Entries in the works-cited list are created using the MLA template of core elements—facts common to most sources, like author, title, and publication date. To use the template, evaluate the work you’re citing to see which elements apply to the source. Then, list each element relevant to your source in the order given on the template.
The examples below show you how to cite five basic source types. Click on an entry to get more information, as well as links to posts with more examples. For hundreds of sample entries by format, check out the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook.
Books
Book by One Author
Mantel, Hilary. Wolf Hall. Picador, 2010.
Book by an Unknown Author
Beowulf. Translated by Alan Sullivan and Timothy Murphy, edited by Sarah Anderson, Pearson, 2004.
An Edited Book
Sánchez Prado, Ignacio M., editor. Mexican Literature in Theory. Bloomsbury, 2018.
Online Works
Article on a website
Deresiewicz, William. “The Death of the Artist—and the Birth of the Creative Entrepreneur.” The Atlantic, 28 Dec. 2014, theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/01/ the-death-of-the-artist-and-the-birth-of-thecreative-entrepreneur/383497/.
Book on a website
Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Masque of the Red Death.” The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, edited by James A. Harrison, vol. 4, Thomas Y. Crowell, 1902, pp. 250-58. HathiTrust Digital Library, hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924079574368.
Journal Article in a Database
Goldman, Anne. “Questions of Transport: Reading Primo Levi Reading Dante.” The Georgia Review, vol. 64, no. 1, spring 2010, pp. 69-88. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41403188.
Songs, Recordings, and Performances
Song from an Album
Snail Mail. “Thinning.” Habit, Sister Polygon Records, 2016. Vinyl EP.
Song on a website
Snail Mail. “Thinning.” Bandcamp, snailmailbaltimore.bandcamp.com.
Concert Attended in Person
Beyoncé. The “Formation” World Tour. 14 May 2016, Rose Bowl, Los Angeles.
Movies, Videos, and Television Shows
A Movie Viewed in Person
Opening Night. Directed by John Cassavetes, Faces Distribution, 1977.
A Movie Viewed Online
Richardson, Tony, director. Sanctuary. Screenplay by James Poe, Twentieth Century Fox, 1961. YouTube, uploaded by LostCinemaChannel, 17 July 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMnzFM_Sq8s.
A Television Show Viewed on Physical Media
“Hush.” 1999. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Fourth Season, created by Joss Whedon, episode 10, Mutant Enemy / Twentieth Century Fox, 2003, disc 3. DVD.
Images
A Photograph Viewed in Person
Cameron, Julia Margaret. Alfred, Lord Tennyson. 1866, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
A Painting Viewed Online
Bearden, Romare. The Train. 1975. MOMA, www.moma.org/collection/works/65232?locale=en.
An Untitled Image from a Print Magazine
Karasik, Paul. Cartoon. The New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2008, p. 49.