Referencing Guide : The MLA (Modern
Language Association) Style
Prepared by J Harper, Templeman Library
Introduction
The MLA style is used in the Humanities, and particularly these disciplines:
English, Literature, Linguistics, and Modern languages.
It is an “author-date” system whereby you insert the reference as a
parenthetical author name followed by a page reference within the text of your
document, e.g.
A clear correlation can be established between gender and madness in the novels of
Charles Dickens (Camus 172).
This is called a “citation”, and the format of the in-text citation can vary (see
the guidance on in-text references, below).
A list of all the references you have used is compiled at the end of the
document and arranged in alphabetical order. This list is sometimes called
“works cited”, a “reference list”, or a “bibliography”. The references in this list
are carefully formatted according to the type of source material. See the
guidance on “List of works cited” for examples.
Your list of references should only include material that you have directly cited
in your text.
This document will give you basic guidelines on how to reference material
according to the MLA style. For full guidance, please consult the MLA Style
Manual – shelved in the Library at Z253.
Many of the examples given in this document have been reproduced from that
same text.
Quoting in the body of your text:
The source of quotations within your text must always be clearly identified
using an in-text citation (so the reader can identify the source of the quote
from the bibliography), and a page reference if appropriate.
Direct quotations in the body of your text should not exceed four lines, and
must be enclosed within “inverted commas”. E.g.
… the company manager in Heart of Darkness is described thus, “He was obeyed,
yet he inspired neither love nor fear, nor even respect” (Conrad 72).
1
Longer quotations should be set into the body of your document, as a
separate paragraph indented 10 spaces. E.g.
At the conclusion of the Lord of the Flies, Ralph and the other boys realize the horror
of their actions:
The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them for
the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to
wrench his whole body. His voice rose under the black smoke before the
burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little
boys began to shake and sob too. (Golding 186)
In-text references (citations):
Citations are shortened references to the material you are citing. They follow
a particular format.
Clear citations should be made in the body of your text (or footnotes, if you
use them) every time you quote another author, or make reference to their
work, or a source you are using. Refer to the table below for guidance.
Single author (treat
corporate authors the same)
Insert the author’s surname followed by a page
reference (both inside parentheses)
. . . as seen in the characterisation of Raskolnikov
(Dostoyevsky 136).
Two or three authors
Separate author names with a comma, precede last
author name with “and” thus:
. . . identified in the canon of Sartre’s work (Austin,
Rees and Vinaver 103).
4 or more authors
Use first author’s surname and the abbreviation “et
al.” thus:
. . . the subtle distinctions between nineteenth
century French and English high culture (Harkness et
al. 32).
Different works published by
the same author
To distinguish each work referred to in your
bibliography, insert the author’s surname inside
parentheses, followed by a comma, then a shortened
version of the title (underlined), and the page
number:
. . . the complex relationship between Prince
Myshkin and Yelizaveta (Dostoyevsky, Idiot 258).
Any elements already given in the text (e.g. author’s
name, or title), may be omitted from the parentheses.
2
Works published by authors
with the same surname
Use the first initial to distinguish between authors in
your bibliography,
Author’s name already
given in text
. . . comments on literary criticism (J. Smith 45),
echoed by others (T. Smith 174).
Include just the page reference (and volume number,
if applicable) inside parentheses:
. . . an essay by Fenk Oczion puts forward an
entirely different view (283).
Referring to a whole work in
the text
Include the author’s name, and title (underlined), and
a page reference inside parentheses (if appropriate):
. . . Benjamin Franklin states in his Autobiography
that he prepared a list of thirteen virtues (135-37).
References to multiple
works within the same
citation
Cite as normal, and use semi-colons to separate the
individual citations within the parentheses:
. . . a series of recent critical essays (Camus 213;
Davis 87; Sadrin 46), study the tensions
between . . .
Citing part of a multi-volume
work
Include the volume number, after the author’s
surname, and the page reference following a colon):
. . . (Conway 2: 77).
Author cited in another work
(secondary citation)
Try to avoid this where possible, it is not good
practice to cite material that you have not directly
read yourself. You should always try to find the
original publication.
Where unavoidable, refer to the original author, but
make it clear that the source of your information is
another author and publication, e.g.
. . . Samuel Johnson admitted that Edmund Burke
was an “extraordinary man” (qtd. in Boswell 2: 450)
No author
(where Johnson is the original source, and Boswell is
the work it is taken from)
Use title in place of author name:
. . . accepted definition given (Collins GermanEnglish Dictionary 355).
3
List of works cited:
Sometimes referred to as a “bibliography” or “reference list”, this should
include references for every work cited in your document. The references
must be arranged alphabetically by author, with multiple works by the same
author then arranged by the title in alphabetical order (see the sample
bibliography at the end of the document).
Any additional readings (works not cited in the text of your document), should
not normally be included. If they are, they should come last of all, and under
a separate heading (such as “Works Consulted” or “Selected Bibliography”).
