MLA: Getting Started with Works Cited List Entries
The pieces of information that make up a Works Cited entry are referred to as elements of the citation. There are nine core elements to consider when you are citing a source in MLA. They are:
- Author.
- Title of the source.
- Title of container,
- Other contributors,
- Version,
- Number,
- Publisher,
- Publication date,
- Location.
The good news about MLA Style is these elements will always appear in the same order, regardless of whether you are citing a book, magazine article, YouTube video, or some other format of information! You will see examples of MLA citations in this module, but know that there are many resources available online that can help you build MLA citations as you work on research projects. It’s unlikely that you’ll ever have to know off the top of your head the specific order of MLA Style citation elements.
Video Source
The punctuation following each core element in the list above is the exact punctuation that should appear between those elements in a citation.
Example of Works Cited Entry for a Book:
Grossman, Lev. The Magicians. Viking Press, 2009, New York.
There is a period after the author’s full name (Grossman, Lev) and the title of the source (The Magicians), but just as there is in the elements list, there is a comma between the publisher (Viking Press) and the publication date (2009) as well as a comma between the publication date and the location of the publisher (New York).There is always a period after the last element in the Works Cited entry.
While most sources will have an author and a title, not every citation you write will require every core element. In those cases you will just omit elements that do not apply to the source you are citing.For example, in the above Works cited entry for The Magicians, there are several elements from the list that were omitted from the citation. This is because in this work, there are no containers, version or issue numbers, or additional contributors to cite.
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