MLA Works Cited list entries are built upon the core elements that are listed and defined below.
Each core element covers a range of situations, and some elements may not apply to every citation. The MLA Interactive Practice Template can help you organize your citations by allowing you to enter relevant information from your sources and displaying the results.
Core Elements |
Format |
Examples |
1: Author.
|
One author: Last name followed by a comma, then the rest of the name as it appears on the work. |
One author: Watts, Cedric Thomas. |
2: Title of Source.
|
In general: list the full title as it is found in the source and end the element with a period (unless the title ends in other punctuation). For a work that is part of a whole: enclose the title in quotation marks, capitalize all important words, and place a colon and a space between the main title and the subtitle (if there is a subtitle). For a self-contained work: place the title in italic font, capitalize all important words, and place a colon and a space between the main title and the subtitle (if there is a subtitle). |
Book (entire): A Historical Companion to Postcolonial Literatures - Continental Europe and its Empires. Journal article: "Polish African Studies at a Crossroads: Past, Present and Future." YouTube video: "Heart of Darkness - Thug Notes Summary and Analysis." |
3: Title of Container,
|
List the full title in italic font and capitalize all important words. Normally the title of a container is followed by a comma, because publication information will follow. | Book (edited): Postcolonial African Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook, Scholarly Journal: Africa Spectrum, Database: JSTOR, Website: YouTube, |
More About Containers:
|
||
4: Contributor,
|
Indicate the type of contribution followed by the name(s) of the contributor(s). End with a comma if more publication information will follow this element. |
Editor: (Book Title), edited by Pushpa Naidu Parekh and Siga Fatima Jagne, |
5: Version,
|
Use arabic numerals for ordinal numbers (2nd, 8th, etc.). Abbreviate the words revised and edition (Rev. ed.). Descriptive terms such as expanded are generally written in lower case unless they directly follow a period. Common abbreviations for works-cited entries can be found in appendix 1 of the MLA Handbook, 9th ed. End with a comma if more publication will follow. | The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments Translated Out of the Original Tongues. Standard text ed., The Norton Anthology of Poetry . Shorter 5th ed., |
6: Number,
|
If the source is part of a numbered sequence, include that number preceded by an abbreviation (see appendix 1) or term that identifies the type of sequence. Use arabic numerals, converting roman numerals and spelled out numbers. End with a comma if more publication information will follow. |
Journal article: Sewanee Review, vol. 125, no. 3, |
7: Publisher,
|
List publisher information as it is found on the source. Standardize capitalization according to MLA guidelines for capitalization. Separate co-publishers with a forward slash (/).Truncate government agencies. Abbreviate University Press and foreign language equivalents (UP). Change an ampersand (&) to and. City of publication is generally omitted unless publisher is multinational or the book was published prior to 1900. End with a comma. | Academic Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Film: Media Education Foundation, Government Agency: U.S. Dept. of Education, University Press: Stanford UP, |
8: Publication Date,
|
In general: provide the most specific date you can find in the source. Use day-month-year format if all of this information is available. Display year in arabic numerals; use lowercase for seasons of the year; capitalize months, and abbreviate month names longer than four letters. End with a comma if location information follows, otherwise end with a period. | Year (book): 2020 Day-month-year (news article): 9 Nov. 1989 Season-year (journal article): Fall 2020 |
9: Location.
|
For paginated works that are contained in another work (articles, book chapters, etc.) provide the entire page range of the work. Precede a page range with pp. or a single page with p. (pp. 25-36, p. 32) Use the same numbering system as the source (arabic or roman). If the work is printed on nonconsecutive pages, use the first page number with a plus sign (pp. 25+) If a DOI (digital object identifier) is included on the work, provide the DOI formatted as a URL (https://doi.org/#####). If no DOI is provided, use a stable URL if possible, or a URL copied from your browser without https://. End with a period. | Scholarly article example: Pittner, Fruzsina, and Iain Donald. "Gaming the Heart of Darkness." Arts, vol. 7, no. 3, 2018, pp. 1-13, https://doi.org/10.3390/arts7030046. |
Supplemental Elements
|