Creating an MLA Works cited page

General formatting information for your works cited section.

Beginning on a new page at the end of your paper, list alphabetically by author every work you have cited, using the basic forms illustrated below. Title the page Works Cited (not Bibliography), and list only those sources you actually cited in your paper. Continue the page numbering from the body of your paper and make sure that you still have 1–inch margins at the top, bottom, and sides of your page. Double-space the entire list. Indent entries as shown in the models below with what’s called a “hanging indent”: that means the first line of an entry begins at the left margin, and the second and subsequent lines should be indented half an inch from the left margin. Most word-processing programs will format hanging indents easily (look under the paragraph formatting options).

Introduction to the 8th Edition

In 2016, MLA substantially changed the way it approaches works cited entries. Each media type used to have its own citation guidelines. Writers would follow the specific instructions for how to cite a book, a translated poem in an anthology, a newspaper article located through a database, a YouTube clip embedded in an online journal, etc. However, as media options and publication formats continued to expand, MLA saw the need to revise this approach. Since a book chapter can appear on a blog or a blog post can appear in a book, how can writers account for these different formats?

MLA’s solution to this problem has been to create a more universal approach to works cited entries. No matter the medium, citations include the specifically ordered and punctuated elements outlined in the following table.

Elements of a Works Cited Entry

  • Last name, First name
  • Italicized If Independent ; “Put in Quotations Marks if Not.”
  • Often Italicized,
  • Name preceded by role title (for example: edited by, translated by, etc),
  • i.e. 2nd ed., revised ed., director’s cut, etc.,
  • vol. #, no. #,
  • Name of Entity Responsible for Producing Source,
  • i.e. 14 Feb. 2014; May-June 2016; 2017,
  • i.e. pp. 53-79; Chazen Museum of Art; https://www.wiscience.wisc.edu/ (If possible, use a DOI (digital object identifier) instead of a url.)
  • Optionally included when citing a web source.

If the source doesn’t include one of these elements, just skip over that one and move to the next. Include a single space after a comma or period.

The third category—”container”—refers to the larger entity that contains the source. This might be a journal, a website, a television series, etc. Sometimes a source can also appear nested in more than one container. A poem, for example, might appear in an edited collection that has been uploaded to a database. A television episode fits in a larger series which may be contained by Netflix. When a source is in a larger container, provide information about the smaller one (i.e. the edited collection or the TV series), then provide information for elements 3–10 for the larger container. For example, the works cited entry detailed below is for a chapter from an economics textbook, entitled Econometrics, that is contained on UW–Madison’s Social Science Computing Cooperative website.

Example of a Works Cited Entry

Hansen, Bruce E. “The Algebra of Least Squares.” Econometrics, University of Wisconsin Department of Economics, 2017, pp. 59-87. Social Science Computing Cooperative, UW–Madison, http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~bhansen/econometrics/Econometrics.pdf.

Here is the breakdown of these elements:

  • Hansen, Bruce E.
  • “The Algebra of Least Squares.”
  • Econometrics,
  • Other Contributors,
  • University of Wisconsin Department of Economics
  • Title of source.
  • Social Science Computing Cooperative,
  • Other contributors,
  • UW-Madison,
  • Publication date,
  • http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~bhansen/econometrics/Econometrics.pdf.
  • (This could be included, but this site is fairly stable, so the access date wasn’t deemed to be important.)

One of the benefits of this system is that it can be applied to any source. Whether you’re citing a book, a journal article, a tweet, or an online comic, this system will guide you through how to construct your citation.

A Few Notes

  • Books are considered to be self-contained, so if you’re citing an entire book, items 2 and 3 get joined. After the author’s name, italicize the title, then include a period and move on items 4–9.
  • No matter what your last item of information is for a given citation, end the citation with a period.
  • Also, if it is appropriate to include an access date for an online source, put a period after the full url in addition to one after the access date information.
  • It is particularly important to include access dates for online sources when citing a source that is subject to change (like a homepage). If the source you are working with is more stable (like a database), it’s not as critical to let your readers know when you accessed that material.

For more information about any of this, be sure to consult the 2016 MLA Handbook itself.

Works Cited page entry: Article

Article from a scholarly journal, with page numbers, read online from the journal’s website.

Shih, Shu-Mei. “Comparative Racialization: An Introduction.” PMLA , vol. 123, no. 5, 2008, pp. 1347-62. Modern Language Association , doi:10.1632/pmla.2008.123.5.1347.

Author last name, First name. “Article title.” Journal name , vol. number, issue number, year of publication, pp. numbers. Publisher , doi

PMLA provides DOI numbers, so this is used in this citation preceded by “doi:” instead of the url address. Also, given the enduring stability of PMLA’s page, no access date has been included, but it could be if the writer preferred.

Article from a scholarly journal, with multiple authors, without page numbers, read online from the journal’s website

Bravo, Juan I., Gabriel L. Lozano, and Jo Handelsman. “Draft Genome Sequence of Flavobacterium johnsoniae CI04, an Isolate from the Soybean Rhizosphere.” Genome Announcements , vol. 5, no. 4, 2017, doi: 10.1128/genomeA.01535-16.

First author last name, First name, Middle initial., Second author first name Middle initial. Last name, and Third author First name Last name. “Article title.” Journal name , vol. number, issue number, year of publication, doi

Article from a scholarly journal, no page numbers, read through an online database

Mieszkowski, Jan. “Derrida, Hegel, and the Language of Finitude.” Postmodern Culture , vol. 15, no. 3, 2005. Project MUSE, https://muse.jhu.edu/article/186557.

Author Last name, First name. “Article title.” Journal name , vol. number, issue number, year of publication. Database , url. 

Article from a scholarly journal, with page numbers, read through an online database

Sherrard-Johnson, Cherene. “‘A Plea for Color’: Nella Larsen’s Iconography of the Mulatta.” American Literature , vol. 76, no. 4, 2004, pp. 833-69. Project MUSE , https://muse.jhu.edu/article/176820.

Author Last name, First name. “Article title.” Journal name , vol. number, issue number, year of publication, pp. numbers. Database , url. 

Valenza, Robin. “How Literature Becomes Knowledge: A Case Study.” ELH , vol. 76, no. 1, 2009, pp. 215-45. Project MUSE . https://muse.jhu.edu/article/260309.

Author Last name, First name. “Article title.” Journal name , vol. number, issue number, year of publication, pp. numbers. Database , url.

Article from a scholarly journal, by three or more authors, print version

Doggart, Julia, et al. “Minding the Gap: Realizing Our Ideal Community Writing Assistance Program.” The Community Literacy Journal , vol. 2, no. 1, 2007, pp. 71-80.

First author Last name, First name, et al. “Article title.” Journal name , vol. number, issue number, year of publication, pp. numbers. 

Raval, Amish N., et al. “Cellular Therapies for Heart Disease: Unveiling the Ethical and Public Policy Challenges.” Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology , vol. 45, no. 4, 2008, pp. 593–601.

[The Latin abbreviation “et al.” stands for “and others,” and MLA says that you should use it when citing a source with three or more authors.]

Article from a webtext, published in a web-only scholarly journal

Butler, Janine. “Where Access Meets Multimodality: The Case of ASL Music Videos.” Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy , vol. 21, no. 1, 2016, http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/21.1/topoi/butler/index.html. Accessed 7 June 2017.

Author Last name, First name. “Article title.” Journal name , vol. number, issue number, year of publication, url. Date of access.

Balthazor, Ron, and Elizabeth Davis. “Infrastructure and Pedagogy: An Ecological Portfolio.” Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy , vol. 20, no. 1, 2015, http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/20.1/coverweb/balthazor-davis/index.html. Accessed 7 June 2017.

First author Last name, First name and Second author First name Last name. “Article title.” Journal name , vol. number, issue number, date of publication, url. Date of access.