Different materials are referenced in different ways. See the table below for
guidance on the correct format each type of reference should take.
Punctuation conventions (placement of commas, full stops and colons) should
be followed, as given in the sample references below.
4
Authored books
Start with the first author’s surname, followed by their full first
name (where known) and subsequent initials. Then the title in
headline uppercase (underlined), the place of publication,
publisher and year of publication.
Each reference should have a hanging indent of 10 spaces.
Single Author
Davis, Paul B. The Penguin Dickens Companion : The
Essential Reference to His Life and Work. London:
Penguin, 1999.
Multiple author
Separate succeeding authors with a comma, reverse the order
of their names to start with firstname initial. surname and
precede the final author’s name with “and”:
Brooker, Peter, and Peter Widdowson. A Practical Reader in
Contemporary Literary Theory. Hemel Hempstead:
Prentice Hall, 1996.
Chalmers, Denise, John Smith, and Richard Fuller. Teaching
for Learning at University : Theory and Practice.
Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Series.
London: Kogan Page, 1996.
Four or more
authors
Enter the first author’s name, and abbreviate the rest, following
the comma, to “et al.”
Wheelwright, Philip, et al. The Language of Poetry. Mesures
Series in Literary Criticism. Ed. Allan Tate. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1942.
Corporate Author
American Council of Learned Societies. Teaching the
Humanities: Essays from the ACLS Elementary and
Secondary Schools Teacher Curriculum Development
Project. New York: ACLS, 1994.
5
Anonymous work
Omit the author name (do not replace with “Anonymous” or
“Anon.”), and start the reference with the title:
The Epic of Gilgamesh: An English Version. Trans. N.K.
Sanders. Penguin Classics. Rev. ed. London: Penguin,
1972.
Translation
The reference will arranged alphabetically in the bibliography
by title. Ignore leading articles such as A, An, The, etc. and
place in alphabetical sequence according to the first major
word in the title (for the example above, this would be under e
for “Epic”)
Include translator details after the title:
Zink, Michel. Litterature Francaise. English Medieval French
Literature : An Introduction. Trans. Jeff Rider. Medieval
& Renaissance Texts & Studies. Vol. 19. 110 vols.
Binghamton, N.Y.: Pegasus, 1995.
For a work translated and edited by the same person, state
their role in the order given on the title page of the book, e.g.
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Notes from Underground : An
Authoritative Translation, Backgrounds and Sources,
Responses, Criticism Fyodor Dostoevsky. Trans. and
ed. Michael R. Katz. Norton Critical Editions. New York;
London: Norton, 2000.
Different translator and editor details:
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Prestuplenie I Nakazanie [Crime and
Punishment]. Trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa
Volokhonsky. Ed. W.J. Leatherbarrow. London: David
Campbell, 1993.
6
Volume
Give the volume number in the reference as follows:
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Oxford Sherlock Holmes. Ed. Owen
Dudley Edwards. Vol. 8. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1993.
Although not required, you may include the total number of
volumes in the series after the reference:
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Oxford Sherlock Holmes. Ed. Owen
Dudley Edwards. Vol. 8. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1993. 9 vols.
If using two or more volumes from a multivolume work with the
same title, just cite the total number of volumes in the work:
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Oxford Sherlock Holmes. Ed. Owen
Dudley Edwards. 9 vols. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1993.
If the book has a different title for each volume of the series,
you may list it just under the volume title . . .
Churchill, Winston. The Age of Revolution. New York: Dodd,
1957.
Or reference it fully, by following this with information about the
complete multivolume work:
Churchill, Winston. The Age of Revolution. New York: Dodd,
1957. Vol. 3 of a History of the English-Speaking
Peoples. 4 vols. 1956-58.
Edition
Saintsbury, G. A History of Criticism and Literary Taste in
Europe from the Earliest Texts to the Presentday. 2nd
ed. Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1949.
Volume and
edition
Conway, Jill Ker. Written by Herself. 3rd ed. Vol. 2. New York:
Random, 1996.
7
Series
Include the series title after the book title and any series editor
details. Include any applicable series number. Then include
the publication details:
Dickens, Charles. The Uncommercial Traveller and Other
Papers, 1859-70. Eds. John Drew and Michael Slater.
The Dent Uniform Edition of Dickens' Journalism 4.
London: Dent, 2000.
Electronic book
Enter the full author, title and publication details, followed by
the access date and the URL <inside angle brackets> as
follows:
Cartmell, Deborah. Classics in Film and Fiction. London: Pluto
Press, 2000. 18 Jul. 2006
<http://www.theacademiclibrary.com/login_cat.asp?
filename=0745315933>.
Edited books
The rules are the same as for authored books, but with “ed.” or
“eds.” following the names . . . .
Single editor
Sadrin, Anny, ed. Dickens, Europe and the New Worlds.
Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1999.
Multiple editors
Austin, L. J., G. Rees, and E. Vinaver, eds. Studies in Modern
French Literature. Manchester: Manchester U.P., 1961.
