Work Cited Page Example MLA Format | Rules For Students

Work Cited Page Example MLA Format Basics

If you are building your first work cited page example mla format, the terms alone can feel a bit strange. Teachers often say “Works Cited,” while assignment sheets sometimes say “work cited page.” In MLA 9, both phrases point to the same final page of your paper where you list every source you quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.

That page helps readers see exactly what you read and where each piece of information came from. Every entry on the page follows a shared pattern so that another reader could locate the same book, article, video, or website on their own. Once you learn the pattern, you can reuse it for almost any project across school subjects that use MLA style.

MLA 9 bases each entry on nine “core elements.” You only add the elements that apply to the source in front of you, but they always appear in the same order with standard punctuation. Thinking in elements keeps you from memorizing dozens of separate rules for books, web pages, and videos.

Core Elements Of An MLA Works Cited Entry

The table below shows the core elements MLA 9 uses for a works cited page. Not every source needs all nine parts, yet the order stays the same whenever you use them.

Core Element	What It Means	When You Use It
Author	The person or group that created the work.	Use when a named creator appears on the source.
Title Of Source	The specific item you read or viewed, such as a chapter or article.	Use for every entry; in quotation marks for shorter works.
Title Of Container	The larger work that holds the source, such as a book, journal, or website.	Use when the source sits inside something bigger.
Other Contributors	Editors, translators, directors, and other named roles.	Use when those roles matter for your assignment.
Version	An edition, season, or cut that tells which version you used.	Use when the source appears in more than one form.
Number	A volume, issue, or episode number.	Use for journals, multivolume books, and series.
Publisher	The company or group that released the work.	Use for most books, films, and many websites.
Publication Date	The date that matches the version you used.	Use when the source lists a clear year or full date.
Location	Page range, URL, DOI, or another locator.	Use so readers can go straight to the same spot.

Work Cited Vs Works Cited Wording

Teachers sometimes accept both “Work Cited” and “Works Cited” as labels in casual talk. The MLA Handbook, though, uses only the plural title “Works Cited” on the page itself. That title sits centered at the top, in plain text, without bold, italics, or underlining.

On your assignment sheet you might see the main keyword written as “work cited page example mla format” or another variation. On the actual page inside your document, stay with the standard heading “Works Cited” so that your layout lines up with current MLA guidance.

Work Cited Page Example In Mla Format For Students

A concrete example helps the layout feel less abstract. Picture the final page of a short essay with three sources: a print book, an online article, and a web page from a trusted site. The entries below show how that works cited page could look in MLA 9.

Remember that your word processor controls spacing and indenting. You type the entries as regular paragraphs, then apply double spacing and a hanging indent so that the second line of each entry slides in by 0.5 inches.

Sample MLA Works Cited Page Layout

The following block shows a simple layout with three entries. The font here may differ from the default in your own document, yet the structure stays the same.

Works Cited

Jacobs, Alan. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. Oxford UP, 2011.

“MLA Works Cited Page: Basic Format.” Purdue OWL, 
owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/
mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_page_basic_format.html.

Nguyen, Mai. “Student Reading Habits in First-Year College Courses.” 
Journal of College Literacy, vol. 12, no. 3, 2022, pp. 45–62.
  

To match MLA expectations, the entire block would be double-spaced, with no extra blank lines between entries. The hanging indent lets readers scan down the left margin to see where each entry begins.

You can compare your page with the official advice in the Purdue OWL works cited format or with examples on the MLA site. These reference pages confirm that your layout follows current MLA 9 practice.

Core Rules For An MLA Works Cited Page

Once you understand the general look of the page, you can check your work against a short list of layout rules. These rules stay stable from project to project, no matter which sources you add.

Page Setup And Heading

Set margins to 1 inch on every side of the document. Keep the same readable font you used for the rest of the paper, often Times New Roman or another serif font at 12 point size, unless your instructor says otherwise.

Start the works cited page on a new page at the end of your essay. Center the title Works Cited at the top. Do not bold, underline, or enlarge that heading, and do not add extra spacing before or after it.

Spacing, Indents, And Alphabetizing

Make the entire works cited page double-spaced. That includes the heading and every line of each entry. Avoid extra blank lines between entries, since they interrupt the list and can confuse readers.

Apply a hanging indent to every entry so that the first line begins at the left margin and all later lines shift in by 0.5 inches. In most word processors you can set this under paragraph settings. Alphabetize the entries by the first element, usually the author’s last name. Sources without an author move into the list based on the first word of the title, ignoring opening articles like “a,” “an,” and “the.”

Matching In-Text Citations

Every in-text citation in MLA should match an entry on the works cited page. The short name that appears in parentheses inside your paragraphs should line up with the first piece of information in the full entry.

For a source with an author, the in-text citation usually shows the author’s last name and a page number. For a source without an author, the in-text citation uses a shortened version of the title instead. Checking that link between text and page keeps your reader from running into dead ends.

