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MLA Citations

Modern Language Association

In the MLA style, your bibliography is called the "Works Cited" page. Each source you use in your writing must have a full bibliographic citation on your works cited page.

The works cited page is formatted as follows:

  • begin the Works Cited page on a new page,
  • Works Cited (the title of this page) is centered and not in bold,
  • the sources are listed alphabetically by the last name of the first author of each source,
  • double-space the whole page -  the title and references, and
  • each source is formatted with a hanging indentation.

Example:

Works Cited

Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Del Rey Books, 1996.

Link, Eric Carl. "The Themes of Philip K. Dick." Short Story Criticism, edited by Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 219,

Gale, 2016.

Stableford, Brian. "Dick, Philip K. (1928-1982)." Science Fiction Writers: Critical Studies of the Major

Authors from the Early Nineteenth Century to the Present Day, edited by Richard Bleiler, 2nd ed.,

Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999, pp. 251-260.

Number of Authors

The rules for listing authors in MLA format on your works cited page are based on the number of authors. This is the same for all source types (books, articles, edited collections, etc.). 

One author :  Last Name, First Name

Two authors: Last Name, First Name and First Name Last Name

Three or more authors: Last Name, First Name, et al.  

Creating Citations

Core Elements & Punctuation

 

 

What They Are/Do

Author. Who/what created work/source List authors in their order on the title page. List two authors. Use “et al” with more than 3 authors.
Title of source. Specific name of work/source. Book titles are italicized. “Article titles,” “chapter titles,” etc. are in quotation marks
Title of container, When work is part of larger work, the larger work is identified as the container, ex. journal.
Other contributors, Editors, translators, directors, performers, etc.
Version, Edition, ex. 2nd, updated OR Version, ex. English Standard Version (ESV)
Number, Volume, number, ex. vol. 2, no. 7
Publisher, Who/what published work/source
Publication date, When work/source/container was published
Location. Page number(s), chapter(s), section(s), DOI –digital object identifier #, URL/permalink(s). Your instructor may require access dates. Omit http:// or https:// for URLs.

If a source does not have an author, simply omit the place of the author and begin with the title.  This can happen when the publisher - a website or organization - is the author.

Format 

"Title." Title of Container. Publication Date, location.

Example: 

"History of Gun Control." ProCon.org. 21 Aug. 2021. https://gun-control.procon.org/history-of-gun-control/.

Print Book

Format:

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date.

 

Examples:

Berger, Jonah. Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces That Shape Behavior. Simon & Schuster, 2016.

Moore, Alan and David Lloyd. V for Vendetta. New ed., Vertigo, 2008.

Troyan, Michael, et al. Twentieth Century Fox: A Century of Entertainment. Globe Pequot Press, 2017.

 

E-Book without URL

Citations for e-books closely resemble those for physical books. Simply indicate that the book in question is an e-book by putting the term "e-book" in the "version" slot of the MLA template

Example:

Silva, Paul J. How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing. E-book, American Psychological Association, 2007.

 

 

Format:

Name of Editor(s), editor(s). Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

 

Example:

Hill, Charles A., and Marguerite Helmers, editors. Defining Visual Rhetorics. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004.

 

Format:

Last name, First name. "Title of Essay/Chapter." Title of Collection, edited by Editor's Name(s), Publisher, Year, Pages.,

 

Example:

Harris, Muriel. "Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers." A Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers One to One, edited by Ben Rafoth, Heinemann, 2000, pp. 24-34.

Article in a Scholarly Journal

Format:

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages.

Example:

Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi's Bashai Tudu." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, vol. 15, no. 1, 1996, pp. 41-50.

 

Article in an Online Database

Format:

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Date of Publication, pages, database, DOI or URL. Date of access. 

Examples:

Alonso, Alvaro, and Julio A. Camargo. “Toxicity of Nitrite to Three Species of Freshwater Invertebrates.” Environmental Toxicology, vol. 21, no. 1, 3 Feb. 2006, pp. 90-94. Wiley Online Library, https://doi.org/10.1002/tox.20155. Accessed 26 May 2009.

 

Dir, Allyson L., et al. “Impacts of COVID-19 at the Intersection of Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Criminal Justice Systems: Findings from Three States.” Health & Justice, vol. 10, no. 1, Aug. 2022, pp. 1–10. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-022-00184-8. Accessed 28 September 2022. 

 

Article in a magazine or newspaper

Format:

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical, Day Month Year, pages.

Example:

Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time, 20 Nov. 2000, pp. 70-71.

 

Article found on an online magazine or newspaper

Format:

Name of Author (when available). "Name of page/article." Name of Site, Date created (if available), URL. Date of access. 

Example:

Morrison, Malcolm. "TSX Recovers on Greece News." Toronto Star, 23 June 2011,  www.thestar.com/business/economy/2011/06/23/tsx_recovers_on_greece_news.html. Accessed 7 June 2016.

