00:02:15-00:02:35).

Again, your goal is to attribute your source and provide a reference without interrupting your text. Your readers should be able to follow the flow of your argument without becoming distracted by extra information.

How to Cite the Purdue OWL in MLA

Entire Website

The Purdue OWL . Purdue U Writing Lab, 2019.

Individual Resources

Contributors' names. "Title of Resource." The Purdue OWL , Purdue U Writing Lab, Last edited date.

The new OWL no longer lists most pages' authors or publication dates. Thus, in most cases, citations will begin with the title of the resource, rather than the developer's name.

"MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL, Purdue U Writing Lab. Accessed 18 Jun. 2018.

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APA Citations (7th edition)

Citing journal articles.

• Citing Books and eBooks
• Citing Videos
• Citing Web Resources

APA: Citing Journal Articles  from  Lawrence W. Tyree Library  on  Vimeo . View a transcript  here.

In this tutorial, you will learn the basics for citing journal articles with and without a DOI and how to cite open access journal articles.

Every APA reference needs four parts:  author, date, title,  and  source . As you go through these examples, you will learn how to identify these four parts and how to place and format them into a proper APA reference.

Example 1: A Journal Article with a DOI

For the first example, you will learn how to cite a journal article with a DOI. Often, you will find journal articles online using the library's databases or other online resources. 

The first step is to identify the  author  of the article. The author of this article is Brittanie Atteberry-Ash,

To list an author, write the  last name , a  comma , and the  first and middle initials .

Example: Atteberry-Ash.

Next, identify when this article was published. For journal articles, you typically only need the  year . In this case, this article was published in 2022. You can usually find the date at the top of the article, the cover of the journal, or, for online articles, the article's record.

List the  date  after the author(s), in  parentheses , followed by a  period .

Example: Atteberry-Ash, B. (2022).

Now, identify the  title of the article . The title will usually be at the very top of the article, in a larger size font.

List the  title  of the article after the date. Make sure you only capitalize the  first word of the title ,  the first word of the subtitle , which comes after a colon, and any  proper nouns . End with a period. In this title, only the words Social  and  A  are capitalized.

Example: Atteberry-Ash, B. (2022). Social work and social justice: A conceptual review.

For the last component, you need the  source . For an article, this is the  title of the journal, volume, issue , which is sometimes called  number , and  page numbers  of the article. Usually this information can be found on the cover of the journal, on the table of contents, or at the top of the article. For the page numbers, you should look at the first and last pages of the article. For online articles, this information is usually found in the article's record.

Type the  journal title , in  italics , capitalizing all major words, a comma, the  volume , also in  italics , the  number or issue  in parentheses, a comma, and then the  page numbers  of the article.

Example:  Atteberry-Ash, B. (2022). Social work and social justice: A conceptual review.  Social Work,   68  (1), 38-46.

The last element of the  source  is the  DOI , which stands for Digital Object Identifier. A DOI can be found in the article’s record or on the first page of the article.

Type the  DOI , using the prefix  https://doi.org/ . There is no period after the DOI.

Example:  Atteberry-Ash, B. (2022). Social work and social justice: A conceptual review.  Social Work,   68  (1), 38-46. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swac042

If you refer to a work in your paper, either by directly quoting, paraphrasing, or by referring to main ideas, you will need to include an in-text parenthetical citation. There are a number of ways to do this. In this example, a  signal phrase  is used to introduce a direct quote. The  author's name  is given in the text, and the  publication date  and  page number(s)  are enclosed in parentheses at the beginning and end of the sentence.

Example: Atteberry-Ash (2022) notes "social workers are called on to practice socially just values and to address the consequences of oppression, specifically lost opportunity, social disenfranchisement, and isolation" (p. 38).

Example 2: Multiple Authors and No DOI

In this example, most of the components needed for the reference can be found in the article’s record. This article, however, has multiple authors and does not have a DOI listed in its record or in the article itself.

