MLA STYLE CITATION GUIDE

Modern Language Association (MLA) Style is commonly used for academic writing in a wide range of subjects and disciplines, particularly in the arts and humanities. These guidelines are based on the 7th edition of the handbook, 2009. In general:

Most citations include 4 key elements: (1) author's name, (2) title or source, (3) publication information, and (4) format of publication. Italicize titles of larger works, such as books or magazines; use quotation marks for titles within larger works (book chapter, article title, poem). Follow elements with a period and one space. Citations are double-spaced throughout with a hanging indent. Order the Works Cited list alphabetically by the first element in the citation, usually the author. Consult the MLA Handbook (available at the reference desk) or the writing guide at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ for more examples. Try NoodleBib, an online citation composer tool provided by your library (good for creating and organizing Works Cited lists). This guide includes citation examples for:
Print Sources: Books (p1), Encyclopedias (p2), Articles (p3) | Online Sources: Web sites & Databases (p4) Audiovisual and Other Non-Print Sources (p5) | In-Text Notes (p5) | Formatting (p6)

PRINT SOURCES
2B

Anatomy of a Print Book Citation

Below is a citation for a book with a single author, which contains five elements: author, title, publication information, date, and publication medium. Consult the title page and the back of the title page for citation information.
Author, last name first Title, italicized or underlined Edition statement, include if 2nd edition or later

Fishman, Steven. The Copyright Handbook: What Every Writer Needs to Know. 10th ed.
Hanging indent, inch

Berkeley: Nolo, 2008. Print.

Publication medium (format)

Place of publication, followed by colon and one space

Publication date Publisher, often abbreviated

Books
By a single author

Obama, Barack. The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. New York: Crown, 2006. Print.

Two authors

Newman, Janet, and John Clarke. Publics, Politics, and Power: Remaking the Public in Public Services. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2009. Print.

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Books, cont.
Three authors

Huber, Mark W., Craig A. Piercy, and Patrick K. McKeown. Information Systems: Creating Business Value. Hoboken: Wiley, 2008. Print.

More than three authors

Badger, Giles, et al. Wild China: Natural Wonders of the Worlds Most Enigmatic Land. New Haven: Yale UP, 2008. Print.

Unknown author

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7 ed. New York: Mod. Lang. Assn., 2009. Print.

th

Collection produced by an editor

Kearns, Laurel, and Catherine Keller, eds. Ecospirit: Religions and Philosophies for the Earth. New York: Fordham UP, 2007. Print.

Essay or Chapter within a collection or anthology

Sweeney, John J., The New Internationalism. Global Backlash: Citizen Initiatives in a Just World Economy. Ed. Robin Broad. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002. 47-50. Print.

Encyclopedias
4B

A simplified citation is commonly used for well-known general encyclopedias. Include publication information for subject encyclopedias. Include volume or page number(s) only if the articles are not in alphabetical order.
General encyclopedia article Subject encyclopedia article

Marquis, Robert E. Influenza. The World Book Encyclopedia. 2005 ed. Print. Lerner, Joel. "Personal Financial Planning." Encyclopedia of Business and Finance. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2007. Print.

Article in a multivolume work not in alphabetical order Entire reference work

Patterson, Rob. Punk Rock: The Art of Noise. Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History. Vol. 4. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2006. 131-56. Print. 4 vols. Sherrin, Ned, ed. Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005. Print.

Used two or more volumes of a multivolume work

Cheng, Linsun, and Kerry Brown, eds. Berkshire Encyclopedia of China. 5 vols. Great Barrington: Berkshire, 2009. Print.

5B(

Articles
Journal article

White, Rebecca M.B., et al. Cultural and Contextual Influences on Parenting in Mexican American Families. Journal of Marriage and Family 71.1 (2009): 61-79. Print.

Article in a weekly publication

Fox, Justin. Whats a Banker Worth? Time 9 Nov. 2009: 33. Print.

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Articles, cont.
Article in a monthly publication Newspaper article

Levy, Stephen. "Whos Running Twitter?" Wired Nov. 2009: 146-51. Print. Pryne, Eric. Why Investment Giant Jilted Tacoma for Seattle. Seattle Times 10 Sept. 2009: A1+. Print.

Editorial

Winfrey, Carey. "A Final Verdict on the Presidential Salute. Editorial. New York Times 1 Nov. 2009: WK10. Print.

Book or movie review

Pols, Mary. Let the Wild Rumpus Start! Rev. of Where the Wild Things Are, dir. Spike Jonze. Time 26 Oct. 2009: 57-8. Print.

ONLINE SOURCES
Anatomy of an Online Periodical Article Citation
Standard elements for a periodical article are: authors name, article title, periodical name, issue date, and page number(s). For magazine and newspaper citations, include the complete date of publication. For journal citations, include the volume and issue number and the publication year.
Title of the article in Title of the periodical, double quotes italicized or underlined Complete date of publication Database name and starting page number Database publisher

Below is a citation for an online magazine article from a research database.

Author, last name first

Fox, Justin. Kill the 401(k)? Time 15 Dec. 2008: 44+. Proquest Research Library. ProQuest.
Hanging indent, inch

Web. 5 May 2009.

