“Whatever style you choose, accuracy, clarity, and consistency are important factors when citing information sources. Guidelines for citing electronic sources are not yet standardized. Because information sources are constantly changing, citation formats are adapting to meet these changes” (MLA Style of Citation).
Websites that format citations for you
Electronic (Online) Citation Methods |
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Print Citation Methods |
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Multi-volume Work (using different parts of the book)
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Article in a Multi-Volume Work (using just one article in book) |
Work in an Anthology (book collection)
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Other Media (Film, Art, TV program, Musical composition, recording) |
Last name of author, First name. Title of Book. City of Publication: Name of
Publisher, Copyright date.
Example:
Taylor, David. The Ultimate Dog Book. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990.
Last Name, First Name of First Listed Author , and First and Last Name of Second
Author. Title. City of Publication: Name of Publisher, Copyright date.
Example:
Taylor, David and James Williams. The Ultimate Dog Book. New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1990.
Last Name, First name of First listed Author, et.al. Title of Book. City of Publication:
Name of Publisher, Copyright date.
Example:
Quirk, Randolph, et.al. A Comprehensive Grammar of English Language. London:
Longman, 1985.
Last name, First name of editor, ed. Title of book. City of publication: Publisher, Date of Publication.
Example:
Pachen, Elise, ed. Poetry Speaks. Naperville: Source, 2001.
Note: If no author is given or if reference is given to more than one article, place the editor in the author position. However, if only one article with an author is used, the author of the article comes in the author position with the editor following the title of the book. See sample in "Citing an article within a multivolume work" or "Citing an article in a less familiar reference book".
Title. Edition. City of Publication: Copyright date.
Encyclopedia of Virginia. New York: Somerset, 1993.
Corporation Author. Title. City of Publication: Publisher, Copyright date.
Example:
Hunter's College Women's Studies Collective. Women's Choices.
New York: Oxford UP, 1983.
Citing a Chapter in a Book
Author. "Title of Chapter." Title of Book. City of Publication:
Publisher, Copyright date.
Example:
Larsen, Andrea. "Computerized Topography." Today's Geography.
New York: Penguin, 1994.
Author (of introduction, preface, etc.). Afterword. Title. By Author of
Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Copyright date.*
(Include page numbers if using Afterword.)
Example:
Jameson, Howard. Afterword. Poems of Love, 1950-1980. By John
Jameson. New York: Delta-Dell, 1987. 234-42.
editor (Ed.), or translator (Trans.), or compiler (Comp.) of book. City of
publication: Publisher, Copyright date. Page number (s).
More, Hannah. "The Black Slave Trade: A Poem." British Women Poets of the
Romantic Era. Ed. Paula R. Feldman. Baltimore: John Hopkins UP, 1997. 472-82.
Author. “ Title of article.” Title of Encyclopedia or Reference Work. edition.
Example:
Tobias, Richard. “Thurber, James.” Encyclopedia Americana. 1980 ed.
‘Title of article.” Title of Encyclopedia or Reference Work. edition.
Example:
“Thurber, James.” Encyclopedia Americana. 1980 ed.
information)
Last name, First name of author of article. “Title of article.” Title of Book. Editor of Book.
Vol. No. (if available). City of Publication: Name of Publisher, Copyright date.
Trainen, Issac N., “Religious Directives in Medical
Ethics.” Encyclopedia
Of Bioethics. Ed. Warren T. Reich. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 1978.
Citing a Multivolume Work -- If you are using only one volume of a multivolume work
state the number of the volume used; if you are using two or more volumes of a multi-volume work, cite the total number of volumes in the entire work. If you are just using one article in the multi-volume work, see the citation for "citing an article in a multi-volume work".
Last name, first name of editor, ed. Title of Book. Total number of volumes in set or the volume used.
City of Publication: Name of Publisher, Copyright Date.
Example:
Sadie, Stanley, ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 20 vols. London:
Macmillan, 1980.
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Oxford Sherlock Holmes. Ed. Owen Dudley Edwards. Vol. 8.
New York: Oxford UP, 1993.
Last name, first name of author of article. "Title of article." Title of Book. Editor. Volume used. City of
Publication: Publisher, Date of publication. Total number of volumes in the series.
Example:
Holladay, Hal. "Crazy Horse". Great Lives From History: America Series. Ed. Frank N. Magill. Vol. 2. Pasadena:
Salem, 1987. 5 vols.