Format all the citation components of this journal article like the first example. For multiple authors, list the authors in the order they are listed in the article. Use a  comma  to separate each author and an  ampersand (&)  should be placed before the last author’s name. This applies for articles with up to twenty authors. Since there is no DOI listed for this article, simply omit that element. The reference will conclude after the page numbers.  

Example: Penprase, B., Mileto, L., Bittinger, A., Hranchook, A. M., Atchley, J. A., Bergakker, S., Eimers, T., & Franson, H. (2012). The use of high-fidelity simulation in the admissions process: One nurse anesthesia program’s experience.  AANA Journal, 80 (1), 43–48.

If you refer to a work in your paper that has three or more authors, the in-text citation will include the first author's name only, followed by  et al.  which means "and all the rest."

Example: Penprase et al. (2012) states that "Admission into nurse anesthesia programs is known to be a competitive process among a diverse pool of candidates" (p. 43).

Example 3: An Open Access Journal Article

This article was found in  PLOS One  which is an open access journal. Open access journal articles are articles with the full text freely available online and do not require logging in.

You will need all of the same information from the previous examples to cite an open access article. In this example, most of this information can be found at the top of the article.

In this example, the article's volume, issue, and the  article number  are found in the citation provided by the journal. Article numbers are used in place of page numbers in some online journals.

The format for open access journals is the same as the other examples. In this example, an article number is used in place of the page numbers. After the issue number, type  Article  and then the article number. If an open access journal does not provide a DOI, you may provide the URL of the article instead. Only include the URL if it directly brings you to the full text of the article without logging in.

Example: Francis, H. M., Stevenson, R. J., Chambers, J. R., Gupta, D., Newey, B., & Lim, C. K. (2019). A brief diet intervention can reduce symptoms of depression in young adults – A randomised controlled trial.  PLOS ONE, 14 (1), Article e0222768. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222768

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / How to Cite Sources

How to Cite Sources

Here is a complete list for how to cite sources. Most of these guides present citation guidance and examples in MLA, APA, and Chicago.

If you’re looking for general information on MLA or APA citations , the EasyBib Writing Center was designed for you! It has articles on what’s needed in an MLA in-text citation , how to format an APA paper, what an MLA annotated bibliography is, making an MLA works cited page, and much more!

MLA Format Citation Examples

The Modern Language Association created the MLA Style, currently in its 9th edition, to provide researchers with guidelines for writing and documenting scholarly borrowings.  Most often used in the humanities, MLA style (or MLA format ) has been adopted and used by numerous other disciplines, in multiple parts of the world.

MLA provides standard rules to follow so that most research papers are formatted in a similar manner. This makes it easier for readers to comprehend the information. The MLA in-text citation guidelines, MLA works cited standards, and MLA annotated bibliography instructions provide scholars with the information they need to properly cite sources in their research papers, articles, and assignments.

• Book Chapter
• Conference Paper
• Documentary
• Encyclopedia
• Google Images
• Kindle Book
• Memorial Inscription
• Museum Exhibit
• Painting or Artwork
• PowerPoint Presentation
• Sheet Music
• Thesis or Dissertation
• YouTube Video

APA Format Citation Examples

The American Psychological Association created the APA citation style in 1929 as a way to help psychologists, anthropologists, and even business managers establish one common way to cite sources and present content.

APA is used when citing sources for academic articles such as journals, and is intended to help readers better comprehend content, and to avoid language bias wherever possible. The APA style (or APA format ) is now in its 7th edition, and provides citation style guides for virtually any type of resource.

Chicago Style Citation Examples

The Chicago/Turabian style of citing sources is generally used when citing sources for humanities papers, and is best known for its requirement that writers place bibliographic citations at the bottom of a page (in Chicago-format footnotes ) or at the end of a paper (endnotes).

The Turabian and Chicago citation styles are almost identical, but the Turabian style is geared towards student published papers such as theses and dissertations, while the Chicago style provides guidelines for all types of publications. This is why you’ll commonly see Chicago style and Turabian style presented together. The Chicago Manual of Style is currently in its 17th edition, and Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations is in its 8th edition.

