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

2. 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.

3. 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)

4. 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 “
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)

5. 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

6. 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
Not in alphabetical
order
Entry not double-spaced
Last entry is center-aligned

7. 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.)

8. 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

9. 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.

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

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

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

13. 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.

14. 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

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

16. 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.
If the length is appropriate, the URL should now start on the line above. If it doesn’t, try an earlier mark/symbol.