Charlton, Donald Geoffrey, Jean Gaudon, and Anthony Roy
Pugh, eds. Balzac and the Nineteenth Century : Studies
in French Literature Presented to Herbert J. Hunt by
Pupils, Colleagues and Friends. Leicester: Leicester
University Press, 1972.
4 or more editors
Harkness, Nigel, et al., eds. Visions/Revisions: Essays on
Nineteenth-Century French Culture. Vol. 14. Oxford:
Peter Lang, 2003.
8
Volume
Follow the conventions for authored books (above), e.g.
Schutz, A H, ed. A Critical Bibliography of French Literature:
The Sixteenth Century. Vol. 2. New York: Syracuse
U.P., 1956. 3 vols.
Edition
Ditto:
Smith, J H, and E W Parks, eds. The Great Critics: An
Anthology of Literary Criticism. 3rd rev. ed. New York:
Norton, 1951.
Volume and
edition
Electronic edited
book
The layout of the reference is the same as for authored books
Follow the conventions given for authored electronic books
(above). You can include additional series and volume details
as applicable:
Madsen, Deborah L., ed. Post-Colonial Literatures : Expanding
the Canon. Reconfigurations: Critical Readings in Postcolonialism. London ; Sterling, Va.: Pluto Press, 1999.
19 Jul. 2006
<http://www.theacademiclibrary.com/login_cat.asp?
filename=0745315151>.
Reference works
(e.g.
encyclopaedias)
Treat as an edited book, e.g.
Wolfreys, Julian, et al., eds. The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia of
Modern Criticism and Theory. Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press, 2002.
Where no editor is identifiable, treat as an anonymous work,
and begin the reference with the title:
Collins German-English Dictionary. 2nd ed. Stuttgart: Klett,
1993.
9
Chapters within
a book
(anthology)
Enter the details of the chapter author(s), followed by the
chapter title (in “quotation marks”), the chapter translator (if
applicable), the title of the anthology (underlined), then the
anthology editor(s), further translator (if appropriate), place,
publication, and finally page number details.
Single author
Fitz, Earl E. "The Vox Populi in the Novels of Jorge Amado and
John Steinbeck." Jorge Amado: New Critical Essays.
Eds. Keith H. Brower and Earl E. Fitz. New York, NY:
Routledge, 2001. 111-23.
Where there is a quote within the chapter title, open the title
with full inverted commas, and enclose the quote within single
quotation marks:
McPherson, Karin. "'Die Utopischste Aller Utopien' - Language
after Babel - Interpreting Christa Wolf's Storfall." Babel
- the Cultural and Linguistic Barriers between Nations.
Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1989. 163-79.
Where the chapter title includes the title of a work, underline
the title thus:
Garcia Lorenzo, Maria M. "Venus Bound and Unbound in J.
Steinbeck's The Chrysanthemums and in R. Waller's
The Bridges of Madison County." Estudios De La Mujer
En El Ambito De Los Paises De Habla Inglesa, Iii. Eds.
Ana Anton-Pacheco and Josephine Bregazzi. Madrid,
Spain: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 1998. 3752.
10
Multiple author
Follow the same conventions as for authored and edited
books. Apply them to the chapter authors, or the anthology
editors as appropriate:
Ambrose, J, and C.H. Williams. "Language Made Visible Representation in Geolinguistics." Linguistic Minorities,
Society and Territory. Ed. C.H. Williams. Clevedon:
Multilingual Matters, 1991. 298-314.
Huckin, Thomas N., Elizabeth H. Curtin, and Debra Graham.
"Prescriptive Linguistics and Plain English - the Case Of
"Whiz-Deletions". Plain Language - Principles and
Practice. Ed. Elizabeth H. Curtin. Detroit: Wayne State
University Press, 1991. 67-82.
4 or more authors
Ditto…
Sankoff, David, et al. "Montreal French - Language, Class and
Ideology." Language Change and Variation.
Amsterdam. Eds. Henrietta J. Cedergren, et al.
Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of
Linguistic Science. Series IV, Current Issues in
Linguistic Theory. Philadelphia: John Benjamins
Publishing Company, 1989. 107-23.
Translation
Allende, Isabel. "Toad's Mouth." Trans. Margaret Sayers
Peden. A Hammock beneath the Mangoes. Ed.
Thomas Colchie. New York: Plume, 1992. 83-88.
Volume
Volume numbers follow the same conventions as for authored
books (above):
Fenk Oczlon, Gertraud. "Familiarity, Information Flow, and
Linguistic Form." Frequency and the Emergence of
Linguistic Structure. Typological Studies in Language.
Eds. Joan Bybee and Paul Hopper. Vol. 45.
Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing
Company, 2001. 431-48. 50 vols.
11
Edition
Dunning, John H. "The Key Literature on IB Activities, 19602000." The Oxford Handbook of International Business.
3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. 388-401.
