Works Cited: Quick Reference
Based on the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Fourth Edition

TIPS:
If the first required item (usually the author) is missing from your source, start with the next required item (usually the title). This happens a lot with websites.
If there are more than three authors or editors, list only the first one followed by et al. (meaning and others). Example: Brown, Nancy, et al.
Be sure to do the punctuation, underlining and spacing the same as the examples.
Put a colon ( : ) between the title and subtitle.
Always follow a colon or a period with two spaces.
Sources are always cited alphabetically.
Remember: A Works Cited document only lists the sources that you actually used, and a Bibliography lists all of the sources that you researched.


WORK BY A SINGLE AUTHOR

Structure
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Title. Place of Publication: Publisher, Copyright Ddate.

Example
Smith, John. Space: The Greatest Expanse in the Universe. New York: Harper Collins, 2003.


WORK BY TWO OR THREE AUTHORS
(USE COMMAS TO SEPARATE NAMES)

Structure
First Author’s Last Name, First Author’s First Name, and Second Author’s Full Name. Title. Place of Publication: Publisher, Copyright Date.

Example
Smith, John H. and Mary L. Lamb. Space: The Greatest Expanse in the Universe. New York: Harper Collins, 2003.


WORK BY A SINGLE EDITOR

Structure
Editor’s Last Name, Editor’s First Name, ed. Title. Place of Publication: Publisher,
Copyright Date.

Example
Smith, John, ed. Space: The Greatest Expanse in the Universe. New York: Harper Collins, 2003.


GENERAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS (WORLD BOOK, BRITANNICA, ETC.)

Structure
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. "Article Title." Name of Encyclopedia.
Edition Year.

Example
Smith, John. "Space." World Book Encyclopedia. 2000 ed.


SUBJECT SPECIFIC ENCYCLOPEDIA (CURRENT BIOGRAPHY,
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION, ETC.)

Structure
Author ‘s Last Name, Author’s First Name. "Entry Title." Encyclopedia Title.
Editor of Encyclopedia. Volume Number. Place of Publication: Publisher,
Copyright Date.

Example
Smith, John. "Albert Einstein." Great Scientists: A Collection of Literary Biographies. Ed. Mary Lamb. Vol. 2. New York: Harper Collins, 2003.


DICTIONARIES AND ALAMANACS

Structure
"Word or section title." Title of Source. Place of Publication: Publisher, Copyright
Date.

Example
"Astonishment." Webster's Sixth New International Dictionary of the English Language. Springfield, MA: G & C Merriam, 2000.


MAGAZINES (HARD COPY OR MICROFICHE)

Structure
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. "Article Title." Magazine Title. Issue
Date: page number(s) of article.

Example
Smith, John. "Writing Research Papers: How to Write the Best Paper of Your Class." Writer’s Magazine. Jan. 2002: 23-24, 27-30.


NEWSPAPERS

Structure
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. "Newspaper Article Title." Newspaper
Issue Date: page number(s) of article.

Example
Smith, John. "Local School Helps Students Write Better Papers." LA Time
15 October. 2001: D12.


ELECTRONIC OR ONLINE SOURCES
CD-ROM ENCYCLOPEDIA

Structure
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. "Article Title." Name of CD-ROM
Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. Publisher. Copyright Date.

Example
Smith, John. "The Universe." Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. Grolier. 2002.


INTERNET - WORLD WIDE WEB

Structure
Author ‘s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Title of Web Page. [Online] Available Protocol: URL of specific site, date of document or download.

Example
Lane, Sarah. The Nuts And Bolts of College Writing. [Online] Available at: http://www.classbrain.com/artteensb/publish/article_94.shtml, 9 May. 2003.


IMAGES, CHARTS, ETC.

Structure
Artist if Available. Description or Title of Image." Date of image. Online image. Title of Larger Site. Date of download. <URL>.

Example
Beck, Beth. "The Earth And Moon From Mars." 3 June 2003. Online image. NASA. 9 June. 2003. <http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_56.html>.


VIDEOTAPES & DVDs

Structure
Title. Director, Producer, and/or Writers. Medium. Distributor, Year.

Example
Space. John Smith, A&E, Beth Beck. DVD. A&E, 1999.


INTERVIEWS

Structure
Last Name of person being interviewed, First Name. Interview format
(telephone, personal, etc.). Date of interview.

Example
Smith, Mary. Telephone Interview. 14 June 2003.


Please pick up a copy of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers for complete reference information. It is an invaluable guide that every student should own . . . not only for those writing research papers.

© ClassBrain 2003 http://www.classbrain.com

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