Adding Works Cited Entries: One Template for Every Source

To credit the work of others, you add an entry for that work to the Works Cited page at the end of your paper. That page should already be set up. If you need a refresher, jump back to the Works Cited page lesson.

Why MLA works differently

Some formats give you a separate rule for every kind of source. MLA takes another approach: one template that fits almost anything, from a book to a TikTok video. Learn the template once, and you can build an entry for a source you've never cited before.

The nine core elements

Here's the template, with the punctuation that follows each element:

1. Author.
2. Title of source.
3. Title of container,
4. Other contributors,
5. Version,
6. Number,
7. Publisher,
8. Publication date,
9. Location.

The author and the title each end with a period. The elements after that are separated by commas, and the whole entry ends with a period. If a source doesn't have an element, skip it and keep going.

What's a container?

A container is the larger work that holds your source. A journal article sits inside a journal. A web page sits inside a website. A chapter sits inside a book. The source's title comes first, then the container's title, usually in italics.

A whole book has no container: it stands on its own. That's why a book entry is so short.

Sometimes a container sits inside another container, like a journal article you found in a library database. MLA handles that by adding the second container after the first, with its own title and location.

The template, filled in

Here's how the elements line up for a journal article from the sample paper:

Other contributors, version, and publisher don't apply here, so they're skipped. MLA leaves the publisher out for journals.

Names: full names, first author reversed

• One author: last name, a comma, then the first name as it appears on the source: Meldrum, Jeff.
• Two authors: reverse only the first. Join them with "and": Strange, Jonathon, and Kathy H. Weber.
• Three or more authors: the first author, a comma, then et al.: Sykes, Bryan C., et al.

Unlike APA, MLA uses the full first name, not initials, unless the source itself gives initials.

Keeping the list in alphabetical order

As you add entries, keep them in alphabetical order by the first word of each entry. Usually, that's the first author's last name.

If two entries start with the same last name, the first names decide. Say you have sources by three authors: Michael Jacobs, John Jacobs, and Inigo Montoya. The correct order is:

1. Jacobs, John.
2. Jacobs, Michael.
3. Montoya, Inigo.

When a source has no author, its entry starts with the title. Alphabetize it by the first important word, skipping A, An, and The.

Two works by the same author? Give the name in the first entry, then replace it with three hyphens in the next one.

Quick checklist

• The source's details gathered: author, title, container, number, publisher, date, and location
• Each element in template order, skipping any that don't apply
• Periods after the author and title, commas between the rest, a period at the end
• Full names, first author reversed, et al. for three or more
• Entry added with double spacing and a hanging indent
• Alphabetical order confirmed

How PERRLA handles Works Cited entries

PERRLA takes care of this whole workflow. Look a source up by its ISBN, DOI, or link, and PERRLA fills in the entry from the published record and puts every element in MLA order. Anything else has its own guided form, with 47 source types in all, from books and journal articles to plays, poems, and films.

Related MLA 101 lessons

• The Works Cited page: the centered label, alphabetical order, and hanging indents.
• Formatting a book entry: the author's full name, the italic title, the publisher, and the year.
• Formatting a journal article entry: the article in quotation marks, the journal in italics, the numbers, and the DOI.
• Formatting a web page entry: the page title, the website, the date, the URL, and pages with no author.
• All 18 lessons in MLA 101