Article from a magazine, print version

Oaklander, Mandy. “Bounce Back.” Time , vol. 185, no. 20, 1 June 2015, pp. 36-42.

Author Last name, First name. “Article title.” Magazine name , vol. number, issue number, month and year of publication, pp. numbers. 

Article from a magazine, read through an online database

Rowen, Ben. “A Resort for the Apocalypse.” The Atlantic , vol. 319, no. 2, Mar. 2017, pp. 30-31. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db =aph&AN=120967144&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Author Last name, First name. “Article title.” Magazine name , vol. number, issue number, month and year of publication, pp. numbers. Database name , url. 

Article from a newspaper, read through an online database

Walsh, Nora. “For Frank Lloyd Wright’s 150th, Tours, Exhibitions and Tattoos.” New York Times , 27 May 2017, international ed. ProQuest , https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/docview/1903523834/fulltext/71B144CD12054C76PQ/2?accountid=465.

Author Last name, First name. “Article title.” Newspaper name , day month and year of publication, edition. Database name , url. 

Works Cited page entry: Short Story

Short story in an edited anthology.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Minister’s Black Veil.” Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Tales , edited by James McIntosh, Norton, 1987, pp. 97–107.

Author Last name, First name. “Short story title.” Anthology title , edited by Editor name, Publisher, year of publication, pp. numbers. 

Works Cited page entry: Book

Book, written by one author, print version.

Bordwell, David. Figures Traced in Light: On Cinematic Staging . U California P, 2005.

Britland, Karen. Drama at the Courts of Queen Maria Henrietta . Cambridge UP, 2006.

Card, Claudia. The Atrocity Paradigm : A Theory of Evil . Oxford UP, 2005.

Cronon, William. Nature’s Metropolis . Norton, 1991.

Mallon, Florencia E. Courage Tastes of Blood: The Mapuche Community of Nicholás Ailío and the Chilean State , 1906–2001. Duke UP, 2005.

Author Last name, First name. Book title . Publisher, year of publication. 

Book, written by more than one author, print version

Bartlett, Lesley, and Frances Vavrus. Rethinking Case Study Research: A Comparative Approach . Taylor & Francis, 2016.

First author Last name, First name, and Second author First name Last name. Book title . Publisher, year of publication. 

Flanigan, William H., et al. Political Behavior of the American Electorate . CQ Press, 2015.

First author last name, First name Middle initial., et al. Book title . Publisher, year of publication. 

Book, an edited anthology, print version

Olaniyan, Tejumola, and Ato Quayson, editors. African Literature: An Anthology of Criticism and Theory . Blackwell, 2007.

First editor Last name, First name, and Second editor first name Last name, editors. Anthology title . Publisher, year of publication. 

Book, edited, revised edition, print version

Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself . Edited by William L. Andrews and William S. McFeely, revised ed., Norton, 1996.

Author Last name, First name. Book title . Edited by first editor First name Middle initial. Last name and Second editor First name Middle initial. Last name, edition., publisher, year of publication. 

A play in an edited collection, print version

Shakespeare, William. The Comedy of Errors: A New Variorum Edition of Shakespeare . Edited by Standish Henning, The Modern Language Association of America, 2011, pp. 1–254.

Author Last name, First name. Play title . Edited by editor First name Last name, publisher, year of publication, pp. numbers. 

[Page numbers are included in this entry to draw attention to the play itself since this edition includes an additional 400 pages of scholarly essays and historical information.]

Bordwell, David. Foreword. Awake in the Dark: Forty Years of Reviews, Essays, and Interviews , by Roger Ebert, U of Chicago P, 2006, pp. xiii–xviii.

Foreward author Last name, First name. Title of work in which foreward appears , by author of work, publisher, year of publication, pp. numbers. 

Chapter in an edited anthology, print version

Amodia, David, and Patricia G. Devine. “Changing Prejudice: The Effects of Persuasion on Implicit and Explicit Forms of Race Bias.” Persuasion: Psychological Insights and Perspectives , edited by T.C. Brock and C. Greens, 2nd ed., SAGE Publications, 2005, pp. 249–80.

Chapter first author Last name, First name, and Second author First name Middle initial. Last name. “Chapter title.” Anthology title , edited by first editor First initial. Middle initial. Last name and Second editor first initial. Last name, edition number, publisher, year of publication, pp. numbers.

Hawhee, Debra, and Christa Olson. “Pan–Historiography: The Challenges of Writing History across Time and Space.” Theorizing Histories of Rhetoric , edited by Michelle Ballif, Southern Illinois University Press, 2013, pp. 90–105.

Chapter first author Last name, First name, and Second author First name Last name. “Chapter title.” Anthology title, edited by editor First name Last name, publisher, date of publication, page #s. 

Shimabukuro, Mira Chieko. “Relocating Authority: Coauthor(iz)ing a Japanese American Ethos of Resistance under Mass Incarceration.” Representations: Doing Asian American Rhetoric , edited by LuMing Mao and Morris Young, Utah State UP, 2008, pp. 127–52.

Author Last name, First name Middle name. “Chapter title.” Anthology title , edited by first editor First name Last name and second editor First name Last name, Publisher, year of publication, pp. numbers. 

Works Cited page entry: Electronic source

Since MLA’s 8th edition does not substantially differentiate between a source that is read in print as opposed to online, see our information about citing articles for examples about citing electronic sources from periodicals.

Non-periodical web publication, with no author and no date of publication

“New Media @ the Center.” The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison . U of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center, 2012, http://www.writing.wisc.edu/[email protected]. Accessed 8 March 2017.

“Title of publication.” Title of the containing website . Publisher of the site, year of publication. Url. Accessed date. 

The syntax for a non-periodical web publication is: author (if no author, start with the title); title of the section or page, in quotation marks; title of the containing Web site as a whole, italicized; version or edition used (if none is specified, omit); publisher or sponsor of the site (if none is mentioned, then just skip this); date of publication (if none is listed, just skip this); use a comma between the publisher or sponsor and the date; the source’s url address; date of access.

Non–periodical scholarly web publication, no date of publication

Stahmer, Carl, editor. “The Shelley Chronology.” Romantic Circles . University of Maryland, https://www.rc.umd.edu/reference/chronologies/shelcron. Accessed 26 March 2017.

Editor Last name, First name, editor. “Title of publication.” Title of the containing website . Publisher, Url. Accessed date. 

Non–periodical web publication, web publication, corporate author

Rhetoric Society of America. “Welcome to the website of the Rhetoric Society of America and Greetings from Gregory Clark, President of RSA!” RSA , Rhetoric Society of America, 2017, http://www.rhetoricsociety.org/aws/RSA/pt/sp/home_page. Accessed 27 March 2017.

Name of Corporate Author. “Title of publication.” Title of the containing website , Publisher of the website, year of publication, url. Accessed date 

The syntax for this entry is: corporate author; title, in quotation marks; title of the overall Web site, in italics; publisher or sponsor of the site; date of publication; the source’s url address; date of access.

Since the material on homepages is subject to change, it is particularly important to include an access date for this source.

E-mail message

Blank, Rebecca. “Re: A request and an invitation for Department Chairs and Unit Leaders.” Received by Brad Hughes, 30 August 2016.

Sender Last name, First name. “Email subject line.” Received by recipient First name Last name, day month and year email was sent and received. 

@UW-Madison. “Scientists at @UWCIMSS used a supercomputer to recreate the EF-5 El Reno tornado that swept through Oklahoma 6 years ago today. #okwx.” Twitter, 24 May 2017, 2:23 p.m., https://twitter.com/UWMadison/status/867461007 362359296.

@Twitter Handle. “Entire tweet word-for-word.” Twitter, day month year of tweet, time of tweet, url. 

When including tweets in the works cited page, alphabetize them according to what comes after the “@” symbol.

Include the full tweet in quotation marks as the title.

