The MLA Style was developed by the Modern Language Association as a standard format for scholarly writing in humanities fields such as language and literature. It provides guidelines for formatting research papers, manuscripts, and bibliographies or works cited pages. Entries in a works cited list following MLA style include the author, title, publisher, and publication date of the source. Sources are alphabetized by the author's last name and subsequent lines of each entry are indented. The purpose is to give proper credit to sources and allow readers to find them.
9. Entries include Who? Author(s) names(s) What? Title of work Where? Publisher/Publication data When? Date of publication How? Medium type of work
10. Another sample Who? Author(s) names(s) What? Title of work Where? Publisher/Publication data When? Date of publication How? Medium type of work
11. Rules to abide by⊠Begin your Works Cited page on a separate piece of paper with 1 inch margins on every side. Label the page Works Cited. Alphabetize each entry in a works cited list by the first letter, ignoring the articles A, An, and The.
12. Rules to abide by⊠Indent subsequent lines of entries one-half inch or 5 spaces. (Hanging indentation) Capitalize each word in the titles of articles, books, etc, but do not capitalize articles (the, an, a), prepositions, or conjunctions unless one is the first word of the title or subtitle. E.g. Gone with the Wind The Art of War
13. Rules to abide by⊠Use italics (instead of underlining) for titles of larger works (books, magazines) and quotation marks for titles of shorter works (poems, articles) Double-Space the entire reference list, but do not skip extra spaces between entries.
14. Rules to abide by⊠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
15. Quick Reference Guide Citation work sheet Quick Guide Whitewater High Library Resources
16. Works Cited "MLA Works Cited Page: Basic Format." Purdue Owl. Purdue University, 2010. Web. 19 Oct. 2010.