The Modern Language Association invented MLA style. Accordingly, it also created the rules governing the format of a Works Cited page. The association published these rules in its official book, "MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers." You can also find some information about MLA formatting on the association's website.
The Works Cited page's format organizes bibliographic information clearly and simply, allowing readers to find what they're looking for with ease. Listing the author's last name at the beginning of an entry, for example, lets a reader quickly locate the entry that matches an in-text citation.
Double-space all the text. Start each entry on a new line and flush left. In each entry, list the information in this order: author's name, title of the work, publisher or journal name and date of publication. Italicize the title, and capitalize every word except any prepositions and articles. Use a hanging intent; if one entry extends beyond its first line, then indent the following lines one-half inch.
Use the same font size that you used in the body of the paper--normally size 12. The length of the Works Cited list varies, depending on how many sources you cited in the paper; it may list just one resource, or it may span multiple pages.
Include every single source--book, article, website, person or any other entity that's separate from your own brain--that gave you information that you used in your paper. This helps you avoid the academic crime of plagiarism, which means pretending that you created ideas or discovered facts that actually originated from another person.
When creating the hanging indent, don't press "Enter" at the end of a line and then push "Space" until the line reaches the half-inch mark. Instead, the Modern Language Association recommends using your word processor's automatic hanging indentation function.