Volume and
edition
Electronic chapter
Follows the same format as above, with the edition details
entered before the volume details
Add the access date and the URL <in angled brackets> after
the reference:
Phillips, John. "Masochism and Fetishism: Georges Bataille’s
Histoire De L’oeil." Forbidden fictions : pornography and
censorship in twentieth-century French literature. Ed.
John Phillips: London : Pluto Press, 1999. 11 Aug. 2006
<http://www.theacademiclibrary.com/
login_cat.asp?filename=0745312225
&num=65>.
Poems
Treat entry as a chapter within a book, e.g.
Hughes, Ted. "Epiphany." Birthday Letters. London: Faber,
1998.
12
Entries within a
reference work (e.g. an
encyclopaedia entry)
Treat entry as a chapter within an edited book, e.g.
"Antithesis." The New Princeton Encyclopaedia of
Poetry and Poetics. Eds. Alex Preminger and
T.V.F. Brogan. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton
University Press, 1993. 79.
"Solferino, Battle Of." The New Encyclopedia
Britannica. Ed. Robert McHenry. 15th ed. Vol.
10. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1992. 94445.
Womack, Kenneth. "Ferdinand De Saussure (18571913) and Structural Linguistics." The Edinburgh
Encyclopaedia of Modern Criticism and Theory.
Eds. Julian Wolfreys, et al. Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press, 2002. 70-73.
13
Journal articles
Author name conventions are the same as for other
material types. Enter the author(s) name(s) first,
followed by the title in quotation marks*. Then give the
source details in this format:
journal name volume.issue (year): page references
* Article titles follow the same conventions as chapter
titles (see above) where embedded quotations or titles of
works are concerned
Single author
Gaston, Bruce. "Brecht's Pastiche History Play:
Renaissance Drama and Modernist Theatre in
Leben Eduakds Des Zweiten Von England."
German Life and Letters 56.4 (2003): 342-62.
Where a quote or title appears within the article title,
follow the same conventions as for chapter tiles (see
above):
Dean, Paul. "`Nothing That Is So Is So’: Twelfth Night
and Transubstantiation." Literature and Theology
17.3 (2003): 281-97.
Evans, Jean. "Working with Contexts in Measure for
Measure." English Review 14.3 (2004): 1820.
Multiple authors
The same conventions apply:
Roberts, D., and L. Woodman. "A Corpus Linguistics
Study of the Theatre Review: First Steps."
Studies in Theatre Production.18 (1998): 6-28.
4 or more authors
Sequential page
numbering throughout
volume
Enter the first author’s name, and abbreviate the rest,
following the comma, to “et al.” – as for books (see
above)
Omit the issue number from the reference:
Gaston, Bruce. "Brecht's Pastiche History Play:
Renaissance Drama and Modernist Theatre in
Leben Eduakds Des Zweiten Von England."
German Life and Letters 56 (2003): 342-62.
14
Review article (review of
a book, film, play, etc.)
Reagan, M. "The Beach." Rev. of The beach, by Alex
Garland. Village voice 42 (1997): 56.
Online journal article
Add the access date and URL <in angled brackets> after
the reference:
Atkinson, William. " Mrs. Sheridan's Masterstroke:
Liminality in Katherine Mansfield's the GardenParty." English Studies - a Journal of English
Language and Literature 87.1 (2006): 53-61. 11
Aug. 2006
<http://www.swetswise.com/eAccess/
viewFulltext.do?articleID=26252979>.
Newspaper articles
Start with the reporter name (if available), article title in
“inverted commas”, newspaper title, date and year of
publication, edition or section details, and finally page
reference
Single reporter
Smith, Dinitia. "After Four Centuries, Still Gaining
Devotees." New York Times 22 Apr. 1997: 12.
No author
Articles by multiple reporters follow the same
conventions as books and journal articles (above)
Start with the article title, format the reference the same
after that:
"Elemental, My Dear Turner." Times 12 Nov. 2003: 1213.
15
Later editions and
sections/supplements
Most newspapers have separate sections for business,
sports etc.. These are usually labelled A, B, C, etc. and
form part of the page reference: A2, B6, C17, etc.
Put the edition statement (late edition, evening edition,
national edition, regional edition, etc.) after the year:
Smith, Dinitia. "After Four Centuries, Still Gaining
Devotees." New York Times 22 Apr. 1997, late
ed.: C12.
Rosenberg, Geanne. "Electronic Discovery Proves an
Effective Legal Weapon." New York Times 31
Mar. 1997, natl. ed.: C5.
Sometimes the section does not form part of the page
reference, in this instance, include the details, following
a comma, after any date and edition information, and
before the page numbers
Local city newspapers
Where the newspaper is locally published, put the city
name after the title in square brackets, e.g.:
“Guinness falls flat.” Metro [Dublin] 12 Jul. 2006: B5.
Articles not printed on
consecutive pages
Review article (review of
a book, film, play, etc.)
