Putting together a solid research paper doesn’t stop at writing strong arguments, it also means giving credit where it’s due. But formatting citations and organizing them into a Works Cited page can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re new to MLA style. I’ve been there too, flipping between tabs, trying
to get the spacing and punctuation just right. In this guide, I’ll break everything down so you can understand how to make a Works Cited page with ease.
What Is a Works Cited Page?
You might be wondering, what is works cited page? Well, a Works Cited page is a list of all the sources you've directly cited in your paper. It appears at the end and is required when writing in MLA format, commonly used for humanities subjects like literature, philosophy, or art history. This section includes only the references you quoted, paraphrased, or summarized in the main body of your work. Unlike a bibliography, it doesn’t include background materials you read but didn’t refer to directly. A good Works Cited page helps:
Avoid plagiarism
Show academic integrity
Help readers find your sources
Examples of when to use a Works Cited page:
Citing a book in a literature review
Quoting a scholarly article in an essay
Referencing a website in a research project
In short, if you’ve referenced it in the body, it belongs here.
How to Make a Works Cited Page
If you’re building a Works Cited page from scratch instead of using a works cited page generator, MLA formatting rules are pretty strict, but not difficult once you get the hang of them. You can create the page manually or use citation tools to help speed things up. Before jumping into tools or examples, it’s important to understand MLA’s basic layout:
Use a separate page titled "Works Cited" (centered at the top).
Double-space everything, with no extra spaces between entries.
Use a hanging indent: the first line of each entry is flush left, and the following lines are indented.
List sources alphabetically by the author’s last name.
I’ve learned that setting up the hanging indent from the start saves a lot of cleanup later. Now here’s one of the ways on how to make a works cited page examples:
Step 1: Open your document editor (like WPS Office or Word). Make sure the font is readable (12-pt Times New Roman is standard), and double spacing is turned on and indentation is set to hanging
Step 2: Center the title "Works Cited" at the top. Don’t bold, italicize, or underline it. Just keep it simple.
Step 3: List your sources alphabetically. Use the author’s last name to determine the order. If a work doesn’t have an author, start with the title.
Examples for Common Source Types (4 lines)
Let’s look at how different sources are formatted in MLA. I’ve used each of these formats in my own work and found that getting these right upfront saves editing time later.When in doubt, double-check punctuation, italics, and page numbers, those little details can cost you points.
Book:
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006.
Website:
“Global Warming Fast Facts.” CNN, 6 Apr. 2023, www.cnn.com/2023/04/06/weather/global-warming-facts/index.html.
Journal Article:
Smith, John. “Climate Change and Policy Reform.” Environmental Policy Review, vol. 34, no. 2, 2021, pp. 145–162.
Works Cited Page Best Helper – WPS Office
Once I switched to WPS Office, making a Works Cited page became a lot less stressful. It’s free, compatible with MLA format, and doesn’t require installing heavy plugins or separate citation software. The clean interface and AI tools helped me save time on formatting and let me focus on the content itself. WPS includes everything you need to create, edit, and format citations without lagging or crashing, especially helpful when working on a deadline:
Writer: I used this to format and manage citations while writing an entire essay. The real-time spell check and line spacing tools saved me from formatting issues.
PDF: I often convert my final works into PDF format before submission. WPS handles this flawlessly and even lets me annotate if needed.
AI Assistant: From improving sentence clarity to summarizing sources I planned to cite, the built-in AI tools are a quiet powerhouse.
Cloud Sync: Switching between devices mid-project was no problem. I saved my Works Cited list in WPS Cloud and picked up where I left off on my tablet.
How to Make a Works Cited Page Using WPS AI
WPS AI can assist you in creating a polished and properly formatted Works Cited page with ease. It can help you generate citations from scratch, based on the source details you provide. Additionally, WPS AI can review, edit, and reformat existing citations to match MLA, APA, or other styles. This ensures your final bibliography is accurate, consistent, and ready for submission.
Step 1: Place your cursor at the very end of your document, Go to the Insert tab, Click on Page Break to create a new page for your Works Cited.
Step 2: Center the title "Works Cited" at the top.
Step 3: Highlight the full citation entry, then right-click and choose “Paragraph” and in the Paragraph window, set up the formatting like this:
Under Line spacing, choose “Multiple” from the dropdown, and type 2 in the box next to it.
Under Indentation, set “Special” to Hanging and enter 0.5 inches in the “By” box.
Step 4: Manually Enter Citations, Carefully type each citation following your required citation style (e.g., MLA, APA, Chicago)
For MLA, for example:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Source. Title of Container, Other contributors, Version, Numbers, Publisher, Publication date, Location.
Use italics for book titles and container titles.
Alphabetize all entries by the author’s last name
I tested this on both long essays and short class projects, and the formatting stayed consistent every time.
FAQs
Q1: What’s the difference between a Works Cited Page, a Reference List, and a Bibliography?
A Works Cited page (MLA) includes only the sources you cited in your paper. A Reference List (APA) does the same, but with different formatting. A Bibliography (Chicago/Turabian) might include all works you consulted, even if not cited.
Q2: Do I need to include every source I looked at?
No. Only list what you quoted, summarized, or paraphrased. If you're following MLA, background materials don’t belong on the Works Cited page.
Q3: What online tools can help me generate MLA citations?
Some helpful options include:
EasyBib
Citation Machine
Scribbr
Purdue OWL Citation Generator
You can copy those entries into WPS Office and format them easily.
Q4: Can I make a Works Cited page on mobile?
Yes. WPS Office supports Android and iOS, and the mobile app includes all the tools you need to edit and format documents, including citation pages.