Step-By-Step Template For MLA Work Cited Page

Many students find that a fixed sequence keeps the process calmer. The steps below guide you from a rough list of sources to a clean works cited page that matches MLA 9 rules.

Step 1: Gather Full Source Details

Start with your notes, assignment sheet, or database records. For each source, collect the author, exact title, container title, publisher, year, and location such as page range or URL. Double-check spellings, accents, and page numbers while you still have the source open in front of you.

Step 2: Map Each Source To The Core Elements

Take each source and match your notes to the core elements table from earlier. For a simple print book, you may use only author, title of source, publisher, and publication date. For an online journal article, you may add title of container, number, and location in the form of a DOI.

Step 3: Write Draft Entries In Element Order

Write each entry in the order of the core elements, with the punctuation MLA expects. A basic template looks like this: Author. “Title of Source.” Title of Container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.

Only keep the parts that fit your source. Add a period at the very end of each entry, even if you end on a URL or DOI. Make sure titles use title case and that self-contained works such as books and journals appear in italics.

Step 4: Sort, Space, And Check Layout

Once all draft entries sit in one place, sort them alphabetically by the first element. Then apply double spacing and a hanging indent to the whole block. Scan the left margin for a clean column of author names or titles.

For a final check, you can compare one or two entries with a trusted online template, such as the Scribbr MLA works cited guide, which reflects current MLA 9 rules. Small layout tweaks at this stage often make the whole page feel much clearer.

Sample MLA Work Cited Page Entries By Source Type

The next table shows several common source types with sample entries based on MLA 9. You can adapt these patterns to match your own readings and research material.

Source Type	Example Entry	Special Notes
Print Book	Smith, Jordan. Reading Strategies For College. Beacon Press, 2020.	Include publisher and year; city is no longer needed for most books.
E-Book	Lopez, Maria. Digital Learning Skills. 2nd ed., Academic Press, 2019.	List edition as the version; many e-books share the same core details as print.
Journal Article Online	Ahmed, Lila. “Reading Logs And Student Confidence.” College Writing Review, vol. 8, no. 1, 2021, pp. 15–34, doi:10.1111/cwr.2021.8015.	Use volume, issue, page range, and DOI when available.
Web Page	Turner, Blake. “Tips For Annotating Texts.” Campus Writing Center, 3 Mar. 2023, www.campuswritingcenter.org/annotating.	Use a full date when the page lists day, month, and year.
Chapter In Edited Book	Kim, Sora. “Group Reading Projects In First-Year Courses.” Teaching Reading In College, edited by Elena Cruz, Harbor Press, 2022, pp. 77–96.	Cite the chapter first, then the editor, book title, publisher, year, and page range.
Online Video	Learning Lab. “How To Format An MLA Works Cited Page.” Video Platform, 12 Sept. 2024, www.videoplatform.com/watch/mla-workscited.	Treat the channel or creator as the author when no personal author appears.
Government Report Online	U.S. Department of Education. Reading Practices Of First-Year Students. 2023, www.ed.gov/reports/reading-first-year.pdf.	Use the agency as the author when no personal writer is listed.

Common Mistakes On MLA Work Cited Pages

Even careful students slip on small layout details. A short list of common trouble spots can save time during revision and help you avoid easy grading penalties.

Missing Hanging Indents Or Mixed Spacing

One frequent issue appears when some entries have hanging indents and others sit flush with the margin. This often happens when a student copies and pastes lines from different documents. Apply paragraph settings to the entire page at once so that every entry follows the same pattern.

Another issue comes from mixing single and double spacing. Databases sometimes export entries with their own spacing. After you paste them into your document, select the full block and switch it back to double spacing with no extra blank lines.

Inconsistent Title Style Or Missing Containers

Titles also cause trouble. Short works such as articles and web pages should sit in quotation marks, while full works such as books, journals, and websites use italics. When students skip container titles, the entry looks incomplete and can mislead readers about what type of source it describes.

To fix this, take a moment with each entry and ask whether the source sits inside something larger. If it does, you likely need a container title in italics after the item title, followed by other details such as volume, issue, and pages.

Entries That Do Not Match In-Text Citations

One more issue shows up when in-text citations and works cited entries do not match. A student might change a source partway through drafting but forget to update either the citation or the page.

Before you hand in your work, choose each source on the works cited page and search for that author name or title inside your essay. Confirm that at least one in-text citation matches each entry and that no citation points to a source that never appears on the page.

Final Tips For Reliable MLA Work Cited Pages

A clear works cited page helps teachers and classmates trust your research process. It shows that you took time to track where ideas came from and that you respect the writers whose work you used. The same habits will carry into later college classes and any setting where you need to credit sources.

When you build your next work cited page example mla format, start early, keep your notes organized, and rely on a small set of stable rules rather than last-minute guessing. A few extra minutes with spacing, punctuation, and ordering can turn a rough list of links and titles into a polished page that matches MLA 9 from top to bottom.