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Works Cited Tips Using MLA Style
What is a "Works Cited" page and why is it so important?
A Works Cited page in a research paper, essay, power point, poster, etc. lets your reader know where you got your information. This is important because you cannot take credit for the work that someone else did.
What is MLA Style?
MLA Style is a standard format for listing your sources. When you get to college, you may need to use other formats like APA, Chicago, or Turabian. The Hanover Park Regional High School District uses MLA style, from the Modern Language Association, since this format is used widely around the world for Language Arts papers.
What does citing sources mean?
Citing sources is giving credit to others -- those people whose ideas you used in your paper. People write down their ideas in books, databases, magazines, newspapers, websites, e-mails, etc. If you use information from these sources, you must cite them. Information can also be found through interviews, from television, or from the radio. If you use a picture, graph, chart, or any other kind of visual, you must also say where it came from. It is up to you to give credit to those people who thought of the unique ideas. If you had a unique idea, you wouldn't want others to take credit for it, would you?
Why do we need to cite?
When an idea is not your original idea, you have to show that it came from someone else -- it is someone else's intellectual property. Plagiarism occurs when you "steal" other people's ideas and words without giving credit to them in your works cited page. While basic facts that everyone knows do not need to be cited, quotes and ideas from books generally need to be attributed to their authors.You must remember to cite your source even if you summarized or paraphrased, not just if you made direct quotes.
How do we cite sources?
To look at examples of how to cite information from books, magazines, newspapers, databases and websites.
Click here for an example of a Works Cited page. For best viewing, print it out: