MLA citation format

A. First of all determine the citation format that you must use and become familiar with that format.

B. MLA documentation format has two steps: a works cited page and parenthetical citations.

1. The works cited page lists the sources used in writing the paper.

2. The parenthetical citations make specific references to the page(s) in the source which were used for the information preceding the citation.

C. The works cited list is arranged alphabetically at the end of the paper.

1. Each source in the list is referred to as an “entry.”

2. Each piece of information in an “entry” is an “item,” such as the

author’s full name, the title of the work, the copyright date, etc.

3. The page is entitled Works Cited.

D. General entry guidelines:

1. In the MLA format, the items are arranged in this order (with exceptions for specialized entries, where more or different information is required):

Text Box: Check to see if you need this information. Give any information that is part of the source’s identification.

                                    author (last name, first name).
                                  “Title of Work Within Work.”
                                   Title of Original Source
                                    Date of original source (day, month year)
                                    Title of Entire Work.
                                    Ed. editor’s, translator’s, or compiler’s name.
                                    2^nd ed. (any edition except the 1^st).
                                    4 vols. (if the work takes up more than 1 volume).
                                    Name of Series (if book is part of a series).
                                   City of publication:
                                   Publisher,
                                   Copyright date (use the most recent; don’t confuse with
                                         printing date)
                                    Page numbers for work within a work.

2. Follow the order exactly and use the correct punctuation to mark titles

and to separate items.

3. Use the hanging indent for each line except the first, which is flush

with the left margin.

4. Italicize the titles of books and names of newspapers and

magazines.

5. Italicize according to the editor's or instructor's

preferences.

6. Put quotation marks around titles of essays, poems, short stories, and

magazine and newspaper articles.

7. When more than one city is listed for the place of publication, give the

first city in the United States or the first city, if none are cities in the

United States.

8. Use shortened names for publishing companies: Norton for W. W.

Norton, UP for University Press, U of Nebraska P for University of

Nebraska Press, etc.

9. Capitalize key words in titles even if they are not capitalized in the

work.

a. Not all key words are capitalized in some magazine article

titles, but capitalize them in the entries.

10. Abbreviate months when they are required in dates, as in Feb., Mar.,

Apr., etc.

11. Use the international dating format of day month year as in 26 Oct.

1997.

12. Give inclusive page numbers for works within works, such as

magazine articles, essays, short stories, etc.

a. Give full number for the ending page number, up to 99, as in

46-58.

b. Omit the hundreds number for the ending page number, if it is

the same as the hundreds number for the starting page, as in 344-

86.

c. If the article appears on discontinuous pages, use a + sign after the starting page number, as in 45+.

3. Electronic citations.

A. Remember that electronic citations are different.

B. Answer these questions in this order for electronic sources:

1. Who wrote it? Could be a group or individual.

2. What did she/he write? Either in quotation marks or italicized.

3. Does this work appear in a larger work or in a print form? Italicize that title, if applicable.

4. When was the material written? Don’t confuse this date with when it was put on the site or CD-ROM.

5. Are there page numbers for the larger source?

6. Who is the sponsor or vendor? Often given after the copyright date at the bottom of the page or often the sponsor of the homepage.

7. What is the date on which you accessed the information?

8. What is the URL? Internet only

4. See sample MLA paper.

Directory

Books

1. Book with one author

2. Book with more than one author (or with two or three authors—MLA)

3. Book with more than three authors or editors (than six authors or editors—APA)

4. Book with group or corporate author

5. Two or more works with the same author

6. Book with no author named

7. Edition

8. Book with editor

9. Edited book or anthology

10. One selection from an edited collection or anthology

11. Cross-reference or more than one selection from the same anthology (MLA only)

12. Article from a collection of reprinted magazine articles

13. Introduction, preface, foreword, or afterword

14. Translated or illustrated book

15. Work in more than one volume

16. Reprint of an older book

17. Book from a series

18. Title within a title

19. Pamphlet

20. Government publication or report

21. Unpublished dissertation

22. Published and unpublished letters

23. Maps, charts, graphs, illustrations

24. Monograph

Reference works

25. Dictionary

26. Signed reference article

27. Unsigned reference article

Periodicals

28. Signed article from daily newspaper

29. Unsigned article from daily newspaper

30. Editorial, letter to the editor, review

31. Article from weekly magazine

32. Article in monthly magazine

33. Journal article with continuous pagination

34. Journal article with single-issue pagination

35. Abstract

36. Unpublished data or survey

Nonprint Sources

37. Interview

38. Lecture or speech

39. Published conference proceedings

40. Film or videotape

41. Recording

42. Live performance

43 Musical composition or work of art

44. Radio or television program

Electronic citations

45. Material from a library server

46. Material with no print source specified

47. Material from electronic journals

48. Electronic text

49. CD-ROM

50. Other electronic sources

The basic pattern is author, title of the work used, publishing information, copyright date. Indent every line except the first line and double space within each entry. Be sure to put a period at the end of each entry.

Parenthetical citation

Schlissel, Lillian, Byrd Gibbens, and Elizabeth Hampsten. Far From Home: Families of

You must list the last names of all the authors listed in the works cited entry.

List the first name given among the authors and use the abbreviation et al for all other names.

You can omit the hundreds number for the second number if it is in the same hundreds as in the first number. Put a period after al. since it is an abbreviation of alia.

Editors of American Heritage Magazine. Guide to America's Greatest Historic Places.

If the publisher and the author are the same, use a shortened form of the author's name for the publisher.

You can use a shortened form of the first item, but be sure to give enough information that readers can quickly find the source which you are citing.

Use three hyphens to replace the author's name when using more than one work by the same author.

Give a reference to the title to clarify which work you are citing. Italicize references to titles if the title is italicized in the works cited entry. If you have two authors with the same last name, use the author's first name in the citation, as in (Willis, Andy 566)

Da Silva, Zenia Sacks. Beginning Spanish: A Concept Approach. 2^nd ed. New York:

Ferguson, George, and LaVerne Ferguson. 1996-97: Britain by Rail. Ed. Christian

Perrine, Laurence, and Thomas R. Arp, eds. Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense.

Adams, Alice. "Fog." 1989. Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. Ed. Laurence

When using more than one work from an anthology, you can omit the title of the book, city, publisher, and copyright date once you have included an entry for an edited book or anthology (See #9). The entries remain listed in alphabetical order.

Discussion, and Data." International Journal of Aging and Human Development 4 (1973): 1-13. Rpt. in Aging in America: Readings in Social Gerontology. Ed. Cary S. Kart and Barbara B. Manard. Sherman Oaks, CA: Alfred, 1976. 286-301.

Give the citation for the periodical article first (see #'s 28-34); then give the citation for the edited collection.

Bruccoli, Matthew J. Preface. The Great Gatsby. 1925. By F. Scott Fitzgerald. New

Kettle, Arnold. An Introduction to the English Novel. New York: Harper, 1968. 2 vols.

If you are using only one volume of a multivolume work, state the number of the volume in the bibliographic entry and give publication information for that volume alone. Then give only page numbers in the parenthetical citation.

Kettle, Arnold. An Introduction to the English Novel. Vol. 2. New York: Harper ,

Parenthetical citation

Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. 1899. Ed. Margaret Culley. New York: Norton, 1976.

1997-98 Sentry Student Security Plan. Stevens Point, WI: Sentry Life Insurance, 1997.

Use the same form for a pamphlet as you do for a book. Give whatever information is available, including pamphlet number which is placed after the title and before the city of publication.

Because many pamphlets do not have numbered pages, use a shortened form of the title only as the parenthetical citation. Don't assign page numbers if the pamphlet doesn't have printed page numbers.

Minnesota. Department of Administration. Telecommunications Division. State of

You do not have a page number in the citation since the items are arranged alphabetically.

United States. United States Postal Service. Special Bulk Third-Class Eligibility.

Publication 417. Washington: Corporate Publishing and Information Management, 1995.

the College of the Children of the Infidels (1619) to the Tribally Controlled Community College Act (1969)." Diss. Washington State U. at Pullman, 1982.

Blake, William. Letter to William Haley. 6 May 1800. Blake's Poetry and Designs.

A monograph is a scholarly book, article, or tract on a very specific subject, usually for a specific group. Treat the monograph as a book; however, if the monograph is unpublished, do not italicize the title.

The edition number is indicated in the title. If the edition number is not so indicated, insert the edition number after the title, as in 9^th ed. 1988.

Use a dictionary entry only if the focus of the paper is on dictionary entries. Otherwise treat dictionary entries within the text of the paper by referring to the dictionary's name in the text or in the parenthetical citation, as in ("Pray," Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary 924). Treat the definition as you would a work within a work and give the page number in the parenthetical citation. Since the first item is in quotation marks, be sure to place it in quotation marks in the parenthetical citation.

