MLA Works Cited Style Guide
from the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed.
available in the library’s reference collection
General Rules
• Alphabetize entries by author. If no author is given, begin with the title. [MLA 5.5]
• Underline titles of books, magazines, and scholarly journals. [MLA 3.6.2]
• Enclose title of articles, essays, poems, and short stories in quotation marks. [MLA 3.6.3]
• Indent ½ inch on all but the first line of each entry. Double space throughout the works cited list. [MLA 5.4]
• Use an abbreviated publisher's name: "New York: Morrow, 2008" rather than “New York: William Morrow & Company, 2008.” [MLA 5.6.1 & 7.5]
• Provide only the last 2 digits for numbers over 99 when citing page numbers that have the same initial number unless more numbers are necessary for clarity: “456-78” or “4599-4613.” [MLA 3.5.6]
• Use a plus sign after the first page number of the article for multi-paged articles that are not consecutive: "192+." [MLA 5.7.1, 5.7.5, and 5.7.6]
• Use a hyphen, space, and period for database articles that provide only the starting page number of an article: "192- ." [MLA 5.9.7a]
• Put one space after punctuation. [MLA 3.2.12]
• Provide citation information for library subscription services (e.g., database articles or books) that include the name of the database underlined, the name of the service, the library, the date of access, and URL if known. Provide database URLs for the opening search page if the unique URL for an article is lengthy. [MLA 5.9.7]
Parenthetical Documentation
• Verify that sources cited with parenthetical or in-text documentation are listed with complete works cited information at the end of the paper. [MLA 6.1]
• Put parenthetical documentation where there is a natural break in the flow of the text, near the cited information, usually at the end of the sentence before the punctuation mark. [MLA 6.3]
• Use an option below for citing sources in the text:
o Use the author’s name and page number(s) for parenthetical documentation enclosed in parentheses: “(Allison 97).” [MLA 6.2]
o List the author's name in a sentence and only the page numbers in parentheses. "(As Allison asserts (97), the historical significance of …)" [MLA 6.3]
o Provide a shortened title and page/section numbers for works listed by title. “(“Marion” 2) [MLA 6.4.4]
Works Cited Examples – Books
from the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed.
available in the library’s reference collection
General Rules
• Alphabetize entries by author. If no author is given, begin with the title. [MLA 5.5]
• Underline titles of books, magazines, and scholarly journals. [MLA 3.6.2]
• Enclose title of articles, essays, poems, and short stories in quotation marks. [MLA 3.6.3]
• Indent ½ inch on all but the first line of each entry. Double space throughout the works cited list. [MLA 5.4]
• Use an abbreviated publisher's name: "New York: Morrow, 2008" rather than “New York: William Morrow & Company, 2008.” [MLA 5.6.1 & 7.5]
• Provide only the last 2 digits for numbers over 99 when citing page numbers that have the same initial number unless more numbers are necessary for clarity: “456-78” or “4599-4613.” [MLA 3.5.6]
• Use a plus sign after the first page number of the article for multi-paged articles that are not consecutive: "192+." [MLA 5.7.1, 5.7.5, and 5.7.6]
• Use a hyphen, space, and period for database articles that provide only the starting page number of an article: "192- ." [MLA 5.9.7a]
• Put one space after punctuation. [MLA 3.2.12]
• Provide citation information for library subscription services (e.g., database articles or books) that include the name of the database underlined, the name of the service, the library, the date of access, and URL if known. Provide database URLs for the opening search page if the unique URL for an article is lengthy. [MLA 5.9.7]
Parenthetical Documentation
• Verify that sources cited with parenthetical or in-text documentation are listed with complete works cited information at the end of the paper. [MLA 6.1]
• Put parenthetical documentation where there is a natural break in the flow of the text, near the cited information, usually at the end of the sentence before the punctuation mark. [MLA 6.3]
• Use an option below for citing sources in the text:
o Use the author’s name and page number(s) for parenthetical documentation enclosed in parentheses: “(Allison 97).” [MLA 6.2]
o List the author's name in a sentence and only the page numbers in parentheses. "(As Allison asserts (97), the historical significance of …)" [MLA 6.3]
o Provide a shortened title and page/section numbers for works listed by title. “(“Marion” 2) [MLA 6.4.4]
Works Cited Examples – Books
BOOK, TWO OR THREE AUTHORS - MLA 5.6.4
Brown, Nathan, and Sheryle A. Proper. The Everything Paying for College Book. Avon, MA: Adams, 2005.