Works Cited page entry: Government publication, encyclopedia entry

Government publication.

National Endowment for the Humanities. What We Do . NEH, March 2017, https://www.neh.gov/files/whatwedo.pdf.

Name of Government entity. Title of publication . Publisher, date of publication, url. 

This is treated as a source written by a corporate author.

Signed encyclopedia entry

Neander, Karen. “Teleological Theories of Mental Content.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy , edited by Edward N. Zalta, spring ed., 2012, https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2012/entries/content-teleological/.

Author Last name, First name. “Entry title.” Title of encyclopedia , edited by editor First name Middle initial. Last name, ed., year of publication, url. 

Works Cited page entry: Personal interview, film, tv program, and others

An interview you conducted.

Brandt, Deborah. Personal Interview. 28 May 2008.

Interviewee Last name, First name. Personal Interview. Day month year of interview. 

A published interview, read through an online database

García, Cristina. Interview by Ylce Irizarry. Contemporary Literature , vol. 48, no. 2, 2007, pp. 174-94. EBSCOhost. http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer /pdfviewer?vid=5&sid=f95943f6-5364-49e7-8b83-7341edc4b434%40sessionmgr104. Accessed 26 March 2017.

Interviewee Last name, First name. Interview by interviewer First name Last name. Journal title , vol. number, issue number, year of publication, pp. numbers. Database name. Url. Accessed day month and year. 

Film or DVD

Sense and Sensibility . Directed by Ang Lee, performances by Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, and Kate Winslet, Sony, 1999.

Title of film . Directed by director First name Last name, performances by first actor First name Last name, second actor First name Last name, and third actor First name Last name, Production company, year of release. 

You only need to include performers’ names if that information is relevant to your work. If your paper focuses on the director, begin this entry with the director, i.e., Lee, Ang, director. Sense and Sensibility . . . . If your primary interest is an actor, begin the entry with the actor’s name, i.e., Thompson, Emma, perf. Sense and Sensibility . . . .

Television broadcast

“Arctic Ghost Ship.” NOVA . PBS, WPT, Madison, 10 May 2017.

“Title of episode.” Television series name . Broadcasting network, Broadcasting station, City, day month year of broadcast. 

PBS is the network that broadcast this show; WPT is the Wisconsin PBS affiliate in Madison on which you watched this show.

Media accessed through streaming network

“Self Help.” The Walking Dead , season 5, episode 5, AMC, 9 Nov. 2014. Netflix , https://www.netflix.com/watch/80010531?trackId=14170286&tctx=1%2C4%2C04bba31e-60a0-4889-b36e-b708006e5d05-911831.

“Title of episode.” Title of television series , season number, episode number, Broadcasting channel, date month year of release. Name of streaming service used to access episode , url. 

Gleizes, Albert. The Schoolboy . 1924, gouache or glue tempera on canvas. U of Wisconsin Chazen Museum of Art, Madison, WI.

Artist Last name, First name. Title of piece. Year of composition, medium. Name of institution housing art piece, City, State initials. 

Address, lecture, reading, or conference presentation

Desmond, Matthew. “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City.” 1 Nov. 2016, Memorial Union Theater, Madison, WI.

Lecturer Last name, First name. “Title of lecture.” Day month year lecture is given, Location of lecture, City, State initials. 

how to make a works cited page for a research paper

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  • Works Cited Format

What is a Works Cited list?

MLA style requires you to include a list of all the works cited in your paper on a new page at the end of your paper.  The entries in the list should be in alphabetical order by the author's last name or by the element that comes first in the citation. (If there is no author's name listed, you would begin with the title.) The entire list should be double-spaced.

For each of the entries in the list, every line after the first line should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. "Works Cited" should be centered at the top of the page. If you are only citing one source, the page heading should be “Work Cited” instead of “Works Cited.” You can see a sample Works Cited here . 

Building your Works Cited list

MLA citations in the Works Cited list are based on what the Modern Language Association calls "core elements." The core elements appear in the order listed below, in a citation punctuated with the punctuation mark that follows the element. For some elements, the correct punctuation will be a period, and for other elements, the correct punctuation will be a comma. Since you can choose the core elements that are relevant to the source you are citing, this format should allow you to build your own citations when you are citing sources that are new or unusual.

The author you should list is the primary creator of the work—the writer, the artist, or organization that is credited with creating the source.  You should list the author in this format: last name, first name. If there are two authors, you should use this format: last name, first name, and first name last name. For three or more authors, you should list the first author followed by et al. That format looks like this: last name, first name, et al.

If a source was created by an organization and no individual author is listed, you should list that organization as the author.

Title of source .

This is the book, article, or website, podcast, work of art, or any other source you are citing. If the source does not have a title, you can describe it. For example, if you are citing an email you received, you would use this format in the place of a title:

Email to the author.

Title of container ,

A container is what MLA calls the place where you found the source. It could be a book that an article appears in, a website that an image appears on, a television series from which you are citing an episode, etc. If you are citing a source that is not “contained” in another source—like a book or a film—you do not need to list a container. Some sources will be in more than one container. For example, if you are citing a television episode that aired on a streaming service, the show would be the first container and the streaming service would be the second container.

Contributor ,

Contributors include editors, translators, directors, illustrators, or anyone else that you want to credit. You generally credit other contributors when their contributions are important to the way you are using the source. You should always credit editors of editions and anthologies of a single author’s work or of a collection of works by more than one author.  

If you are using a particular version of a source, such as an updated edition, you should indicate that in the citation.

If your source is one of several in a numbered series, you should indicate this. So, for example, you might be using “volume 2” of a source. You would indicate this by “vol. 2” in the citation.

Publisher ,

For books, you can identify the publisher on the title or copyright page. For web sites, you may find the publisher at the bottom of the home page or on an “About” page. You do not need to include the publisher if you are citing a periodical or a Web site with the same name as the publisher.

Publication date ,

Books and articles tend to have an easily identifiable publication date. But articles published on the web may have more than one date—one for the original publication and one for the date posted online. You should use the date that is most relevant to your work. If you consulted the online version, this is the relevant date for your Works Cited list. If you can’t find a publication date—some websites will not include this information, for example—then you should include a date of access. The date of access should appear at the end of your citation in the following format:

Accessed 14 Oct. 2022.

The location in a print source will be the page number or range of pages you consulted. This is where the text you are citing is located in the larger container. For online sources, the location is generally a DOI, permalink, or URL. This is where your readers can locate the same online source that you consulted. MLA specifies that, if possible, you should include the DOI. Television episodes would be located at a URL. A work of art could be located in the museum where you saw it or online.

Your citations can also include certain optional elements. You should include optional elements if you think those elements would provide useful information to your readers. Optional elements follow the source title if they provide information that is not about the source as a whole. Put them at the end of the entry if they provide information about the source as a whole. These elements include the following:

Date of original publication .

If you think it would be useful to a reader to know that the text you are citing was originally published in a different era, you can put this information right after the title of the source. For example, if you are citing The Federalist Papers , you would provide the publication date of the edition you consulted, but you could also provide the original publication date:

Hamilton, Alexander, et al., editors. The Federalist Papers . October 1787-May 1788. Oxford University Press, 2008.

City of publication .

You should only use this information if you are citing a book published before 1900 (when books were associated with cities of publication rather than with publishers) or a book that has been published in a different version by the publisher in another city (a British version of a novel, for example). In the first case, you would put this information in place of the publisher's name. In the second case, the city would go before the publisher.

Descriptive terms .

If you are citing a version of a work when there are multiple versions available at the same location, you should explain this by adding a term that will describe your version. For example, if you watched a video of a presidential debate that was posted to YouTube along with a transcript, and you are quoting from the transcript, you should add the word “Transcript” at the end of your citation. 

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MLA Works Cited Guide

A Works Cited page is a list of all sources you have quoted, paraphrased or summarized, on a separate page at the end of your paper. This list is necessary not only to give credit to the sources you have used in your research, but also to make it easier for others to refer to your sources.

