MLA 8th Edition: Guiding Principles for Works Cited

Woodruff High School

Compiled from MLA Handbook 8th edition: last updated 2/9/17

  • In previous editions of the MLA Handbook citation instructions were determined by the format type of the source. However, now with so many format types of information available and new ones being added all the time the new edition of MLA presents basic principles to follow to create documentation of any work in any publication format.
  • The following are the core elements that should be included in any entry on the works-cited list. They are listed in the order in which they should appear. If an element is not relevant to the work being cited then it may be omitted. The element is followed by the punctuation mark that should be used unless it is the final element, then it should end with a period. In some entries elements 3 through 9 will repeat again if your source is within another source, such as an article in a journal within a database.
  1. Author.
  2. Title of Source.
  3. Title of Container,
  4. Other Contributors,
  5. Version,
  6. Number,
  7. Publisher,
  8. Publication Date,
  9. Location.

Author – Refers to any person or group primarily responsible for producing the work. If the role of the person is different from the one creating the main content then follow the name with a label of the role. Example: editor or translator. An author may not be an individual, it could be a corporate author, institution, association, organization or government agency. If a work is authored and published by an organization begin the entry with the Title and list the organization as the publisher.

Title of Source – A title is placed in quotation marks if the source is part of a larger work. If it is a whole work such as a book then it is italicized.

Title of Container – When the source being cited comes from a larger whole the larger whole is the container. Examples: book that is a collection of works, periodical, website, multivolume set, anthology, compilation.

Other Contributors – Aside from the author, these people played a key role in the work being cited. Examples: adapted by, directed by, edited by, illustrated by, introduction by, narrated by, performance by, translated by.

Version – Examples: revised ed., second ed., 6th ed., updated ed., expanded ed., unabridged version.

Number – Examples include the volume number in a multivolume set or a journal and/or issue number.

Publisher – Refers to the organization responsible for producing the source or bringing it to the public.

Publication Date – If a source has more than one date then cite the date that is most relevant to the use of the source. Some sources will only have a year and others may list a full date, or a month and year while some, like a website, may list a date range. Use the most complete date given. If more than one copyright date appears then use the most recent one.

Location – For books and periodicals this is a page number/s and for online material it is a URL. If citing online works it is good practice to list the date the source was accessed. (Accessed 9 Feb. 2017.)

Examples for Works Cited Entries

  • MLA guidelines require double spacing. 2nd line of entry is indented 5 spaces. (use “hanging indent”)
  • The Works Cited list is in alphabetical order by the first word of the citation excluding “the”, “a” or “an”.

Book
Single Author / Jacobs, Alan. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. Oxford UP, 2011.
Book
Two Authors / Dorris, Michael, and Louise Erdrich. The Crown of Columbus. HarperCollins Publishers, 1999.
Book
Three or More Authors / Burdick, Anne, et al. Digital_Humanities. MIT P, 2012.
Book with
Other Contributor / Puig, Manuel. Kiss of the Spider Woman. Translated by Thomas Colchie, Vintage Books, 1991
A Work from a
Collection of Works / Bazin, Patrick. “Toward Metareading.” The Future of the Book, edited by Geoffrey Nunberg, U of California P, 1996, pp. 153-68.
Book
Later Edition / Newcomb, Horace, editor. Television: The Critical View. 7th ed., Oxford UP, 2007.
Article in an Online Database / Goldman, Anne. “Questions of Transport: Reading Primo Levi Reading Dante.” The Georgia Review, vol.64, no. 1, 2010, pp. 69-88. JSTOR,
Note: If from Discus WHS teachers don’t require URL
Article on a Website / Deresiewicz, William. “The Death of the Artist-and the Birth of the Creative Entrepreneur.” The Atlantic, 28 Dec. 2014, Accessed 9 Feb. 2017.
Website
Whole Site / Eaves, Morris et al., editors. The William Blake Archive. 1996-2014,
Note: When including a URL omit the and