- MLA Examples - Print
- MLA Examples - Online and Electronic
- MLA Examples - Images, Video, and Audio
eBooks
Author. Title. Publisher, Publication date. Title of container, URL or location.
Example:
Gikandi, Simon. Ngugi wa Thiong’o. Cambridge UP, 2000. ACLS Humanities E-book, hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.07588.0001.001.
MLA Handbook, 8th ed., pg. 34,
Articles in Scholarly Journals
For articles found in online journals:
Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Journal, volume, number, Date of Publication, URL.
Example:
Levine, Caroline. "Extraordinary Ordinariness: Realism Now and Then." Romanticism and Victorianism on the Net, no. 63, Apr. 2013, id.erudit.org/iderudit/1025618ar.
Articles in Scholarly Journals from Databases
Author. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal, Volume, Number, Date of Publication, Page(s). Database, URL or DOI.
Example:
Goldman, Anne. “Questions of Transport: Reading Primo Levi Reading Dante.” The Georgia Review, vol. 64, no. 1, 2010, pp. 69-88. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41403188.
Lorensen, Jutta. “Between Image and Word, Color, and Time: Jacob Lawrence’s The Migration Series.” African American Review, vol. 40, no. 3, 2006, pp. 571-86. EBSCOHost, search.ebscohost.com/ login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=24093790&site=ehost-live.
Articles in Popular Magazines
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical. Date of Publication, URL.
Example:
Plait, Phil "Climate Change is Partly to Blame for the Mass Extinction of Dinosaurs." Newsweek, 2 6 Jul. 2016, www.newsweek.com/ dinosaur-extinction-climate-change-giant-asteroid-484174.
Newspaper Articles/News Websites
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Newspaper or Website, Publisher, Date of Publication, URL.
Example:
Wade, Nicholas. "Meet Luca, the Ancestor of All Living Things." The New York Times, New York Times, 26 Jul. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/07/26/science/last-universal -ancestor.html? hpw&rref=science&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well- region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0
Kottasova, Ivana. "Amazon to Test Drone Delivery in the UK." CNN.com, Cable News Network, 26 Jul, 2016, money.cnn.com/2016/07/26/ technology/amazon-delivery-drones-uk/index.html? sr= cnnmoneybin072616amazontestdrone0715VODtop
Encyclopedia Entries
"Title of Entry." Title of Reference Source. Publisher, Year, URL.
Author(s). "Title of Entry." Title of Reference Source. Edited by Editor's Name(s), Edition, Volume, Publisher, Year, Page range of entry. Database, URL or DOI.
Example:
Stourzh, Gerald. "Hamilton, Alexander (1755–1804)." Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. Edited by Leonard W. Levy and Kenneth L. Karst, 2nd ed., Vol. 3, Macmillan Reference USA, 2000, pp. 1257-1260. Gale Virtual Reference Library. go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3425001169
A Listserv, Discussion Group, or Blog Posting
Cite web postings as you would a standard web entry. Provide the author of the work, the title of the posting in quotation marks, the web site name in italics, the publisher, and the posting date. Follow with the date of access. Include screen names as author names when author name is not known. If both names are known, place the author’s name in brackets.
Editor, screen name, author, or compiler name (if available). “Posting Title.” Name of Site, Version number (if available), Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), posting date, URL. Date of access.
Example:
Salmar1515 [Sal Hernandez]. “Re: Best Strategy: Fenced Pastures vs. Max Number of Rooms?” BoardGameGeek, 29 Sept. 2008, boardgamegeek.com/thread/ 343929/best-strategy-fenced- pastures-vs-max-number-rooms . Accessed 5 Apr. 2009.
Speeches, Lectures, or Other Oral Presentations (Including Conference Presentations)
Start with speaker’s name. Then, give the title of the speech (if any) in quotation marks. Follow with the title of the particular conference or meeting and then the name of the organization. Name the venue and its city (if the name of the city is not listed in the venue’s name). Use the descriptor that appropriately expresses the type of presentation (e.g., Address, Lecture, Reading, Keynote Speech, Guest Lecture, Conference Presentation).
Stein, Bob. “Reading and Writing in the Digital Era.” Discovering Digital Dimensions, Computers and Writing Conference, 23 May 2003, Union Club Hotel, West Lafayette, IN. Keynote Address.
What can be omitted in online citations
When a URL is needed, you may omit “http://” or “https://” within the citation.
A publisher’s name may be omitted for the following kinds of publications, either because the publisher need not be given or because there is no publisher.
- A periodical (journal, magazine, newspaper)
- A work published by its author or editor
- A web site whose title is essentially the same as the name of the publisher
- A web site not involved in producing the works it makes available (e.g., a service for users’ content like Wordpress.com or YouTube, an archive like JSTOR or ProQuest). If the contents of the site are organized into a whole, as the contents of YouTube, JSTOR, and ProQuest are, the site is named earlier as a container, but it still does not qualify as a publisher of the source.
Creating a Works Cited Page
In MLA style your bibliography should be called Works Cited.
A hanging indent should be used for each citation.
Within your Works Cited list, your references should be in alphabetical order based on the author's last name. If there is no author listed, use the title of the source.
Works Cited Examples
- Books
- Work in an Anthology or a Compilation
- Articles in Scholarly Journals
- Articles in Popular Magazines
- Newspaper Articles
- Encyclopedia Entries
- Government Documents
Websites
Entire Website:
A publisher may be omitted when the Website title is essentially the same as the name of the publisher.
Author, editor, or compiler name (if available). Name of Website. Publisher, Year of publication. URL.
Example:
Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible. Folger Shakespeare Library/ Bodleian Libraries, U of Oxford / Harry Ransom Center, U of Texas, Austin, manifoldgreatness.org.
Post or article on a website:
Author, editor, or compiler name (if available). "Title of post." Name of Website, Publisher, date of resource creation (if available), URL.
Example:
Clancy, Kate. “Defensive Scholarly Writing and Science Communication.” Context and Variation, Scientific American Blogs, 24 Apr. 2013, blogs.scientificamerican.com/context-and-variation/ 2013/04/24/defensive-scholarly-writing-and-science-communication/.
Hollmichel, Stefanie. “The Reading Brain: Differences between Digital and Print.” So Many Books, 25 Apr. 2013, somanybooksblog.com/2013/04/25/the- reading-brain -differences-between-digital-and-print/.
MLA Handbook, 8th ed., pg.28 and 41-42
Twitter and other Social Media
Pseudonyms, including online user names, are generally listed like regular author names.
Tweet:
Name [username]. "Entire text of Tweet." Twitter, Date and Time of Posted Message, URL of message.
Example:
National Geographic [@NatGeo]. "Do cats communicate in different dialects, like humans do? Science is trying to find out." Twitter, 24 Jul. 2016, 4:43 p.m., twitter.com/NatGeo/status/757360481401208832.
TikTok:
Name [username]. "Video description and hashtags." TikTok, Year, URL of message.
Example:
Lilly [@uvisaa]. "[I]f u like dark academia there's a good chance you've seen my tumblr #darkacademia." TikTok, 2020. www.tiktok.com/@uvisaa/video/6815708894900391173.
Instagram:
Name. Description of image or video. Instagram, Date, URL of post.
Example:
Thomas, Angie. Photo of The Hate U Give cover. Instagram, 4 Dec. 2018, www.instagram.com/p/Bq_PaXKgqPw/.
MLA Handbook 9th Ed., pg. 326-327.
