A Works Cited is a list of every source you referenced in a research paper or academic project. It appears on its own page at the end of your paper and gives readers the information they need to find each source you quoted, paraphrased, or borrowed ideas from. If you mentioned a source in your text, it belongs on your Works Cited page. If you didn’t mention it, it doesn’t.
What a Works Cited Page Does
The purpose of a Works Cited page is straightforward: it tells your reader exactly where your information came from. Every time you use someone else’s words, data, or ideas in the body of your paper, you include a brief in-text citation (usually the author’s last name and a page number in parentheses). That in-text citation points readers to the full entry on your Works Cited page, where they can see the complete publication details.
This system serves two goals. First, it gives credit to the original authors and protects you from plagiarism. Second, it lets anyone reading your paper track down the same sources to verify your claims or explore the topic further. Every entry on your Works Cited page must correspond to a source you actually cited in your text, and every source cited in your text needs a matching entry on the page.
Works Cited vs. Bibliography
These two terms get used interchangeably in casual conversation, but they mean different things. A Works Cited list includes only the sources you directly cited in your paper. A bibliography can include sources you read for background research but never specifically referenced in your writing. Think of it this way: a Works Cited is a record of what you used, while a bibliography is a record of everything you consulted.
The MLA (Modern Language Association) style guide, which is the system most commonly associated with the term “Works Cited,” recommends using that title rather than “Bibliography.” If your instructor wants you to also list sources you read but didn’t cite, MLA suggests creating a separate list titled “Works Consulted.” Other citation styles use different names. APA style calls its source list “References,” and Chicago style allows “Bibliography” for a combined list of cited and consulted sources.
What Goes in Each Entry
Every entry on a Works Cited page follows a specific order of information. MLA style organizes this into what it calls “core elements,” listed in this sequence:
- Author. Last name first, followed by a comma and the rest of the name. For example: Smith, Jordan.
- Title of source. The title of the specific work you’re citing. Article titles and chapter titles go in quotation marks. Book titles and website names are italicized.
- Title of container. The larger work that holds your source. If you’re citing a poem from an anthology, the poem is the source and the anthology is the container. If you’re citing an article from a journal, the journal is the container.
- Other contributors. Editors, translators, illustrators, or other people who played a role in creating the work.
- Version. If the work is a specific edition (like “3rd edition”), note it here.
- Number. Volume and issue numbers for journal articles, or volume numbers for multi-volume books.
- Publisher. The organization that produced or distributed the source.
- Publication date. When the source was published. If multiple dates exist, use the one most relevant to your paper.
- Location. Page numbers for print sources, or a URL for online sources.
Not every element applies to every source. A website might not have a version or number. A book might not have other contributors. You include whatever is available and relevant, skip what isn’t, and move on to the next element.
How the Page Is Formatted
The Works Cited page starts on a new page at the end of your paper. Center the title “Works Cited” at the top of the page (no bold, no underline, no quotation marks). List your entries in alphabetical order by the first word of each entry, which is usually the author’s last name. If a source has no author, alphabetize by the first significant word of the title.
Each entry uses what’s called a hanging indent: the first line of the entry is flush with the left margin, and every additional line of that same entry is indented half an inch. This makes it easy to scan down the page and spot each new source. Double-space everything, both within entries and between them, with no extra spacing between entries.
When You’ll Need One
A Works Cited page is required whenever you’re writing in MLA format, which is the standard style for English, literature, humanities, and liberal arts courses. Your instructor will typically specify which citation style to use. If you’re told to use MLA, you need a Works Cited page. If you’re using APA, you’ll create a References page instead, which works on a similar principle but with different formatting rules.
Even outside of class assignments, the underlying concept applies to any situation where you’re drawing on other people’s work. Blog posts, professional reports, and journalism all benefit from clearly identifying sources. The Works Cited format just happens to be the most structured and widely taught version of that practice.