Scraba, Douglas G. “Animal Virus.” McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science and Technology:

The entry includes page numbers because the articles are not in alphabetical order.

Slovut, Gordon. "Laser-Drug Combo Proving to be Potent Cancer Killer." Star Tribune

If the newspaper's name does not include the location, put the location in brackets, but do not italicize.

"To Battle Global Warming, Clinton Gambles on Free-Market Forces." Chicago Tribune

Dennis, Tom. "Rethinking Lieberman." Editorial. Grand Forks [ND] Herald 4 Feb. 2004:

If the location of the city is not clear, include the state in brackets following the city's name. Do not italicize the bracketed information.

Wingert, Pat, and Barbara Kantrowitz. "Why Andy Couldn't Read." Newsweek 27 Oct.

If the article is not printed on consecutive pages, use a + to indicate that the article appears on more than the one page.

In journals that are paged continuously throughout a year, give the volume number (112) before the year and omit month.

In journals not paged continuously through the year, give volume and number of issue for that volume (63.4).

Hannus, M., A. Heikkonen, and J. Laitinen. "Internet in Construction Projects and

The Song of Bernadette. Dir. Henry King. Perf. Jennifer Jones, William Eythe, and

Lehrer, Tom. Revisited. Live concert recording of the twelve songs from Songs

Hart. Dir. Harold Prince. Perf. Cris Groenendaal, Susan Cuthbert, and Doug LaBrecque. Manitoba Centennial Concert Hall, Winnipeg. 23 June 1993.

Art, New York. The Story of American Painting. By Abraham A. Davidson. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1974. Plate 105.

"Chapter 2." Dickens of London. Dir. Marc Miller. Introd. Alistair Cooke. PBS.

When you are citing a printout from a library server that gives you full-text of the articles:

1. Name of the author (if given)
2. Title of the article (in quotation marks)
3. Name of the periodical (italicized)
4. Date of the periodical (day month year for weeklies; volume and issue number with year in parentheses for journals
5. If the server gives you number of pages in parentheses, write that number as 3 pp. or 1 p. If there is no number in parentheses, put a period after the year and go to next step.
6. Name of the computer service, such as PALS, MnLink, Electric Library, etc.
7. The name of the library (abbreviations allowed, if obvious) and the location if not obvious
8. Date of access (There is no punctuation after the date of access)
9. The URL of the service’s homepage in angled brackets, or
10. You may also simply end with the date of access.

Vincent, John B. “Piltdown Man: Combining the Instruction of Scientific Ethics and
          Qualitative Analysis.” Journal of Chemical Education 76.3 (1999): 2pp.
          PALS. Northland Community and Tech. Coll. Lib., Thief River Falls, MN. 10 Feb.
         1999 <http://www.pals.msus.edu/webpals/>.

Journal from PALS (or other library service), no page number given
Fiore, Nicholas. “401(k) Distributions and Portability.” Journal of Accountancy 190.5

Weekly magazine from PALS (or other library service), no page number given
Galloway, Stephen. “TV Takes the Fall in Violence Poll.” Hollywood Reporter
23 July 1993. Electric Library. Northland Community and Tech. Coll. Lib., Thief

Monthly magazine from PALS or another library server, including number of pages

Scorgie, Kate, and Lorraine Wilgosh. “Journeys Through the Land of Oz: Parents’ Top

Twenty Strategies for Managing Life.” Exceptional Parent Nov. 2002: 3pp. MnLink. Northland Community and Tech. Coll. Lib. Thief River Falls, MN. 22 Nov. 2002.

Having no specific printed source means that the only form of this source is that on the Internet or electronic server. Your entry in the works-cited list should consist of the following items:

1. Name of the author (if given)
2. Title of the material accessed (in quotation marks)
3. Larger work in which the material is found or title of the database (italicized) (if given)
4. Date of the material (if given)

5. Name of the sponsor of the site
6. Date of access
7. URL after angled brackets

Burbeck, James. “The Normandy Landings.” War Times Journal. 2003. War Times

“Crew Preps for Arm Work, New Experiment.” International Space Station. 22 Sep.

“Refrigeration and Food Safety.” Consumer Education and Information. Jan. 1999. 8 Feb. 2002 <http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/pubs/ focus_ref.htm>.