Last name, First name of author. “Title of article.” Title of magazine Month
Year: Page numbers.
Jacobs, Jane. “The Dynamic of Decline.” Atlantic April 1984: 98-114.
Last name, First name of author. “Title of article.” Title of Periodical Day Month
Year: page numbers.
Arlen, Michael J. “Onward
and Upward with the Arts: Thirty
Seconds.” The New
Yorker 15 Oct. 1979: 145- 146.
Last name of author, first name. "Title of article." Name of newspaper Day, Month,
Year of Publication, Edition (if available): page number(s).
Example:
Chang, Kenneth. "The Melting of Antarctica." New York Times 2 Apr. 2002,
late ed.: F1+.
Author's last name, first name. "Title of the Article." Journal Title Volume number.
Issue number (the year of publication): page numbers of article used.
Example:
Mann, Susan. "Myths of Asian Womanhood." Journal of Asian Studies 59 (2000):
835-62.
Albada, Kelly F. "The Public and Private Dialogue about the American Family on
Television." Journal of Communication 50.4 (2001): 79-110.
Last name, First name of author. “Title of Chapter.” Title of Book. Editors o f book. City of
Publication: Publisher, Copyright. Pages.
Glantz, Leonard H. “A Nation of Suspects: Drug Testing and the Fourth Amendment.”
Taking Sides: Clashing Views on
Controversial Issues in Drugs and Society.
Ed. Raymond Goldberg. Guilford : Dushkin, 1996. 40-44.
“Title of Chapter.” Title of Book. Editors of book. City of Publication: Publisher, Copyright.
Pages.
Example:
“Do Drug Tests Invade Your Privacy?” Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial
Issues in Drugs and Society. Ed. Raymond Goldberg. Guilford : Dushkin,
1996. 52-55.
Last name, First name of author. “Title of article.” Title of Magazine
Date of magazine article. Title of SIRS volume. Name of editor (if any). Volume number.
City of publication. SIRS. Article number.
Church, George J. "A Two-Bit Conspiracy." Time 21 Aug. 1995: 22-26.
Crime. Ed. Eleanor Goldstein. Vol 5. Boca Raton: SIRS, 1996. Art. 45.
.
Last name of author, first name of author. "Title of Reprinted Essay." Work in
which Essay First Appeared. Date of Publication: Page number. Rpt in
Title of Work. City of Publication: Publisher, Copyright Date. Vol.
Number: Page numbers.
Example:
Updike, John. "No Use Talking." The New Republic. 13 August 1962: 23-4.
Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Detroit: Gale, 1982.
1: 7-12.
Note: If there is not an author, skip it and begin in title of essay.
"Title of Essay." Title of Book. Editor. Vol. No. City of Publication: Publisher,
Copyright Date. Page (s).
Example
“D.H. Lawrence.” Short Story Criticism. Ed. Joseph Parry. Vol. 2. Detroit:
Gale, 1990. 194-5.
Last name of author, first name of author. Title of book. Series name and the series number.
City of publication: Publisher, Copyright Date.
Examples:
Christopher, Joe R. C. S. Lewis. Twayne's English Authors Series 442. Boston:
Twayne Publishers, 1987.
Title of film. Screenplay by (name). Director (name). Actors/Actresses.
Motion Picture Co., Copyright date.
The Grapes of Wrath. Screenplay by Nunelly Johnson. Dir. John Ford. Perf.
John Carradine, Jane Darwell, and Henry Fonda. Twentieth Century
Fox, 1940.
Artist. Title of work. Place work is displayed.
Catlin, George. Four Bears, Second Chief, in Full Dress. National Museum of Art,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington.
“Episode name.” Author of episode. Series or program name. Director. Network.
Local station. City. Date program aired.
“A Desert Blooming.” Writ. Marshall Rigan. Living Wild. Dir. Harry L.
Gordon. PBS. WTTW. Chicago. 20 April 1984.
Composer. Title.
Chopin, Frederic. Waltz in A-flat major, op. 42.
Composer. “Title of song.” Title of album. Type of recording. Company, copyright.
Guthrie, Woody. “Do-Re-Me.” Dust Bowl Ballads. Compact disc. Rounder, 1988.
Citing from a Map or Chart
Title of Item. Format. Place of Publication: Publisher, Copyright.
Example:
A Map History of Modern China. Map. London: Heinemann
Educational, 1976.
