How to Write Correct Works Cited Entries

Here is an example bibliographic or Works Cited entry for an essay from our textbook:

Harrop, Froma. "Stop Babysitting College Students." Dialogues: An Argument, Rhetoric and
     Reader, 5th ed. Gary Goshgarian and Kathleen Krueger.   New York: Pearson/Longman,
     2006. 43-44.

Explanation: The author’s last name is followed by a comma and then the author’s first name. If the author uses a middle initial, it comes next. The name is followed by a period. Then there is the article title, followed by a period and enclosed in quotation marks. Then the title of the book, underlined. We are using the fourth edition, so that fact must be indicated, as shown. There are three authors, but only the first is given; the others are represented by the Latin abbreviation, et al., which means "and others." Next are the place of publication, the publisher, and the year of publication. The last item is the beginning-ending page numbers for the article. All Works Cited entries end with a period.  (see p. 282 in our book)

Here is an example bibliographic or works cited entry for an essay you find using NC LIVE:

Walter, Kim. "Why Montana is Turning Blue." Time 25 Apr 2005:  62. Academic 
    Search Premier.  EBSCO.  NC LIVE.  Shaw Univ., Raleigh, NC.  18 Aug 2005 
    < www.epnet.com >.

Explanation: Author’s name, article title, source title, date of publication, page numbers, internet source, secondary database provider, primary database provider, subscriber & subscriber’s location, date of access, URL.  (see p.288 in our book)

Note that the author’s last name is at the left margin, and all succeeding lines are indented five spaces. Please pay careful attention to the punctuation and spacing you see here. In each case note the information required and the order in which it must be presented. Imitate these entries on your bibliography and your Works Cited page.

Other Considerations:

1. Capitalization:  Sometimes when you find an article using NC LIVE, the title will look like this:  Missing proteins thwart primate cloning.  This is the APA "sentence-style" capitalization.  For MLA documentation, you would change this title as follows in your Works Cited entry and in the introduction to the quotation in your paragraph:  "Missing Proteins Thwart Primate Cloning."  Another example title:  Let's make the world a no-clone zone.  This title would become "Let's Make the World a No-Clone Zone" because words such as "the and "a" are not capitalized.  Sometimes in NC LIVE titles are presented entirely in capital letters:  GUN CONTROL FOR OUTLAWS.  You would change this to "Gun Control for Outlaws."

2. Page numbers.  Sometimes when you look up articles using NC LIVE you will see page numbers represented like this:  p75, 4p.  That means the article begins on page 75 and is four pages long.  You would change this representation as follows in your Works Cited entry:  75-78.

3. Punctuation:  If you look carefully at the Works Cited entries above, you will notice that each unit of information is followed by a period.  You should hit the space bar twice after each period.  There are two exceptions:  The period at the end of the article title is followed by the close quotation mark and then two spaces; the period in the abbreviation "Shaw Univ.," is followed by a comma and one space, as you see here.  A colon is followed by two spaces.  A comma is followed by one space.