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MLA Citation: Works Cited

Works Cited List: Basics

  • Begin on a new page; include the header (your name, page number) as in all other pages
  • Centre the words Works Cited one inch from the top of the page; don't bold or underline
  • Double space like all other pages
  • The first line of each citation is flush left, subsequent lines are indented five spaces (“hanging indent”)
  • Begin each part of an entry with a capital letter and end each section with a period
  • Alphabetize your list by the first word in the citation. Usually this is the author’s last name. If there is no author, alphabetize by the first word in the title, ignoring the words a, an, the.

 

Works Cited Elements

Author. Title of source. Title of container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.

All entries in a Works Cited list are based on nine core elements that appear in the following order and with the punctuation mark shown:

Note: You may not have all core elements for a source you are using. However, elements necessary to find a source must be included if available; missing elements (with exception of the title) are omitted. You may also add other elements for clarification (see example Foreword).

 

For ONE author list the author’s last name, followed by a comma and the given name(s) as shown in the work. 

EXAMPLE:

Creese, Gillian Laura.

 

For TWO authors, put them in the order in which they appear in the work. Begin the entry with the last name of the first author, followed by a comma and the given name(s). Follow this with a comma, the word and, and then write the second name in normal order. 

EXAMPLE:

Tellis, Gerard J., and Tim Ambler.

 

For MORE THAN TWO authors, list the first author as described above, and follow it with a comma and the words et al. (meaning "and others")

EXAMPLE:

Gilbert, David G., et al.

 

If there is NO author, skip the author element, and start the citation with the title

EXAMPLE:

Beowulf.

 


Note: the term author is used loosely. It refers to any main person(s) of a source, such as: editor(s), creator(s), director(s), performer(s), translator(s), etc. Add the respective word after the name(s), separated by a comma. Example:

Green, William A., and Tom B. Moss, editors.

Note: An author can also be an organization, association, company or government. No additional descriptive word is needed. Example:

Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

The title identifies the work, and you must ALWAYS include this element in a citation.

Titles are given in full as they appear in the source. If there is a subtitle, it follows after the main title, separated by a colon and a space. Capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle and all principal words (for more details on capitalization and punctuation see MLA 1.2.1).

Italicize titles of sources that are independent and self-contained, such as books, journals/magazines/newspapers, websites, movies, a TV series, a CD, etc.

EXAMPLE PRINT BOOK:

Creese, Gillian Laura. The New African Diaspora in Vancouver: Migration, Exclusion, and Belonging. U of Toronto P, 2011.

 

Place the “title in quotation marks” if a source is part of a larger work, such as a chapter in a collection of works, an article in a journal/magazine/newspaper, a posting on a website, an episode of a TV series, a song on an album, etc.

EXAMPLE PRINT ARTICLE:

Commito, Mike, and Ben Bradley. “Beyond Winnie.” Canada's History, Feb.-Mar. 2017, pp. 40-45.

 

If there is no title, give a generic description of the source in normal typescript (i.e. neither italicized nor enclosed in quotation marks). Capitalize proper nouns (MLA, p. 29)

EXAMPLE PHOTOGRAPH:

Couleur. Photograph of a young Polar Bear. Pixabay, 2017, pixabay.com/en/polar-bear-predator-animal-white-1888038/.

 

For emails, use the subject line as the title (use standardized capitalization), for short untitled messages (tweets, etc.), use the whole message as the title (capitalize as it appears).  (MLA, p. 29)

EXAMPLES: 

Sanderson, William M. “Re: Workshop Ideas.” Received by Miriam Willis, 10 June 2013. 

@KPULibrary. “New study out of Yale: People who #read live longer.” Twitter, 8 Aug. 2016, 1:19 p.m., twitter.com/KPULibrary/status/762744957492867072.

A source may be part of a larger whole, in which case this larger whole is a container. The title of a container is italicized

EXAMPLES:

Frideres, James. “Aboriginal Identity in the Canadian Context.” The Canadian Journal of Native Studies,, vol. 28, no. 3, 2009, pp. 313-342.

@KPULibrary. “New study out of Yale: People who #read live longer.” Twitter, 8 Aug. 2016, 1:19 p.m., twitter.com/KPULibrary/status/762744957492867072.

CONTAINER CONTAINS
journal, magazine, newspaper article
anthology essay, poem, short story
blog blog post
Twitter tweet
website like Facebook post, comment
website like SoundCloud song
album song
website like YouTube video clip or movie
TV series, radio program individual episodes
website like GoogleBooks digitized novel
website like Flickr photo
museum website digital image of a painting       
art exhibit artwork

 

Note: a container can also be contained within another container.

EXAMPLES:

Good for Grapes. "Skipping Stone." Man on the Page, Pheromone, 2013. SoundCloud, soundcloud.com/good-for-grapes/skipping-stone

  FIRST CONTAINER SECOND CONTAINER
Article from a journal in a database the journal the database
Book chapter from an ebook in an online collection the book the online collection (like Project Gutenberg)
An episode of a TV series watched on Netflix the TV series Netflix
A song from an album streamed from SoundCloud the album SoundCloud

 

Note: a website is NOT ALWAYS a container. It is a container when it is the platform of publication for the particular version of the work you consult.