Where adverts, etc. interrupt the article, put the start
page and a plus (+) sign:
Include the details of the item being reviewed and the
author/director/editor after the article title, using the
following format:
Rev. of xxx, by/dir./ed. xxx
Bond, Matthew, and Jason Solomons. "A Classy Ramble
in the Park." Rev. of Gosford Park, dir. Robert
Altman. Mail on Sunday February 3 2002: 72-73.
Online newspaper article
Include the access date and URL <inside square
brackets> after the reference – as for online journal
articles (above).
16
Magazine
articles
Single author
For magazines published weekly, or bi-weekly, give the full dates, or
date range following the magazine title:
Kaminer, Wendy. "The Last Taboo." New Republic 14 Oct. 1996:
24-26.
Peterson, Thane, and Julia Flynn. "A Beautiful Market for Art."
Business Week 30 Dec. 1996 - 6 Jan. 1997: 148-49.
For magazines published monthly or bi-monthly, give the months
instead:
Perlstein, Rick. "Abridged Too Far." Lingua Franca Apr.-May. 1997:
23-24.
Articles not
printed on
consecutive
pages
Review
article
(review of a
book, film,
play, etc.)
Articles by multiple authors follow the same conventions as books
and journal articles (above)
As for newspapers, where adverts, etc. interrupt the article, put the
start page and a plus (+) sign:
Include the details of the item being reviewed and the
author/director/editor after the article title, using the following format:
Rev. of xxx, by/dir./ed. xxx
Gleick, Elizabeth. "The Burdens of Genius." Rev. of The Last
Samurai, by Helen DeWitt. Time Dec. 2000: 171.
Online
magazine
article
Electronic
sources
Web page,
no author
Include the access date and URL <inside square brackets> after the
reference – as for online journal articles (above).
Include author details, page title (underlined), editor,
edition/version/date, publisher, access date and URL <in angled
brackets>
How do I document sources from the Web in my works-cited list?
12 Apr. 2003. Modern Languages Association. 15 Aug.
2006.
<http://www.mla.org/publications/style/style_faq/style_faq4>.
17
Authored
web page
Schweier, Ulrich, et al. KODEKS, the German Slavistics Server.
Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg. 15 Aug. 2006.
<http://kodeks.uni-bamberg.de/>.
Edited web
page or site
Victorian Women Writers Project. Ed. Perry Willett. May 2000.
Indiana U. 26 June 2002.
<http://www.indiana.edu/~letrs/vwwp/>.
Item from an
online
database or
scholarly
project
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. "Kubla Khan." The Samuel
Taylor Coleridge Archive. Ed. Marjorie A. Tiefert. 5 Oct.
1999. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia. 15 Aug.
2006. <http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/stc/Coleridge/
poems/Kubla_Khan.html>.
Saki. The Chronicles of Clovis. London: John Lane, The
Bodley Head, 1912. Electronic Text Center. University
of Virginia. 15 Aug. 2006. <http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/
toc/modeng/public/SakChro.html>.
For an article from a subscription database, include bibliographic
details of the item, the underlined title of the database (in this case
General Business File ASAP), the publisher, the subscriber details,
access date and URL:
"Rockers Contribute Tracks to Male Cancer Album." World
Entertainment News Network. 26 Jul. 2006. General
Business File ASAP. Gale Infotrac. University of Kent,
Canterbury. 15 Aug. 2006.
<http://web6.infotrac.galegroup.com/>.
18
Conference
proceedings
Enter the editor, conference title - including dates and
location (underlined), place of publication, publisher and
year
Hall, Kira, Michael Meacham, and Richard Shapiro, eds.
Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual Meeting of the
Berkeley Linguistics Society, February 18-20, 1989:
General Session and Parasession on Theoretical
Issues in Language Reconstruction. Berkeley:
Berkeley Linguistics Soc., 1989.
North American Society for Seventeenth-Century French,
Literature. L'esprit en France au XVIIe siecle : actes
du 28e congres annuel de la North American Society
for Seventeenth-Century French Literature. Ed.
Francois Lagarde. The University of Texas at Austin:
Papers on French Seventeenth Century Literature,
1997. Vol. 101.
Conference papers
(articles within
conference
proceedings)
Enter the author, paper title in “inverted commas”,
conference details, editors, and publications details in the
following fashion.
Zink, Michel. "Lyric Voice, Poetic Style: From Troubadours
to Rhétoriqueurs " Literary aspects of courtly culture:
selected papers from the Seventh Triennial
Congress of the International Courtly Literature
Society. University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA,
27 July-1 August 1992. Eds. Donald Maddox and
Sara Sturm-Maddox: Woodbridge, Suffolk;
Rochester, NY: D.S. Brewer, 1994.
For an online paper, add the access date and URL <inside
angled brackets> after the reference – as per online journal
articles.
19
Official
publications
Use the government department or NGO issuing office for the
author, give the title of the report/publication, editor details if
applicable, any report or relevant session number, place of
publication, publisher and year
Audit Commission. Protecting the Public Purse : Ensuring
Financial Probity in Local Government. London: HMSO,
2001.