BOOK, MORE THAN THREE AUTHORS - MLA 5.6.4
Bassis, Michael S., et al. Sociology: An Introduction. 4th ed. McGraw, 1991.
BOOK, NO AUTHOR - MLA 5.6.11
The House Book. London: Phaidon, 2001.
BOOK, AN EDITOR - MLA 5.6.2
Vecchione, Patrice, ed. Faith and Doubt: An Anthology of Poems. New York: Holt, 2007.
BOOK, CORPORATE AUTHOR - MLA 5.6.6
American Heart Association. American Heart Association Low-Salt Cookbook: A Complete Guide to Reducing
Sodium and Fat in Your Diet. New York: Clarkson Potter, 2006.
BOOK, AN EDITOR IN ADDITION TO AN AUTHOR - MLA 5.6.12
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Ed. F. W. Robinson. Boston: Houghton, 1957.
ESSAY WRITTEN BY ONE PERSON IN A BOOK EDITED BY ANOTHER - MLA 5.6.7
Chan, Janet. "Changing Police Culture." Policing: Key Readings. Ed. Tim Newburn. Cullompton, Eng.: Willan, 2005.
338-63.
BOOK, A SECOND OR SUBSEQUENT EDITION - MLA 5.6.14
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: MLA, 2003.
ARTICLE IN A REFERENCE BOOK - MLA 5.6.8
“Stepmothers.” The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales. Ed. Donald Haase. 3 vols. Westport, CT:
Greenwood, 2008.
ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLE, SIGNED - MLA 5.6.8
Epps, Helen H. "Textiles." World Book Encyclopedia. 2003 ed.
ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLE or DICTIONARY ENTRY, UNSIGNED - MLA 5.6.8
"Onomatopoeia." Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. 2003.
PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED SCHOLARLY ARTICLE REPRINTED IN A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS - MLA 5.6.7
(List first the information about where the essay was originally published. When reprinted multiple times, use only the original source and the source where you found the material.)
Martin, M. G. F. "Perception, Concepts, and Memory." Philosophical Review 101(1992): 745-64. Rpt. in Essays On
Nonconceptual Content. Ed. York H. Gunther. Cambridge: MIT P, 2003. 237-50.
EXCERPTED SOURCES FROM MULTIVOLUME CRITICAL ANTHOLOGIES - MLA 5.6.7
(includes Contemporary Literary Criticism, Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism, etc.)
Daches, David. "W. H. Auden: The Search for a Public." Poetry 54 (1939): 148-56. Rpt. in Poetry
Criticism. Ed. Robyn V. Young. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1991. 332-33.
BOOK IN A SERIES - MLA 5.6.16
(like Opposing Viewpoints, Taking Sides, and Contemporary World Issues)
Evans, Kim Masters. The American Economy. Information Plus Reference Ser. Detroit: Gale, 2007.
GOVERNMENT PUBLICATION - MLA 5.6.21
(Use the name of the government, then the name of the agency as the document author if a specific individual author is not given.)
United States. Census. "Deaths by Major Causes: 1960 to 2002." Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2004-
2005. 124th ed. Washington: GPO, 2004.
Works Cited Examples – Magazines, Journals, and Newspapers
ARTICLE FROM A WEEKLY MAGAZINE - MLA 5.7.6
Kluger, Jeffrey. "Why We Love ." Time 28 Jan. 2008: 55-60.
ARTICLE FROM A WEEKLY NEWS SERVICE (such as CQ Researcher or Issues and Controversies on File) - MLA 5.7.6
Jost, Kenneth. "Independent Counsels Re-Examined." CQ Researcher 7 May 1999: 377-84.
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE - MLA 5.7.5
Feder, Barnaby J. "For Job Seekers, a Toll-Free Gift of Expert Advice." New York Times 22 Mar. 1994, late ed.: A1+.
