How to Write a Bibliography (Works Cited)

Using MLA (7th Edition)

 

Below are standard formats and examples for basic bibliographic information recommended by the Modern Language Association (MLA) Handbook for Writers of Research Papers 7th ed., 2009.  For more information on the MLA format, see http://www.mla.org/style_faq.

Basics

·        Your list of works cited should begin at the end of the paper on a new page with the centered title, Works Cited.

·        Alphabetize the entries in your list by the author's last name, using the letter-by-letter system (ignore spaces and other punctuation.)

·        If the author's name is unknown, alphabetize by the title.

·        Ignoring any A, An, or The.

·        For dates, spell out the names of months in the text of your paper, but abbreviate them in the list of works cited, except for May, June, and July. Use either the day-month-year style (22 July 1999) or the month-day-year style (July 22, 1999) and be consistent. With the month-day-year style, be sure to add a comma after the year unless another punctuation mark goes there.

·        Titles of books, journals, films, etc., are italicized, not underlined.

·        Begin each entry flush with the left margin.  If your entry runs more than one line, indent the additional lines ½”.

·        Do not use numbers or bullets.

·        Use font size 12 of Times New Roman.  Do not use bold font.

·        Capitalize the first words, the last words, and all principal words, including those that follow hyphens in compound terms. Use lowercase abbreviations to identify the parts of a work (e.g., vol. for volume, ed. for editor) except when these designations follow a period.

·        Separate author, title, and publication information with a period followed by one space.

·        Use a colon and a space to separate a title from a subtitle.

·        Include other kinds of punctuation only if it is part of the title.

·        Use quotation marks to indicate the titles of short works appearing within larger works (e.g., "Memories of Childhood." American Short Stories). Also use quotation marks for titles of unpublished works and songs.

·        If the city where the book is published is famous, omit the state or country abbreviation.

·        Whenever possible, use the appropriate abbreviated forms for the publisher's name (Random instead of Random House). Omit House, Corp., Inc., Press, or Company, etc. if the publisher’s name still makes sense.

·        Double-space the entire Works Cited page.

·        • Each entry should now include a method of publication, medium, or format. For example: Print; Web; Film; Television.

 

*You may use websites such as www.easybib.com, but you must follow the MLA (7th ed.) version for your Works Cited page.

Format Examples

 

Books Basic Format

The first-give author’s name or a book with a single author's name appears in last name, first name format. The basic form for a book citation is:

 

Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.

 

Book with More Than One Author

The first given name appears in last name, first name format; subsequent author names appear in first name last name format.

 

Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Boston: Allyn, 2000. Print.

If there are more than three authors, you may choose to list only the first author followed by the phrase et al. (Latin for "and others") in place of the subsequent authors' names, or you may list all the authors in the order in which their names appear on the title page. (Note that there is a period after “al” in “et al.” Also note that there is never a period after the “et” in “et al.”).

 

Wysocki, Anne Frances, et al. Writing New Media: Theory and Applications for Expanding the Teaching of Composition. Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 2004. Print.

Or

 

Wysocki, Anne Frances, Johndan Johnson-Eilola, Cynthia L. Selfe, and Geoffrey Sirc. Writing New Media: Theory and Applications for Expanding the Teaching of Composition. Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 2004. Print.

Book with No Author

List by title of the book. Incorporate these entries alphabetically just as you would with works that include an author name. For example, the following entry might appear between entries of works written by Dean, Shaun and Forsythe, Jonathan.

 

Encyclopedia of Indiana. New York: Somerset, 1993. Print.

Article in a Magazine

Cite by listing the article's author, putting the title of the article in quotations marks, and italicizing the periodical title. Follow with the date of publication. Remember to abbreviate the month. The basic format is as follows:

 

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Medium of publication.

Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time 20 Nov. 2000: 70-71. Print.

Buchman, Dana. "A Special Education." Good Housekeeping Mar. 2006: 143-48. Print.

