MLA 8th Edition

General Format: (followed by the punctuation that should be used)

• Author last name, first name.
• Title of source. (in italics or quotes depending on the source)
• Title of container, (the collection that the source appears in, such as a journal, book, or website—italicized)
• Other contributors, (editors, illustrators, translators, etc.)
• Volume number, (abbreviated vol. #,)
• Issue number, (abbreviated no. #,)
• Publication date, (put here for journals)
• Page range. (abbreviated pp. #-#.)
• Publisher, (only included for book, other print publications, or journal databases—italicize the latter)
• Publication date, (put here for non-journal sources)
• Location. (DOI: or website URL—put period after DOI or URL)

In-Text Citations:
• MLA utilizes parenthetical citations immediately following a direct quote, paraphrase, or summary of
outside information. *See Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing Handout
• The name or title used in the in-text citation, the parenthetical, must correspond to the first information
provided on the Works Cited page.

Examples:
• Direct Quotation: Grahame-Smith states, “Of all the weapons in the world, love is the most dangerous”
(216).
• Paraphrase or Summary: Love is described as a dangerous weapon (Grahame-Smith 216).
• Unknown Author: The Zombies are an on-again, off-again rock band from the United Kingdom that has
been touring since the 1960s (“About The Zombies”).
• Reported in Another Source: In regards to The Zombies’ new album, one label called it “a gloriously
uplifting record” (qtd. in “About The Zombies”).

Works Cited Page:

• Don’t cite sources by their medium of access anymore (e.g., journal, website, book, etc.). Instead, MLA now
employs a universal method for use with any source.
• Alphabetize sources by the first word in each citation (usually the authors’ last names).
• Double space the page like the rest of the paper, and utilize hanging indents with each citation.
• Center the title “Works Cited” on a separate page at the end of a paper; do not special format the title (e.g.,
italicize, bold, underline, etc.).
Examples:
Publisher.
Book:
Author last name, first name, and first
name last name (if two+ authors) Publisher,

Grahame-Smith, Seth, and Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance. Quirk Books,
2009.

Book title.
year.

Website:
year, (access date is not necessary
Publisher, if source has a publication year)
“Article Title.”

“About The Zombies.” The Zombies, The Rocks Management, 2017, www.thezombiesmusic.com/about.

Website Title, URL.

Article in an Online Journal:

Volume
number, day
Author’s last name, “Article Journal Month.
Issue
first name. Title.” Name, year,
number,

Jiang, Yue.“Zombies in Paradise.” Barron’s, vol. 95, no. 8, 23 Feb. 2015, pp. 14-18. ProQuest Central,
www.search.proquest.com/docview/1657544866?accountid=2837.

page range. Journal Title,

DOI (this is like a journal
article’s barcode) or URL.

*Adapted from The Purdue Owl and EasyWriter, fifth edition