Citing Specific Sources or Events

• Declaration of Independence
• Gettysburg Address
• Martin Luther King Jr. Speech
• President Obama’s Farewell Address
• President Trump’s Inauguration Speech
• White House Press Briefing

Additional FAQs

• Citing Archived Contributors
• Citing a Blog
• Citing a Book Chapter
• Citing a Source in a Foreign Language
• Citing an Image
• Citing a Song
• Citing Special Contributors
• Citing a Translated Article
• Citing a Tweet

6 Interesting Citation Facts

The world of citations may seem cut and dry, but there’s more to them than just specific capitalization rules, MLA in-text citations , and other formatting specifications. Citations have been helping researches document their sources for hundreds of years, and are a great way to learn more about a particular subject area.

Ever wonder what sets all the different styles apart, or how they came to be in the first place? Read on for some interesting facts about citations!

1. There are Over 7,000 Different Citation Styles

You may be familiar with MLA and APA citation styles, but there are actually thousands of citation styles used for all different academic disciplines all across the world. Deciding which one to use can be difficult, so be sure to ask you instructor which one you should be using for your next paper.

2. Some Citation Styles are Named After People

While a majority of citation styles are named for the specific organizations that publish them (i.e. APA is published by the American Psychological Association, and MLA format is named for the Modern Language Association), some are actually named after individuals. The most well-known example of this is perhaps Turabian style, named for Kate L. Turabian, an American educator and writer. She developed this style as a condensed version of the Chicago Manual of Style in order to present a more concise set of rules to students.

3. There are Some Really Specific and Uniquely Named Citation Styles

How specific can citation styles get? The answer is very. For example, the “Flavour and Fragrance Journal” style is based on a bimonthly, peer-reviewed scientific journal published since 1985 by John Wiley & Sons. It publishes original research articles, reviews and special reports on all aspects of flavor and fragrance. Another example is “Nordic Pulp and Paper Research,” a style used by an international scientific magazine covering science and technology for the areas of wood or bio-mass constituents.

4. More citations were created on  EasyBib.com  in the first quarter of 2018 than there are people in California.

The US Census Bureau estimates that approximately 39.5 million people live in the state of California. Meanwhile, about 43 million citations were made on EasyBib from January to March of 2018. That’s a lot of citations.

5. “Citations” is a Word With a Long History

The word “citations” can be traced back literally thousands of years to the Latin word “citare” meaning “to summon, urge, call; put in sudden motion, call forward; rouse, excite.” The word then took on its more modern meaning and relevance to writing papers in the 1600s, where it became known as the “act of citing or quoting a passage from a book, etc.”

6. Citation Styles are Always Changing

The concept of citations always stays the same. It is a means of preventing plagiarism and demonstrating where you relied on outside sources. The specific style rules, however, can and do change regularly. For example, in 2018 alone, 46 new citation styles were introduced , and 106 updates were made to exiting styles. At EasyBib, we are always on the lookout for ways to improve our styles and opportunities to add new ones to our list.

Why Citations Matter

Here are the ways accurate citations can help your students achieve academic success, and how you can answer the dreaded question, “why should I cite my sources?”

They Give Credit to the Right People

Citing their sources makes sure that the reader can differentiate the student’s original thoughts from those of other researchers. Not only does this make sure that the sources they use receive proper credit for their work, it ensures that the student receives deserved recognition for their unique contributions to the topic. Whether the student is citing in MLA format , APA format , or any other style, citations serve as a natural way to place a student’s work in the broader context of the subject area, and serve as an easy way to gauge their commitment to the project.

They Provide Hard Evidence of Ideas

Having many citations from a wide variety of sources related to their idea means that the student is working on a well-researched and respected subject. Citing sources that back up their claim creates room for fact-checking and further research . And, if they can cite a few sources that have the converse opinion or idea, and then demonstrate to the reader why they believe that that viewpoint is wrong by again citing credible sources, the student is well on their way to winning over the reader and cementing their point of view.

