According to MLA style, you must have a Works Cited page at the end of your research paper. All entries in the
Works Cited page must correspond to the works cited in your main text.
•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.
•Double space all citations, but do not skip spaces between entries.
•Indent the second and subsequent lines of citations five spaces so that you create a hanging indent.
•List page numbers of sources efficiently, when needed. If you refer to a journal article that appeared on
pages 225 through 250, list the page numbers on your Works Cited page as 225-50.
Additional Basic Rules New to MLA 2009
•For every entry, you must determine the Medium of Publication. Most entries will likely be listed as
Print or Web sources, but other possibilities may include Film, CD-ROM, or DVD.
•Writers are no longer required to provide URLs for Web entries. However, if your instructor or
publisher insists on them, include them in angle brackets after the entry and end with a period. For
long URLs, break lines only at slashes. (SJHS note: Your instructors do want them.)
•If you're citing an article or a publication that was originally issued in print form but that you
retrieved from an online database, you should type the online database name in italics. You do not
need to provide subscription information in addition to the database name.
Capitalization and Punctuation
•Capitalize each word in the titles of articles, books, etc, but do not capitalize articles (the, an),
prepositions, or conjunctions unless one is the first word of the title or subtitle: Gone with the
Wind, The Art of War, There Is Nothing Left to Lose.
•New to MLA 2009: Use italics (instead of underlining) for titles of larger works (books,
magazines) and quotation marks for titles of shorter works (poems, articles)
Citing an Entire Web Site
It is necessary to list your date of access because web postings are often updated, and information available on one date may no
longer be available later. Be sure to include the complete address for the site.
Remember to use n.p. if no publisher name is available and n.d. if no publishing date is given.
Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number. Name of institution/organization
affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of
publication. Date of access.
The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008. Web. 23 Apr. 2008.
Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory. Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003. Web. 10 May 2006.
A Page on a Web Site
For an individual page on a Web site, list the author or alias if known, followed by the information covered above for entire Web
sites. Remember to use n.p. if no publisher name is available and n.d. if no publishing date is given.
"How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow.com. eHow, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2009.
(quoted from the OWL Purdue)
