A works cited list (or bibliography) is a list of all sources that contributed ideas and information to your paper. It is arranged in alphabetical order by the authors' last names. If a source doesn't list an author, arrange the entry by the first word of the title (ignore "A", "An", and "The"). If you have a type of source not covered by the examples below, ask the librarian to show you the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.
EXAMPLE OF AN ENCYCLOPEDIA, SIGNED ARTICLE
Farber, Bernard. "Family." Encyclopedia Americana. 1984 ed.
EXAMPLE OF A MAGAZINE ARTICLE WITH AUTHOR
Thorton, Jeannye. "When Fathers Raise Children Alone." U.S. News and World
Report 12 Apr. 1982.
EXAMPLE OF A MAGAZINE ARTICLE WITH NO AUTHOR
"Fathers Confused by Changing Family Roles." USA Today Oct. 1980:5.
EXAMPLE OF BOOK WITH EDITORS
McKee, Lorna, and Margaret O'Brien. eds. The Father Figure. New York:
Tavistock, 1982.
EXAMPLE OF A BOOK
Parke, Ross. Fathers. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1981.
EXAMPLE OF NEWSPAPER ARTICLE WITH AUTHOR
Schorr, Burt. "States Cracking Down on Fathers Dodging Child-Support Payments."
Wall Street Journal 26 Jan. 1983. eastern ed.: 33.
EXAMPLE OF PAMPHLET, NO AUTHOR, NO CITY OF PUBLICATION
OR DATE
The Uncommunicative Father. N.P.: Family press, N.D.
EXAMPLE OF A WORK OR CHAPTER WITHIN A LARGER
WORK
Valsiner, Jaan. "The Father's Role in the Social Network of the Soviet Child."
The Role of the Father in Child Development. Ed. Michael E. Lamb.
New York: Whiley, 1981. 187-201.
EXAMPLE OF A CHAPTER FROM A BOOK REPRINTED IN A
DIFFERENT BOOK
Wilmer, Lola. "Fathers and Daughters." Parents as People. London: Allen,
1977. 308-312. Rpt. in Introduction to Child Development. Ed. Raymond
Cisneros. Austin: U of Texas P, 1985. 245-250.