To format a works cited page:

1) List sources alphabetically by author’s last name . If no author is given (as in some websites) put it in alphabetical order by the first piece of information you list.

2) If an entry is longer than one line, indent subsequent lines by 0.5 inches to create a hanging indent. (You will use the first words of your Works Cited entry for the corresponding in-text citation.)

3) Double space all entries. Do not add an extra line between entries.

4) Maintain 1” margins as you have for the rest of your paper.

5) URLs are now required for sources found online. http:// is not needed.

Sample Works Cited Page:

Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. “The Awakening.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature , edited by Nina Baym et al., 3 rd ed., Norton, 1989, pp. 508-99.

Harris, Patricia, and David Lyon. "The Jewelry of Sergey Jivetin." Metalsmith, vol. 30, no. 2, 2010, pp. 46-57. Advanced Placement Source ,  

          http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aqh&AN=48949237&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Heaney, Seamus, translator. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation . W.W. Norton, 2001.

Savig, Mary. “The Art of Handwriting.” The Atlantic , 5 July 2016, 

          http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/07/the-art-of-handwriting/488963/.

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth . Edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington Square Press, 2003.

The above sources are examples of the correct citation for a work in an anthology, an individual webpage, a journal article accessed through a database, a book with a translator and no author, and a book with an author and editors.  

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How to Write a Works Cited Page

Last Updated: December 7, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 226,022 times.

If you’re writing in MLA format, the Works Cited page is the final piece to the puzzle that is your paper. [1] X Research source A Works Cited page is a complete list of the works that you cite in your paper, and it’s different than a Bibliography, which includes any works you used to write your paper, whether you cite them or not. A References page is similar to Works Cited, but is used in the APA format. Once you’re sure that Works Cited is the format you need, making sure that your Works Cited page is up to par can have a huge impact on both on the professionalism of your work as well as your final grade.

Collecting Necessary Information

Step 1 Collect all data of the cited materials.

  • Published date
  • Publisher location
  • Medium (Print, web, film, DVD, etc.)
  • Page numbers/Act, or section and line numbers

Step 2 Review appropriate styles.

  • Chicago Manual of Style refers to the Works Cited page as a Reference page using the author-date system.
  • There is a difference between a bibliography and a Works Cited page. A bibliography includes any sources that you used while researching and preparing your paper, even if you don’t reference them in your writing. A Works Cited page only includes sources that are directly referenced.

Step 3 Format your Works Cited page.

  • One-inch margins all around.
  • Label the page “Works Cited”, and center it on the top line.
  • All citations should be double-spaced, with no extra lines between entries.
  • Indent all lines after the first of an entry by 0.5 inches (1.3 cm).

Step 4 Review the course syllabus, if your works cited page is for an academic course.

  • Not all instructors in the arts follow MLA guidelines for formatting, so make sure that you know how your instructor would like the Works Cited page formatted.

Writing the Works Cited Page

Step 1 Start alphabetically by author’s last name.

  • If the book has more than one author, only the first listed author goes last name first. Subsequent authors are listed as First Name Last Name.
  • Periodicals : Author(s). “Article Title.” Periodical Title Day Month Year: Pages. Medium.
  • MLA no longer requires URLs in Works Cited. Check with your instructor for specifics for your project.
  • If no publisher is available, use the abbreviation “np”
  • If no date is available, use the abbreviation “nd”
  • Interview : Interviewee. Personal interview. Day Month Year.

Step 2 Review the works cited page to make sure that all of the appropriate information is included.

FREE MLA online

Step 1 Write notes/details for...

  • Type ISBN, title, or key words your book to begin MLA to search and automated citation;
  • Verify the information that the ISBN id number brings up.
  • Click to add a citation of a chapter title, add page numbers, etc.

Step 4 Copy and Paste results into your essay, PowerPoint, etc.

Sample Works Cited Page

how to make a works cited page for a research paper

Community Q&A

Community Answer

You Might Also Like

Cite Sources

  • ↑ https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/wrd/back-matter/creating-a-works-cited-page/
  • ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_page_basic_format.html
  • ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html
  • ↑ https://irsc.libguides.com/mla/workscitedlist

About This Article

Christopher Taylor, PhD

To write a works cited page using MLA style, list each work in alphabetical order with each entry on a new line. For a book, cite the author’s last name and first name, book’s title in italics, city of publication, publisher, year of publication, and medium. If you’re citing a periodical, provide the author, article’s title in quotes, periodical title in italics, publication date, relevant pages, and medium. Before you finalize your paper, check to see that the citations and footnotes are clearly marked and correspond correctly to your works cited page. For tips from our English reviewer on how to collect the information you need to write your works cited page, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / APA Format / APA Reference Page

How to Format an APA Reference Page

In APA, the “Works Cited” page is referred to as a “Reference List” or “Reference Page.” “Bibliography” also may be used interchangeably, even though there are some differences between the two.

If you are at the point in your article or research paper where you are looking up APA bibliography format, then congratulations! That means you’re almost done.

In this guide, you will learn how to successfully finish a paper by creating a properly formatted APA bibliography. More specifically, you will learn how to create a reference page . The guidelines presented here come from the 7 th edition of the APA’s Publication Manual .

A note on APA reference page style: In this guide, “bibliography” and “references” may be used interchangeably, even though there are some differences between the two. The most important thing is to use the label “References” when writing your paper since APA style recommends including a reference page.

Here’s a run-through of everything this page includes:

Difference between an APA bibliography and a reference page

What about annotated bibliographies, understanding apa reference page format, apa reference page formatting: alphabetizing by surname, q: what should not be on an apa reference page.

The difference between a bibliography and a reference page is a matter of scope. A bibliography usually includes all materials and sources that were used to write the paper. A reference page, on the other hand, only includes entries for works that were specifically cited in the text of the paper.

There are some cases in which a professor or journal might request an annotated bibliography . An annotated bibliography is basically a reference page that includes your comments and insights on each source.

An annotated bibliography can be a document all on its own, or part of a bigger document. That means creating an annotated bibliography by itself could be an assignment, or you may have to include one as part of your research paper, journal submission, or other project.

If you do need to add an APA annotated bibliography , it goes after the reference page on its own page, inside the appendices.

A properly formatted APA reference page begins on a new page, after the end of the text. It comes before any figures, tables, maps, or appendices. It’s double-spaced and features what’s called a hanging indent , where the first line of each reference is not indented, and the second line of each reference is indented 0.5 inches. The reference page is also labeled with a bold, center-justified, and capitalized “References.”

To summarize, the reference page should be:

  • Placed on its own page, after the text but before any tables, figures, or appendices.
  • In the same font as the rest of the paper.
  • Double-spaced the whole way through (including individual references).
  • Formatted with hanging indents (each line after the first line of every entry indented 0.5 inches).
  • Labeled with a bold, center-justified, and capitalized “References.”

Note: You can use the paragraph function of your word processing program to apply the hanging indent.

Q: What font am I supposed to use for the reference page or bibliography?

The APA reference page/bibliography should be in the same font as the rest of your paper. However, APA Style does not actually call for one specific font. According to Section 2.19 of the Publication Manual , the main requirement is to choose a font that is readable and accessible to all users. Some of the recommended font options for APA style include:

  • Sans serif fonts: Calibri (11pt), Arial (11pt), or Lucida (10pt).
  • Serif fonts: Times New Roman (12pt), Georgia (11pt), or Normal/Computer Modern (10pt).

Q: What are the margins supposed to be for the reference page or bibliography?

Aside from the 0.5 inch hanging indent on the second line of each reference entry, you do not need to modify the margins of the reference page or bibliography. These should be the same as the rest of your paper, which according to APA is 1-inch margins on all sides of the page. This is the default margin setting for most computer word processors, so you probably won’t have to change anything.

