How do I cite a work published anonymously if the author’s name is now known?

Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook.

As the MLA Handbook notes, “When a source does not indicate necessary facts about its publication . . . , supply as much of the missing information as you can, enclosing it in square brackets to show that it did not come from the source” (111). So if you know the name of the author of a work published anonymously, you can supply the author’s name in square brackets in the “Author” slot:

[Luard, Kate]. Diary of a Nursing Sister on the Western Front, 1914-1915. Blackwood, 1915.

Work Cited

MLA Handbook. 8th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2016.