MLA-Style Format


Sample--Works Cited and Helpful Hints, Print Sources, Databases
Websites, CD-ROMs, Bibliography Cards


Sample--Works Cited (can also be called "Bibliography")

A Works Cited is an alphabetical list of all the sources that were used to write your paper.  It is the last page of your research paper.

Works Cited

"Annie Oakley."  Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. 1999 ed. Microsoft.

Bloom, Harold, ed.  F. Scott Fitzgerald. Englewood Cliffs: Salem Press, 1989.

Garruba, Kathy. "Seniors and the Term Paper."  Time 17 Feb. 1997: 18.  Ebscohost.

          Ebsco Publishing.  WTHS IMC. 12 Mar. 1998.

Landsburg, Steven E. "Who Shall Inherit the Earth?"  Slate 1 May 1997. 2 May 1997

          <http://www.slate.com>.

Neubauer, Carol. "Displacement and Autobiographical Style in Maya Angelou."

           Black American Literature Forum 17:2 (1983): 123-29.  Twayne's Author Series.

           The Gale Group. WTHS IMC. 20 Mar. 1998.

Scarpaci, Nancy.  War and Peace. Ed. Deborah McFadden. New York: Albans Press,

          1997.

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Format of Works Cited Entries

Helpful Hints:

  • Use correct punctuation and spacing
  • Double space entries
  • Begin the first line at the margin and indent subsequent lines five spaces
  • Place entries in alphabetical order by the author's last name or title
  • Underline the names of books, magazines, newspapers, journals, web sites and databases
  • Put titles of articles, essays, poems in quotation marks
  • Use ed for editor, trans for translator and comp for compiler
  • Abbreviate the names of the months except May, June and July
  • Editions: 2nd ed., 3rd ed., Rev. ed., (Revised edition), Abr. ed. (abbreviated edition), Supp. (Supplement)
  • The first letter of words in a title are capitalized
  • Newspaper articles are usually not published on consecutive pages, give the first page number and a plus sign (6+)
  • Underlining and italics are the same; you should be consistent in your format

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Sample Format for Print Sources

Book with 1 author Author's last name, first name.  Name of the Book. City of

        Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.

Gordon, Linda. Great Arizona Orphan Abduction. Cambridge:

Harvard, 1999.

Book with 2 authors

First author's last name, First name, and Second author's

first name and last name.   Name of the Book. City

of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.

Van Tassel, Emily and Paul Finkelman. Impeachable Offenses.

Washington: Congressional Quarterly, 1999.

Book with 4 or more authors

First author's last name, first name, et al.   Name of the

Book. Edition. City of Publication: Publisher, Year

of Publication.

Schmo, Joseph, et al. Exploring Design. 2nd ed. Boston:

          Chelsea Publishers, 1987.

Book with an editor

Editor's last name, first name, editor.  Name of the book.

City of Publication: Publisher, Year

of Publication.

Thompson, Clifford, ed. World Authors 1990-1995. New York:

H. W. Wilson, 1998.

Book with editor and author

Author's last name, first name.  Name of the book. Editor.

Editor's first name, last name. City of Publication: 

Publisher, Year of Publication.

Kopas, Barbara.  War and Peace. Ed. Deborah McFadden.

          New York: Albans, Press, 1999. 

Different editions of a book Author's last name, first name.  Name of the Book. edition.

City of Publication: Publisher, Year

of Publication.

Magill, Frank N.  Contemporary Poets. 2nd ed. New York:

          St. James Press, 1994.

Multivolumes using only 1 volume

Editor's last name, first name. editor.  Name of the Book.

Volume number. City of Publication: Publisher, Year

of Publication.

Magill, Frank N., ed.  Survey of American Literature. Vol. 2.

          Englewood Cliffs: Salem Press, 1999.

Work in an Anthology

Author's last name, first name. "Title of the Article or

Poem." Name of the Book. City of Publication: 

Publisher, Year of Publication. Pages.

Gregor, Steve. "Federalist, Federalist."  The Growth of the

           Republic. Ed. Robert Barnshaw. Boston: Houghton,

          1997. 124-30.

Unsigned Article in a Reference Book "Title of the Article."  Name of the Book. Edition. Year.

"Updike, John."  Compton's Encyclopedia. 1997 ed.

"Whales."  World Book Encyclopedia. 15th ed. 2000.

Signed Article in a Reference Book

Author's last name, First name. "Title of the article."  Name

of the Book. Edition. Year.

Powell, James M., "Normans." Academic American

Encyclopedia. 1997.

Newspaper

Author's last name, first name. "Title of the article."  Name

of the Newspaper Date (edition if applicable):

section and page.