United States. Dept. of the Treasury. General Explanations of the Administration’s

If you have more than one source with United States as the first item. Then you must include words from the next item in the entry as well, as in (United States. Dept. of the Treasury)

Minnesota. Dept. of Agriculture. “West Nile Virus FAQs for Horse Owners.” Minnesota

Department of Agriculture. St. Paul, 2002. 10 Sep. 2002 <http://www.mda.state.

Your entry in the works-cited list for material from an electronic journal, electronic newsletter, or electronic conference document should be similar to one for an article in a print periodical though there are a few necessary differences. This type of source also has a print form published separately. The entry should consist of the following items:

1. Name of the author (if given)
2. Title of the article or document (in quotation marks)
3. Title of the journal, newsletter, or conference (italicized)
4. Volume number, issue number, or other identifying number and year or date of publication (in parentheses) for journals
5. Day month year for magazines
6. Date of access
7. URL (put in angled brackets)

Walker, Alice. “A South Without Myths.” Sojourner Magazine 23.10 (1994-1995).

23 Sep. 2003 <http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue =soj9412&article=941213>.

If you plan to study or use an electronic text of a literary or historical work, remember that not all texts are equally reliable or authoritative. Be sure to use a text that states the title, editor, and date of the edition serving as its source.

Your citation of an electronic text should contain the following items:

2. Title of the work (if any) within work in quotation marks
3. Title of the text (italicized)
4. Publication information for the printed source (editors, edition, city of publication, publisher, copyright date, etc.)
5. Electronic publication information (title of the Internet sponsor [italicized], editor of the site, version number, date of electronic publication, name of any sponsoring institution or organization the electronic text (e.g., Oxford Text Archive)
6. Date of access
7. URL

Grotesque. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1993. NetLibrary.com. 23 Sep. 2003 <http://www.netlibrary.com/ebook_info.asp?product_id =2261>.

Hardy, Thomas. Far from the Madding Crowd.1874. Ed. Ronald Blythe.

Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1978. Bibliomania. 13 Jan. 1999

<http://www.bibliomania.com/Fiction/hardy/crowd/index.html>.

(Hardy)

Twain, Mark. “My Watch: An Instructive Little Tale.” Sketches New and Old.

Hartford, CN: American Publishing, 1875. BoondocksNet.com. Ed. Jim Zwick.

Nixon, Richard. Letter of Resignation. 9 Aug. 1974. NAIL. 13 Jan.

1999 <http://monitor.nara.gov:80/cgi-bin/…/MEDIA/IMAGES 19/28/19-

There are two types of CD-ROMs: one has a print source outside the CD-ROM and the other has the electronic source of the CD-ROM. Your works-cited list should consist of the following items:

1. Name of the author.
2. Title of the work.
3. Title of the book or database. (italicized)
4. For periodicals, date, pages, etc., for the article.
5. Publication medium. (CD-ROM or magnetic tape)
6. Publication information for the printed source (including editor, edition, publisher, and date of publication of the medium used).
7. Publication information for the CD-ROM itself (including publisher and copyright date). Omit if the information is the same as for the print source.

Chaucer, Geoffrey. "The Miller's Tale." The Norton Anthology of English Literature:

Leonard, Mary. “‘Boutique Medicine’ Is not for Everybody.” Boston Globe 6 July

“African-American History: Abolitionist Movement.” Encarta Encyclopedia. 3^rd ed. CD-

When citing any sources, add what information you can. Do so by answering these questions, leaving the material out if the question isn’t applicable:

a. Who wrote it?
b. What did she/he/they write?
c. Does it appear in a larger work?
d. When was it written?
f. Who sponsored the site?
g. When was it accessed?
h. What is the URL?

“Summer Jokes.” All Things Considered. National Public Radio. 20
Aug. 1999. Transcript. NPROnline. 30 Aug. 1999 <http://www.npr.org/
programs/atc/990820.jokes.html>.

Bloomberg Life Insurance. Advertisement. 30 Aug. 1999 <http://www.bloomberg.com/

money/insurance/index.html>.

(Bloomberg)

E-mail (give name of author; title of message from subject line (if any); name of recipient, and date

2001-2003. Dept. of Music. Church Divinity School of the Pacific. 24 Sep. 2003 <http://www.cdsp.edu/faculty/emblom.html>.

Jastrem, Laura. “Romance and Gender Positions in Twelfth Night.” Online posting. 6

Apr. 2003. Shakespeare 24. Dartmouth U. 31 Aug. 1999 <http://www.dartmouth.
edu/%7Eengl24 /essays/jastrem.html>.