Mastering MLA Works Cited Pages

When submitting an academic paper, a polished “Works Cited” page is crucial for demonstrating proper research, avoiding plagiarism, and enhancing the paper’s credibility. However, many students at JI struggle with creating clean, accurate, and complete Works Cited pages. This problem is particularly relevant since you must adhere to the Modern Language Association (MLA) 9th edition format for your Academic Writing courses, which has specific and sometimes confusing rules. This article outlines common issues with rough Works Cited pages and provides clear guidance on how to fix them. Before we start, however, here is the basic rule: Always follow your instructor’s guidelines! This is because your instructor may not require you to strictly follow all the rules in the official MLA 9th handbook, which can become really tricky. They may provide a simpler way instead.

Common Issues

1. General Format: Hanging Indentation

   Hanging indentation is a requirement for MLA Works Cited pages, but students frequently forget to apply it. This means the first line of each citation is aligned to the left margin, while subsequent lines are indented by 0.5 inches. Also, notice that there is no space between each entry.

2. Complete Source Information

   MLA Works Cited pages require multiple elements of the sources, among which are necessary or core information that you should always keep in mind:

   • Author(s)
   • Article/book/website titles
   • Journal titles
   • Publisher
   • Date
   • Location (pages/URL)

   Checking such a list regularly can ensure you don’t miss any necessary information.

3. Italics, Quotation Marks, and Punctuation

   Students sometimes forget which elements to italicize and which to put in quotation marks. Generally, titles of specific sources (e.g., articles, book chapters) are placed in quotation marks, while titles of large containers (e.g., books, periodicals) should be italicized. Here is a citation of a periodical article:

   Holden, T.J.M. “The Overcooked and Underdone: Masculinities in Japanese Food Programming.” Food and Foodways, vol. 13, no.1-2, 2005, pp. 39-65.

   Also note the use of punctuation in this example. Use periods after the author’s first name and at the end of the article title, and commas between other elements. This is the most basic case.

4. Format of Author Names

   There are basically several different conditions of author names:

   • Single author: The author’s name should appear in last name, first name format. Here is an article written by Mary Douglas:

     Douglas, Mary. “The Abominations of Leviticus.” Food and Culture: A Reader, Third Edition, edited by Carol Counihan and Penny Van Esterik, Routledge, 2013, pp. 48-58.

   • Two authors: The first author’s name should also appear in last name, first name format; subsequent author names appear in normal order (i.e., first name last name). Here is a book written by William Boyce and Richard DiPrima:

     Boyce, William E. and Richard C. DiPrima. Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems. 10th edition, Wiley, 2012.

   • Three or more authors: List only the first author followed by the phrase “et al.” in place of the subsequent authors’ names. Remember not to change the order of authors in these multi-author cases. Here is an article written by a group of researchers:

     Han, Yu, et al. “Heavy Metals in Soil Contaminated through E-waste Processing Activities in a Recycling Area: Implications for Risk Management.” Process Safety and Environmental Protection: Transactions of the Institution of Chemical Engineers Part B, vol. 125, 2019, pp. 189-196.

   • Books with no author / Anonymous articles: Directly list the title of the book or article, and incorporate this entry alphabetically.

     “Infineon’s OPTIGA authenticate helps reduce e-waste, promote circular economy.” Communications Today, 2023. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/infineons-optiga-authenticate-helps-reduce-e/docview/2868749288/se-2. Accessed 11 Mar. 2024.

   • Books by an organization: List the names of corporate authors in the place where an author’s name typically appears at the beginning of the entry (example 1); When the author and publisher are the same, skip the author, and list the title first. Then, list the corporate author only as the publisher (example 2).
     • American Allergy Association. Allergies in Children. Random House, 1998.
     • The Circular Economy Opportunity for Urban and Industrial Innovation in China, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2018, pp. 104-115. https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/publications/chinareport. Accessed 20 February 2021.
5. Use of Capitalization

   You may come across some articles with titles that only have the first letter of the first word capitalized, as shown below. However, you should always use title cases for book, article, and journal titles in your works cited pages. This means capitalizing the first word, last word, and all major words in between, excluding short words like “of,” “in,” “on,” “a,” and “the.”

