Citation Guide - MLA: Modern Languages Association Style Guide

Examples below are based on the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed., located at LB2369 .G53 2003 Info. Commons Ref.
(Earlier editions may be available in the Main Stacks for checkout under the same call number.)

Note the specific punctuation, indentation, and abbreviation.
It is necessary to alphabetize a list of citations by author.
Do not indent the first line. If the information wraps onto more than one line, indent the next line/s 5 spaces or 1/2 inch.

EXAMPLES

Book with one author

MLA

Author's last name, First name and Initial. Title underlined. Publication location:

Publishing company, year.

example:

Townsend, Robert M. The Medieval Village Economy. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1993.

^ top

Book with an editor

MLA

Editor's last name, First name and Initial, ed. Title underlined. Publication location:

Publishing company, year.

example:

Mcrae, Murdo William, ed. The Literature of Science: Perspectives on Popular Science

Writing. Athens: U of Georgia Press, 1993.

^ top

Journal article - one author

MLA

Author's last name, First name and Initial. "Title of the article." Journal title underlined

Volume number (year): Article page numbers.

example:

Yeh, Michelle. "The 'Cult of Poetry' in Contemporary China." Journal of Asian Studies

55 (1996): 51-80.

^ top

Journal article - 3 authors

MLA

Author's last name, First name and Initial, Author's first and last name, and Author's first

and last name. "Title of the article." Journal title underlined Volume number. Issue number (year): Article page numbers.

example:

White, Sabina, Andrew Winzelberg, and James Norlin. "Laughter and Stress." Humor 5.3

(1992): 343-55.

^ top

Newspaper article

MLA

Author's last name, First name and Initial. "Title of the article." Newspaper title

underlined [city, if applicable] day month year, edition if applicable: Article page numbers.

example:

Taylor, Paul. "Keyboard Grief: Coping with Computer-Caused Injuries." Globe and Mail

[Toronto] 27 Dec. 1993: A1+.

Note that because there is no specific edition for the Globe and Mail that segment of the citation is omitted. Also note that in a nationwide periodical such as the New York Times it is not necessary to include the city in brackets.

^ top

Online article (from Library database)

MLA

Author's last name, First name and Initial. "Title of the article." Article's original source

publication date: page numbers. Product name. Site publisher. Name and location of library where accessed. Date researcher visited site <URL>.

example:

Lanken, Dane. "When the Earth Moves." Canadian Geographic Mar.-Apr. 1996:

66-73. Academic Search Complete . EBSCOhost. Univ. of Arizona Lib., Tucson. 15 Apr. 2003 <http://www.ebscohost.com/ehost/login.html>.

Note that it is always best to cite the original source of an article, unless the article was originally retrieved from an online database or other such electronic source.

^ top

Lecture

MLA

Speaker's last name, First name and Initial. "Title of the presentation (if known)."

The meeting title (if given). The sponsoring organization (if given). Location. Day Month Year.

example:

Atwood, Margaret. "Silencing the Scream." Boundaries of the Imagination Forum. MLA

Convention. Royal York Hotel, Toronto. 29 Dec. 1993.

^ top

Interview

MLA

Interviewee's last name, First name and Initial. "Title of the interview (if given)."

Title of the independently published interview (if given). Interview (if untitled) with interviewer's name (if pertinent). Radio, TV program, or Journal title. Program producers (if pertinent). Day, month, year, edition (if radio, TV, or periodical). Publication location: Publishing company, year (if given). Page numbers (if given).

example:

Gordimer, Nadine. Interview. New York Times. 10 Oct. 1991, late ed.:C25

example:

Lansbury, Angela. Interview. Off-Camera: Conversations with the Makers of Prime-Time

Television. By Richard Levinson and William Link. New York: Plume-NAL, 1986. 72-86.

^ top

Web Site

MLA

Title of the web site. Editor's First and Last name (if given). Name of sponsoring

organization. Day month year accessed <URL>.

example:

Portuguese Language Page. U of Chicago. 1 May 1997

<http://humanities.uchicago.edu/romance/port/>.

^ top

E-mail

MLA

Author's last name, First name and Initial (if given). "Title or description of the e-mail."

E-mail to recipient's First and Last name. Day Month Year.

example:

Danford, Tom. "Monday Greetings." E-mail to Terry Craig. 13 Sept. 1993.

^ top

Art Works

MLA

Works of art reproduced in a printed source

Artist’s last name, first name. Title of art work underlined. Date of art work. Institution

where art work is housed (if known), city where housed if not already named. Title of printed source underlined. By Author of printed source. Place of publication: publisher, date. Page or plate/figure/slide number.

example:

Cassatt, Mary. Mother and Child. Wichita Art Museum. c.1890. American Painting:

1560-1913. By John Pearce. New York: McGraw, 1964. Slide 22.

Works of art reproduced in electronic source

Artist’s last name, first name. Title of art work underlined. Date of art work.

Institution where art work is housed (if known), city where housed if not already named. Database name. Date viewed <URL to first slash>.

example:

Monet, Claude. Meadow with Haystacks at Giverny. 1885. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

ARTstor. 22 October 2004 <http://www.artstor.org>.

Note that it is optional to give the date of the art work.

^ top

More Information & Examples

MLA

Research and Documentation online: Humanities - click on the headings on the left side to find examples for in-text citations and lists of works cited, along with guidelines for formatting a paper and a sample paper in MLA style. Includes examples for many other types of material besides those shown above.

MLA Citation Guide (Ohio State University) - Includes both bibliography and in-text examples for many types of materials.

MLA Style FAQ - from MLA's web site.

Citation Styles Handbook: MLA (Writers' Workshop, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) - another good source of examples.

Modern Language Association (MLA) Style - examples from The New Guide to Writing Research Papers.

APA Guide | Chicago Guide | Subject Specific Citation Guides | Citation Guide Home