Department of Health. Health Survey for England : The Health of
Minority Ethnic Groups ’99. Eds. Bob Erens, Paola
Primatesta and Gillian Prior. London: Stationery Office,
2001.
Report of the Secretary General. Rape and Abuse of Women in
the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia. UN Doc
E/CN.4/1994/5. New York: United Nations, 1994.
For official publications downloaded from the web, add the
access date and URL <in angled brackets> at the end of the
reference
Theses
(unpublished)
Enter the author and title details (in “inverted commas” not
underlined), the type of dissertation MA/MSc) or thesis (PhD,
DPhil), awarding university and year.
Whytehead, Helen Louise Alexandra. "Translating Dialect :
Trainspotting; the Novel and the Film." M.A. Diss.
University of Kent, 1999.
Treat published theses as authored books (see above).
20
Audiovisual
media
Film
For downloaded formats, add the access date and URL <in
angled brackets> at the end of the reference
Start with the film title (underlined), any credits (screenwriter,
etc.), director, performer details (if known), distributor, and
year of distribution:
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. Dir. Lourie, Eugene.
Warners, 1953.
It's a Wonderful Life. Dir. Capra, Frank. Perfs. James Stewart,
Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore. RKO, 1946.
Like Water for Chocolate [Como agua para chocolate].
Screenplay by Laura Esquivel. Dir. Arau, Alfonso.
Perfs. Lumi Cavazos, Marco Lombardi and Regina
Torne. Miramax, 1993.
DVD/Video
Start with the DVD/Video title (underlined), any credits
(screenwriter, etc.), director, performer details (if known),
original release year (if a video/DVD of a film), medium
(videocassette, DVD, Betamax, etc.), distributor, and year of
distribution:
Bladerunner - The Director's Cut. Dir. Scott, Ridley. Perf.
Harrison Ford. 1982. VHS Videocassette. Warner,
1996.
Education otherwise : an alternative to school. Dirs. Dalby,
Tim, Cormac Faulkner, and Jon McGregor. VHS
Videocassette. Square Eye Productions in association
with University of Bradford, 1998.
"Summer Holiday." The Young Ones - Every Stoopid Episode
Dirs. Jackson, Paul, and Geoffrey Posner. Perfs.
Adrian Edmondson, Rik Mayall and Nigel Planer.
DVD. BBC Warner, 2002.
21
Sound recordings
Include details of artist, title, any composing, conducting or
performance credits, date of original recording (if relevant),
format (CD, LP, audiocassette, mp3, etc.), publisher and year
Cite a classical recording like this:
Abbado, Claudio, cond. Symphony no. 6 in F, op. 68,
and Symphony no. 8 in F, op. 93. By Ludwig van
Beethovan. Vienna Philharmonic. LP. Deutsche
Grammophon, 1987.
Cite an album like this:
Debussy, Claude. Images, Printemps, Petite suite.
Conds. Ilan Volkov and Pierre-André́ Valade.
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. CD. BBC
Music, 2006.
A song like this:
Holliday, Billie. "God Bless the Child." The Essence of Billie
Holliday. Rec. 9 May 1941. LP. Columbia, 1991.
And a voice recording (e.g. audiobook) like this:
Lewis, C.S. The Chronicles of Narnia. Narrated by
Kenneth Brannagh. Audiocassette.
HarperChildrensAudio, 2004.
For downloaded formats, add the access date and URL <in
angled brackets> at the end of the reference.
22
Microform
(microfiche,
microfilm, etc.)
Include the details of author/reporter, article title in “Inverted
commas”, original source (underlined), date, volume/issue,
year and page details. Follow this with the title of the
microform collection (underlined) the relevant editor, volume
and year, details of format and any grid or reel reference for
the article:
Todd, Margaret. “Prime Challenge for School Helpers.” TES
3 Dec. 1993: 6. Times Educational Supplement Dec.
1993: microfilm.
Shakespeare, William. “The Moor of Venice.” Shakespeare
William – The Works. Ed. Pope, A. Tragedies from
Fable. Vol. 6. London, 1723: 501. Three Centuries of
British Drama: English 1500-1641. Ed. Wells, Henry
W. New York, 1966: microcard.
Chapman, Dan. “panel Could Help Protect children.”
Winston-Salem Journal 14 Jan. 1990: 14. Newsbank:
Welfare and Social Problems 12 (1990): fiche 1, grids
A8-11.
Artworks
(paintings,
drawings, prints,
photographs,
sculpture, etc.)
Enter the artist/sculptor/photographer etc., title of the work
(underlined), year of work (optional), name of institution
(museum, gallery etc.) that houses the work, and city:
Vermeer, Johannes. The Kitchen Maid. 1658. Rijksmuseum,
Amsterdam.