   [Image]

   A proper citation of this article:

   Saldaña-Durán, Claudia E., and Sarah R. Messina-Fernández. “E-waste Recycling Assessment at University Campus: A Strategy toward Sustainability.” Environment, Development and Sustainability, vol. 23, no. 2, 2021, pp. 2493-2502. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/e-waste-recycling-assessment-at-university-campus/docview/2487161731/se-2. Accessed 11 Mar. 2024.

6. Failure to Handle Non-English Sources Correctly

   For students citing Chinese books, articles, or websites, it’s important to preserve the original language’s authenticity. If the source is available in both Chinese and English, use the English version for simplicity. Otherwise, include the original Chinese characters along with the pinyin transliteration (optional) or an English translation. For example:

   • Journal Article in Chinese (with translation):

     Wei, Yingjie. “毒品与内战的政治经济学——以缅甸为例” [The Political Economy of Drugs and Civil War: A Case Study of Myanmar]. 国际论坛 [International Forum], vol. 21, no. 5, 2019, pp. 137–54, 160.

   • Book in Chinese (translation not applicable):

     Ye, Jiaying. 唐宋词十七讲 [Tang Song Ci Shi Qi Jiang]. 北京大学出版社 [Beijing University Press], 2007.

   For more information related to non-English sources, you can refer to the posts on MLA.org.

Practical Solutions

1. Use the Core Elements Approach

   Apply MLA’s “core elements” method as a checklist. For every source, ensure it includes the following, in this order:

   • Author (last name, first name)
   • Title of Source (italics for books, quotation marks for articles)
   • Title of Container (journal, website, etc., in italics)
   • Other Contributors (editors, translators, etc.)
   • Version (if applicable)
   • Number (journal issue, volume, etc.)
   • Publisher (for books, websites, etc.)
   • Publication Date
   • Location (page numbers, URL, or DOI)
2. Make Good Use of Citation Tools and Software

   Tools like Zotero, EndNote, or Citation Machine can automatically generate MLA citations. However, you are highly recommended to create the Works Cited pages on your own. If any digital tools are used, you should still review the output, as software is not always 100% accurate.

3. Use the Official MLA Handbook or Purdue OWL

   Referring to reliable resources like the MLA Handbook (9th edition) or the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) can clarify confusion regarding unique citation cases, such as films, podcasts, social media posts, or Chinese-language materials.

4. Review and Proofread

   The simplest but most overlooked step is to proofread. Many errors in rough Works Cited pages result from rushing. Ask a classmate or a Writing Center tutor for a second opinion. Look for missing italics, punctuation errors, and incomplete entries.

5. Use a Sample Template

   Here are generic citations for a book, article, and website entries on Purdue OWL:

   • Book: Author. Title. Title of container (do not list container for standalone books, e.g., novels), Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs URL or DOI). 2(nd) container’s title, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location, Date of Access (if applicable).
   • Journal Article: Author. Title. Title of container (self-contained if book), Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publisher Date, Location (pp.). 2nd container’s title, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Pub date, Location (pp.).
   • Website: Author. “Title.” Title of container (self-contained if book), Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs and/or URL, DOI or permalink). 2(nd) container’s title, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location, Date of Access (if applicable).

Conclusion

Creating a perfect Works Cited page requires attention to detail, knowledge of MLA 9th edition rules, and patience. As new to academic writing, you may encounter various challenges. However, by following the “core elements” method, using available tools, and frequently looking up the Purdue OWL guidelines, you can produce a complete and clean Works Cited page. For additional support, students are encouraged to visit the JI Writing Center or consult the MLA Handbook. A clean Works Cited page is a mark of academic excellence, showing respect for the intellectual work of others and boosting the credibility of your paper.

Appendix: Purdue OWL Website

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Reference

• Tybon, Joelle. “VY100 Fall 2024 Week 8: 11.7 Gendered Foodwork and Paragraphs.” Lecture slides, 7 November 2024.
• Tybon Joelle. “VY200 Spring 2024, Transitions and Verbs Recorded Lecture.” Recording lecture.