Date of access

Publication medium (format)

Web Sites and Databases

6B

Include author (if named); title of the article or page within the web site (in quotes); name of the web site (italics); publisher or sponsor (if unavailable, use N.p.); document date or date of the last revision (if unavailable, use n.d.); the medium (Web); the date you accessed the site. Include the URL only when the reader cannot locate the source without it or when your instructor requires it. Enclose it in angle brackets following the date of access.
Journal article from a research database

Whitson, Jennifer R., and Kevin D. Haggerty." Identity Theft and the Care of the Virtual Self." Economy & Society 37.4 (2008): 572-94. SocINDEX with Full Text. Ebsco. Web. 11 Nov. 2009.

Magazine article from publishers web site Newspaper article from publishers web site

Harding, Kate. Sure, Its Violent, But Can You Dance To It? Salon. Salon Media Group, 25 Nov. 2009. Web. 30 Nov. 2009. Bernton, Hal, and Justin Mayo. Logging and Landslides: What Went Wrong? Seattle Times. Seattle Times, 13 July 2008. Web. 15 Nov. 2009.

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Web sites and Databases, cont.

Entire web site, no author

A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans & the U.S. Constitution. Smithsonian National Museum of American History, 1990-2001. Web. 16 Aug. 2009.

Page or article within a web site, no publisher or sponsor, no date Video Audio Interview

Pasold, Lisa. "Paris Architecture Explained." Paris Notes. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 June 2009. XPLANE, et al. Did You Know 4.0. YouTube. 14 Sept. 2009. Web. 5 Nov. 2009. McLaughlin, Margaret. Rescuing Katrinas Four-Legged Victims. Interview with Terry Gross. Fresh Air. Natl. Public Radio. KPLU, Tacoma. 14 Sept. 2005. Web. 2 Sept. 2009.

Encyclopedia

Language. Encyclopdia Britannica Online. Academic Edition. Encyclopdia Britannica, 2009. Web. 6 June 2009.

Entire online book

Audi, Robert. Moral Value and Human Diversity. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2007. NetLibrary. Web. 30 Sept. 2009.

Part of an online book

De Maupassant, Guy. The Necklace. The Short Story. Ed. Brander Matthews. New York: American Book Co., 1907. Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Web. 29 July 2009.

Essay from a research database

Joyner, James. Affordable Organic Food Is Not Sustainable. Current Controversies: Food. Ed. Jan Grover. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 6 July 2009.

Blog post

Owens, Simon. What Newspaper Cartoonists Can Learn from Web Comics. MediaShift. PBS, 30 Sept. 2009. Web. 11 Nov. 2009.

Personal web page Federal government publication

Belinoff, Deanne. Deanne Belinoff: visual artist. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2009. United States. Dept of Justice. Dept. of Community Oriented Policing Services. Community Policing: Looking to Tomorrow. By Drew Diamond and Deirdre Mead Weiss. 2009. National Criminal Justice Reference Service. Web. 17 Nov. 2009.

Art work

Kahlo, Frida. Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair. 1940. Museum of Mod. Art, New York. Web. 28 Apr. 2009.

Map

Afghanistan-Pakistan Administrative Divisions. Map. Perry Castenada Library Map Collection. Univ. of Texas, 2008. Web. 10 Nov. 2009.

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AUDIOVISUAL & OTHER NON-PRINT SOURCES

In general, citations for AV materials should include composer, performer, or director (if available), title, manufacturer or distributor, date (if unknown use n.d.), and medium. Other elements vary depending on the type of material, so refer to the MLA Handbook.
Film (VHS or DVD)

What the Bleep Do We (K)now!? Dir. Morgan Spurlock. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2004. DVD.

Television program

The Medicated Child. Prod. Marcela Gaviria. Frontline. PBS. KCTS, Seattle. 8 Jan. 2008. Television.

Music recording (song from a CD) Personal Interview

Jackson, Michael. Beat It. Thriller. Epic, 2001. CD. Gates, Bill. Personal Interview. 17 Oct. 2009.

IN-TEXT NOTES
The author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or idea is taken must appear in the text. The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase. If there is no author to cite, use an abbreviated version of the work's title as listed in the entry on the Works Cited page. Show page number(s) in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. If there are no page numbers, as is the case with many web sources, no number can be listed in the parenthetical reference.

For the following citation:

Wordsworth, William. The Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1932.
Paraphrase

Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263). Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263). Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263). An anonymous Wordsworth critic once argued that his poems were too emotional ("Wordsworth Is A Loser" 100). With research showing varying results, it is difficult to predict the extent to which the cochlear implant will make a significant difference for deaf children. (Christiansen & Leigh 318). Ravitch argues that high schools are pressured to act as "social service centers, and they don't do that well" (qtd. in Weisman 259).

Quote 1

Quote 2

No author

Two authors

Indirect quote

All examples from: OWL Online Writing Lab <http://owl.english.purdue.edu>. See the MLA Handbook for more examples.

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FORMATTING CITATIONS in MICROSOFT WORD

To format hanging indentation 1. 2. 3. Highlight the entire citation, then right click and select Paragraph. Choose the Indents and Spacing tab. In the Indentation section, find the Special list, and select Hanging. In the By box, set the amount of space for the hanging indent (.5 is the default, and appropriate here).

To turn off automatic underlining for Web addresses 1. 2. 3. 4. Click the Microsoft Office Button Click Proofing. Click AutoCorrect Options, and then click the AutoFormat As You Type tab. Clear the Internet and network paths with hyperlinks check box. , and then click Word Options.

NOTES

Last updated Fall2009, Seattle Central Community College Library Web: seattlecentral.edu/library | Phone: 206.587.5421 Page 6 of 6