What Is a Works Cited Page in MLA Format and What Goes on It?

A Works Cited page is the list of sources at the end of an MLA-style paper. It includes only the sources you actually cited in the text, arranged alphabetically by the author's last name (or by title when there is no author), with each entry using a hanging indent. Every in-text citation must match an entry on this page, and every entry must be cited somewhere in the paper.

What belongs on a Works Cited page

Include a source only if you quoted, paraphrased, or summarized it in your paper. Background reading you never referenced does not belong here.

Each entry generally answers these questions:

• Who created it — author, editor, translator, or organization
• What it is called — article, chapter, or page title, plus the container (book, journal, website)
• Who published it — publisher or sponsoring site
• When it was published — year, or full date for web and news sources
• Where you found it — page numbers, DOI, URL, or database

The exact order and punctuation change with the source type, which is why a book entry looks different from a webpage entry.

How in-text citations connect to the list

MLA uses parenthetical citations in the body that point to the Works Cited entry. A typical citation gives the author's last name and a page number:

(Smith 42)

If the author is named in your sentence, only the page number goes in parentheses:

According to Smith, the results were inconclusive (42).

The reader then flips to the Works Cited page, finds the entry beginning with "Smith," and sees the full publication details. If a source has no page numbers (common for web pages), you cite the author or a shortened title instead.

Ordering and formatting rules

• Alphabetize by the first word of each entry — usually the author's last name. Ignore "A," "An," and "The" when alphabetizing by title.
• Use a hanging indent: the first line sits flush left, and every following line is indented half an inch.
• Double-space the entire list, with no extra blank lines between entries.
• Title the page Works Cited, centered, without bold, italics, or quotation marks.
• Start the list on a new page after the body of the paper.

Common entry patterns

For a source with three or more authors, MLA lists the first author followed by "et al." When no author is given, begin with the title.

Mistakes that break the list

• Listing sources you never cited. This is the most common error. A Works Cited page is not a bibliography of everything you read.
• Mismatched citations. A name in the text that does not appear on the list, or vice versa, sends the reader nowhere.
• Wrong alphabetization. Sorting by first name, or by "The" at the start of a title, breaks the lookup.
• Missing container information. For an article inside a journal or a chapter inside a book, the container title, editor, and page range are required.
• Inconsistent indentation. Forgetting the hanging indent makes entries hard to scan.

Generating entries with Citefast

Citefast formats citations in APA, MLA, and Chicago and can produce a Works Cited list. The site notes that its default style is now APA 7, so if you need MLA you select the MLA 8 option before entering sources. You choose a source type — webpage, book, journal, newspaper, and others — then either autofill from a URL or enter the details manually. The tool builds the entry, and you can copy and paste it or export your saved citations. Note that the site requires JavaScript to run, and saving citations to an account requires signing up.

Whatever tool you use, verify the output against your assignment's requirements: citation generators can misread a page's author or date, and your instructor's edition or style guide takes precedence.