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Cite Using MLA

Works Cited Page MLA Basics

  • The works cited page always begins on a new page at the end of your paper.
  • Use the page heading Works Cited and center it on the page.
  • Pagination should be continuous with the rest of your paper.
  • Your citations should appear in alphabetical order by the first author's last name.  If there is no author info for your source then use the first element of the citation.

Example Works Cited Page Format:

Works Cited

Arendt, Hannah. The Origins of Totalitarianism. New York, Harcourt, Brace & World, 1966.

Kendi, Ibram X. Stamped from the Beginning: the Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Nation Books, 2016.

Meyer, Philipp. The Son. New York, NY, Macmillian, 2011.

 

Examples

The order of elements in an MLA citation is as follows:

Author(s). Title. Title of Container, Other Contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.

Book Typical Format:

Lastname, Firstname. Title. Publisher, Publication Date.

Example: 

Fischer, Norman, and Susan Moon. What is Zen? Plain Talk for a Beginner's Mind. Shambala Publishing, 2016.

eBook Typical Format:

Lastname, Firstname. Title. Publisher, Publication Date, Title of Container, URL or DOI.

Example:

Mohan, Brij. The Future of Social Work: Seven Pillars of Practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2018, (EBSCOhost) eBook Collection, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=e000xna&AN=1797113&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s7614884.

Chapter of a Book/Work in a Collection/Anthology/Specialized Reference Work:

Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Chapter/Essay/Novel." Title of Book/Collection/Anthology, Edited by Firstname Lastname, Publisher, Publication date, Location.

Example:

Gates, Henry Louis, Chuck D, and Common. "Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five." The Anthology of Rap, Edited by Adam Bradley and Andrew Dubois, Yale UP, 2010, pp. 64-81. JStor, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1nq45c.

Journal Article Typical Format:

Lastname, Firstname. “Title of Article.” Title of Container (Journal), vol #, issue #, publication date, Location, Title of Container (Database), URL or DOI.

Example:

Makko, Aryo. "Sweden, Europe, and the Cold War: A Reappraisal." Journal of Cold War Studies, vol. 14, issue 2, Spring 2012, pp. 68-97. Jstor Journals, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.26923786&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s7614884.

Optional Elements

Some elements of an MLA citation are optional. Below are listed some examples: 

  • Original publication date
  • City of publication
  • Number of volumes in a set
  • Series name (no quotations or italics)
  • Date of access 
  • Format