Works Cited Rules
Jones, Samuel. The Ruthless Dictatorship: An Investigation Into the World of Fidel Castro.
1.
Entries must be DOUBLE SPACED
2.
Entries must be alphabetized by the first word in the
listing. Usually this is the
author’s last name (i.e. Jones). When no
author is available, it will be the first word of the title.
3.
First line of each entry should be flush with the
left-hand margin; any
subsequent lines should be indented (as shown, above). This may seem strange, but it does make
sense. Your reader will be looking for
the first word of your listing (i.e. Jones), and reverse indentation makes that
first word stand out clearly in your list.
4.
Periods are
used to separate the author’s name, title, and place of publication
5.
A colon
(:) is used between the place of publication and the name of the
publisher
6.
A comma is
used between the publisher and the date of publication
7.
A period is
used at the end of the listing, following the date of publication (see example,
above).
WORKS CITED EXAMPLES:
[Note: Information in the section comes from The MLA Handbook, by Joseph Gibaldi]
For a good example of a correctly formatted Works Cited page,
see the Works Cited listings attached to this packet (pages 18-20). Note that the title is simple Works Cited, in
standard Times New Roman 12-point type, without italics, quotations, or
underlining. Note also that standard
double-spacing is used for the entire listing.
Book w/one author:
Jones, Samuel. The Ruthless Dictatorship: An Investigation Into the World of Fidel Castro.
Book w/more than one author:
Doe, Jane and John Blankenship. Ruthless People: Dictators the World Over.
Press, 2000.
[Note that the second author’s name
is listed with FIRST NAME FIRST.]
Book w/editor (an anthology):
Smith, Margaret, ed. The Book of Dictators: An Anthology of the Greatest Dictators of All Time.
[Note that the abbreviation “ed.”
follows a comma and begins with a LOWER CASE “e.”]
Book by a corporate author:
National Library Association. Understanding What Makes Books Great.
NLA Press, 1995.
Book w/a translator:
Allende, Isobel. Dictators of
Spanish Press, 1993.
[Note that the abbreviation “Trans.”
follows a period and begins with a CAPITAL “T.”
Note also that the translator’s name, Jane Doe, is listed with FIRST
NAME FIRST.]
Work in an anthology:
Jones, Samuel.
“Castro as King.” The Book of Dictators: An Anthology of the Greatest
Dictators
of All Time. Ed. Margaret Smith.
[Note that the abbreviation “Ed.” follows
a period and begins with a CAPITAL “E.”
Note also that the editor’s name, Margaret Smith, is listed with FIRST
NAME FIRST.]
Work in an anthology w/out a separate author:
“Searching for Fidel Castro.” Dictators and Other Monsters. Comp. Susan Stewart.
[Note that the abbreviation “Comp.”
(for Compiler) follows a period and begins with a CAPITAL “C.” Note also that the compiler’s name, Susan
Stewart, is listed with FIRST NAME FIRST.]
Article in a reference book (w/out author):
“Mountain Climbing.” The
Encyclopedia
[Note that the abbreviation “ed.”
follows no punctuation and begins with a LOWER CASE “e.”]
Article in a reference book (w/author):
Brown, John. “
An anonymous book:
Guide to the Rivers of Alaska.
A multi-volume work:
Jones, John J., ed. The
Rivers of the World. 3 vols.
A pamphlet:
Best Rivers in
Smith, Jane, ed.
A government publication:
Climber’s Bible.
An unpublished dissertation:
Jones, Jane. “The Uses of Postage Stamps in the Treatment of the Elderly.” Diss. New
[Note that the abbreviation “Diss.”
(for dissertation) follows a period and begins with an upper case “D.”]
A published dissertation:
Jones, Jane. The Uses of Postage Stamps in the Treatment of the Elderly. Diss. New
Article in a magazine:
Kent, Clark.
“Superman’s Alter Ego.” Superhero
Review
[Note that there is NO PUNCTUATION
following the name of the magazine. Note
also that the day of the month is listed first, followed by an abbreviation for
the month, followed by the full year.]
Article in a newspaper:
Jones, Jane M.
“Watching for Superman’s Alter Ego.”
New York Times
late ed.: D1+
[Note that there is NO PUNCTUATION
following the name of the newspaper.
Note also that the day of the month is listed first, followed by an
abbreviation for the month, followed by the full year. Note also that the edition is listed, along
with section/page information.]
Anonymous article:
“Decade of Superheros, The.”
Newsweek
[Note that the listing begins with
the word “Decade” rather than “The.” Note
that there is NO PUNCTUATION following the name of the magazine. Note also that the day of the month is listed
first, followed by an abbreviation for the month, followed by the full year.]
A CD ROM:
Jones, Jane M.
“Watching for Superman’s Alter Ego.”
New York Times
late ed.: D1+ New York Times Ondisc. CD-ROM. UMI-Proquest. Oct. 1993.
Film (theatrical release)
Batman Begins. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Warner Bros., 2005.
[Note that the essential information
here is the title (which is underlined), the director, the distributor, and the
year of release. Note also the comma
between the distributor and the year. It
is also acceptable to include other information that might be helpful to your
readers, including the screenwriter, composer, performers, etc.]
If you are citing the
contribution of a particular person (writer, director, composer, performer,
etc.), begin with that person’s name rather than the film title:
Nolan, Christopher, dir. Batman Begins. Warner Bros., 2005.
Film (VHS or DVD)
War of the Worlds. Dir. Byron Haskin. Perf. Gene Barry and Ann Robinson. 1953. Videodisc.
