Module 2: MLA Citation Style

MLA Citation Style

Different disciplines (research subject areas) use different citation styles. It is important to use the citation style for the discipline you are writing for, so that you're consistent with the norms of that discipline, making it easier for people in that discipline to follow your research trail.

MLA style is most commonly used by researchers in the field of English, so it is a popular choice for college-level English courses. 

MLA style uses brief in-text citations to point to entries in a list of works cited. 

For a more complete guide to MLA style, refer to the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (Links to an external site.)

How to Write a Works Cited Entry

The list of works cited appears at the end of your paper and is appropriately titled Works Cited (centered, without quotation marks or italics, at the top of the page). Entries are ordered alphabetically and formatted with a "hanging indent," where the first line of each entry is flush with the left margin and subsequent lines are indented. Your document software should be able to handle a hanging indent for you.

The MLA style is flexible about the inclusion and ordering of certain information, so there may be cases where there is more than one "correct" format for a citation.

Note: The 7th edition of the MLA Handbook updates several guidelines

• Use italics everywhere in place of underlining, for titles of books, words, etc.
• Give the medium for every source used (e.g., Print, Web, DVD, Lecture, PDF file, E-mail, etc).
• Websites no longer require complete URLs unless the reader is unlikely to be able to locate the source independently (or your instructor requires it).

Common Print Sources

Book by a single author

Cite the author's name; the title (and subtitle) of the book; the city, publisher, and date; and the medium.

Dorbin, Ann E. Saving the Bay: People Working for the Future of the
     Chesapeake. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. Print.

Book by more than one author

List names in the same order as they appear on the title page. Only the first author should be listed last name first. For books with more than three authors you can list all names or give only the first followed by the words "et al" (meaning "and others").

Lippson, Alice J., and Robert L. Lippson. Life in the Chesapeake Bay.
     3rd ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. Print. 

Scholarly journal article

Cite the author's name and the title of the article, followed by the publication information: journal title, volume number, issue number, year of publication (in parentheses), inclusive page numbers, and medium of publication consulted. Follow the punctuation in the example carefully.

Guo, Xinyu and Arnoldo Valle-Levinson. "Wind Effects on the Lateral
     Structure of Density-Driven Circulation in Chesapeake Bay." Continental
     Shelf Research 28.17 (2008): 2450-2471. Print.

Magazine article

If the magazine is published every month or two, include the month or months and year in the date; if the magazine is published every week or two, give the complete date (e.g., 23 Jan. 2008). Then write a colon, the inclusive page numbers, and the medium of publication consulted. Do not include the volume and issue numbers.

Dybas, Cheryl Lyn. "Requiem for the Chesapeake." Wildlife Conservation
     Mar. 2005: 26-31. Print.

Newspaper article

Give the full name of the newspaper but omit introductory articles (e.g., New York Times, not The New York Times). Abbreviate the names of all months except May, June, and July. Indicate the span of pages on which the article appears; if it is printed on nonconsecutive pages, use the initial page number and a plus sign (e.g., 6+).

Morse, Gordon C. "Blather Won't Bring Back the Bay." Washington Post
     13 July 2003: B8. Print.

Newspaper article with no author

If the author is unknown, begin with the title. If the work is an editorial, write the word "Editorial" after the title.

"Chesapeake Bay Left Up a Creek." Editorial. Christian Science
     Monitor. 12 Jan. 2009: 8. Print.

Government publication

If you do not know the author of the document, state the name of the government and agency that issued it, followed by the usual publication information. Abbreviations are acceptable as long as the context makes them clear.

United States. Dept. of State. U.S. Climate Action Report — 2002:
     Third National Communication of the United States of America under
     the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
     Washington: GP0, 2002. Print.

Unpublished dissertation

The title should be placed in quotation marks, rather than italicized. Then write the abbreviation "Diss.", the name of the degree-granting university, and the year.

Lucas, Michael Thomas. "Negotiating Public Landscapes: History,
     Archaeology, and the Material Culture of Colonial Chesapeake
     Towns, 1680 to 1720." Diss. U of Maryland, 2009. Print. 

Common Electronic Sources

Website with a known author

The 7th edition of the MLA Handbook recommends including the full URL for a website only if the reader is likely to have difficulty finding the source without it (or when your instructor requires it).

A nonperiodical publication on the Web usually contains the following: name of the author; title of the work (italicized if the work is independent or in quotation marks if it's part of a larger work); the title of the overall website; the publisher or sponsor of the site (write "N.p." if none is available); the date of publication (write "n.d." if none is available); the medium of publication; and the date of access.

Willingham, Val. "The dish on fish and mercury: How healthy is your catch?" 
     CNN.com. Cable News Network, 20 Aug. 2009. Web. 27 Aug. 2009.

Website by an unknown author

If no author name is available, begin your entry with the name of the website (note that the general principle is the same for print or electronic sources without author names).

Remember that literally anyone can publish information on the Web. It is up to you to evaluate your sources for credibility. Refer to the guide Evaluating Web Sites (Links to an external site.) for assistance.

"Annapolis, Maryland." Map. Google Maps. Google, 29 Aug. 2009. Web.
     29 Aug. 2009.

"What We Do." Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Chesapeake Bay Foundation, n.d.
     Web. 27 Aug. 2009.

E-book

Use the same citation format as for a print book and then include, as applicable, the name of the website, the medium and date of access. If there are no page numbers use "N. pag." after the publication information.

