Step 13: Research Paper Works Cited Page (APA/MLA)
All research papers include a page that lists the information for the research that was used and cited in the paper. This includes the material directly quoted or paraphrased in the paper, but it does not include the information a student may have found about a topic but did not include as evidence within the paper.
Formatting the MLA Works Cited Page
The Works Cited page is very similar to the rest of the document in terms of formatting. Begin by creating a page following the last page of the essay. In most word processing applications, this is done by entering a page break. The Works Cited page should be double spaced and maintain the same one-inch margins as the body of the paper.
Title
Title the page “Works Cited” (do not include the quotation marks), and center it on the first line. If the Works Cited section runs more than one page long, do not repeat the title. It appears only once at the beginning of the first Works Cited page.
Alphabetical Order
The entries should be made alphabetically. Use the first letter of the author’s last name or the title of the work if there is no author listed. Do not count articles such as A, An, or The as part of the title.
Hanging Indent
All Works Cited entries must use a hanging indent, which means the second and all subsequent lines of a Works Cited entry must be indented one-quarter of an inch in from the margin. This is the opposite of the body paragraphs, in which only the first line is indented. Hanging indents can be created using the formatting and indentation tools in most word processing applications. Tutorials and how-to articles for creating hanging indentations are readily found with a simple search engine query.
Rules for Citations and Examples
The following is a list of examples for how to correctly cite the most common types of resources in MLA. With all citations, the goal is concisely and clearly giving the reader the necessary information to find the source.
Books
Book citations should include the author’s name, book title, city where it is published, the publisher, the year, and the format of the book (such as print or as an eBook) Note the punctuation used, particularly the periods, colon, and commas.
Example
Nabokov, Vladimir. Pale Fire. New York: Vintage International, 1989. Print.
For multiple authors of a book, cite the first author as usual, and the add the second author’s name, as follows:
Example
Crane, Diana, Nabuko Kawashima, and Ken’ichi Kawasaki. Global Culture: Media, Arts, Policy, and Globalization. New York: Routledge, 2002. Print.
Anthology
An anthology is a book with many essays or stories contained within it. Anthologies are popular in English classes and in many survey or introductory classes in the humanities and sciences. An anthology is cited much like a book, but there is additional information in an anthology that must be included in the citation. In an anthology, the title of the selected piece from the anthology and the title of the anthology itself are both included. Additionally, the editors’ names, the edition of the anthology, and the page numbers where the selection can be found in the anthology are also included.
Example
Le Guin, Ursula. “She Unnames Them.” The Norton Anthology Literature by Women: The Traditions in English, 2nd ed. Eds. S. Gilbert and S. Gubar. New York: W.W. Norton and Company,
1996. 1943–1945. Print.
Journals and Newspaper Articles
List the author, title of the story or article, the journal or newspaper where it was found, the volume and issue number (mostly for journals), date it was published, and the medium. For sources accessed on the web, the date the material was accessed or retrieved is also included.
Example
Jones, Trevor. “The End of the Line for Old Subway Cars.” The New York Times, 18 May, 2014: A08. Print.
Kennedy, Michael. “Building Better Schools.” American School & University 75.5 (2003): 30–35. Print.
Webb, Whitney. “The Merits of Being a Bad Boss.” The New York Times, 4 Aug. 2013. Web. 18 Aug. 2013.
Web Pages
For Web pages, include the author, title page, publication information such as the larger website and date, the medium, and the date you accessed the resource
Example
Eisenberg, Jamey. “Improved Peyton Manning Could Play Three More Years.” CBS Sports. 2 Jun. 2014. Web. 3 Jun. 2014.
Online Newspaper and Journal
Example
Jones, Trevor. “The End of the Line for Old Subway Cars.” The New York Times. 18 May 2014. Web. 3 Jun. 2014.
Kennedy, Michael. “Building Better Schools.” American School & University 75.5 (2003): 30–35. Web. 3 Jun. 2014.
Other Resources
Films, audio recordings, television shows, interviews, and the like also follow rules in MLA for citation. Again, the information that should always be included, when possible, is the author, the title of the piece, the date, and any other relevant information that helps someone find the research.
Online Video
Example
“Songify the News #1.” Online posting. By schmoyoho. YouTube.com. YouTube, 23 Jan. 2012. Web. Oct. 19, 2013.
Radio / audio segment
Example
“What is Your Favorite Driveway Moment?” All Things Considered. Host Robert Siegel. National Public Radio. KUT, Austin,
18 Jun 2009. Radio.
Other Common Formatting Issues
Multiple Works by the Same Author
If there is more than one work cited by the same author, the author’s name should be listed with the first citation, and then three hyphens (---) should be used for subsequent citations.
Example
Hannah, Barry. Airships. New York: Grove, 1994. Print.
--- Geronimo Rex. New York: Grove, 1998. Print.
Cross References
If citing multiple selections from the same book, you don’t need to repeat all information for each works-cited entry. Instead, create a separate entry or the book itself. Insert cross-references to the entry after the selection’s title, where you would normally put the book’s title and publication details. Use the same format to reference the containing book as you would for locating a source in a parenthetical citation.