Wartofsky, Alona. "The Last Word." Washington Post 19 Feb.

2001: B1.

Licisyn, Nancy. "Western Civilization."  New York Times 12

          Feb. 1997, late ed. : F1+.

Weekly Magazine

Author's last name, first name. "Title of the Article."  Name

of the Magazine Date: Pages.

Gilligan, Kim. "Health and Fitness."  Sports Illustrated 21 Mar.

          1997: 20.

Monthly/Quarterly magazine

Author's last name, first name. "Title of the Article."  Name

of the Magazine Date (month, year): Pages.

Callaway, Rob. "Bowling is Fun."  Entertainment Today June,

          1998: 64.

Article with an Anonymous Author "Title of the article."  Name of the Magazine Date: Pages.

"The Fabulous Decade."  Time 10 Jan. 1996: 12-14.

Scholarly Journal

Author's last name, First name. "Title of the Article."  Name

of the Journal volume.issue (date): Pages.

Finn, Ann. "Kate O'Brien: the Feminist James Joyce."  Irish

           Literature Review 42.7 (1995): 5-10.

Review

Reviewer's last name, first name. "Title of the Review."

(if given) Rev. of   Name of the Work Being

Reviewed, by Author of the Work Being Reviewed.  

Name of the periodical Date: Pages.

Skow, Denise.  "IMC Procedures in the Digital Age." Rev. of

           Computers and High School Students, by Karin

           Partridge.  Library Journal 6 May 1998: 75-81.

Government Publication
(for other examples see  MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers)

Author's last name, first name. or if not available, name

of the government/country. Name of the agency.

Publication Information.

Dept. of State.  Global Warming. Washington: GPO, 1981.

        United States. Congress. Senate.  Cong. Rec. 12 Dec.

1991: 451-75.

Painting, Sculpture or Photograph

Artist's last name, first name.   Title of the Work. Name of

the person or institution that owns it, and the city.

Name of the Book. By Author (or editor). City of

Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.

Plate number or Page number.

Da Vinci, Leonardo.  Mona Lisa. The Louvre, Paris. 

           Renaissance Masters. By Bob Duca. New York:

           McGraw-Hill, 1995. 225.

Videocassette Title. Director. Performers. Year. Medium. Distributor, Year.

It's a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. Perf. James Stewart,

          Donna Reed, and Lionel Barrymore. 1946.

          Videocassette. Turner, 1997.

Map or Chart Name of the Map or Chart. Description Label. City of

          Publication: Publisher, year.

Philadelphia. Map. Chicago: Rand-McNally, 1999.

Personal Interview

Last name, First name of person being interviewed.

Kind of interview. Date.

Baldwin, Joseph A. Personal interview. 12 Sept. 1996.


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Citing Electronic Sources

Subscription Databases:

Note: it is necessary to include information on the original print resource AND the online version.

  • Decide the Print Format
  • Find the information for the citation - this will be labeled as source or citation
  • Decide whether the citation is a book, magazine, scholarly journal, essay in a collection, or newspaper
  • Go to your MLA Style Sheet and look up the correct format for the print resource
  • Add the information for the Online Subscription Database
    (this information is found on the screen)
    • Name of the database (underlined)
    • Name of the publisher
    • Name of the Library which has the database
    • The date of access
    • Optional: the URL of the database's Home page, within brackets, as in the following example: <http://www.umi.com/proquest/>.

 Examples of the Format for Subscription Databases

Essay in a Collection

Author's Name.  "Title of essay."  Name of Book.   City: (if

given) Publisher, Year.(if given) Name of the

Database Company Name.  Library.  Date of

Access.

Eberstadt, Nichols, "Education Hits Home: The Old North." The

End of North Korea. AEI Press. 1999. Electric Library.

UMI. MVHS. 3 Mar. 2001.

Magazine Article

 

Author's last name, first name. "Title of the Article."   Name

of the Magazine Date: Pages.  Name of Database.

Company Name. Library. Date of Access.

Bouchard, Renee. "Acid Rain." U.S. News & World Report 11

Nov. 1999: 20. SIRS Knowledge Source: Researcher

SIRS. MVHS. 3 Mar 2001.

Newspapaper Article

 

Author.(if given) Title of the Article"  Name of Newspaper

Date: Pages.   Name of the Database. Company

Name. Library. Date of Access.

Esterhammer, Karin. "A Rain Forest Expedition With Bolivian

Villagers." Los Angeles Times 25 Feb. 2001: L6.

Electric Library. Bigchalk. MVHS. 5 April 2001.