EXAMPLES:

  CONTAINER NOT A CONTAINER
Moodle course site when something is directly posted on it (like a lecture) when it links you out to another site
Amazon when you refer to something written on the site (like a customer review) when you download something from it (like an ebook)
Google if you are referring to an original Google work (like a Google Doodle) search results other than original Google works
Facebook posts and comments links that take you to other sites

 

This refers to other people who were involved with the work in addition to the author/main person(s), such as a director, an editor, an illustrator, a narrator, performer, translator, etc. Include the one(s) most relevant to your project. Precede the contributor(s) with a description of the role, such as: adapted by, directed by, edited by, illustrated by, narrated by, performed by, translated by, general editor.

EXAMPLE PRINT BOOK:

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner Graphic Novel. Illustrated by Fabio Celoni and Mirka Andolofo, Riverhead, 2011. 

EXAMPLE SERIES EPISODE (various options possible, depending on emphasis): 

"The Door." Game of Thrones, created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, directed by Jack Bender, season 6, episode 5, HBO, 26 May 2016. 

Bender, Jack, director. "The Door." Game of Thrones, created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, season 6, episode 5, HBO, 26 May 2016. 

Benioff, David, and D. B. Weiss. "The Door." Game of Thrones, directed by Jack Bender, season 6, episode 5, HBO, 26 May 2016. 

If a source indicates that it is a different version from the original, identify the version, such as:

  • descriptive editions: rev. ed. (revised edition), expanded ed., updated ed., etc.
  • numbered edition: 2nd ed., 3rd ed., 4th ed., etc.
  • other versions: unabridged version, version 1.2, director's cut, etc. 

EXAMPLE PRINT BOOK:

Thomas, David M., and David N. Biette, editors. Canada and the United States: Differences That Count. 4th ed., U of Toronto P, 2014.

EXAMPLE MOVIE:

Scott, Ridley, director. Blade Runner. Performance by Harrison Ford, director's cut, Warner Bros., 1992.

A source may be part of a numbered sequence. This core element refers to volume numbers in books, volume and issue numbers in journals, seasons and episodes in television series, etc.

EXAMPLE PRINT BOOK: 

Puchner, Martin, et al., editors. The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. 9th ed., vol. 1, W. W. Norton, 2014. 

EXAMPLE PRINT ARTICLE: 

Mashford-Pringle, Angela. "Indigenous Peoples and Biculturedness." The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, vol. 35, no. 2, 2015, pp. 137-152.

EXAMPLE SERIES EPISODE: 

"The Door." Game of Thrones, created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, directed by Jack Bender, season 6, episode 5, HBO, 26 May 2016.

The publisher is the organization responsible for making the source available to the public. Cite only the main publisher, but if two or more organizations are equally responsible for publication, cite each of them, separating the names with a forward slash /. Write publishers’ names in full, but omit words and abbreviations like Company (Co.), Corporation (Corp.), Incorporated (Inc.), and Limited (Ltd.). For academic institutions, abbreviate university with U and press with P.

EXAMPLE PRINT BOOK: 

Creese, Gillian Laura. The New African Diaspora in Vancouver: Migration, Exclusion, and Belonging. U of Toronto P, 2011. 

EXAMPLE SERIES EPISODE: 

“The Door.” Game of Thrones, created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, directed by Jack Bender, season 6, episode 5, HBO, 26 May 2016. 

EXAMPLE WEBSITE: 

Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible, Folger Shakespeare Library / Bodleian Libraries, U of Oxford / Harry Ransom Center, U of Texas, Austin, manifoldgreatness.org.

Generally, give the date as detailed as given in your source. Names of months that are longer than four letters, are abbreviated.  If a source shows more than one date, cite the most relevant one. If there is no date, give your best estimate in square brackets with a ?, for example: [2018?]

EXAMPLE PRINT BOOK: 

Creese, Gillian Laura. The New African Diaspora in Vancouver: Migration, Exclusion, and Belonging. U of Toronto P, 2011.

EXAMPLE MAGAZINE ARTICLE: 

Commito, Mike, and Ben Bradley. "Beyond Winnie." Canada's History, Feb.- Mar. 2017, pp. 40-45.

EXAMPLE SERIES EPISODE: 

"The Door." Game of Thrones, created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, directed by Jack Bender , season 6, episode 5, HBO, 26 May 2016.

EXAMPLE TWEET: 

@KPULibrary. “New study out of Yale: People who #read live longer.” Twitter, 8 Aug. 2016, 1:19 p.m., twitter.com/KPULibrary/status/762744957492867072.

The location of your source depends on the medium of publication. In print sources, it is generally a page number/range of page numbers. In an online only source it is the DOI or URL. In a nested container, you may have two locations (one per container). Copy URLs in full, but omit http:// or https://

EXAMPLE PRINT ARTICLE: 

Frideres, James. “Aboriginal Identity in the Canadian Context.” The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, vol. 28, no. 2, 2008, pp. 313-342.

EXAMPLE ONLINE ARTICLE (not from a database): 

Frideres, James. “Aboriginal Identity in the Canadian Context.” The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, vol. 28, no. 2, 2008, www3.brandonu.ca/library/CJNS/28.2/05Frideres.pdf.

EXAMPLE ONLINE ARTICLE (from a database, no DOI): 

Frideres, James. “Aboriginal Identity in the Canadian Context.” The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, vol. 28, no. 2, 2008, pp. 313-342. Proquest, search.proquest.com/docview/218083937?accountid=35875.

EXAMPLE ONLINE ARTICLE (from a database, with DOI): 

Frideres, James, and Marie Dalhouse. “Intergenerational Congruency: The Role of the Family in the Political Attitudes of Youth. Journal of Family Issues, vol. 17, no. 2, 1996, pp. 227-248, Sage, doi:10.1177/019251396017002005.