MLA Style – Where Should the Works Cited Page Be Included in a Document?

The works cited page is an important part of any research paper, as it lists all the sources that you have used in your writing. It helps readers find the information that you have referred to in your writing, and it also serves as a way to verify that your information is factual. Whether your paper is a research paper or an essay, you will need to include a works cited page in it.

Where should the works cited page be included?

A works cited page should always be included at the end of your document. It is located at the top of a new page, and it must be titled “Works Cited.” In most cases, this page should list all sources that have in-text citations.

Identifying and Citing Sources

To identify a source, include the publication date in parentheses after the author’s name. This will help your readers find the publication information if they wish to use that material in their own research.

Including Multiple Authors

Many scholarly books and journals have several authors, and it can be challenging to write out their names all at once. However, MLA makes it easy to include these sources by laying out how to do so in your works cited page.

Depending on the number of authors, you may want to list them all at once or break them up by first and last name. If you’re citing two or three authors, only list them all together (or at least the first one and a comma) at the beginning of the works cited section.

You can also group them together by year within the same group or alphabetically by title, if they have titles that begin with articles, such as “a,” “an,” or “the.” For example, if you are citing the film The Terrible Two, include all of its original authors in your works cited.

Punctuation

The most common misunderstanding about a works cited is how to properly punctuate it. Thankfully, MLA’s rules for works cited are pretty straightforward, and you should only need to worry about periods and commas in most cases.

How to Cite Online Resources

When citing an online resource, use italics for the title of the work and add the URL in brackets. Be sure to include the DOI if it’s available.

Other details about the source that you’ll need to include on your citations are the title of the container (such as the journal or magazine), the author, and the year it was published. You should also cite the volume and issue number, if it is available.

How to Organize a Works Cited Page

MLA’s 8th edition introduced a unique approach to citations called the core elements and container system. This approach uses nine core elements to organize the citations on your works cited page, which are designed to make it easier for your readers to locate and read those sources you have used in your writing.