Print this out and use it when you do your bibliography exercise and when you do your research assignments
Building a Works Cited, or Works Consulted page, is mostly a matter of being able to follow directions. Most colleges and universities use the Modern Language Association (MLA) style sheet for papers and documentation forms in the humanities discipline. It is important that you learn these forms and demonstrate mastery of them in your papers. Be sure to read carefully your class MLA style sheet on building a works cited. MLA is not the only style sheet. APA is another popular form that is used in Communication departments and some other disciplines. But for this course, you will be using and learning the MLA.
The Works Cited, or Works Consulted, page always appears at the end of your research essay, and the page number on it is consecutive with the rest of the paper. The exact forms used for listing each source that you used in researching your paper are contained in the MLA STYLE (see toolbar to left of the MLA Style page) document. This document also contains a sample Works Cited page at the bottom of the document for your use.
Some helpful hints:
All entries must be alphabetized, by author's last name if available, and by the first major word of the title (of the article title if a journal or by the title of the book). Words such as "The" or "A" are not considered major words of the title and would not be considered for alphabetizing.
1. The traditional MLA Works Cited entries are not numbered. Do not number your sources.
2. The first line of the source information starts on the left margin, and all subsequent lines are indented one half inch. This allows the reader to clearly see the author's last name, or the title of the article by which the source is alphabetized.
3. The page is double spaced consistently (no single spacing anywhere and no extra space anywhere).
4. Each item of information about the source that is listed has a particular punctuation mark after it (some have no punctuation). You must use the correct mark after each item.
5. Style sheets like the MLA cover original sources (sometimes called primary sources). There are other sources that compile original sources for you under subjects, saving you much effort. These clipping services sometimes are called secondary sources. The style sheets do not always give a form to use for these sources, and you must look for these forms in the first few pages of these indexes, or, if they are on-line, in the instructions on documenting. SIRS and NEWSBANK are such sources. For instance, NEWSBANK's microfiche documentation form is found in the first pages of its index, and looks like this:Duffy, Linda. "Group Working To Release Crack's Grip On French-Town."
TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT [FL] 3 January 1988. Newsbank, Health, 1988,
fiche 5, grids B12,13.
The first information is the primary source, and the last is the secondary source. SIRS is another secondary source that has primary and secondary information:
Jacobson, Jodi L. "Holding Back the Sea." Futurist Sept.-Oct. 1990: 20-27. SIRS
Combined Text & Index CD-ROM. Ed. Eleanor Goldstein. Boca Raton, FL:
Social Issues Resources Ser., 1993. Earth Science 1991 file, art. 25.
Notice that the SIRS editor is listed after the CD-ROM. This editor information is always the same, and is not listed on each article that is obtained from SIRS, but it must be listed on the Works Cited page! The form for SIRS is in the MLASTYLE.DOC in Microsoft Word in the lab, or can be found in the SIRS index itself. If in doubt, always look in the index that you are using for the correct form.
However, Newsbank CD or Newsbank online may have a slightly different MLA form. SIRS also may be different. When using any online source, be sure to jot down the MLA form that you will fink in the help section of that source.
Taking a source from the Internet involves yet another form:
Internet
General Form - MLA Handbook, 5th edition.
- Name of the author (if shown)
- Publication information
- Title of the database (underline this)
- Publication information (date, etc.)
- Date of access
- Name of computer service, network, or address path, in < >
- page or paragraph number
Example:
"Children with disorders." Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. June.
2002. 14 Nov. 2002 <http://www.children.org/>. page or paragraph number. IAC Infotrac:
Hentoff, Nicholas. "Sacred Land." The Nation 1 January 1990: 5. IAC Infotrac
Online. 23 October 1995.
Listing the same author more than once:
When you have an author that you list more than once, you only list that author's name in the first listing. The second listing you use 3 dashes to indicate the same author. Example:
Barakat, Christine. “Hands on: Balanced Hoof Moisture.” Equus Aug. 2003: 24.
---. “Hands on: High-risk hoof injuries.” Equus Mar. 2003: 24-26.
Check the Works Consulted page in this sample research paper for correct formatting.