They Promote Originality and Prevent Plagiarism

The point of research projects is not to regurgitate information that can already be found elsewhere. We have Google for that! What the student’s project should aim to do is promote an original idea or a spin on an existing idea, and use reliable sources to promote that idea. Copying or directly referencing a source without proper citation can lead to not only a poor grade, but accusations of academic dishonesty. By citing their sources regularly and accurately, students can easily avoid the trap of plagiarism , and promote further research on their topic.

They Create Better Researchers

By researching sources to back up and promote their ideas, students are becoming better researchers without even knowing it! Each time a new source is read or researched, the student is becoming more engaged with the project and is developing a deeper understanding of the subject area. Proper citations demonstrate a breadth of the student’s reading and dedication to the project itself. By creating citations, students are compelled to make connections between their sources and discern research patterns. Each time they complete this process, they are helping themselves become better researchers and writers overall.

When is the Right Time to Start Making Citations?

Make in-text/parenthetical citations as you need them.

As you are writing your paper, be sure to include references within the text that correspond with references in a works cited or bibliography. These are usually called in-text citations or parenthetical citations in MLA and APA formats. The most effective time to complete these is directly after you have made your reference to another source. For instance, after writing the line from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities : “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…,” you would include a citation like this (depending on your chosen citation style):

(Dickens 11).

This signals to the reader that you have referenced an outside source. What’s great about this system is that the in-text citations serve as a natural list for all of the citations you have made in your paper, which will make completing the works cited page a whole lot easier. After you are done writing, all that will be left for you to do is scan your paper for these references, and then build a works cited page that includes a citation for each one.

Need help creating an MLA works cited page ? Try the MLA format generator on EasyBib.com! We also have a guide on how to format an APA reference page .

2. Understand the General Formatting Rules of Your Citation Style Before You Start Writing

While reading up on paper formatting may not sound exciting, being aware of how your paper should look early on in the paper writing process is super important. Citation styles can dictate more than just the appearance of the citations themselves, but rather can impact the layout of your paper as a whole, with specific guidelines concerning margin width, title treatment, and even font size and spacing. Knowing how to organize your paper before you start writing will ensure that you do not receive a low grade for something as trivial as forgetting a hanging indent.

Don’t know where to start? Here’s a formatting guide on APA format .

3. Double-check All of Your Outside Sources for Relevance and Trustworthiness First

Collecting outside sources that support your research and specific topic is a critical step in writing an effective paper. But before you run to the library and grab the first 20 books you can lay your hands on, keep in mind that selecting a source to include in your paper should not be taken lightly. Before you proceed with using it to backup your ideas, run a quick Internet search for it and see if other scholars in your field have written about it as well. Check to see if there are book reviews about it or peer accolades. If you spot something that seems off to you, you may want to consider leaving it out of your work. Doing this before your start making citations can save you a ton of time in the long run.

Finished with your paper? It may be time to run it through a grammar and plagiarism checker , like the one offered by EasyBib Plus. If you’re just looking to brush up on the basics, our grammar guides  are ready anytime you are.

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Free MLA Citation Generator

Generate accurate citations in MLA format automatically, with MyBib!

😕 What is an MLA Citation Generator?

An MLA citation generator is a software tool designed to automatically create academic citations in the Modern Language Association (MLA) citation format. The generator will take information such as document titles, author, and URLs as in input, and output fully formatted citations that can be inserted into the Works Cited page of an MLA-compliant academic paper.

The citations on a Works Cited page show the external sources that were used to write the main body of the academic paper, either directly as references and quotes, or indirectly as ideas.

👩‍🎓 Who uses an MLA Citation Generator?

MLA style is most often used by middle school and high school students in preparation for transition to college and further education. Ironically, MLA style is not actually used all that often beyond middle and high school, with APA (American Psychological Association) style being the favored style at colleges across the country.

