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MLA Style Guide: Works Cited

NLC's guide to MLA formatting, citations and references

General Guidelines

When you are creating your works cited list, make sure that: 

  • All the sources you cited in the main body of your essay are on this list (your in-text citations) 

  • The sources are in alphabetical order 

  • Each source is formatted with a hanging indent 

  • Each source is formatted correctly for the source type

Books

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date. 

 

Example) Butler, Octavia. Mind of My Mind. Grand Central Publishing, 1994. 

 

*Include the city of publication if the book was published before 1900, if the publisher has offices in more than one country, or if the publisher is not known in North America. Add the city after the book's title and before the publisher's name.

*If a publisher name and imprint name are both available, use the imprint name  

Write the authors' names in the same order as they appear on the book. List the first author's name in last name, first name format. The second author's name should be in normal order (first name, last name).

 

Example) El-Mohtar, Amal, and Max Gladstone. This is How You Lose the Time War. Saga Press,

                 2019.

List only the first author, followed by the phrase "et al." Do not list all authors' names.

 

Example) Wysocki, Anne Frances, et al. Writing New Media: Theory and Applications for

                 Expanding the Teaching of Composition. Utah State UP, 2004.

Cite as you would any other book, but add “translated by” and the translator’s name after the book’s title.  

 

Example) Liu, Cixin. The Three-Body Problem. Translated by Ken Liu, Tor, 2014. 

Last name, First name. "Title of Essay." Title of Collection, edited by Editor's Name(s) (if applicable). # ed. (if applicable), Publisher, Year, Page range of entry. 

 

Example) Smith, Zadie. “The Lazy River.” Grand Union: Stories, Hamish Hamilton, 2019, 

                 pp. 25-34. 

 

Example) Ford, Kelli Jo. "Heart-Shaped Clock." Never Whistle at Night, edited by Shane

                 Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr., McClelland & Stewart, 2023, pp. 175-192.

Other Sources

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages. DOI or URL (if available)

 

Example) Biles, Zachary. “Perils of Song in Homer’s “Odyssey.”” Phoenix, vol. 57, no. 3-4, 2003,

                 pp. 191–208, https://doi.org/10.2307/3648513

 

 

2 Authors: Format the same as with a book. List the first author's name in last name, first name format. The second author's name should be in normal order (first name, last name).

 

Example) Serrano, Francisco J., and Luis M. Chiappe. “Independent Origins of Powered Flight in

                 Paravian Dinosaurs?” Current Biology, vol. 31, no. 8, 2021, pp. R370–72,

                 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.03.058.

 

3+ Authors: List the first author, followed by the phrase "et al." Do not list all authors' names.

Example) Dunne, Emma M., et al. “Climatic Controls on the Ecological Ascendancy of Dinosaurs.”

                 Current Biology, vol. 33, no. 1, 2023, pp. 206–14,

                 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.11.064.

Film title. Directed by First Name Last Name, performances by First Name Last Name and First Name Last Name, Production Company, Year Released. 

 

Example) Arrival. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, performances by Amy Adams and Jeremy

                 Renner, Paramount Pictures, 2016. 

Last Name, First Name. “Title of Page.” Name of Website. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), Date of resource creation (if available), URL. Accessed Date. 

 

Example) Horrocks, Dana. “Evaluating Storytime.” Jbrary, www.jbrary.com/evaluating-storytime.

                 Accessed 9 November 2023. 

 

Example) “Vitamin D.” Health Canada. Government of Canada, 2 May 2022,

                  www.canada.ca/en/healthcanada/services/nutrients/vitamin-d.html.

                  Accessed 5 April 2024. 

 

*Include as much information as you can find. 

*If the publisher is the same as the website name, only list it once. 

Course Content

Instructor’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Presentation or Document.” Title of Course, Brightspacedate posted, Northern Lakes College, page url. Document Format.   

 

Example 1) Laboucan, Ingrid. “Power and Privilege.” Models and Practice of Social Work from an

                     Anti-Oppressive Perspective, Brightspace, February 2024, Northern Lakes College, 

                     learn.northernlakescollege.ca/d2l/le/content/1436/viewContent. PowerPoint

                     presentation. 

                   

Example 2) Campbell, Jeff. “The Mesozoic Era.” Introduction to Dinosaurs, Brightspace,

                     October 2024, Northern Lakes College,  

                     https://learn.northernlakescollege.ca/d2l/le/content/13749/viewContent/47821/View

                     PDF.

“Title of Page.” Title of Course, taught by Instructor’s First Name Last Name. Brightspace, Northern Lakes College, term date, page url. 

 

Example) “How Stress Affects Your Body.” Health Education-Personal Health and

                 Wellness, taught by Chris Ouellette. Brightspace, Northern Lakes College, fall 2023,  

                 https://learn.northernlakescollege.ca/d2l/le/content/11648/viewContent/52407/View. 

Instructor’s Last Name, First Name. Lecture. “Title of Lecture.” Title of Course, Day Month Year, Northern Lakes College. 

 

Example) Cardinal, Sandra. Lecture. “Critical Reading.” Introduction to English Literature, 

                 19 Mar. 2024, Northern Lakes College. 

More Resources

*If you are citing a source that doesn't fit to these standard citation rules, consult your MLA handbook or another reputable source, such as Purdue University's MLA Guide. They provide more in-depth details on how to create in-text citations for a variety of source types.