If your project or paper for a class requires you to research, you will need to document your sources. One method of doing this is through the use of the MLA (Modern Language Association) format. This guide introduces the format and how to compose a works cited or works consulted page.

Your works cited list leads to your sources
The works cited or works consulted list should appear at the end of your essay. It provides the information for a reader to locate and read any sources you cite in the essay.

Each source you cite in the essay must appear in your works cited or works consulted list; each entry on your works cited page must be cited in your text. This list is different from a works consulted page, which lists works you consulted and possibly some that you cited, but not all were quoted or paraphrased in your work.

Formatting your works cited list
Begin your works cited list on a separate page from the text of the essay under the label Works Cited (with no quotation marks, underlining, etc.). The title should be centered at the top of the page.

• Make the first line of each entry in your list flush left with the margin. Indent subsequent lines in each entry one-half inch. This is known as a hanging indent.
• Double space all entries, with no skipped spaces between entries.
• Alphabetize the list of works cited by the first word in each entry (usually the author's last name). Ignore “A, “ “An,” or “The” in alphabetizing titles.
• Each entry has four key elements: 1) author’s name, 2) title or source of the work, 3) publication information, and 4)medium of publication..

When in doubt, consult the most current version of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (cited below).

General citation guidelines to follow

• Put a period at the end of each element, like author’s name, title, etc.
• Authors' names are inverted; if a work has more than one author, invert only the first author's name, follow it with a comma, then continue listing the rest of the authors.
• Capitalize each word in the titles of articles, books, etc. This rule does not apply to articles, short prepositions, or conjunctions unless one is the first word of the title or subtitle.
• Put titles of books, journals, magazines, newspapers, and films in italics.
• Use quotation marks around the titles of articles in journals, magazines, and newspapers. Also use quotation marks for the titles of short stories, book chapters, poems, and songs.
• For the publisher, list the city first, followed by a colon, then the publishing company.
• Always end your citation with a period.
• Be sure to include the medium of publication. For print material, it goes at the end of the citation. Put this information before the date of access for a website.

Parenthetical citation
A parenthetical citation documents the source you used within the text of your writing. You cite information that is quoted and ideas that are paraphrased from your source by a single phrase in parenthesis that will lead your audience to the correct source listed in your Works Cited page.

Citing Works with an Author

If you are quoting or paraphrasing a print work with a known author (book, magazine, newspaper, etc.), you need to provide both the author's name and page number of the source in parenthesis. If you mention the author's name in your writing, then just put the page number in the parenthesis.

Examples:

• Blindness can be caused by many things, including accidents and birth congentital disorders(Matsuoka 117).
• Judy Matsuoka explains that blindness can be caused by many things, including accidents and congential disorders (117).

Citing Works with No Author

If the quote or paraphrasing comes from a printed work with no author, then use a shortened version of the title of the work and a page number.

Example:

• Even though most people seemed happy with the building's aesthetics, the city council pushed toward tearing down the existing structure ("Rather Than Create" B4). 

Citing Web Pages

For web pages, you need to use whatever phrase that would relate to the work in your Works Cited page. This is usually the title of the web page (use the author or editor if the name is known; include a comma between the author's name and the title). Do not use the URL in the parenthetical citation.

Example:

• Ms. Jones concludes that even though most historians would argue against in, the change in tenure laws would have saved Smith College from the problems it currently faces ("New Bill Promotes Debate).
• Even though most historians would argue against in, the change in tenure laws would have saved Smith College from the problems it currently faces (Jones, "New Bill Promotes Debate").

For more examples and further information, visit the Online Writing Lab at Purdue Univeristy.

Works Cited - EXAMPLE

Brandychloe. "Great Horned Owl Family." JPEG. Webshots. N.p., 22 May 2006. Web.

5 November 2009.

Jones, Samantha.  “New Bill Promotes Debate at Smith.”  New York Times 4 April 2004.

Web. 15 March 2006.

<http://www.newyorktimes.com/234/apr/opinion/newbill.htm>.

Matsuoka, Judy Chiyo,. “Blindness.” Encyclopedia Americana. 1996. Print.

Miller, James E. “Beatles.” Worldbook Online. Web. 18 May 2005.

"Rather Than Create Something New, Let's Redesign What Already Exists."

The Seattle Times. 30 June 1973: B4. Print.

Sheftel-Gomes, Nasoan. Everything You Need to Know About Animals. New York: Rosen

Publishing Group, Inc., 1998. Print.

Tuinstra, Rachel. “Microsoft Expansion Plans Approved by City Council.” The Seattle

Times. 19 May 2005: D3. Print.