Citations don’t have to be a headache. MLA 9 is actually much more streamlined and easier to use than previous iterations of MLA format. To make your Works Cited page, you will need to create full citations. In order to do that, gather the following material in this order:
-
Author.
-
Title of Source.
-
Title of Container,
-
Other Contributors,
-
Version,
-
Number,
-
Publisher,
-
Publication Date,
-
Location.
Keep the punctuation as provided here. If a portion doesn’t exist for your citation, don’t include it. For example, a recently published novel is not going to have a Version.
Frequently Asked Questions
What order should I write the author’s name in?
Last name comes first, always. Middle names or middle initials come last.
Do I need to italicize the title of the source?
Books are in italics, but almost everything else is put into quotations, including webpages, articles, and songs.
What is a Container?
This is the larger part that a small citation might come from. For example, if you are citing a short story, the container is the collection it came from. If you are citing a song, the container is the album. Websites are often containers when conducting online research.
Who are other contributors?
Anyone other than the author(s) who made the source happen, such as editors, translators, and illustrators.
What is a Version?
If your source has had many iterations– for instance, we’re dealing with MLA 9 here, meaning there were 8 previous versions– we need to acknowledge that. Commonly, versions are different editions of books.
What do you mean “Number?”
Anything that is serialized, like volumes of a book, different installments of a comic book, or episodes of a tv show have a number and this should be listed here.
And “Locations?”
Locations can be anything from page numbers, to URLs, to the physical museum you saw an object in.
Best of luck with your papers!