Works Cited and Documenting Sources

The list of works cited appears at the end of your paper and, as its title suggests, lists only the works you have cited on your paper MLA prefers Works Cited to the more limited heading Bibliography (literally, "description of books") because those headings are more likely to accommodate the variety of sources - articles, films, computer software - that may be cited in a research paper.

• To prepare the lists of works cited, follow these general guidelines:
• Paginate the Works Cited section as a continuation of your text. If the conclusion of your paper appears on page 8, begin your list on page 9.
• Double-space entries.
• Begin the first line of an entry flush left, and indent successive lines five spaces.
• List entries in alphabetical order according to the last name of the author.
• If you are listing more than one work by the same author, alphabetize the works according to the title ( excluding the articles a, an, and the). Instead of repeating the author's name, type three hyphens and a period, and then give the title.
• Underline the titles of works published independently - books, plays, long poems, pamphlets, periodicals, films.
• Use Arabic numerals except for the titles of people (Elizabeth II) and the preliminary page numbers of a work (ii - xix), which are traditionally indicated with Roman numerals.
• Use lowercase abbreviations to identify parts of the work (for example, vol. for volume) and roles of named translators (trans.) and editors (ed.).
• Whenever possible, use appropriate shortened forms for the publisher's name (Random instead of Random House).
• Separate author, title, and publication information with a period followed by two spaces.

Timmer, Joesph F. A Guide to MLA Documentation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989. (pp. 1-2)