Paramount, 2003.
[Note that the original year of
release follows information on the director and others involved – in this case,
the performers are listed to better distinguish the film from the 2005
remake. The format – usually videodisc
(DVD) or videocassette (VHS) follows the release date, followed by the
distributor and the DVD release year.]
Television Program
“One with the Sharks, The.” Friends. Writ. Andrew Reich and Ted Cohen. Dir. Ben Weiss. NBC,
[Note that the title of the episode
comes first, followed by the title of the series. Note also that the episode title is placed in
quotations, while the series title is underlined. You are free to include whatever information
you consider important – in this case, the writers and director are noted. The date, which follows the broadcasting
network, is the original date the program aired.]
Sound Recording
[Note that when citing a specific
recorded song, the performer is generally listed first, followed by the song
title, the songwriter, and the name of the album. The distributor (or record label) is then
listed, followed by the year of original release.]
Personal Interview
Willis, William E.
Personal interview.
[Note that the only necessary
information here is the name of the person you interviewed and the date of the
interview.]
Internet site
Dean, Katie.
“Plagiarist Booted; Others Wait.”
Wired News
<http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,45802,00.html>.
[Note that there is NO PUNCTUATION
following the name of the Web Page. Note
also that the date follows standard MLA format (day listed first, followed by
month abbreviation, followed by full year); note also that the complete web
address is listed within carets (< >), FOLLOWED BY A PERIOD. If no date is available for the page in
question, use the date you actually accessed the website.]
“Stephen Ambrose faces more plagiarism questions.” MWP Writer News.
<http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/news/2002/2002_01_10_ambrose2.html>.
[Note that where there is no
author’s name, the web site will be listed by the title of the article (or by
the page name, if there is no article title).
Note also the period at the end of the web address, following the final
caret.]
CREATING PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS –
MAKING IT SIMPLE
[Note: Information in the section comes from The
MLA Handbook, by Joseph Gibaldi]
Once you’ve set up your Works Cited page you can begin to place your internal citations. Remember, the internal citation provides the minimum amount of information necessary to help your reader identify the source of the information in your paper. Generally, an internal citation includes only the first word of the source’s Works Cited listing plus the page number, if available (if no page number is available – as in most websites – your internal citation will include only the first word of the Works Cited listing).
1.
Most of the time, the internal citation will include
the author’s last name and the page number:
(Jones 24). Since most of your sources will
have identifiable authors, the first word of the source’s Works Cited listing
will be the author’s last name. The
citation (Jones 24) tells your readers that the information in question came
from page 24 of a source by an author named Jones. From that, your readers will turn to your
Works Cited page, look under “J” for Jones, and find the full information they
need to locate the source itself. Note
that there is NO COMMA between the author’s name and the page number!
2.
When citing TWO OR MORE SOURCES FOR ONE PIECE OF
INFORMATION, include all references, separated by semi-colons: (Jones 24; Peters 345; Smith 124). Note
that all three names are listed in ONE parenthetical cite. All three will be listed on your Works Cited
page, under “J” for Jones, “P” for Peters, and “S” for Smith.
3.
When there is NO IDENTIFIABLE AUTHOR, use the first word
of the title of the book or article: (“Ruthless” 14) or (Ruthless 14). Without
an identifiable author, the first word of the source’s Works Cited listing will
be the first word of the title of
the book or article (ignoring words like “The,” “A,” and “An”). The citation (“Ruthless” 14) indicates that
the source of your information comes from an article called “The Ruthless
Dictatorship,” for which no author’s name is listed (you know it’s an article
and not a book because the word “Ruthless” has been placed in quotation marks;
the citation (Ruthless 14) refers to a book called The Ruthless
Dictator).
4.
When you are using TWO OR MORE WORKS BY THE SAME
AUTHOR, use both the author’s name and the first word of the title: (Jones,
Ruthless 14). Note that there IS a comma separating
the author’s last name (Jones) from the one-word title (Ruthless). Note also that if the title refers to an
article, rather than a book, you will use quotations rather than
underlining: (Jones, “Ruthless”
14). Your reader will find your source
listed on your Works Cited page under “J” for Jones.
5.
When you are using TWO OR MORE WORKS BY DIFFERENT
AUTHORS WITH THE SAME LAST NAME, include a first initial to differentiate
between them: (Jones, S 24). Note
that there IS a comma between the author’s last name (Jones) and his first
initial (S). Note also that there is NO
period after the initial, and no comma between the initial and the page number
(24). This indicates that the cite
refers to Sam Jones, as opposed to Martin Jones, both of which will appear on
your Works Cited page. Final note: If both authors’ first names begin with the
SAME FIRST LETTER (Sam Jones and Sally Jones), include the entire first name in
the cite: (Jones, Sam 24).
6.
When citing Internet sources, follow these same
guidelines – go with an author’s name, if possible: (Sharka); if not, use article title or
website page name: (“Prevention”). Note
that no page numbers are listed, since most websites don’t have permanent page
numbers. The two cites listed above will
lead your readers to the following information, listed on your Works Cited
page:
Sharka, Jane.
“Plagiarism Stoppers: A Teacher’s
Guide.”
2002 <http://www.ncusd203.org/central/html/where/plagiarism_stoppers.html>.
“Prevention Guidelines.” Plagiarized.com – The Instructor’s Guide to Internet Plagiarism
Note that the information in the parenthetical cites leads your readers directly to the full
information on your Works Cited page – for the first, look under “S” for Sharka; for the
second, look under “P” for “Prevention.”