General Works Cited Formatting MLA Basics (8th ed.) General Works Cited Formatting

What is a Works Cited Page? A works cited page is the page where you put all the sources that you used in your paper. Don’t Forget: It should go at the end of your essay. If you have a source listed in your works cited, you should have at least one in-text citation in your paper for that source (and vice versa). Don’t mix editions or styles. For example, if you’re using MLA 8th edition, don’t have some entries in 8th and 7th edition, or don’t have some entries in MLA and others in APA.

General Formatting The works cited page should have the same basic formatting as regular MLA formatting: size 12 font (such as Times New Roman) If you ever copy and paste, make sure all of the fonts/sizes are the same after you’re done. 1 inch margins double-spaced (and no extra space between entries) left-aligned (except the title)

Works Cited Specific Formatting Specific works cited formatting includes: hanging indent alphabetical order URLs, not hyperlinks (your URL should not be clickable) don’t include the “http://” the works cited page should always start at the top of a page (should not start on a page that has a paragraph or part of a paragraph)

Example Works Cited Page Formatting Starts at top of page Alphabetical Order and left-aligned No extra spaces between entries Hanging indent URL is not a hyperlink

Example Works Cited Formatting Errors Bolded and missing the “s” Extra space between entries No hanging indent URL should start on this line URL is a hyperlink and has http:// Not in alphabetical order Entry not double-spaced Last entry is center-aligned

How to Fix Errors: Extra Space See the difference? (size has been blown up for viewing) Some may not even notice, but there is a little extra space between the title and the entries. This is because word automatically adds extra space after you hit Enter. Consequently, we need to turn that off. (We should do this for the whole paper, not just the works cited page.)

How to Fix Errors: Extra Space FIRST: Highlight Everything (Ctrl-A) Then: Within the “Home” tab, click the arrow in the corner of the “Paragraph” section

How to Fix Errors: Extra Space Next: make sure “Line spacing” says “Double” and “After is “0” Lastly: click “OK”. Your spacing should now be correct. If you still have extra space between a paragraph or works cited entries, make sure you didn’t hit Enter too many times.

How to Fix Errors: Hanging Indent FIRST: make sure every line of your works cited entries is touching the left margin

How to Fix Errors: Hanging Indent Next: highlight only your works cited entries

How to Fix Errors: Hanging Indent Then: go to the arrow in the corner of the paragraph section of your tools

How to Fix Errors: Hanging Indent After that: in the indentation section, choose “Hanging” from the dropdown under “Special” Finally: click “OK”. Your entries should now be properly indented.

How to Fix Errors: URLs When adding links in your works cited, there are 2 main errors that can occur: word converting it to a clickable hyperlink Word forcing the link to start on a new line

How to Fix Errors: URLs To remove the hyperlink, simply right-click the link and choose “Remove hyperlink”

How to Fix Errors: URLs To force the URL to start on the line above (if there’s room), click after a punctuation mark or symbol in the URL, and add a space. www.all-about-zorro.com/dropdown/my-life-as-zorros-sister If the length is appropriate, the URL should now start on the line above. If it doesn’t, try an earlier mark/symbol.