Q: What information goes into an APA style reference page or bibliography?

An APA style reference page should include full citations for all the sources that were cited in your paper. This includes sources that were summarized, paraphrased, and directly quoted. Essentially, if you included an in-text citation in your paper, that source should also appear in your reference list. The reference list is organized in alphabetical order by author.

The formatting for reference list citations varies depending on the kind of source and the available information. But for most sources, your reference list entry will include the following:

  • The last name(s) and initials of the author(s).
  • The date the source was published (shown in parentheses).
  • The title of the source in sentence case. The title should be in italics if the source stands on its own (like a book, webpage, or movie).
  • The name of the periodical, database, or website if the source is an article from a magazine, journal, newspaper, etc. Names of periodicals are usually italicized; names of databases and websites usually are not.
  • The publisher of the source and/or the URL where the source can be found.

Here are a few templates and examples for how common sources should be formatted in an APA style reference list. If your source is not found here, there is also a guide highlighting different APA citation examples .

Citing a Book

Author’s last name, Author’s first initial. Author’s middle initial. (Year of publication). Title of work . Publisher.

James, Henry. (2009). The ambassadors . Serenity Publishers.

Citing a Journal

Author’s last name, Author’s first initial. Author’s middle initial. (Year, Month Date published). Article title. Journal Name , Volume(Issue), page number(s). https://doi.org/ or URL (if available)

Jacoby, W. G. (1994). Public attitudes toward government spending. American Journal of Political Science , 38(2), 336-361. https://doi.org/10.2307/2111407

Citing a Website

Author’s last name, Author’s first initial. Author’s middle initial. (Year, Month Date published). Article title or page title . Site Name. URL

Limer, E. (2013, October 1). Heck yes! The first free wireless plan is finally here . Gizmodo. https://gizmodo.com/heck-yes-the-first-free-wireless-plan-is-finally-here

Next, let’s take a look at a real example of a properly formatted APA reference page to see how these pieces come together.

APA reference page example

Creating an APA reference page is actually a lot easier than creating a bibliography with other style guides. In fact, as long as you are aware of the formatting rules, the reference page practically writes itself as you go.

Below is an example reference page that follows the guidelines detailed above. EasyBib also has a guide featuring a complete APA style sample paper , including the reference page.

apa example student reference page

All APA citations included in the reference page should be ordered alphabetically, using the first word of the reference entry. In most cases, this is the author’s surname (or the surname of the author listed first, when dealing with citations for sources with multiple authors ). However, there are times when a reference entry might begin with a different element.

Creating an alphabetized reference page or bibliography might seem like a simple task. But when you start dealing with multiple authors and similar last names, it can actually get a little tricky. Fortunately, there are a few basic rules that can keep you on track.

The “nothing precedes something” rule

When the surnames of two or more authors begin with the same letters, the “nothing precedes something” rule is how to figure it out. Here is an example of how it works.

Imagine your reference page includes the authors Berg, M.S. and Bergman, H.D. The first four letters of each author are the same. The fifth letters are M and H respectively. Since H comes before M in the alphabet, you might assume that Bergman, H.D. should be listed first.

APA Style requires that “nothing precede something,” which means that Berg will appear before Bergman. Similarly, a James would automatically appear before a Jameson, and a Michaels before a Michaelson.

Disregard spaces and punctuation marks

If a surname has a hyphen, apostrophe, or other punctuation mark, it can be ignored for alphabetization purposes. Similarly, anything that appears inside of parentheses or brackets should be disregarded.

Ordering multiple works by the same author

It is not uncommon for a research paper to reference multiple books by the same author. If you have more than one reference entry by the same person, then the entries should be listed chronologically by year of publication.

If a reference entry has no year of publication available, then it should precede any entries that do have a date. Here’s an example of a properly alphabetized order for multiple entries from the same author:

Guzman, M.B. (n.d.).

Guzman, M.B. (2016).

Guzman, M.B. (2017).

Guzman, M.B. (2019).

Guzman, M.B. (in press).

“In press” papers do not yet have a year of publication associated with them. All “in press” sources are listed last, like the one shown above.

Ordering works with the same author and same date

If the same author has multiple entries with the same year of publication, you need to differentiate them with lowercase letters. Otherwise, the in-text citations in your paper will correspond to more than one reference page entry.

Same author and same year of publication

Here’s a look at how to use lowercase letters to differentiate between entries with the same author and same year of publication:

Guzman, M.B. (2020a).

Guzman, M.B. (2020b).

Guzman, M.B. (2020c).

These lowercase letters are assigned to make the in-text citations more specific. However, it does not change the fact that their year of publication is the same. If no month or day is available for any of the sources, then they should be ordered alphabetically using the title of the work.

When alphabetizing by title, ignore the words “A,” “An,”,and “The” if they’re the first word of the title.

Same author and same year of publication, with more specific dates

If more specific dates are provided, such as a month or day, then it becomes possible to order these entries chronologically.

Guzman, M.B. (2020b, April 2).

Guzman, M.B. (2020c, October 15).

Ordering authors with the same surname but different initials

Authors who share the same surname but have different first or middle names can be alphabetized by their first initial or second initial.

Guzman, R.L. (2015).

Ordering works with no listed author, or an anonymous author

If you have reference entries with no listed author, the first thing to double-check is whether or not there was a group author instead. Group authors can be businesses, task forces, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, etc.

If there is no individual author listed, then have another look at the source. If it is published on a government agency website, for instance, there is a good chance that the agency was the author of the work, and should be listed as such in the reference entry. You can read more about how to handle group authors in Section 9.11 of the Publication Manual .

What if the work is actually authored by “Anonymous”?

If the work you’re referencing actually has the word “Anonymous” listed as the author, then you can list it as the author and alphabetize it as if it were a real name. But this is only if the work is actually signed “Anonymous.”

What if there is no listed author and it’s definitely not a group author?

If you have confirmed that there is no individual or group author for the work, then you can use the work’s title as the author element in the reference entry. In any case where you’re using the work’s title to alphabetize, you should skip the words “A,” “An,” and “The.”

An APA reference page should not contain any of the following:

  • The content of your paper (the reference page should start on its own page after the end of your paper).
  • Entries for works for further reading or background information or entries for an epigraph from a famous person (the reference page should only include works that are referenced or quoted in your paper as part of your argument).
  • Entries for personal communications such as emails, phone calls, text messages, etc. (since the reader would not be able to access them).
  • Entries for whole websites, periodicals, etc. (If needed, the names of these can be mentioned within the body of your paper instead.)
  • Entries for quotations from research participants (since they are part of your original research, they do not need to be included).

Published October 28, 2020.

APA Formatting Guide

APA Formatting

  • Annotated Bibliography
  • Block Quotes
  • et al Usage
  • In-text Citations
  • Multiple Authors
  • Paraphrasing
  • Page Numbers
  • Parenthetical Citations
  • Reference Page
  • Sample Paper
  • APA 7 Updates
  • View APA Guide

Citation Examples

  • Book Chapter
  • Journal Article
  • Magazine Article
  • Newspaper Article
  • Website (no author)
  • View all APA Examples

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The following rules will help you identify when to use DOIs and when to use URLs in references:

  • Use a DOI wherever available, be it a print version or online version.
  • For a print publication that does not have a DOI, do not add a DOI or URL (even if a URL is available).
  • For an online publication, if both a DOI and URL are given, include only the DOI.
  • For online publications that only have a URL (and no DOI), follow the below recommendations:
  • Add a URL in the reference list entry for publications from websites (other than databases). Double check that the URL will work for readers.
  • For publications from most academic research databases, which are easily accessible, do not include a URL or database information in the reference. In this case, the reference will be the same as the print version.
  • For publications from databases that publish limited/proprietary work that would only be available in that database, include the database name and the URL. If the URL would require a login, include the URL for the database home page or login page instead of the URL for the work.
  • If a URL will not work for the reader or is no longer accessible, follow the guidance for citing works with no source.

