sample works cited/references
MLA format
Basic format for MLA Works Cited entry
Author’s lastname, firstname. “Title of Article.” Name of website, date of publication or update or n.d., website address
(EXCEPT http://). Accessed 12 Sept. 2016.
If no author is listed, start with the article title.
Dates are European style: 02 Feb. 2007 15 July 1999 22 Sept. 2012
Citing books
Look on the title page for the publisher. OK to find a book using Google Books.
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. Washington Square Press, 1982, p. # OR pp. ##-##.
Here’s what your Works Cited page should look like (double spaced):
Yourlastname 6
Works Cited
Gale, Robert L. “Edna St. Vincent Millay’s Life.” Modern American Poetry, Feb. 2000, www.english.illinois.edu/
maps/poets/m_r/millay/millay_life.htm. Accessed 12 Sept. 2016.
“Lord George Gordon Byron.” Read Print, 2010, www.readprint.com/author-15/Lord-George-Gordon-
Byron-books. Accessed 12 Oct. 2016.
Meltzer, Milton, and Susan Smith. Edgar Allan Poe: A Biography. Twenty-First Century Books,
2003, pp. 103-104.
Merriman, C.D. “William Shakespeare.” The Literature Network, 2006, www.online-literature.com/
shakespeare/. Accessed 20 Nov. 2016.
Padgett, John D. “William Faulkner.” The Mississippi Writers Page, 11 Nov. 2008, www.olemiss.edu/mwp/
dir/faulkner_william/. Accessed 21 Dec. 2016.
How to use in-text citations
An in-text citation tells the reader where you got the information by referring them to the Works Cited with the first word of the entry:
Faulkner added the “u” to his name when he applied to the Royal Air Force because
he thought it looked more British (Padgett).
Boissevain was the perfect husband for Millay; he handled all the household chores,
traveled with her, and allowed her to have love affairs (Gale).
Byron’s weight varied dramatically; a friend said he looked 40 when he was 30, and
his knuckles were “lost in fat” (Meltzer 301).
Format depends on the source.
1. If the author is known, you have two choices:
a)Use the author’s name in the sentence and put the page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence, or
b)Put both the author’s name and the page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence.
Examples:
Merriman said another playwright attacked Shakespeare in a leaflet and called him an “upstart crow” (15).
Fowler said the Bridge is a great school (10).
The Bridge is a great school (Fowler 10).
Internet sources don’t have pages, so your citation only has to name the author.
Which leads to:
2. If the author is not known, use a shortened version of the title. If the source is a magazine article, put the title in quote marks. (“Principal.”)
If it’s a book, italicize the title. (Nuview)
More questions? Go to the OWL at Purdue.
APA format
Your References page
looks like this:
VARYING DEFINITIONS OF ONLINE COMMUNICATION 9
References
Bilinsky, Yaroslav. (1999). Was the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933 Genocide?
Journal of Genocide Research, 1(2), 147-156.
Gavin, Philip. (1990). Rwanda 1994: 800,000 Deaths. The History Place. Retrieved from
http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/rwanda.htm
Guatemala. (n.d.). The Center for Justice & Accountability. Retrieved from
http://cja.org/where-we-work/guatemala/
Leydesdorff, Selma. (2011). Surviving the Bosnian Genocide. Bloomington, IN: Indiana
University Press.
Scarred by History. (2005, April 11). BBC News. Retrieved from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/223038.stm
S-21, Tuol Sleng. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved from
https://www.ushmm.org/confront-genocide/cases/cambodia/violence/s-21
Taylor, S.J. (1990). Stalin’s Apologist. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Source: Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)
References page adapted from OWL
More questions? Go to the OWL at Purdue.
Basic format for MLA Works Cited entry
Author’s lastname, firstname. “Title of Article.” Name of website, date of publication or update or n.d., website address
(EXCEPT http://). Accessed 12 Sept. 2016.
If no author is listed, start with the article title.
Dates are European style: 02 Feb. 2007 15 July 1999 22 Sept. 2012
Citing books
Look on the title page for the publisher. OK to find a book using Google Books.
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. Washington Square Press, 1982, p. # OR pp. ##-##.
Here’s what your Works Cited page should look like (double spaced):
Yourlastname 6
Works Cited
Gale, Robert L. “Edna St. Vincent Millay’s Life.” Modern American Poetry, Feb. 2000, www.english.illinois.edu/
maps/poets/m_r/millay/millay_life.htm. Accessed 12 Sept. 2016.
“Lord George Gordon Byron.” Read Print, 2010, www.readprint.com/author-15/Lord-George-Gordon-
Byron-books. Accessed 12 Oct. 2016.
Meltzer, Milton, and Susan Smith. Edgar Allan Poe: A Biography. Twenty-First Century Books,
2003, pp. 103-104.
Merriman, C.D. “William Shakespeare.” The Literature Network, 2006, www.online-literature.com/
shakespeare/. Accessed 20 Nov. 2016.
Padgett, John D. “William Faulkner.” The Mississippi Writers Page, 11 Nov. 2008, www.olemiss.edu/mwp/
dir/faulkner_william/. Accessed 21 Dec. 2016.
How to use in-text citations
An in-text citation tells the reader where you got the information by referring them to the Works Cited with the first word of the entry:
Faulkner added the “u” to his name when he applied to the Royal Air Force because
he thought it looked more British (Padgett).
Boissevain was the perfect husband for Millay; he handled all the household chores,
traveled with her, and allowed her to have love affairs (Gale).
Byron’s weight varied dramatically; a friend said he looked 40 when he was 30, and
his knuckles were “lost in fat” (Meltzer 301).
Format depends on the source.
1. If the author is known, you have two choices:
a)Use the author’s name in the sentence and put the page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence, or
b)Put both the author’s name and the page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence.
Examples:
Merriman said another playwright attacked Shakespeare in a leaflet and called him an “upstart crow” (15).
Fowler said the Bridge is a great school (10).
The Bridge is a great school (Fowler 10).
Internet sources don’t have pages, so your citation only has to name the author.
Which leads to:
2. If the author is not known, use a shortened version of the title. If the source is a magazine article, put the title in quote marks. (“Principal.”)
If it’s a book, italicize the title. (Nuview)
More questions? Go to the OWL at Purdue.
APA format
Your References page
looks like this:
VARYING DEFINITIONS OF ONLINE COMMUNICATION 9
References
Bilinsky, Yaroslav. (1999). Was the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933 Genocide?
Journal of Genocide Research, 1(2), 147-156.
Gavin, Philip. (1990). Rwanda 1994: 800,000 Deaths. The History Place. Retrieved from
http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/rwanda.htm
Guatemala. (n.d.). The Center for Justice & Accountability. Retrieved from
http://cja.org/where-we-work/guatemala/
Leydesdorff, Selma. (2011). Surviving the Bosnian Genocide. Bloomington, IN: Indiana
University Press.
Scarred by History. (2005, April 11). BBC News. Retrieved from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/223038.stm
S-21, Tuol Sleng. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved from
https://www.ushmm.org/confront-genocide/cases/cambodia/violence/s-21
Taylor, S.J. (1990). Stalin’s Apologist. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Source: Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)
References page adapted from OWL
More questions? Go to the OWL at Purdue.