 

 

Article in a Newspaper

Cite a newspaper article as you would a magazine article, but note the different pagination in a newspaper. If there is more than one edition available for that date (as in an early and late edition of a newspaper), identify the edition following the date (e.g., 17 May 1987, late ed.).

 

Brubaker, Bill. "New Health Center Targets County's Uninsured Patients." Washington Post 24 May 2007: LZ01. Print.

Krugman, Andrew. "Fear of Eating." New York Times 21 May 2007 late ed.: A1. Print.

If the newspaper is a less well-known or local publication, include the city name and state in brackets after the title of the newspaper.

 

Behre, Robert. "Presidential Hopefuls Get Final Crack at Core of S.C. Democrats." Post and Courier [Charleston, SC] 29 Apr. 2007: A11. Print.

Trembacki, Paul. "Brees Hopes to Win Heisman for Team." Purdue Exponent [West Lafayette, IN] 5 Dec. 2000: 20. Print.

 

Web Publications

MLA lists electronic sources as Web Publications. Thus, when including the medium of publication for electronic sources, list the medium as Web. 

 

MLA no longer requires the use of URLs in MLA citations. Because Web addresses are not static (i.e. they change often) and because documents sometimes appear in multiple places on the Web (e.g. on multiple databases), MLA explains that most readers can find electronic sources via title or author searches in Internet Search Engines.

 

Teachers at St. Joseph require the use of URLs, therefore the URL should appear in angle brackets after the date of access. Break URLs only after slashes.

 

Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. S. H. Butcher. The Internet Classics Archive. Web Atomic and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 13 Sept. 2007. Web. 4 Nov. 2008. ‹http://classics.mit.edu/›.

Abbreviations Commonly Used with Electronic Sources

If publishing information is unavailable for entries that require publication information such as publisher (or sponsor) names and publishing dates, MLA requires the use of special abbreviations to indicate that this information is not available. Use n.p. to indicate that neither a publisher nor a sponsor name has been provided. Use n.d. when the Web page does not provide a publication date.

 

When an entry requires that you provide a page but no pages are provided in the source (as in the case of an online-only scholarly journal or a work that appears in an online-only anthology), use the abbreviation n. pag.

 

Citing an Entire Web Site

It is necessary to list your date of access because web postings are often updated, and information available on one date may no longer be available later. Be sure to include the complete address for the site. Remember to use n.p. if no publisher name is available and n.d. if no publishing date is given.

Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.

 

The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008. Web. 23 Apr. 2008.

Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory. Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003. Web. 10 May 2006.

A Page on a Web Site

For an individual page on a Web site, list the author or alias if known, followed by the information covered above for entire Web sites. Remember to use n.p. if no publisher name is available and n.d. if no publishing date is given.

 

"How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow.com. eHow, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2009.

Personal Interviews

Personal interviews refer to those interviews that you conduct yourself. List the interview by the name of the interviewee. Include the descriptor Personal interview and the date of the interview.

 

Purdue, Pete. Personal interview. 1 Dec. 2000.

 

Films or Movies

List films (in theaters or not yet on DVD or video) by their title. Include the name of the director, the film studio or distributor, and the release year. If relevant, list performer names after the director’s name. Use the abbreviation perf. to head the list. List film as the medium of publication. To cite a DVD or other video recording, see “Recorded Films and Movies” below.

 

The Usual Suspects. Dir. Bryan Singer. Perf. Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Stephen Baldwin, and Benecio del Toro. Polygram, 1995. Film.

To emphasize specific performers (perf.) or directors (dir.), begin the citation with the name of the desired performer or director, followed by the appropriate abbreviation.

 

Lucas, George, dir. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Twentieth Century Fox, 1977. Film.

Recorded Films or Movies

List films by their title. Include the name of the director, the distributor, and the release year. If relevant, list performer names after the director’s name. Use the abbreviation perf. to head the list. End the entry with the appropriate medium of publication (e.g. DVD, VHS, Laser disc).

 

Ed Wood. Dir. Tim Burton. Perf. Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette. Touchstone, 1994. DVD.