To format your APA references list, follow these recommendations:

  • Begin the references on a new page. This page should be placed at the end of the paper.
  • All sides of the paper should have a 1-inch margin.
  • Set the heading as “References” in bold text and center it.
  • Arrange the reference entries alphabetically according to the first item within the entries (usually the author surname or title).
  •  Add a hanging indent of 0.5 inches (i.e., indent any line after the first line of a reference list entry).

See above for a visual example of a reference page and additional examples.

Special Cases

Multiple entries with the same author(s) are arranged by publication year. Entries with no dates first, then in chronological order. If the year published is also the same, a letter is added to the year and the entries are arranged alphabetically (after arrangement by year).

  • Robin, M. T. (n.d.)
  • Robin, M. T. (1987)
  • Robin, M. T. (1989a)
  • Robin, M. T. (1989b)

Single-author source and multi-author source that share one author. One-author entries are listed first even if the multi-author entries were published earlier.

  • Dave, S. P., Jr. (2006)
  • Dave, S. P., Jr., & Glyn, T. L. (2005)

For references with multiple authors that have the same first author but different subsequent authors, alphabetize the entries by the last name of the second author (or third if the first two authors are the same).

APA Citation Examples

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MLA Style Guide, 8th & 9th Editions: Formatting Your Works Cited List

  • Works Cited entries: What to Include
  • Title of source
  • Title of container
  • Contributors
  • Publication date
  • Supplemental Elements
  • Book with Personal Author(s)
  • Book with Organization as Author
  • Book with Editor(s)
  • Parts of Books
  • Government Publication
  • Journal Article
  • Magazine Article
  • Multivolume Works
  • Newspaper Article
  • Other Formats
  • Websites, Social Media, and Email
  • About In-text Citations
  • In-text Examples
  • How to Paraphrase and Quote
  • Citing Poetry
  • Formatting Your MLA Paper
  • Formatting Your Works Cited List
  • MLA Annotated Bibliography
  • MLA 9th Edition Quick Guide
  • Submit Your Paper for MLA Style Review

The Works Cited page is the list of sources used in the research paper. It should be its own page at the end of the paper.

Center the title, "Works Cited" (without quotation marks), at the top of the page. If only one source was consulted, title the page "Work Cited".

Double space the entire list of sources.

Use hanging indention for each entry. Begin each entry flush with the left margin; indent all subsequent lines one-half inch.

Arrange entries in alphabetical order by the first term in each entry (the first author's last name or the title of the work when there is no author).

Continue with the numbering convention used throughout the paper by including your last name and the page number in the upper right-hand corner of the Works Cited page.

Hanging Indents

Each entry in your Works Cited list should have a hanging indent where the first line of the entry is closer to the left margin than all of the following lines. See how to create a hanging indent in Word or Word Online.

Sample Works Cited Page

Works Cited Page Example

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how to make a works cited page for a research paper

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Generate accurate citations in MLA format automatically, with MyBib!

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😕 What is an MLA Citation Generator?

An MLA citation generator is a software tool designed to automatically create academic citations in the Modern Language Association (MLA) citation format. The generator will take information such as document titles, author, and URLs as in input, and output fully formatted citations that can be inserted into the Works Cited page of an MLA-compliant academic paper.

The citations on a Works Cited page show the external sources that were used to write the main body of the academic paper, either directly as references and quotes, or indirectly as ideas.

👩‍🎓 Who uses an MLA Citation Generator?

MLA style is most often used by middle school and high school students in preparation for transition to college and further education. Ironically, MLA style is not actually used all that often beyond middle and high school, with APA (American Psychological Association) style being the favored style at colleges across the country.

It is also important at this level to learn why it's critical to cite sources, not just how to cite them.

🙌 Why should I use a Citation Generator?

Writing citations manually is time consuming and error prone. Automating this process with a citation generator is easy, straightforward, and gives accurate results. It's also easier to keep citations organized and in the correct order.

The Works Cited page contributes to the overall grade of a paper, so it is important to produce accurately formatted citations that follow the guidelines in the official MLA Handbook .

⚙️ How do I use MyBib's MLA Citation Generator?

It's super easy to create MLA style citations with our MLA Citation Generator. Scroll back up to the generator at the top of the page and select the type of source you're citing. Books, journal articles, and webpages are all examples of the types of sources our generator can cite automatically. Then either search for the source, or enter the details manually in the citation form.

The generator will produce a formatted MLA citation that can be copied and pasted directly into your document, or saved to MyBib as part of your overall Works Cited page (which can be downloaded fully later!).

MyBib supports the following for MLA style:

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Daniel is a qualified librarian, former teacher, and citation expert. He has been contributing to MyBib since 2018.

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

General Format

OWL logo

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

This section contains information on The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) method of document formatting and citation. These resources follow The Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition), which was issued in 2017.

Since The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) is primarily intended as a style guide for published works rather than class papers, these guidelines will be supplemented with information from, Kate L. Turabian’s Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (8th ed.), which is largely based on CMOS with some slight alterations.

To see a side-by-side comparison of the three most widely used citation styles, including a chart of all CMOS citation guidelines, see the Citation Style Chart.

Please use the example at the bottom of this page to cite the Purdue OWL in CMOS.

A Note on Citations

Unlike many citation styles, CMOS gives writers two different methods for documenting sources: the Author-Date System and the Notes-Bibliography (NB) System.  As its name suggests, Author-Date uses parenthetical citations in the text to reference the source's author's last name and the year of publication. Each parenthetical citation corresponds to an entry on a References page that concludes the document. In these regards, Author-Date is very similar to, for instance, APA style.

By contrast, NB uses numbered footnotes in the text to direct the reader to a shortened citation at the bottom of the page. This corresponds to a fuller citation on a Bibliography page that concludes the document. Though the general principles of citation are the same here, the citations themselves are formatted differently from the way they appear in Author-Date.

If you are using CMOS for school or work, don't forget to ensure that you're using your organization's preferred citation method. For examples of these two different styles in action, see our CMOS sample papers:

Author-Date Sample Paper

NB Sample Paper

General CMOS Guidelines

  • Text should be consistently double-spaced, except for block quotations, notes, bibliography entries, table titles, and figure captions.
  • A prose quotation of five or more lines, or more than 100 words, should be blocked.
  • CMOS recommends blocking two or more lines of poetry.
  • A blocked quotation does not get enclosed in quotation marks.
  • A blocked quotation must always begin a new line.
  • Blocked quotations should be indented with the word processor’s indention tool.
  • Page numbers begin in the header of the first page of text with Arabic number 1.
  • For CMOS and Turabian’s recommendations, see “Headings,” below.

Supplemental Turabian Style Guidelines

  • Margins should be set at no less than 1”.
  • Typeface should be something readable, such as Times New Roman or Courier.
  • Font size should be no less than 10 pt. (preferably, 12 pt.).

Major Paper Sections

  • The title should be centered a third of the way down the page.
  • Your name, class information, and the date should follow several lines later.
  • For subtitles, end the title line with a colon and place the subtitle on the line below the title.
  • Double-space each line of the title page.

This image shows the title page of a CMS paper.

