What Is a Works Cited Page?

• New page at the end of the paper, page numbering continuing from the body.
• Title: Works Cited — centered, same font as the body, no bold, no underline, no quotation marks.
• Double-space everything, no extra space between entries.
• Hanging indent: first line flush left, subsequent lines indented ½ inch.
• Alphabetize by the first element of each entry — usually the author's surname; by title (ignoring A/An/The) when there's no author.

Each entry is built from MLA's nine core elements — author, source title, container, contributors, version, number, publisher, date, location — skipping what doesn't apply. The MLA Citation Generator assembles them automatically from a URL, DOI, or ISBN.

Works Cited (MLA): only sources cited in the paper. Bibliography: everything you consulted, cited or not — common in Chicago style. References (APA): same only-cited rule as Works Cited, different style's name for it. Instructors sometimes say "bibliography" loosely when they mean Works Cited; when in doubt, include only cited sources. More: References vs Bibliography.

Every in-text citation must have a Works Cited entry that starts with the same word — cite (Alvarez) in the text and an entry starting "Alvarez" must exist. The reverse also holds: an entry no in-text citation points to shouldn't be there. This one-to-one match is the first thing graders check, and the Bibliography Builder makes the list side of it automatic.

Three sources as a finished list — alphabetical (Alvarez → Martin → Rasch), each entry double-spaced with a hanging indent on the page:

• Two works, same author: alphabetize by title; the second entry replaces the name with three hyphens: ---. Second Title.
• No-author entries sort by title, skipping A/An/The: "The Sleep Study" files under S.
• Mc and Mac sort exactly as spelled.
• Corporate authors sort by the organization's name as written (skip a leading The).
• Numbers in titles sort as if spelled out.

The other entry types that show up on real Works Cited pages:

• Anthology piece — Author. "Story or Poem Title." Anthology Title, edited by E. Editor, Publisher, Year, pp. xx–xx.
• Film — Title. Directed by D. Director, Studio, Year. (Start with a person's name only when your discussion centers them.)
• Video — Uploader. "Video Title." YouTube, Day Mon. Year, URL.
• Interview — Subject. Interview by Interviewer. Container, Date, location.
• Social media post — Account. "First words of the post…" Platform, Day Mon. Year, URL.
• Song — Artist. "Track Title." Album, Label, Year. Streaming URL optional as location.

The mechanical checklist before you submit: new page · centered plain title (Works Cited or Work Cited for one source) · same font and double spacing as the body · hanging indents on every entry · alphabetical order · running head continuing in the corner. Or skip the mechanics: add each source to your bibliography as you cite it and export the finished page to Word — title, order, indents, and spacing already correct.