Basic Steps of Research

MLA Referencing Basics: Works-Cited List

In MLA 9th Ed. format, the reference list is usually titled the ‘Works-Cited List’. This is a list of all the sources referenced within the document and contains the author's name, source title, date of publication and more information which varies depending on the source type. A MLA Works-Cited List must:

• Begin in a new page at the end of the document

• Be ordered alphabetically by name of first author (or title if the author is unknown, in terms of alphabetizing this ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’ should be ignored)

  • If there are multiple works by the same author these are ordered by date, if the works are in the same year they are ordered alphabetically by the title

• Entries must be double spaced

• Second and subsequent lines of a source must be indented 0.5inches from the margin

• If multiple works by the same author are listed, the first reference must contain the full name but subsequent references should have author name replaced with ‘- - -’

• Contain full references for all in-text references used

Source: Purdue Owl: MLA Referencing Basics: Works-Cited List