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 Websites

Helpful Hints for the World Wide Web
All of the information may not be available; the goal is to provide the readers with enough information so they can locate the web site.   So, if you cannot find some of the information, cite what is available.

  • Name of the person who hosts the site
  • If the site is the same as the print version, give the complete publication information (see the Print Sources section of the MLA Style Sheet--above--to locate the correct format for books and periodicals)
  • Name of the personal site, professional site, scholarly project or database where the information was found: this must be underlined
  • The date the site was posted to the web or its copyright date
  • Usually, there are no page numbers or paragraph numbers, but if these are available, please cite them.
  • The name of the institution sponsoring the site
  • The date that you accessed the site
  • The URL (location/address) - enclose the address in lesser and greater than signs: <URL >

Sample Format for the World Wide Web

Personal Site Name of the person. Home page. Date of Access <URL>.

Schmo, Joe. Home page. 10 Dec. 2000

          <http://schmo.com>.

Professional Site

Author of the site (if available) last name, First

name. Title of site. Date on the web page.

Sponsoring Organization (if available).

Date of Access <URL>.

Dawe, James. Jane Austen Page. 15 Sept. 1998.

University of Toronto. 8 November 1998

<http://www.utoronto.ca/~dawe/austen.html>.

Online Book within a Scholarly Project

Book's author's last name, First name.  Name of the

Book. Original Publication Year.  Name of

the Project. Editor's name (if available).

Date on the web page. Sponsoring

Organization. Date of Access <URL>.

Keats, John.  Poetical Works. 1884.  Project Bartleby.

Ed. Steven van Leeuwen. May 1998. Columbia

U. 5 May 1999 <http://www.columbia.edu>.

Online Periodical - Scholarly Journal

Author's last name, First name. "Title of the article."

Name of the Magazine Volume.Issue(year).

Date of access <URL>.

Wilson, Robin Fretwell. "Children at Risk." Cornell Law

Review. 86.2 (2001). 3 Mar 2001

<http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu>.

Online Newspaper

Author's last name, First name. "Title of the article."

Name of the Newspaper or Newswire Date.

Date of Access <URL>.

Gorksi, Bob. "The Kennedy Assassination."  The

           Minutemen 22 Nov. 1985. 12 Jan. 1998 <http://

          www.rumors.org>.

Online Magazine

Author's last name, First name. "Title of the

Article."  Name of the Magazine Date. Date

of Access <URL>.

Shivers, John. "Web Construction - A Spider's Intimate

View."  U.S. News Online 19 Mar. 1999

<http://www.computersonline.org>.


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CD-ROMs

Hints for CD-ROMs
If you do not have all of the information, cite what you have

  • Author's name (if given). If only an editor is listed, give the name followed by "ed."
  • Title of the Article (in quotes) - if applicable
  • Name of the CD-ROM (underlined)
  • Edition or version
  • CD-ROM - Publication medium
  • Place of Publication, Publisher and year

Sample Format for CD-ROMs

The entire CD

Title of CD-ROM. CD-ROM. Version # or Edition

Year. City of Production: Production

Company, Year of Production

Magill's Survey of Literature. CD-ROM. 1999 ed.

          Pasadena: Salem Press, 2000.

Article, Poem, Story

"Title of article, poem or story." Title of CD-ROM.

CD-ROM. Version # or Edition Year.

City of Production: Production

Company, Year of Production

"Wright, Richard."  Discovering Authors. CD-ROM.

          Vers. 4.1. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1997.

Refer to your MLA Handbook for Additional Examples

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Bibliography Cards

You will need to organize all the books, magazine articles and Internet sites that you have found in your preliminary survey of material that is available on your topic; Bibliography cards will help you do this. You will copy the publication information for each source onto an index. cards. These cards will also be used to prepare your Works Cited List.
Use 3 by 5 inch index cards for your bibliography cards.

A Bibliography Card contains the following information:

  • Essential information about the source of information - Use your MLA Style Sheet to determine the format for books, magazines, the internet and databases
  • The name of the library where the information was found
  • A call number (if applicable)

Sample Bibliography Card

Author's last name, first name.  Title of

the Book. City: Publisher,

Year.

Library Call number

Eble, Kenneth E. Pearl S. Buck. Boston:

Twayne, 1990

JMHS 813 Buc

Copy down the information on the 3x5 card. Be careful to use correct punctuation.
After you have completed all your bibliography cards, put them in alphabetical order. Some of your teachers may require that you number your cards. The number is placed in the upper right-hand corner of the card.

 


This document was adapted from a version located at the Washington Township High School Library Website in Sewell, New Jersey (March, 2001)

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