It is also important at this level to learn why it's critical to cite sources, not just how to cite them.

🙌 Why should I use a Citation Generator?

Writing citations manually is time consuming and error prone. Automating this process with a citation generator is easy, straightforward, and gives accurate results. It's also easier to keep citations organized and in the correct order.

The Works Cited page contributes to the overall grade of a paper, so it is important to produce accurately formatted citations that follow the guidelines in the official MLA Handbook .

⚙️ How do I use MyBib's MLA Citation Generator?

It's super easy to create MLA style citations with our MLA Citation Generator. Scroll back up to the generator at the top of the page and select the type of source you're citing. Books, journal articles, and webpages are all examples of the types of sources our generator can cite automatically. Then either search for the source, or enter the details manually in the citation form.

The generator will produce a formatted MLA citation that can be copied and pasted directly into your document, or saved to MyBib as part of your overall Works Cited page (which can be downloaded fully later!).

MyBib supports the following for MLA style:

Daniel is a qualified librarian, former teacher, and citation expert. He has been contributing to MyBib since 2018.

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• Knowledge Base
• Citing sources

How to Cite Sources | Citation Generator & Quick Guide

Citing your sources is essential in  academic writing . Whenever you quote or paraphrase a source (such as a book, article, or webpage), you have to include a  citation crediting the original author.

Failing to properly cite your sources counts as plagiarism , since you’re presenting someone else’s ideas as if they were your own.

The most commonly used citation styles are APA and MLA. The free Scribbr Citation Generator is the quickest way to cite sources in these styles. Simply enter the URL, DOI, or title, and we’ll generate an accurate, correctly formatted citation.

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Table of contents

When do you need to cite sources, which citation style should you use, in-text citations, reference lists and bibliographies.

Scribbr Citation Generator

Other useful citation tools

Citation examples and full guides, frequently asked questions about citing sources.

Citations are required in all types of academic texts. They are needed for several reasons:

• To avoid plagiarism by indicating when you’re taking information from another source
• To give proper credit to the author of that source
• To allow the reader to consult your sources for themselves

A citation is needed whenever you integrate a source into your writing. This usually means quoting or paraphrasing:

• To quote a source , copy a short piece of text word for word and put it inside quotation marks .
• To paraphrase a source , put the text into your own words. It’s important that the paraphrase is not too close to the original wording. You can use the paraphrasing tool if you don’t want to do this manually.

Citations are needed whether you quote or paraphrase, and whatever type of source you use. As well as citing scholarly sources like books and journal articles, don’t forget to include citations for any other sources you use for ideas, examples, or evidence. That includes websites, YouTube videos , and lectures .

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Usually, your institution (or the journal you’re submitting to) will require you to follow a specific citation style, so check your guidelines or ask your instructor.

In some cases, you may have to choose a citation style for yourself. Make sure to pick one style and use it consistently:

• APA Style is widely used in the social sciences and beyond.
• MLA style is common in the humanities.
• Chicago notes and bibliography , common in the humanities
• Chicago author-date , used in the (social) sciences
• There are many other citation styles for different disciplines.

If in doubt, check with your instructor or read other papers from your field of study to see what style they follow.

In most styles, your citations consist of:

• Brief in-text citations at the relevant points in the text
• A reference list or bibliography containing full information on all the sources you’ve cited

In-text citations most commonly take the form of parenthetical citations featuring the last name of the source’s author and its year of publication (aka author-date citations).

An alternative to this type of in-text citation is the system used in numerical citation styles , where a number is inserted into the text, corresponding to an entry in a numbered reference list.

There are also note citation styles , where you place your citations in either footnotes or endnotes . Since they’re not embedded in the text itself, these citations can provide more detail and sometimes aren’t accompanied by a full reference list or bibliography.

A reference list (aka “Bibliography” or “Works Cited,” depending on the style) is where you provide full information on each of the sources you’ve cited in the text. It appears at the end of your paper, usually with a hanging indent applied to each entry.