ARTICLE IN A SCHOLARLY JOURNAL WITH CONTINUOUS PAGINATION - MLA 5.7.1
Warner, Megan B., et al. “The Longitudinal Relationship of Personality Traits and Disorders.”
Journal of Abnormal Psychology 113 (2004): 217-27.
ARTICLE IN A SCHOLARLY JOURNAL THAT PAGES EACH ISSUE SEPARATELY - MLA 5.7.2
Garrett, Laurie. "The Next Pandemic?" Foreign Affairs 84.4 (2005): 3-23.
ARTICLE WITH NO AUTHOR - MLA 5.7.9 (Begin with the title if a source has no author.)
"Marion Barry and the Washington Post." The Weekly Standard 26 Nov. 2007: 2-3.
Works Cited Examples – Multimedia
IMAGE FROM A BOOK - MLA 5.8.6
Exekias. The Suicide of Ajax. C. 540 B.C.E. Chateau-Musee, Boulogne-sur-Mer. Art History. By Marilyn
Stokstad. New York: Abrams, 1995. Plate 5-29.
Works Cited Examples – Internet
ONLINE PERIODICAL - MLA 5.9.4a-b
Sarnoff, Nancy. "Web's Role in House Hunt Grows." Houston Chronicle 1 Dec. 2007. 18 Feb. 2008
<http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/sarnoff/5343966.html>.
ONLINE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATION - MLA 5.9.3c
United States. Dept. of Justice. Office of Community Oriented Policing Service. Underage Drinking. 30 Apr. 2008. 5
Nov. 2008 <http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp?Item=1695>.
ONLINE VIDEO - MLA 5.9.9c (cf.5.8.3)
b3108, dir. Grocery Star Wars. 15 Apr. 2006. YouTube. 22 Jan. 2008
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qhpLJtzBHA>.
PHOTOGRAPH FROM THE INTERNET - MLA 5.9.9d (cf.5.8.6)
wmchu. Tenaya Lake. 1 Dec. 2006. Flickr. 26 Feb. 2008
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/19915916@N00/311203794/>.
Works Cited Examples – Subscription Databases
Online Periodical in a Subscription Database - MLA 5.9.7
Clemmitt, Marcia . "Student Aid." CQ Researcher 25 Jan. 2008. CQ Researcher Online. Congressional Quarterly,
Inc. Lone Star Coll. Lib., The Woodlands, TX. 2 Feb. 2008
<http://library.cqpress.com.ezproxy.lonestar.edu/cqresearcher/>.
Newspaper Article in a Subscription Database - MLA 5.7.5 and 5.9.7
Lichtblau, Eric. "Administration Plans Defense of Terror Law." New York Times 19 Aug. 2003, East Coast late ed.:
A1. ProQuest Newspapers. ProQuest. Lone Star Coll. Lib., The Woodlands, TX. 15 Sept. 2003
<http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.lonestar.edu/login/>.
Journal Article Reprinted in a Reference Book then Reproduced in a Subscription Database - MLA 5.6.7, 5.7.2, and 5.9.7
Kiskis, Michael J. "Mark Twain and Collaborative Autobiography." Studies in the Literary Imagination
29:2 (1996): 27-40. Rpt. in Nonfiction Classics for Students. Vol. 4. Literature Resource Center.
Gale. Lone Star Coll. Lib., The Woodlands, TX. 3 Aug. 2003
<http://infotrac.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lonestar.edu/>.
Journal Article Reprinted in a Subscription Database - MLA 5.9.7
Johnson, Greg. “Gilman's Gothic Allegory: Rage and Redemption in `The Yellow Wallpaper.'” Studies in Short
Fiction 26 (1989): 521-30. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Lone Star Coll. Lib., The Woodlands, TX. 22
Mar. 2008 <http://infotrac.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lonestar.edu/>.
E-Book in a Subscription Database- MLA 5.9.7 (cf. 5.9.3)
Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Bloom's Notes. Ed. Harold Bloom. Broomall, PA: Chelsea, 1996.
NetLibrary. Lone Star Coll. Lib., The Woodlands, TX. 14 Sept. 2007 <http://www.netlibrary.com>.