Works Cited Page

The Works Cited page of a research paper provides the information required in order for the reader to find an exact copy of each of the original sources used by the researcher. Original sources can be of a variety of types: books; articles in reference books; magazine, newspaper, or journal articles; web sites; articles reprinted on the Internet that originally appeared in print sources; and so on. There is a unique format style for each different type of source.

In general, all MLA format styles have three sections:

Author. Title. Publication information.

However, depending on the source, these three sections can look radically different.

For instance, the title section of a book like Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is the title of the book itself. However, the title section of an article from a magazine is the article title and not the magazine title. The magazine title belongs to the publication information. Very few people can recall all of the details of the various ways to format citations. That is why style books are written.

In order to properly format research paper citations according to MLA style, writers must refer to the MLA section of a current writer's handbook or to other citation guides available from the Chattanooga State Library website for the particular type of source being documented.

Important note: A research paper must include documentation for every source used, whether or not the source is quoted in the research paper. In other words, everything and anything which students have read that have helped them write the paper, whether they have quoted it, summarized or paraphrased information from it, or just used an idea from it, must be included in the documentation.

Best Practice: Students would be wise to create a works cited entry for a source as soon as they have decided they may be using the source.

ENGL1010 Composition I