MLA Citation Guide Information

Please note: This guide provides only the most common kind of references. For all reference examples, please consult the latest edition of MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers located at the Reference Desk. Choose one example that is most like your source and follow the format.

Suggestion: When in doubt, provide more information rather than less. Also, punctuation is an important component of the style. Pay close attention to the punctuation in each example. Click here to get a PDF copy of citation examples

BOOK/eBOOK

Format: (Print)
Author's Last name, First name. Title of Book.
       Publisher, publication year.
Example: 
Townsend, Robert. The Medieval Village Economy.
       Princeton University Press, 1993.
In-Text:
(Townsend 158)

Format: (eBook)
Author's Last name, First name. Title of Book.
       Publisher, publication year. Name of the
       database, URL.
Example:
Pettegree, Andrew. The Invention of News: How
     the World Came to Know about Itself. Yale
     University Press, 2014. eBook Academic
    Collection (EBSCOhost), raweb.njcu.edu:2048/
    login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
    direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=692353&site=ehost-live.
In-Text:
(Pettegree 168)

ENTRY IN AN ENCYCLOPEDIA

Format:
Author's Last name, First name. "Title of the Entry.
     " Title of the Encyclopedia. Edition, Year.
Example 1: (one author)
Bergmann, Peter. "Relativity." The New Encyclopaedia
     Britannica. 17th ed., 1993.
In-Text:
(Bergmann 125)
Example 2: (no author)
"Imago." World Book Encyclopedia. 2000.
Note: If an entry has no author, place the title of the entry in the author position. Do not cite the editor of the encyclopedia
In-Text:
("Imago")

WORK IN AN ANTHOLOGY

Format:
Author's Last name, First name. "Title of the Essay."
    (or Title of the Play) Title of the Anthology, edited
    by Editor's Name(s), Publisher, Year, Page range
    of entry.
Example 1:( a work in an anthology)
More, Hannah. "The Black Slave Trade: A Poem."
     British Women Poets of the Romantic Era, edited
     by Paula R. Feldman, Johns Hopkins UP,1997,
     472-82.
In-Text:
More 472-82)
Example 2: (a play)
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Black
     Theater: A Twentieth-Century Collection of the
     Work of Its Best Playwrights, edited by Lindsay
     Patterson, Dodd, 1971, 221-76.
In-Text:
(Hansberry 221-76)

JOURNAL ARTICLE IN PRINT

Format: (Scholarly journal)
Author's Last name, First name. "Title of Article."
     Title of the Journal, volume #, issue #, year,
      pages.
Example 1:
Martinez-Pons, Marie. "Parental Influences on
     Children's Academic Self-Regulatory
     Development." Theory Into Practice
     41.2 (2002): 126-32. Print.
In-Text:
​​​​​​​Martinez-Pons 128-29)

Format: (Magazine)
Author's Last name, First name. "Title of Article."
     Title of the Journal, Day Month Year, pages.
Example 2:
Nehta, Pratap Bhanu. "Exploding Myths." New
     Republic, 6 June 1998, pp. 17-9.
Note: Abbreviate all months except May, June and July.
In-Text:
(Nehta 17)

JOURNAL ARTICLE RETRIEVED FROM LIBRARY DATABASES

Format:
Author's Last name, First name. "Title of Article."
     Title of the Journal, volume, issue, year, pages.
     Title of the Database, doi:xxxxxxxxxx.
     Day month year accessed (optional).
Example 1 (Article with a DOI) :
Correa, Teresa. “Acquiring a New Technology at
     Home: A Parent-Child Study about Youths’ Influence
     on Digital Media Adoption in a Family.” Journal of
     Broadcasting & Electronic Media, vol. 60, no. 1,
     Mar. 2016, pp. 123-39. EBSCOhost, doi:
     10.1080/08838151.2015.1127238. Accessed
     28 Mar. 2017.
In-Text:
(Correa 123-39)
Example 2 (Article without a DOI) :
Martinez-Pons, Marie. "Parental Influences on Children's
     Academic Self-Regulatory Development." Theory Into
     Practice, vol. 41, no. 2, 2002,pp. 126-32. EBSCOhost, 
     search.ebscohost.com.  
In-Text:
(Martinez-Pons 221-76)

WEBSITE

The vast variety and inconsistency of web sites can present challenges for creating accurate references. The following are two basic formats for citing web site information.
Format: (Citing an entire Web Site)
Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Title of Site.
     Version, Sponsor or publisher, date of creation (if
     available), URL. Date of access (if applicable).
Example 1:
Bartleby.com : Great Books Online. Bartleby.com Inc.,
     2009. Accessed 28 Mar. 2017.
In-Text:
(Bartleby)

Format: (Citing a work from a web site)
Last name, First name of author (if given). "Title of
     Work." Title of Web Site Version, Sponsor or publisher,
     date of creation (if available), URL. Date of
     access (if applicable).
Example 2:
Elliott, Daphne. "Greek Creation Myths." Encyclopedia
     Mythica. Encyclopedia Mythica, 2009, 
     http://www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/
     europe/greek/greek_creation_myths.html.
In-Text:
(Elliott)