CMOS Title Page

  • Different practices apply for theses and dissertations (see Kate L. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, ad Dissertations [8 th ed.].
  • Titles mentioned in the text, notes, or bibliography are capitalized “headline-style,” meaning first words of titles and subtitles and any important words thereafter should be capitalized.
  • Book and periodical titles (titles of larger works) should be italicized.
  • Article and chapter titles (titles of shorter works) should be enclosed in double quotation marks.
  • The titles of most poems should be enclosed in double quotation marks, but the titles of very long poems should be italicized.
  • Titles of plays should be italicized.
  • For example, use lowercase terms to describe periods, except in the case of proper nouns (e.g., “the colonial period,” vs. “the Victorian era”).
  • A prose quotation of five or more lines should be “blocked.” The block quotation should match the surrounding text, and it takes no quotation marks. To offset the block quote from surrounding text, indent the entire quotation using the word processor’s indentation tool. It is also possible to offset the block quotation by using a different or smaller font than the surrounding text.
  • Label the first page of your back matter, your comprehensive list of sources, “Bibliography” (for Notes and Bibliography style) or “References” (for Author-Date style).
  • Leave two blank lines between “Bibliography” or “References” and your first entry.
  • Leave one blank line between remaining entries.
  • List entries in letter-by-letter alphabetical order according to the first word in each entry, be that the author's name or the title of the piece..
  • For two to three authors, write out all names.
  • For four to ten authors, write out all names in the bibliography but only the first author’s name plus “et al.” in notes and parenthetical citations.
  • When a source has no identifiable author, cite it by its title, both on the references page and in shortened form (up to four keywords from that title) in parenthetical citations throughout the text.
  • Write out publishers’ names in full.
  • Do not use access dates unless publication dates are unavailable.
  • If you cannot ascertain the publication date of a printed work, use the abbreviation “n.d.”
  • Provide DOIs instead of URLs whenever possible.
  • If no DOI is available, provide a URL.
  • If you cannot name a specific page number when called for, you have other options: section (sec.), equation (eq.), volume (vol.), or note (n.).

This image shows the bibliography page of a CMS paper.

CMOS Bibliography Page

  • Note numbers should begin with “1” and follow consecutively throughout a given paper.
  • Note numbers are superscripted.
  • Note numbers should be placed at the end of the clause or sentence to which they refer and should be placed after all punctuation, except for the dash.
  • Note numbers are full-sized, not raised, and followed by a period (superscripting note numbers in the notes themselves is also acceptable).
  • In parenthetical citation, separate documentation from brief commentary with a semicolon.
  • Do not repeat the hundreds digit in a page range if it does not change from the beginning to the end of the range.

For more information on footnotes, please see CMOS NB Sample Paper .

While  The Chicago Manual of Style does not include a prescribed system for formatting headings and subheads, it makes several recommendations.

  • Maintain consistency and parallel structure in headings and subheads.
  • Use headline-style for purposes of capitalization.
  • Subheadings should begin on a new line.
  • Subheadings can be distinguished by font-size.
  • Ensure that each level of hierarchy is clear and consistent.
  • Levels of subheads can be differentiated by type style, use of boldface or italics, and placement on the page, usually either centered or flush left.
  • Use no more than three levels of hierarchy.
  • Avoid ending subheadings with periods.

Turabian has an optional system of five heading levels.

Turabian Subheading Plan

Here is an example of the five-level heading system:

This image shows the levels of heading in a CMS paper.

CMOS Headings

Tables and Figures

  • Position tables and figures as soon as possible after they are first referenced. If necessary, present them after the paragraph in which they are described.
  • For figures, include a caption, or short explanation of the figure or illustration, directly after the figure number.
  • Cite a source as you would for parenthetical citation, and include full information in an entry on your Bibliography or References page.
  • Acknowledge reproduced or adapted sources appropriately (i.e., photo by; data adapted from; map by...).
  • If a table includes data not acquired by the author of the text, include an unnumbered footnote. Introduce the note by the word Source(s) followed by a colon, then include the full source information, and end the note with a period.

How to Cite the Purdue OWL in CMOS

On the new OWL site, contributors’ names and the last edited date are no longer listed at the top of every page. This means that most citations will now begin with the title of the resource, rather than the contributors' names.

Footnote or Endnote (N):

Corresponding Bibliographical Entry (B):

“Title of Resource.” List the OWL as Publishing Organization/Web Site Name . http://Web address for OWL resource.

“General Format.” The Purdue OWL. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/02/.

Author Date In-text Citation:

("General Format" 2017).

Author Date References Page Citation:

Year of Publication. “Title of Resource.” List the OWL as Publishing Organization/Web Site Name . http://Web address for OWL resource.

2017. “General Format.” The Purdue OWL . https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/02.

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  • How to Cite a Website | MLA, APA & Chicago Examples

How to Cite a Website | MLA, APA & Chicago Examples

Published on March 5, 2021 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on January 17, 2024.

To cite a page from a website, you need a short in-text citation and a corresponding reference stating the author’s name, the date of publication, the title of the page, the website name, and the URL.

This information is presented differently in different citation styles. APA , MLA , and Chicago are the most commonly used styles.

Use the interactive example generator below to explore APA and MLA website citations.

Note that the format is slightly different for citing YouTube and other online video platforms, or for citing an image .

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Table of contents

Citing a website in mla style, citing a website in apa style, citing a website in chicago style, frequently asked questions about citations.

An MLA Works Cited entry for a webpage lists the author’s name , the title of the page (in quotation marks), the name of the site (in italics), the date of publication, and the URL.

The in-text citation usually just lists the author’s name. For a long page, you may specify a (shortened) section heading to locate the specific passage. Don’t use paragraph numbers unless they’re specifically numbered on the page.

The same format is used for blog posts and online articles from newspapers and magazines.

You can also use our free MLA Citation Generator to generate your website citations.

Generate accurate MLA citations with Scribbr

Citing a whole website.

When you cite an entire website rather than a specific page, include the author if one can be identified for the whole site (e.g. for a single-authored blog). Otherwise, just start with the site name.

List the copyright date displayed on the site; if there isn’t one, provide an access date after the URL.

Webpages with no author or date

When no author is listed, cite the organization as author only if it differs from the website name.

If the organization name is also the website name, start the Works Cited entry with the title instead, and use a shortened version of the title in the in-text citation.

When no publication date is listed, leave it out and include an access date at the end instead.

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how to make a works cited page for a research paper

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An APA reference for a webpage lists the author’s last name and initials, the full date of publication, the title of the page (in italics), the website name (in plain text), and the URL.

The in-text citation lists the author’s last name and the year. If it’s a long page, you may include a locator to identify the quote or paraphrase (e.g. a paragraph number and/or section title).

Note that a general reference to an entire website doesn’t require a citation in APA Style; just include the URL in parentheses after you mention the site.

You can also use our free APA Citation Generator to create your webpage citations. Search for a URL to retrieve the details.

Generate accurate APA citations with Scribbr

Blog posts and online articles.

Blog posts follow a slightly different format: the title of the post is not italicized, and the name of the blog is.

The same format is used for online newspaper and magazine articles—but not for articles from news sites like Reuters and BBC News (see the previous example).

When a page has no author specified, list the name of the organization that created it instead (and omit it later if it’s the same as the website name).

When it doesn’t list a date of publication, use “n.d.” in place of the date. You can also include an access date if the page seems likely to change over time.

In Chicago notes and bibliography style, footnotes are used to cite sources. They refer to a bibliography at the end that lists all your sources in full.

A Chicago bibliography entry for a website lists the author’s name, the page title (in quotation marks), the website name, the publication date, and the URL.

Chicago also has an alternative author-date citation style . Examples of website citations in this style can be found here .

For blog posts and online articles from newspapers, the name of the publication is italicized. For a blog post, you should also add the word “blog” in parentheses, unless it’s already part of the blog’s name.

When a web source doesn’t list an author , you can usually begin your bibliography entry and short note with the name of the organization responsible. Don’t repeat it later if it’s also the name of the website. A full note should begin with the title instead.

When no publication or revision date is shown, include an access date instead in your bibliography entry.

The main elements included in website citations across APA , MLA , and Chicago style are the author, the date of publication, the page title, the website name, and the URL. The information is presented differently in each style.

In APA , MLA , and Chicago style citations for sources that don’t list a specific author (e.g. many websites ), you can usually list the organization responsible for the source as the author.

