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Creating MLA Style Citations
MLA style citation follows the rules outlined in the MLA Handbook published by the Modern Language Association. These rules tell you how to refer to information sources within the text of your paper, and also how to cite your sources in the bibliography at the end. MLA style is most often used by those in the fields of English, literature, history, and other humanities disciplines.
How to Cite Books
Book by Single Author
Batterson, Jack. A. Blind Boone: Missouri’s Ragtime Pioneer.
Columbia, MO: University of Missouri, 1998.
Edited Book by 2 or 3 Authors
Scott, Joan W., and Debra Keates, eds. Going Public:
Feminism and the Shifting Boundaries of the Private Sphere. Urbana: Illinois UP, 2004.
Book by More than 3 Authors
Baldwin, Lewis V., et al. The Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.:
The Boundaries of Law, Politics, and Religion. Notre Dame: U of Notre Dame P, 2002.
Work in an Anthology
Day, Caroline Bond. “The Pink Hat.” 1926. An Anthology of
Interracial Literature. Ed. Werner Sollors. New York: New York UP, 2003. 573-576.
An Anthology or Compilation
Sollors, Werner, ed. An Anthology of Interracial Literature. New York: New York UP, 2003.
Article in Reference Book
Tower, Christopher B. “Shoshone.” Gale Encyclopedia of Native
American Tribes. Ed. Sharon Malinowski et al. 4 vols. Detroit: Gale, 1998.
Second or Subsequent Edition of a Book
Lima, Carolyn W. and John A. Lima. A to Zoo: Subject Access
to Children’s Picture Books. 7th ed. Westport, CT : Libraries Unlimited, 2006.
Other Book Options
(See MLA Handbook)
Books by a Corporate Author
Introduction, Preface, Foreword, or Afterword
Anonymous Book
Multivolume Work
Book in a Series
Pamphlet
Government Publication
Published Proceedings of a Conference
Published Dissertation
How to Cite Articles
Article in Scholarly Journal that Pages Each Issue Separately
Kirsch, Adam . “To Hold in a Single Thought Reality and
Justice: Yeats, Pound, Auden, and the Modernist Ideal." Virginia Quarterly Review 83.3 (2007): 165-177.
Article in Scholarly Journal with Continuous Pagination
(next issue begins page numbers where last issue left off)
Greyser, Naomi . “Affective Geographies: Sojourner Truth's
Narrative, Feminism, and the Ethical Bind of Sentimentalism.” American Literature 79.2 (2007): 275-305.
Article in a Newspaper
Stodghill, Ron. “Can Ford Clean Up After Itself?" New
York Times 29 July 2007, national ed.: Section 3, page 1+.
Article in a Magazine
Heller, Steven. “Gee, You're Stinky! The intimate questions of
postwar advertising fanned body insecurity into flames of paranoia.” Print August 2007: 84-89
Film Review
Lane, Anthony. "Discoveries." Rev. of A Mighty Heart, dir.
Michael Winterbottom. The New Yorker 25 June 2007: 104-105.
Book Review
Deville, Craig. Rev. of Language Testing and Validation: An
Evidence-Based Approach, by Cyril J. Weir. Modern Language Journal 91.2 (2007): 320-321.
Other Article Options
(See MLA Handbook)
Anonymous Article
An Editorial
A Letter to the Editor
A Special Issue
How to Cite Electronic Sources
Entire Internet Site
Images of Native Americans. 2006. The Bancroft Library. 1
August 2007 <http://bancroft.berkeley. edu/Exhibits/nativeamericans/index2.html>.
Work from a Library Subscription Service
Koyana, Siphokazi. “The Heart of the Matter: Motherhood and
Marriage in the Autobiographies of Maya Angelou.” Black Scholar 32.2 (2002): 35-45. Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. William Woods University Dulany Library. 31 July 2007 <http://search.ebscohost.com/>.
Free Online Book
Sinclair, Bertrand. Raw Gold. 1907. Manybooks.net. 31 July
2007 <http://manybooks.net/titles/sinclairb1856318563-8.html>.
Article in Online Newspaper
Stiein, Rob. “Conflict of Conscience: Faith drives some to refuse
patients medication or care.” New York Times 30 July 2006. 1 August 2007 <http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2006/jul/ 20060730feat003.asp>.
Article in an Online Magazine
Lieber, Keir A. and Press, Daryl G. “Superiority Complex: Why
America’s growing nuclear supremacy may make war with China more likely.” Atlantic Online July/August 2007. 1 Aug. 2007 <http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200707/china-nukes>.
Other Electronic Options
(See MLA Handbook)
Online Government Publication
Publication on CD-ROM, Diskette, or Magnetic Tape
Television or Radio Program
Sound Recording or Sound Clip
Film or Film Clip
Painting, Sculpture, or Photograph
Interview
E-Mail Communication
Online Posting
Miscellaneous Print and Nonprint Sources
Film or Video Recording
The Wild One. Dir. Laslo Benedek. Perf. Marlon Brando, Mary
Murphy, Robert Keith, and Lee Marvin. 1953. DVD. Columbia Pictures, 1998.
Others (See MLA Handbook)
Television or Radio Program
Sound Recording
A Performance
Musical Composition
Painting, Sculpture or Photograph
Interview
Map or Chart
Cartoon or Comic Strip
Advertisement
Lecture, Speech, Address, or a Reading
Legal Source
Adapted from the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. Modern Language Association of America, 2003. REF LB 2369.G53 2003
Reference Citations in Text
These are examples of how to refer to any outside source within your paper.
One Author
- Use this example if you do not list the author's name in your paraphrase or quote.
Between 1968 and 1988, television coverage of presidential elections changed dramatically (Hallin 5).
- Follow this example if you mention the author's name in the text.
Brian Taves suggests some interesting conclusions regarding the philosophy and politics of the adventure film (153-54, 171).
More than One Author
- Use this example if you do not list the authors' name in your paraphrase or quote.
Others hold the opposite point of view (e.g. Jakobson and Waugh 304).
- Follow this example if you mention the authors' name in the text.
Others, like Jakobson and Waugh (210-215), hold the opposite point of view.
Tips for Creating a Reference List
- The format of each citation is based on the source. Are you citing a book, an article, an internet site or something else?
- Remember the point of citation—to enable someone else to see what you are referring to. So be sure to include all the important information (title, author, page numbers, website address, etc).
- Formatting is really important! Watch how you indent and where you put commas, periods, parentheses, italics, etc.
- Cite sources that you read to prepare your paper AND sources that you quote or paraphrase directly.
- Alphabetize your list by the last names of the authors, and use a hanging indent to format the entries.
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