Welch, Kathleen E. Electric Rhetoric: Classical Rhetoric, Oralism, and a
     New Literacy. Cambridge: MIT, 1999. netLibrary. Web. 21 Oct. 2004.

Blog, listserv or other online communities

Cite an online community in much the same way you would a web site.

Editor, screen name or author name (if available). Posting
     title. Name of site. Version number (if available).
     Publisher/Name of institution or organization, Date of
     publication. Medium of publication (Web). Date of access.

Eney, Lindsay. What Habitats are Found in the Chesapeake Bay
     Watershed. Bay Blog: Chesapeake Bay Program. Chesapeake Bay
     Program. 27, Aug. 2010.  Web. 23 Sept. 2010.

Online database article

Follow the recommendations for citing articles in print, omitting the original medium of publication ("Print"). If pagination is not available, write "n. pag." Conclude with the title of the database (italicized), the medium of publication consulted, and the date of access.

Note: The 7th edition of the MLA handbook no longer requires the URL for the database (unless your instructor asks for it) or the location from which you accessed it (e.g., the name of the library).

Dybas, Cheryl Lyn. "Requiem for the Chesapeake." Wildlife Conservation
     Mar. 2005: 26-31. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Aug. 2009.

Guo, Xinyu and Arnoldo Valle-Levinson. "Wind Effects on the Lateral
     Structure of Density-Driven Circulation in Chesapeake Bay." Continental
     Shelf Research 28.17 (2008): 2450-2471. Print.

Morse, Gordon C. "Blather Won't Bring Back the Bay." Washington Post
     13 July 2003: B8. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 3 Aug. 2009.

E-mail

Include the name of the writer, the title of the message (from the subject line), a brief description naming the recipient, and the medium of delivery.

O'Malley, Martin. "Re: The Future of the Chesapeake Bay." Message to the
     author. 27 Aug. 2009. E-mail. 

Apps

Rightsholder Last Name, First. Title of app. Computer Software.
     Title of website where app was downloaded. Version number.
     Publisher/Developer, Date available. Web. Date accessed.
     URL to download app.

Gray, Theodore. The Elements: A Visual Exploration. Computer Software.
     Apple App Store. Vers. 1.0.2.1. Touch Press, 2010. 13 Mar. 2012.

Common Multimedia Sources

Interview

For an interview you have conducted, include the name of the person interviewed, the type of interview (e.g., "Personal interview," "Telephone interview"), and the date.

Mote, Dan. Personal interview. 7 Aug. 2009.

Television or radio broadcast

Include the title of the episode or segment (in quotation marks), the name of the program or series (italicized), the name of the network (or call letters and city of the station), broadcast date, and medium.

Additional information (e.g., producer, actors, narrators, etc) may also be included.

"Poisoned Waters." Dir. Rick Young. Frontline. PBS. WGBH, Boston,
     21 Apr. 2009. Television.

Video

Generally include the title, director, distributor, year of release, and medium consulted. Other data that is relevant to your use of the source (e.g., screenwriter, performers) may be included after the title.

Chesapeake Born. Prod. David F. Oyster. National Geographic Society,
      1985. Videocassette.

Seaaroundus. Life in the Chesapeake Bay. YouTube. YouTube. 16 July
      2010. Web. 22 Sept. 2010.

How to Use In-Text Parenthetical Citations

MLA style uses a system of in-text citations to connect the ideas in the paper with their corresponding source in the works cited list. All in-text citations must correspond to an entry in the works cited list. The goal of the in-text citations is to give the reader enough information to be able to quickly located the source in the works cited list. Keep the in-text citations as short and as few as necessary for clarity and accuracy. 

For example, you might have a sentence in your paper that looks like this (note the in-text citation in parentheses):

Editorialists have noted that despite "20 years of political posturing and
photo-ops," there has been no discernable improvement to the bay's water
quality (Morse B8).

And the corresponding Works Cited entry would look like this:

Morse, Gordon C. "Blather Won't Bring Back the Bay." Washington Post 13
     July 2003: B8. Print.

But if you had already mentioned the author's name in your sentence, you could omit that information from the in-text citations, like so:

Gordon Morse from The Washington Post notes that despite "20 years of
     political posturing and photo-ops," there has been no discernable
     improvement to the bay's water quality (B8).

Common parenthetical citations include:

• Basic form. Author's last name followed by a space and a page reference. If the author's name is mentioned in the sentence, the page number alone is required:

  (Smith 139)

• No page numbers available. Use the author's last name alone. If no author's name is available, use the name of the source:

  (Smith)

• No author available. When the author's name is not available, use the name of the source (in italics or quotation marks, as necessary). You can shorten this title to its first few words. For websites, do not include the URL in parenthetical citations:

  ("Chesapeake: Still At Bay")

• More than one source by the same author. In this case, the reader will need further identifying information to differentiate between the sources in the Works Cited page. Use the author's last name followed by a comma and the title of the work before the page reference:

  (Morse, "Blather Won't" B8)

• Two authors with the same last name. Give the last name and first initial (or full name if they have the same first initial):

  (M. Lucas 314)

• Two or three authors. Give the last name of each person listed for two or three authors:

  (Lippson and Lippson 43)

  (Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe 133)

• More than three authors. You may list all names or use the first author's last name followed by the words "et al." What you do in the parenthetical citation should match your Works Cited entry:

  (Smith, et al.)