The information included in reference entries is broadly similar, whatever citation style you’re using. For each source, you’ll typically include the:

• Author name
• Publication date
• Container (e.g., the book an essay was published in, the journal an article appeared in)
• Location (e.g., a URL or DOI , or sometimes a physical location)

The exact information included varies depending on the source type and the citation style. The order in which the information appears, and how you format it (e.g., capitalization, use of italics) also varies.

Most commonly, the entries in your reference list are alphabetized by author name. This allows the reader to easily find the relevant entry based on the author name in your in-text citation.

In numerical citation styles, the entries in your reference list are numbered, usually based on the order in which you cite them. The reader finds the right entry based on the number that appears in the text.

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Because each style has many small differences regarding things like italicization, capitalization , and punctuation , it can be difficult to get every detail right. Using a citation generator can save you a lot of time and effort.

Scribbr offers citation generators for both APA and MLA style. Both are quick, easy to use, and 100% free, with no ads and no registration required.

Just input a URL or DOI or add the source details manually, and the generator will automatically produce an in-text citation and reference entry in the correct format. You can save your reference list as you go and download it when you’re done, and even add annotations for an annotated bibliography .

Once you’ve prepared your citations, you might still be unsure if they’re correct and if you’ve used them appropriately in your text. This is where Scribbr’s other citation tools and services may come in handy:

Plagiarism Checker

Citation Checker

Citation Editing

Plagiarism means passing off someone else’s words or ideas as your own. It’s a serious offense in academia. Universities use plagiarism checking software to scan your paper and identify any similarities to other texts.

When you’re dealing with a lot of sources, it’s easy to make mistakes that could constitute accidental plagiarism. For example, you might forget to add a citation after a quote, or paraphrase a source in a way that’s too close to the original text.

Using a plagiarism checker yourself before you submit your work can help you spot these mistakes before they get you in trouble. Based on the results, you can add any missing citations and rephrase your text where necessary.

Try out the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker for free, or check out our detailed comparison of the best plagiarism checkers available online.

Scribbr Plagiarism Checker

Scribbr’s Citation Checker is a unique AI-powered tool that automatically detects stylistic errors and inconsistencies in your in-text citations. It also suggests a correction for every mistake.

Currently available for APA Style, this is the fastest and easiest way to make sure you’ve formatted your citations correctly. You can try out the tool for free below.

If you need extra help with your reference list, we also offer a more in-depth Citation Editing Service.

Our experts cross-check your in-text citations and reference entries, make sure you’ve included the correct information for each source, and improve the formatting of your reference page.

If you want to handle your citations yourself, Scribbr’s free Knowledge Base provides clear, accurate guidance on every aspect of citation. You can see citation examples for a variety of common source types below:

And you can check out our comprehensive guides to the most popular citation styles:

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

The abbreviation “ et al. ” (Latin for “and others”) is used to shorten citations of sources with multiple authors.

“Et al.” is used in APA in-text citations of sources with 3+ authors, e.g. (Smith et al., 2019). It is not used in APA reference entries .

Use “et al.” for 3+ authors in MLA in-text citations and Works Cited entries.

Use “et al.” for 4+ authors in a Chicago in-text citation , and for 10+ authors in a Chicago bibliography entry.

The Scribbr Citation Generator is developed using the open-source Citation Style Language (CSL) project and Frank Bennett’s citeproc-js . It’s the same technology used by dozens of other popular citation tools, including Mendeley and Zotero.

You can find all the citation styles and locales used in the Scribbr Citation Generator in our publicly accessible repository on Github .

APA format is widely used by professionals, researchers, and students in the social and behavioral sciences, including fields like education, psychology, and business.

Be sure to check the guidelines of your university or the journal you want to be published in to double-check which style you should be using.

MLA Style  is the second most used citation style (after APA ). It is mainly used by students and researchers in humanities fields such as literature, languages, and philosophy.

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