Writing a Paper for Me

What's the difference? Sometimes you want your readers to know about a broader spectrum of useful material about a subject than you actually utilized directly in your report. When that happens, use both a Works Cited page AND a Bibliography. All the work in the Works Cited goes into the Bibliography and then materials are added as seems fitting.

On a separate sheet of paper at the end of your essay include a list of the works cited alphabetized by the last name of the author. In the case of an anonymous work, by the first main title word (excluding "the" and "a/an." If the paper is double-spaced, the list is double-spaced between all lines; if the paper is single-spaced, the list is likewise single-spaced. Every line, except the first of each entry, is indented 5 spaces (one tab mark).

MLA still uses underlining for titles of long works rather than italics. Go figure. I personally do not care which you use, but be aware of the difference between long works that get underlined or italicized (books, plays, periodicals, long poems) and short ones that get put in quotation marks (short poems, short stories, articles within periodicals, book chapters, etc.)

For internet entries, you should hope to have all of the standard bibliographic information such as author, title, publisher, journal title (if article in journal), publication date, page numbers, etc. However, all of these things are not always available. Use what is available and be sure to keep track of all URL addresses. The following works cited sample offers many of the most common source entries students use. If you cannot find the entry type you need here, check the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.

2002; Last revised July 14, 2008
Dr. Bonnie Duncan
bduncan@millersville.edu
1-717-871-2080
English Department
Millersville University
Millersville, PA 17551

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