If the organization is the same as the website or publisher, you shouldn’t repeat it twice in your reference:

  • In APA and Chicago, omit the website or publisher name later in the reference.
  • In MLA, omit the author element at the start of the reference, and cite the source title instead.

If there’s no appropriate organization to list as author, you will usually have to begin the citation and reference entry with the title of the source instead.

When you want to cite a specific passage in a source without page numbers (e.g. an e-book or website ), all the main citation styles recommend using an alternate locator in your in-text citation . You might use a heading or chapter number, e.g. (Smith, 2016, ch. 1)

In APA Style , you can count the paragraph numbers in a text to identify a location by paragraph number. MLA and Chicago recommend that you only use paragraph numbers if they’re explicitly marked in the text.

For audiovisual sources (e.g. videos ), all styles recommend using a timestamp to show a specific point in the video when relevant.

Check if your university or course guidelines specify which citation style to use. If the choice is left up to you, consider which style is most commonly used in your field.

  • APA Style is the most popular citation style, widely used in the social and behavioral sciences.
  • MLA style is the second most popular, used mainly in the humanities.
  • Chicago notes and bibliography style is also popular in the humanities, especially history.
  • Chicago author-date style tends to be used in the sciences.

Other more specialized styles exist for certain fields, such as Bluebook and OSCOLA for law.

The most important thing is to choose one style and use it consistently throughout your text.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2024, January 17). How to Cite a Website | MLA, APA & Chicago Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved February 22, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/citing-sources/cite-a-website/

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IMAGES

  1. MLA Works Cited Page

    how to make a works cited page for a research paper

  2. How to insert a citation in a research paper

    how to make a works cited page for a research paper

  3. MLA FORMAT: WORKS CITED PAGE

    how to make a works cited page for a research paper

  4. Works Cited Examples and Formatting Tips

    how to make a works cited page for a research paper

  5. APA Reference Page: How to Format Works Cited

    how to make a works cited page for a research paper

  6. APA Works Cited

    how to make a works cited page for a research paper

VIDEO

  1. How To Basic Works Cited Page

  2. What documentation data do you need for a newspaper, magazine, or journal article on your Work

  3. #ForStudents: How to create a Works Cited page using NoodleTools

  4. Formatting your Works Cited Page

  5. How do I format an MLA Works Cited page in online Word?

  6. How do I format an MLA Works Cited page?

COMMENTS

  1. MLA Works Cited Page: Basic Format

    Begin your Works Cited page on a separate page at the end of your research paper. It should have the same one-inch margins and last name, page number header as the rest of your paper. Label the page Works Cited (do not italicize the words Works Cited or put them in quotation marks) and center the words Works Cited at the top of the page.

  2. MLA Works Cited

    Home Knowledge Base MLA Style How to format your MLA Works Cited page MLA Works Cited | 2021 Guidelines & Free Template Published on June 7, 2021 by Shona McCombes . Revised on January 17, 2024. In MLA style, the list of Works Cited (also known as a reference list or bibliography) appears at the end of your paper.

  3. MLA Works Cited: Develop an MLA Works Cited Page!

    A works cited page should begin on its own page after the end of the paper content and should list all the entries in alphabetical order by the first item in each entry (usually the author's name).

  4. MLA Formatting and Style Guide

    MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. This resource, updated to reflect the MLA Handbook (9 th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page.

  5. Creating an MLA Works cited page

    Beginning on a new page at the end of your paper, list alphabetically by author every work you have cited, using the basic forms illustrated below. Title the page Works Cited (not Bibliography), and list only those sources you actually cited in your paper.

  6. Works Cited Format

    For each of the entries in the list, every line after the first line should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. "Works Cited" should be centered at the top of the page. If you are only citing one source, the page heading should be "Work Cited" instead of "Works Cited.". You can see a sample Works Cited here .

  7. What Is a Works Cited Page? Definition and Examples

    The works cited page is the part of a research paper that lists all the sources used by the author along with additional information like the publisher or URL. The works cited page is an integral part of any paper written in MLA format as it is a way to verify that the information in the paper is factual. So how do you write a works cited page?

  8. MLA: Works Cited Page

    Center the words "Works Cited" at the top of the new page. The page should have your last name and the next page number in the header, as on all the other essay pages. Double space every line—no additional spacing required. Alphabetize entries by authors' last names. If author names are unavailable for an entry, alphabetize by the first ...

  9. LibGuides: Academic Resource Center: How to make a Works Cited

    To format a works cited page: 1) List sources alphabetically by author's last name. If no author is given (as in some websites) put it in alphabetical order by the first piece of information you list. 2) If an entry is longer than one line, indent subsequent lines by 0.5 inches to create a hanging indent. (You will use the first words of your ...

  10. 4 Ways to Write a Works Cited Page

    Type ISBN, title, or key words your book to begin MLA to search and automated citation; Verify the information that the ISBN id number brings up. Click to add a citation of a chapter title, add page numbers, etc. 4. Copy and Paste results into your essay, PowerPoint, etc. 5.

  11. Works Cited Examples and Formatting Tips

    In MLA Format 16 Min read Your paper is perfect! All your in-text quotes have a citation, the formatting is top-notch, and you're now breathing a sigh of relief. Until you realize you don't have a works cited. Don't lose your cool. You have the research and the paper.

  12. Free Works Cited Generator [Updated for 2024]

    Daniel Elias Generate your Works Cited page accurately with our free Works Cited generator. Now fully compatible with MLA format 8th and 9th Edition.

  13. General Format

    If you have any endnotes, include them on a separate page before your Works Cited page. Entitle the section Notes (centered, unformatted). Formatting the First Page of Your Paper. Do not make a title page for your paper unless specifically requested or the paper is assigned as a group project.

  14. APA Reference Page: How to Format Works Cited

    Create manual citation In APA, the "Works Cited" page is referred to as a "Reference List" or "Reference Page." "Bibliography" also may be used interchangeably, even though there are some differences between the two. If you are at the point in your article or research paper where you are looking up APA bibliography format, then congratulations!

  15. Formatting Your Works Cited List

    The Works Cited page is the list of sources used in the research paper. It should be its own page at the end of the paper. Center the title, "Works Cited" (without quotation marks), at the top of the page. If only one source was consulted, title the page "Work Cited". Double space the entire list of sources. Use hanging indention for each entry.

  16. How to Cite Sources

    Home Knowledge Base Citing sources How to Cite Sources | Citation Generator & Quick Guide Citing your sources is essential in academic writing. Whenever you quote or paraphrase a source (such as a book, article, or webpage), you have to include a citation crediting the original author.

  17. Free MLA Citation Generator [Updated for 2024]

    Scroll back up to the generator at the top of the page and select the type of source you're citing. Books, journal articles, and webpages are all examples of the types of sources our generator can cite automatically. Then either search for the source, or enter the details manually in the citation form. The generator will produce a formatted MLA ...

  18. MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics

    Using citation machines responsibly Powered by General Guidelines The source information required in a parenthetical citation depends (1) upon the source medium (e.g. print, web, DVD) and (2) upon the source's entry on the Works Cited page.

  19. Free Citation Generator

    Cite any page or article with a single click right from your browser. The extension does the hard work for you by automatically grabbing the title, author (s), publication date, and everything else needed to whip up the perfect citation. Add to Chrome. It's free! Perfectly formatted references every time

  20. General Format

    Major Paper Sections Title Page. According to Turabian style, class papers will either include a title page or include the title on the first page of the text. Use the following guidelines should your instructor or context require a title page: The title should be centered a third of the way down the page.

  21. How to Cite a Website

    An MLA Works Cited entry for a webpage lists the author's name, the title of the page (in quotation marks), the name of the site (in italics), the date of publication, and the URL. The in-text citation usually just lists the author's name. For a long page, you may specify a (shortened) section heading to locate the specific passage.