Electronic MLA Citation Methods
Entries for electronic sources include five types of information (when available):
(1) author name, (2) title, (3) information about print publication, (4) information about electronic publication, and (5) access information.
MLA Handbook
for writers of Research Paper, 6th Edition. By Joseph Gibaldi
Citing a Document from an Internet website: (Web Page)
Author’s last name, first name of the web page. (If no author, skip it.) “Web Page or Article Title.”
Website Title. Editor of site if given. Date of the last update, if given,
usually at bottom of page. The name of any organization sponsoring
the site (if any). Date of access <Network address>.
Example:
"Career: Teacher." The Princeton Review." 2006. 21 Jan. 2008 <http://www.princetonreview.com/
cte/search>.
"Death Marches." Jewish Virtual Library. 2005. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise.
01 Jan. 2008 <http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/marches.html>.
Citing an Article in an Online Periodical: Magazine, Newspaper or Scholarly
Journal from the Internet
Author's last name, first name of author of article. (if given). "Title of Article." Name of Periodical
Date of Publication: page number(s). Date of access <Network address>.
Examples:
Online Newspaper:
O'Neil, John and Maria Newman. "Brown Asserts He Alerted White House Quickly
on Katrina." New York Times on the Web 10 Feb. 2006. 10 Feb. 2006
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/10/national/nationalspecial/>.
Online Magazine:
Levy, Steven. "Great Minds, Great Ideas." Newsweek 27 May 2002. 10 Feb. 2006
<http://www.msnbc.com/news/754336.asp>.
Online Scholarly Journal: If scholarly journal put Vol. Number and Issue Number followed
by publication date in parentheses followed by date of access and network address:
Dane, Gabrielle. "Reading Ophelia's Madness." Exemplaria 10.2 (1998). 22 June
2002 <http://web.english.ufl.edu/english/exemplaria/danefram.htm>.
Citing an Encyclopedia article from Grolier Online: (Online Subscription Database)
Author’s last name, first name of author of article. “Title of the encyclopedia article.” Name of the database.
Date of electronic publication (bottom of page). Name of the company providing the service.
Name of library subscribing to the service, City, State. Date of access <Network address>.
Example: Article with Author (If no author, begin with “Title of article.”)
Rossell, Seymour. “Holocaust.” Encyclopedia Americana. 2007. Grolier Online.
Brentwood High School Library, Brentwood, TN. 05 Feb. 2008
<http://ea.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=0204300-00>.
Citing a Reference article from an Online Subscription Database:
Author’s last name, first name of author of article. “Title of Article.” Original source. Date of original source.
Name of database. Name of the company providing the service. Name of library
subscribing to the service, City, State. Date of access <Network address>.
Example:
Fox., James Alan. "Both Prevention Programs and Punishment Are Needed to Control
Juvenile Crime.” Crime. 1998. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Thomson
Gale. Brentwood High School Library, Brentwood, TN. 07 Feb. 2007
<http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/OVRC>.
“Grisham, John (1955- ).” Helicon Encyclopedia of Literature. 2003.
Learning Literature. Proquest. Brentwood High School Library, Brentwood, TN.
07 Feb. 2007 <http://literature.proquestlearning.com>.
Citing an Article in an Online Periodical: Magazine, Newspaper, or Scholarly
Journal from an Online Subscription Database
i.e. GaleNet, Proquest, Infotrac, etc.
( Note: If no author, begin with article title.)
Author’s last name, first name of author of article (if given). “Title of Article.” Name of Periodical
Date of Publication: page number(s). Name of database. Name of the company providing the service.
Name of library subscribing to the service, City, State. Date of access <Network address>.
Example:
Lite, Allyn. “Another Attempt to Heal the Wounds of Holocaust.” Human Rights
01 Apr. 2000: 12. ELibrary. Proquest. Brentwood High School Library, Brentwood,
TN. 25 Jan. 2008 <http://elibrary.bigchalk.com>.
Video clips from United Streaming:
Author’s last name, first name. (If available). Title. Publisher of video clip.
Copyright Date. Name of database. Name of library and place. Date of access
<Network address>.
Example:
All about the Enlightenment: the Age of Reason. United Learning. 2004.
United Streaming. Brentwood High School Library, Brentwood,
TN.18 Feb. 2005 <http://www.unitedstreaming.com> .
“Lincoln, Abraham.” Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 1998 ed. CD-ROM.
Danbury: Grolier Interactive.
(Note: document is not correctly justified when printed)
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