When citing the entire website

Format:

Name of Author (when available). Name of Site. Name of institution/organization, Date created (if available), URL. Date of access. 

 

Example:

United Nations. United Nations, www.un.org/en/index.html. Accessed 4 April 2018.

 

When citing just one page or article on a website

Format:

Name of Author (when available). "Name of page/article." Name of Site. Name of institution/organization, Date created (if available), URL. Date of access. 

 

Example:

“Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld.” United Nations Secretary-General, United Nations, www.un.org/sg/en/content/formersg/dag-hjalmaragne-carl-hammarskj%C3%B6ld. Accessed 4 April 2018.

Format:

Last name, First name of creator. 'Title of Source." Title of Container,  Uploader, Publication Date, Location. 

 

Example

McGonigal, Jane. “Gaming and Productivity.” YouTube, uploaded by Big Think, 3 July 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkdzy9bWW3E.

Format:

Last Name, First Name of Creator. Title of Image. Year Created, Location of Image.

 

Note: If image is viewed in person then location is the physical location of image. If viewed online then location is the website containing the image and the URL. If image was in another printed work (newspaper, magazine, etc.) then include the publication information of that printed work including a page number 

 

Example in person: 

Cameron, Julia Margaret. Alfred, Lord Tennyson. 1866, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

 

Example viewed online:

Bearden, Romare. The Train. 1975. MOMA, www.moma.org/collection/works/65232?locale=en.

 

Example from a magazine:

Karasik, Paul. Cartoon. The New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2008, p. 49.

 

 
United States Supreme Court Decisions

Format:

Government entity. Name of Case. Date of Decision. Title of Website, Publisher of Website, URL. 

Examples:

United States, Supreme Court. Brown v. Board of Education. 17 May 1954. Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School,   

                   www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/347/483.

 
Federal Statutes (United States Code)

United States, Congress, House. United States Code. Office of the Law Revision Counsel, 14 Jan. 2017, uscode.house.gov.

 

Constitutions

Format: If a constitution is published in a named edition, treat it like the title of a book

The Constitution of the United States: A TranscriptionNational Archives, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration,

                 28 Feb. 2017, www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript.

 

Format:

Owner of Patent. Title of Patent or Description.  Patent Number, Issuer of Patent, Date issued. 

Examples:

Neustel, Michael S. Patent analyzing system. US 20140200880 A1, United States Patent and Trademark Office, 17 July 2014.

 

If found online

Format:

Owner of Patent. Title of Patent or Description.  Patent Number, Issuer of Patent, Date issued. Publisher of Website, URL. 

Examples:

Neustel, Michael S. Patent analyzing system. US 20140200880 A1, United States Patent and Trademark Office, 17 July 2014. USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image Database, patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l =50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=neustel.INNM.&OS =IN/neustel&RS=IN/neustel.

Format: 

Author Last Name, First Name. Presentation Title . Month Year, URL. PowerPoint Presentation. 

 

Example: 

Bode, Leticia. Correction of Health Misinformation on Social Media. 29 September 2020, https://nnlm.gov/misinfo. PowerPoint Presentation.  

Personal Interviews (you are the interviewer)

Format:

Name of interviewee. Personal Interview. Day Month Year. 

 

Example

Smith, Jane. Personal interview. 19 May 2014.

 

Interviews Published in Print 

Format:

Name of Interviewee. "Title of Interview." Title of Book, By Name of Author/Editor, Publisher, Date of Publication, Pages. 

 

Example:

Saro-Wiwa, Ken. “English Is the Hero.” No Condition Is Permanent: Nigerian Writing and the Struggle for Democracy, edited by Holger Ehling and Claus-Peter Holste-von Mutius, Rodopi, 2001, pp. 13–19.

 

Online Published Interviews

Format:

Name of Interviewee. Title of Interview or Interviewed by Name of Interviewer. Name of Website, Date of Publication, URL. Date Accessed. 

 

Example:

Zinkievich, Craig. Interview by Gareth Von Kallenbach. Skewed & Reviewed, 27 Apr. 2009, www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/1056940-skewed-%2526-reviewed-interviews-craig. Accessed 15 May 2009.

Online Lecture or Speech 

Format:

Name of Presenter. "Title of Speech/Lecture." Name of Website, Date posted, URL. 

 

Example:

Allende, Isabel. “Tales of Passion.” TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, Jan. 2008, www.ted.com/talks/isabel_allende_tells_tales_of_passion/ transcript?language=en.

 

Speech Republished Online

Format:

Name of Speaker. "Title of Speech" Date of Speech. Name of Website. Publisher, URL.

 

Example:

Eisenhower, Dwight D. “Chance for Peace.” 16 Apr. 1953. Docsteach, National Archives, www.docsteach.org/documents/document/chance-for-peace-speech.

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