A works cited page is the final page of your paper where you list every source you referenced. In MLA format, the most commonly assigned style in English and humanities courses, it starts on a new page, uses the same one-inch margins and double spacing as the rest of your paper, and centers the title “Works Cited” at the top. Here’s how to set one up correctly from scratch.
Page Layout and Formatting
Your works cited page should look like a seamless continuation of your paper, not a separate document. Keep one-inch margins on all sides, double-space every line (including between entries), and use the same readable 12-point font you used in the body of your essay. The page number continues from wherever your paper left off, appearing in the upper-right corner with your last name beside it.
Center the words “Works Cited” at the top of the page. Don’t bold, underline, or enlarge it. Below that heading, list your entries with a hanging indent: the first line of each entry sits flush with the left margin, and every subsequent line of the same entry is indented half an inch. In most word processors, you can set a hanging indent through the paragraph settings rather than pressing Tab manually on each line, which keeps your formatting clean if you later edit an entry.
The Nine Core Elements of Every Entry
MLA’s current edition uses a single template for citing any type of source, whether it’s a book, journal article, website, podcast, or video. Each entry can include up to nine core elements, listed in this order:
- Author. Last name first, followed by a comma and the first name. End with a period.
- Title of Source. Italicize titles of standalone works (books, films, websites). Put titles of shorter works inside a larger whole (articles, chapters, poems) in quotation marks. End with a period.
- Title of Container, meaning the larger work that holds your source. A journal name is the container for an article; a website name is the container for a web page. Italicize and follow with a comma.
- Other Contributors, such as editors, translators, or directors. Precede with a descriptor like “edited by” and follow with a comma.
- Version, such as “2nd ed.” or “revised ed.” Follow with a comma.
- Number, for journal volumes and issues (e.g., vol. 12, no. 3). Follow with a comma.
- Publisher, the organization responsible for producing the source. Follow with a comma.
- Publication Date, as specific as the source provides. Follow with a comma.
- Location, which is a page range for print sources (pp. 45-62) or a URL or DOI for online sources. End with a period.
Not every element applies to every source. If a source has no version or no volume number, skip that element and move to the next one. The punctuation pattern stays consistent: periods after author, title, and the final element; commas between the remaining elements inside the container.
How to Alphabetize Your Entries
Arrange entries alphabetically by the first word of each citation, which is usually the author’s last name. Ignore “A,” “An,” and “The” when they appear at the start of a title. A few special situations come up often:
When a source has no known author, alphabetize it by its title. In your in-text citations for that source, use a shortened version of the title so the reader can find the matching entry on your works cited page.
When you cite more than one work by the same author, list those entries alphabetically by title. For the second entry and beyond, replace the author’s name with three hyphens followed by a period (—.) rather than retyping the name. If that author appears both as a solo author and as the first author of a group, list the solo-author entries first.
What Common Entries Look Like
Seeing a few examples makes the template click. Here’s how typical sources look when formatted correctly.
A Book
Smith, John. The Art of Argument. Oxford UP, 2019.
This entry has only four of the nine elements because a standard single-edition book doesn’t need a container, version, number, or location.
A Journal Article
Garcia, Maria. “Rhetoric in the Digital Age.” Journal of Modern Communication, vol. 8, no. 2, 2021, pp. 34-56.
Here the journal title is the container, and the location is the page range. If you accessed the article online, you’d add a URL or DOI at the end.
A Web Page
Lee, Chris. “Understanding Climate Models.” National Geographic, 15 Mar. 2023, www.nationalgeographic.com/example-article.
The website name serves as the container. Include the full publication date when one is available, and provide the URL as the location.
Citing AI-Generated Content
If your instructor allows you to use generative AI tools like ChatGPT, MLA has specific guidance for citing them. The key principle: don’t list the AI tool as the author. Instead, build the entry using the standard template this way:
- Title of Source: Describe what the AI generated, typically by quoting or summarizing your prompt. Place it in quotation marks and add the word “prompt” after it.
- Title of Container: Name the AI tool (e.g., ChatGPT).
- Version: Specify the model as precisely as possible (e.g., model GPT-4o).
- Publisher: Name the company that makes the tool (e.g., OpenAI).
- Date: The date you generated the content.
- Location: A stable, shareable URL for the conversation. Most AI tools let you create a share link. If no stable URL exists, provide the tool’s general URL.
A complete entry looks like this:
“Describe the theme of nature in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park” prompt. ChatGPT, model GPT-4o, OpenAI, 23 Sept. 2024, chatgpt.com/share/66f1b0a0-d704-8000-be9a-85f53c850607.
MLA also recommends that whenever an AI tool cites or links to outside sources, you go directly to those original sources and cite them instead of citing the AI’s summary.
Setting It Up in Your Word Processor
You don’t need special software. In Google Docs or Microsoft Word, start a new page at the end of your paper by inserting a page break (not by pressing Enter repeatedly). Type “Works Cited” and center it. Then adjust your paragraph settings: set line spacing to double with no extra space before or after paragraphs, and set a hanging indent of 0.5 inches under the “Indentation” options. In Word, you’ll find this under Format > Paragraph > Special > Hanging. In Google Docs, go to Format > Align & indent > Indentation options, and set “Special indent” to Hanging.
Once those settings are in place, every entry you type will automatically wrap with the correct indentation. Type each entry as a single paragraph. Don’t hit Enter at the end of each line within an entry; let the text wrap naturally so the hanging indent does its job. Press Enter only when you’re done with one entry and ready to start the next.
Final Checks Before Submitting
Run through this quick checklist once your page is complete. Confirm that every source you cited in the body of your paper has a matching entry on the works cited page, and that every entry on the page corresponds to an actual in-text citation. Check that entries are in strict alphabetical order. Verify that each entry uses the correct punctuation pattern: periods after the author, title, and final element, with commas separating everything in between. Make sure URLs are not underlined or displayed as active hyperlinks unless your instructor prefers them that way. And confirm that the entire page is double-spaced with no extra gaps between entries.