Works Cited Page
The Works Cited page, alphabetized by author’s last name, should appear at the end of your essay. It provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any sources you cite in the essay. Each source you cite in the essay must appear in your Works Cited list.
Authors' names are inverted (last name first); if a work has more than one author, invert only the first author's name, follow it with a comma, then continue listing the rest of the authors. If you have cited more than one work by a particular author, order them alphabetically by title, and use three hyphens in place of the author's name for every entry after the first. If no author is given for a particular work, alphabetize by the title of the piece (if the title begins with an article, such as "A," "An," or "The," alphabetized by the second word).
The first line of each entry in your list should be flush left. Subsequent lines should be indented one-half inch (5 spaces or a tab). This is known as a "hanging indent." All references should be double-spaced with no extra spaces between the entries.
Capitalize the first work in the title of the work and all important words (articles—“a,” “the,” etc, prepositions—“in,” “for,” etc, and conjunctions—“and,” “but,” etc, should not be capitalized unless as the first word). Italicize titles of books, journals, magazines, newspapers, and films. Indicate the publication medium with a marker such as Print, Web, or other form (i.e. DVD or TV).
Formats & Examples
A Book
Author(s). Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Print.
Example: Tannen, Deborah. You’re Wearing That? Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation. New York: Ballantine-Random, 2006. Print.
A Book with More than One Author
Lane, Barry, Bruce Ballenger and Ann Dumaresq. Discovering the Writer Within. 2nd ed. Shoreham: Discover Writing Press, 2008. Print.
(Please note: If there are four or more authors, list only the first author followed by a comma and the phrase "et al.")
An Anthology or Collection
Crane, R.S., ed. Critics and Criticism: Ancient and Modern. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1952. Print.
An Article in a Periodical (i.e. Magazine or Newspaper)
Author(s). “Title of article.” Title of Magazine/Newspaper day Month year: pages. Print.
(Please note: When citing the date, list day before month; use a three-letter abbreviation of the month (e.g. Jan., Mar., Aug.). If there is more than one edition available for that date (as in an early and late edition of a newspaper), identify the edition following the date (i.e. 17 May 1987, late ed.)
Example: Paumgarten, Nick. “The Death of Kings.” New Yorker 18 May 2009: 40-57. Print.
An Article in a Scholarly Journal
Author(s). “Title of scholarly article.” Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages. Print.
Example: Dewitty, Vernell P., et al. “Workforce Conflict: What’s the problem?” Nursing Management 40.5 (2009): 31-37. Print.
A Webpage
Author(s). "Title of Document." Name of homepage. Publisher Name (if none, write N.p.), Date Published (if none, write n.d.) Web. Date of access. <URL>.
An Essay in an Anthology or Collection
Jones, Robert F. "Welcome to Muskie Country." The Ultimate Fishing Book. Eds. Lee Eisenberg and DeCourcy Taylor. Boston: Houghton, 1981. 122-34. Print.
Example: Stolley, Karl. "MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The OWL at Purdue. Purdue University Writing Lab. 10 May 2009. Web. 10 July 2009.
An Article in an Online Periodical
Author(s). "Title of Document." Website Name. Website Publisher, Date of publication.
Web. Date of access. <URL>.
Example: Cohen, Elizabeth. “Five Ways to Avoid Germs While Traveling.” CNN.com. Cable News Network, 27 Nov. 2008. Web. 12 Jan. 2009.
An Article in an Digital Library Database (i.e. FirstSearch or ProQuest)
General Format
Author(s). “Article Title.” Magazine/Newspaper Title. day Month year: page(s). Database Name. Database Publisher. Web. Bay College Library. Date accessed.
Example: McKibben, Bill. “Waste Not Want Not.” Mother Jones. May/June 2009: 48-51. WilsonSelectPlus. FirstSearch. Web. Bay College Library. 19 May 2009.
Scholarly Format
Author(s). “Article Title.” Magazine/Newspaper Title. Volume #.Issue # (Publication Date): page(s).Database Name. Database Publisher. Web. Bay College Library. Date accessed.
Example: Vance, Erik. “Energy: High Hopes.” Nature. 460.7255 (2009): 564-566. Sciences Module. ProQuest. Web. Bay College Library. 10 June 2009.
An Interview that You Conducted
Name of the person interviewed. Kind of interview. (Personal, Telephone, etc), and the date.
Example: Diamonti, Nancy. Personal Interview. 20 May 2009.
An Interview from a Television or Radio Program
Name of the person interviewed. Interviewer’s name may be added if known and pertinent. Name of television/radio program. Network(s), Location. Date viewed. Television.
Example: Wiesel, Elie. Interview by Ted Koppel. Nightline. ABC. WABC, New York. 18 Apr. 2002. Television.
A Television or Radio Broadcast
“Title of episode or segment”. Title of the program or series. Name of the Network (if any). Call letters and city of the local station (if any). Broadcast date day Month year. Medium of reception (e.g. Radio, Television).
Example: “Phantom of Corleone.” Sixty Minutes. CBS. WJMN, Escanaba. 10 Dec. 2006. Television.