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Formatting the APA References Page
The Reference page is very similar to the rest of the document in terms of formatting. Begin by creating a page following the last page of the essay. In most word processing applications, this is done by entering a page break. The headers from the body of the paper should be included, and the margins should remain at one inch and double-spaced.
Title
Title the page “References” (do not include the quotation marks), and center it on the first line of the first page only. The title does not appear on subsequent pages of a References section.
Alphabetical Order
The entries should be made alphabetically. Use the first letter of the author’s last name or the title of the work if there is no author listed. Do not count articles such as A, An, or The as part of the title.
Hanging Indent
All Reference entries must use a hanging indent, which means the second and all subsequent lines of an entry must be indented one-quarter of an inch in from the margin. This is the opposite of the body paragraphs, in which only the first line is indented. Hanging indents can be created using the formatting and indentation tools in most word processing applications. Tutorials and how-to articles for creating hanging indentations are readily found with a simple search engine query.
Rules for Citations and Examples
The following is a list of examples for how to correctly cite the most common types of resources in APA.
A Note About Titles of Works in APA Citation
APA follows a special rule for capitalization in that only certain words in a title are capitalized. se are the first word of a title, a proper noun such as a name of a person or place, and the first word following a colon in a title. All other words are kept lowercase in the citation, even if they are capitalized in the title of the original source.
Example
The Sun Also Rises >>> The sun also rises
A Brief History of Spanish Exploration >>> A brief history of Spanish exploration
Capote: A Man Obsessed >>> Capote: A man obsessed
Books
Book citations begin with the author’s last name and initial of their first name, followed by the year the book was published, the title, the city of publication, and the publisher.
Example
Nabokov, V. (1989). Pale fire. New York: Vintage International.
Anthologies
Like a book, anthologies list the author’s name (last name and first initial), followed by the title of the selection. Then the editors are listed, followed by the title of the anthology, the edition (if relevant), and the page numbers for the selection in the anthology. Finally, the city where the book was published and the publisher are listed. If the book or anthology is accessed online, then the page numbers are omitted and the URL where the book was accessed are included.
Example
Le Guin, U. (1996). She unnames them. In S. Gilbert and S. Gubar (Eds.), The Norton anthology of literature by women: The traditions in English (2nd ed., pp. 1943–1945). New York: W.W. Norton and Company.
Le Guin, U. (1996). She unnames them. In S. Gilbert and S. Gubar (Eds.), The Norton anthology of literature by women: The traditions in English (7th ed). Retrieved from http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?id=11622
Journals, Print and Digital
Academic journals are one of the most often used resources in a research paper, especially for many APA disciplines. Journals are often accessed through a school’s library, either online or digitally. For a print journal, include the name of the author, the date of publication, the title of the selection and the journal, the volume and issue numbers (where relevant), and the page ranges. For online journals the URL or DOI is listed.
A Note about DOI
The DOI, or digital object identifier, is considered more stable and standardized than a URL and is preferred for citations. If a DOI is available, it should be used in place of the URL; however, if it is not included, then the URL is perfectly acceptable.
Example
Kennedy, M. (2003). Building better schools. American School & University, 75(5), 30–35.
Romero, E. (2008). Humor and group effectiveness. Human Relations, 61, 395–418. doi: 10.1177/0018726708088999
Newspapers, Print and Digital
As with a journal, the newspaper should list the author, date, title of the article, title of the newspaper, and either the page number if print or the URL if digital or accessed online.
Example
Jones, T. (2014, May 18). The end of the line for old subways. The New York Times, p. A08.
Baker, T. (2014, June 5). Obama warns an absent Russia of broader sanctions. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/06/world/group-of-7-condemns-its-absent-partner-russia.html?hp&_r=0
Web Pages
A web page can be treated as a journal or newspaper in that the article or page title is listed, followed by the name of the larger domain or website. If an author is not listed or is unknown, list the title of the article first, followed by the date.
Example
Eisenberg, J. (2014, June 2). Improved Peyton Manning could play three more years. CBS Sports. Retrieved from http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/players/playerpage/12531/peyton-manning
President Barack Obama. (n.d.) In TheWhiteHouse.Gov. Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president-obama
Other SourcesFilms, audio recordings, television shows, interviews, and the like also follow rules in APA. Below are the most common: film, online video, and radio segments.
Film
Include the name and title of the director and producer, if relevant, the year the film was made, the title, its format, and the country and studio that produced it.
Example
Crowe, C. (Writer/Director), & Bryce, I. (Producer). (2000). Almost famous [Motion picture]. United States: Dreamworks.
Online video
Include the name of the online poster or performer, the date, the title, the format, and the URL.
Example
Schmoyoho. (2012, January 23). Songify the news #1. [Bideo file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whFBCIzwxp
Radio / audio program
Include the name of the producer, the title, the date the broadcast aired, the title of the program, format, and the city and station that broadcast the program.
Example
National Public Radio (Producer). (2009, June 18) All Things Considered [Radio program]. Austin, TX: KUT.
