RESEARCH IN PHILOSOPHY 6. Creating a Works Cited Page
A Works Cited page is nothing more than an alphabetical list of the sources to which you have made reference in your paper. A Works Cited page is definitely not the same thing as a Bibliography. In a bibliography you list all of the works that you have consulted when writing your paper, whether or not you have actually cited these sources in your paper. In a Works Cited page, on the other hand, you list only those works that you have directly cited in your paper. Most Molloy instructors will ask you to include a Reference or Works Cited page rather than a bibliography.
Your Works Cited must eventually adhere to the MLA format shown below, so you might as well use the correct format right from the beginning. We have taken the liberty of including examples for most kinds of sources that you would be using in your paper on the following page. Follow these examples EXACTLY, and you should produce a perfect Works Cited page. And, when it comes to Works Cited for a research paper in philosophy, nothing but perfection is acceptable.
We have also included a sample Works Cited page so you will know how this page for your own paper should look when it is completed. Once again, you must do this EXACTLY in the manner shown, so you might as well take some time to do things correctly right from the start.
Be sure to include a wide variety of legitimate sources on your reference page, including books, anthologies, and articles from academic journals. There are certain types of sources that you should probably avoid including in your paper. Popular media such as Time, Newsweek, The Daily News and TheNew York Post are usually not considered acceptable sources for your bibliography (unless your instructor specifically permits you to include such works). The rule of thumb is that "if you can buy it at a newspaper stand, it is not a legitimate source for a college research paper." You are also advised to avoid using Sparknotes, Cliff Notes or Masterplots as sources for English papers. Finally, limit yourself to one or two useful Internet sites that meet the criteria for legitimacy as stated in the pages above.
The following examples are all for print sources. Consult the sample Works Cited page below for examples of how to cite web sources.
MLA Works Cited Format
book by a single author
Annas, Julia. The Morality of Happiness. New York: Oxford UP, 1993. Print.
book in translation
Arendt, Hannah. Love and Saint Augustine. Trans. Joanna Vecchiarelli Scott and Judith Chelius Stark. Chicago: U. of Chicago, 1996. Print.
work in an anthology
Armstrong, A.H. "St. Augustine and ChristianPlatonism." Augustine: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. R.A. Markus. New York: Doubleday, 1972. Print.
multi-volume work
Cayre, F. Precise de Patrologie. 2 vols. Paris: Societe de Jean L'evangeliste, 1991. Print.
article in a periodical
Chadwick, Henry. "The Ascetic Idea in the History of the Church." Studies in Church History 22 (1985): 1-23. Print.
anthology/work by the same author
—. "History and Symbolism in the Garden of Milan." From Augustine to Eriugena. Ed. F.X. Martin and J.P. Richmond. Washington: Catholic U. of America, 1991. Print.
article in an encyclopedia
Markus, R.A. "Augustine, St." The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Paul Edwards. 8 vols. New York: MacMillan, 1967. Print.
dissertation
Russo, Michael. "Beatitude and Moral Disorder: Augustine's Subversion of the Happy Life (386-396)." Diss. Catholic University of Leuven, 1987. Print.
