Mla bibliography

Creating an MLA Bibliography

Written by Grace Turney, freelance writer and artist. Grace is a former librarian and has a Master’s degree in Library Science and Information Technology. 

What is an MLA bibliography?

An MLA bibliography is similar to the Works Cited list that you include at the end of your paper. The only difference between a Works Cited list and a bibliography is that for the former, you need to include the entries for only the sources you cited in the text, whereas for the latter you can also include the sources you consulted to write your paper but didn’t directly cite in your writing. MLA generally prefers Works Cited lists to bibliographies.

If your instructor advises you to create an MLA bibliography, follow the same guidelines you would follow for creating an MLA Works Cited list.

The bibliography list appears at the end of the paper, after any endnotes if they are present.

All margins (top, bottom, left, and right) should be set at 1 inch.

Write the running head in the top right of the page at 0.5 inch from the top.

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MLA Works Cited Page: Basic Format

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According to MLA style, you must have a Works Cited page at the end of your research paper. All entries in the Works Cited page must correspond to the works cited in your main text.

Basic rules

• Begin your Works Cited page on a separate page at the end of your research paper. It should have the same one-inch margins and last name, page number header as the rest of your paper.
• Label the page Works Cited (do not italicize the words Works Cited or put them in quotation marks) and center the words Works Cited at the top of the page.
  • Only the title should be centered. The citation entries themselves should be aligned w
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    The basic formatting for citing a Web page is:

    Author name(s). "The Title of the Web Page". Title of Website, Publisher, publication date, URL. Access date (include this only if there is no publication date, or if requested by your teacher).
     

    For example:

    Web page, author named:

    Iyer, Raghavan. "Brahmin Soul Food." Zester Daily, Zester Media, 18 Oct. 2011, zesterdaily.com/world/indian-foods-for-brahmin-death.

    ​Viser, Matt. “Coffee on the Campaign Trail.” Boston Globe, 26 Feb. 2016, www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/food-dining/2016/02/26/coffee-campaigntrail/Xg76hiU92efJqMJOm70FSJ/story.html. ​
    
    (If the name of the website is the same as the name of the publisher you do not need to include the publisher.)
     

    Web page, author named, no publication date:

    Krauss, Beatrice H. Anatomy of the Pineapple, p. 6. University of Hawaii, digicoll.manoa.hawaii.edu/pineapple/index.php?c=1. Accessed 28 Dec. 2016.

     

    Web page, no author named:

    "Bob Marley."