For a reproduced artwork, add the details of the publication it
appears in, and the slide, plate or page number of the
reproduced image. Follow this format:
Vermeer, Johannes. The Kitchen Maid. 1658. Rijksmuseum,
Amsterdam. Vermeer 1632-1675: Veiled Emotions. By
Norbert Schneider. Koln: Benedict Taschen, 1994.
Plate 65.
For downloaded formats, add the access date and URL <in
angled brackets> at the end of the reference.
23
Broadcasts
TV or radio
programme
Similar layout to DVD or video, but include details of the
broadcasting network, and broadcast date:
"Twenty Cigarettes." The Friday Play. By Marcy Kahan. Dir.
Avens, Sally. BBC Radio 4. 18 Aug. 2006.
Up Pompeii. Writ. Talbot Rothwell. Prod. Sydney Lotterby.
Perf. Frankie Howard. 1970. BBC4. 17 Aug. 2006.
Original
manuscript
For downloaded broadcasts, add the access date and URL <in
angled brackets> at the end of the reference
Enter the author, title (underlined, or in inverted commas if a
short essay, poem, etc.), specify whether a manuscript or
typescript (ms. or ts.), and any relevant collection name and
manuscript number. Finally, give the name and location of the
library/institution housing the material.
Somner, William. The Antiquities of Canterbury. : Or a Survey
of That Ancient Citie, with the Suburbs, and Cathedrall.
ms. H/U-6-24. Canterbury Cathedral Library,
Canterbury.
A Propre New Booke of Cokery, Declaryng What Maner of
Meates Bee Best in Ceason for All Tymes of Year.
Crow Collection ts. STC 3365.5. Templeman Library,
University of Kent, Canterbury.
Live
performances
Musical concerts,
plays, the theatre
Give the title of the performance (underlined), any writing,
directing, choreographing or performance credits, location of
the performance, and date:
Hugo, Victor. Les Miserables. Dirs. Trevor Nunn and John
Caird. Adapt. Alain Boublil and James Fenton. Perfs.
John Owen-Jones, Hans Peter Janssens and Jon Lee.
The Queen's Theatre, London, 3 Apr. 2004.
Giselle. By Adolphe Adam. Chor. Jean Coralli and Jules
Perrot. English National Ballet. Gran Teatre del Liceu,
Barcelona, 9 Sept. 2006.
24
Personal
communications
Correspondence
For an unpublished letter in an archive, follow the guidelines
for original manuscripts (above).
For letters printed in a published collection, give the author,
letter title (in “inverted commas”), date, and reference for the
publication:
Woolf, Virginia. "To T.S. Eliot." 28 July 1920. Letter 138 of
The Letters of Virginia Woolf. Ed. Nigel Nicholson
and Joanne Trautmann. Vol. 2. New York: Harcourt,
1976.
For a personal letter, give the author, recipient, and date:
Steinbeck, John. Letter to the author. 18 Aug. 1969.
E-mail
Use the format for a personal letter (above), but specify that
it is an e-mail:
Gates, Bill. "Re: World Domination of the Market." E-mail to
President George W. Bush. 12 Jul. 2001.
Posting to an online
discussion forum
Give the author of the posting, the title (derived from the
“subject” line), date of posting, name of the forum, access
date and URL <inside angled brackets>:
Proctor, Robert. "Call for Papers: History and the Public."
Online posting. 25 Apr. 2005. ARCH-HISTORY
Archives. 18 Aug. 2006
<http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgibin/webadmin?A2=ind0504&L=archhistory&T=0&P=143>.
Sample list of Works Cited:
Begin the list on a new page, and number each page. Order alphabetically.
Use titles where there is no author. Ignore articles (The, An, A, etc.).
Succeeding entries by the same author are indicated by three dashes, rather
than repetition of the author surname.
Each entry should have a hanging indent of five spaces, and the entire list
should be double-spaced.
25
Works Cited
Ambrose, J, and C.H. Williams. "Language Made Visible - Representation in Geolinguistics."
Linguistic Minorities, Society and Territory. Ed. C.H. Williams. Clevedon: Multilingual
Matters, 1991. 298-314.
Atkinson, William. " Mrs. Sheridan's Masterstroke: Liminality in Katherine Mansfield's the
Garden-Party." English Studies - a Journal of English Language and Literature 87.1
(2006): 53-61. 11 Aug. 2006
<http://www.swetswise.com/eAccess/viewFulltext.do?articleID=26252979>.
Austin, L. J., G Rees, and E Vinaver, eds. Studies in Modern French Literature. Manchester:
Manchester U.P., 1961.
Bladerunner - The Director's Cut. Dir. Scott, Ridley. Perf. Harrison Ford. 1982. VHS
Videocassette. Warner, 1996.
Cameron, D. "(De)Racialising Linguistics." Critical Quarterly 41.4 (1999): 52-5.
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. "Kubla Khan." The Samuel Taylor Coleridge Archive. Ed.
Marjorie A. Tiefert. 5 Oct. 1999. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia. 15 Aug.
