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Guide to Works Cited Citations

You have two obligations when using a source in your essay. The first, citing in-text, will be covered when we discuss drafting your actual essay in Unit 4. Your second obligation is to cite your source on your Works Cited page. In addition to citing sources on your Works Cited in the essay, your annotated bibliography will follow MLA Works Cited formatting guidelines. Below, I’ll list some of the guidelines for constructing a Works Cited page, and I’ll provide links to Purdue/OWL and notes for a few of the most commonly used citations. The key to constructing a correct Works Cited page is being able to effectively search for the citation style that you need from a website like Purdue/OWL or from a book like the Writer’s Resource or MLA Style Guide. I strongly recommend taking some time to familiarize yourself with the different types of Works Cited citations listed on the Purdue/OWL pages so that as you encounter different types of sources, you’ll know how to find the citations that you need.

You can access the main Purdue/OWL MLA page here: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

Works Cited Organization and Formatting

For the basic formatting guidelines for a Works Cited page, review this page:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/05/

To see a sample Works Cited page, take a look at: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/12/ .

Note that the sources are arranged alphabetically by the first word in the citation. Most of the time, that first word is the author’s last name, but for sources that lack an author, it will likely be the first word of the source’s title. Note that the whole Works Cited is double spaced. The first line of each citation is left-aligned, but any subsequent lines in a citation are tabbed over.

Print vs. Online

The vast majority of your research this term will likely come from online sources. It’s important that you understand the basic differences between print and online sources because your citations’ accuracy depends on clearly indicating what kind of source you have.

A print source is a source that you physically have in your possession (a physical copy of an actual book, magazine, newspaper, or journal). This does not include printed out copies of sources you obtained online (whether from databases or from web searches).

If you obtained your source from anywhere online, including databases or websites, you must cite it as having come from an online resource. There are different citations depending on how you found your source. I’ll outline the most common ones below.

Print Sources

If you do have an actual copy of a book, newspaper, journal, etc., you’ll need to refer to these pages on Purdue/OWL:

For Books: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/06/

For Periodicals (journal articles, newspaper articles, etc.): https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/07/

Online Sources

If you’ve obtained a source online (either through a database or from a website), you’ll need to refer to this page:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/

On that page, you’ll need to follow the guidelines for “An Article from an Online Database (or Other Electronic Subscription Service)” for any sources obtained through the library databases (JSTOR, Academic Search Complete, etc.) Make note of the punctuation and formatting (article title in quotation marks, journal name in italics, database name in italics, etc.) They include a DOI number in the sample citation. Please do include that if it’s provided by the database. If it is not, then you can skip that step.

On that same page, you’ll use the guidelines for “A Page on a Web Site” for an article that you find on a website (please remember that you need to get my approval for website-based sources unless they come from a .gov website). Make sure to use this type and not “Citing an Entire Website” as that citation is for citing complete websites rather than citing a single page or article from a website.

Notes on Works Cited Citations:

-If you encounter a source that lacks some necessary information, talk to me about how to cite it.

-Make sure to only using approved, scholarly sources. The “Guide to Preliminary Research” document outlines the types of sources that you can use. Remember that you must get approval from me to use non-governmental web-sources.

-Make sure to follow all formatting specifications for your Works Cited page (and for your citations for the Annotated Bibliography). Note that it should be the last page in your essay. Also remember that the Works Cited does not count toward your word count.

-You are likely to encounter source types other than those that I’ve discussed above (the ones I discussed are simply the most commonly used in this class). As you encounter other source types, explore the Purdue/OWL MLA page to see if you can find a citation for them. If you can’t (or if you want to make sure you’re using the correct citation), please contact me. I’m always happy to help identify source types and work through proper citation formats.

-If you need assistance with citing a source, make sure to contact me ahead of the due date for the essay or the annotated bibliography. I’m always happy to help with citing sources, but I do not accept “I didn’t know how to do it” after an assignment is turned in.