2006. <http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/stc/Coleridge/poems/Kubla_Khan.html>.
Dean, Paul. ""Nothing That Is So Is So": Twelfth Night and Transubstantiation." Literature and
Theology 17.3 (2003): 281-97.
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamazov : A Novel in Four Parts and an Epilogue.
Trans. and ed. David McDuff. Penguin Classics. London: Penguin, 1993.
26
- - -. Idiot. The Novels of Fëdor Dostoevsky. Ed. Constance Black Garnett. London:
Heinemann, 1913.
- - -. Notes from Underground : An Authoritative Translation, Backgrounds and Sources,
Responses, Criticism Fyodor Dostoevsky. Trans.aAnd ed. Michael R. Katz. Norton
Critical Editions. New York ; London: Norton, 2000.
- - -. Prestuplenie I Nakazanie [Crime and Punishment]. Trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa
Volokhonsky. Ed. W.J. Leatherbarrow. London: David Campbell, 1993.
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Oxford Sherlock Holmes. Ed. Owen Dudley Edwards. Vol. 8. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
"Elemental, My Dear Turner." Times 12 Nov. 2003: 12-13.
The Epic of Gilgamesh: An English Version. Trans. N.K. Sanders. Penguin Classics. Rev. ed
ed. London: Penguin, 1972.
Garcia Lorenzo, Maria M. "Venus Bound and Unbound in J. Steinbeck's the Chrysanthemums
and in R. Waller's the Bridges of Madison County." Estudios De La Mujer En El
Ambito De Los Paises De Habla Inglesa, Iii. Eds. Ana Anton-Pacheco and Josephine
Bregazzi. Madrid, Spain: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 1998. 37-52.
Gibaldi, Joseph. Mla Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. 2nd ed. New York: The
Modern Language Association, 1998.
Giselle. By Adolphe Adam. Chor. Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. English National Ballet.
Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, 9 Sept. 2006.
27
Gleick, Elizabeth. "The Burdens of Genius." Rev. of The Last Samurai, by Helen DeWitt. Time
4 Dec. 2000: 171.
Harkness, Nigel, et al., eds. Visions/Revisions: Essays on Nineteenth-Century French Culture.
Vol. 14. Oxford: Peter Lang, 2003.
How do I document sources from the Web in my works-cited list? 12 Apr. 2003. Modern
Languages Association. 15 Aug. 2006.
<http://www.mla.org/publications/style/style_faq/style_faq4>.
Hughes, Ted. "Epiphany." Birthday Letters. London: Faber, 1998.
Kaminer, Wendy. "The Last Taboo." New Republic 14 Oct. 1996: 24-26.
Like Water for Chocolate [Como agua para chocolate]. Screenplay by Laura Esquivel. Dir.
Arau, Alfonso. Perfs. Lumi Cavazos, Marco Lombardi and Regina Torne. Miramax,
1993.
Moore, Grace. Dickens and Empire : Discourses of Class, Race and Colonialism in the Works
of Charles Dickens. The Nineteenth Century Series. Aldershot ; Burlington, VT:
Ashgate, 2004.
"Nymphia." Up Pompeii. Writ. Talbot Rothwell. Prod. Sydney Lotterby. Perf. Frankie Howard.
1970. BBC4, 17 Aug. 2006.
Phillips, John. "Masochism and Fetishism: Georges Bataille’s Histoire De L’oeil." Forbidden
fictions : pornography and censorship in twentieth-century French literature. Ed. John
28
Phillips: London : Pluto Press, 1999. 11 Aug. 2006
<http://www.theacademiclibrary.com/login_cat.asp?filename=0745312225&num=65>.
Proctor, Robert. "Call for Papers: History and the Public." Online posting. 25 Apr. 2005.
ARCH-HISTORY Archives. 18 Aug. 2006 <http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgibin/webadmin?A2=ind0504&L=arch-history&T=0&P=143>.
Report of the Secretary General. Rape and Abuse of Women in the Territory of the Former
Yugoslavia. UN Doc E/CN.4/1994/5. New York: United Nations, 1994.
"Rockers Contribute Tracks to Male Cancer Album." World Entertainment News Network. 26
Jul. 2006. General Business File ASAP. Gale Infotrac. University of Kent, Canterbury.
15 Aug. 2006. <http://web6.infotrac.galegroup.com/>.
Saintsbury, G. A History of Criticism and Literary Taste in Europe from the Earliest Texts to
the Presentday. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1949.
Saki. "The Chronicles of Clovis." London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1912. Electronic
Text Center. University of Virginia. 15 Aug. 2006.
<http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/SakChro.html>.
Sankoff, David, et al. "Montreal French - Language, Class and Ideology." Language Change
and Variation. Amsterdam. Eds. Henrietta J. Cedergren, et al. Amsterdam Studies in
the Theory and History of Linguistic Science. Series IV, Current Issues in Linguistic
Theory. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1989. 107-23.
29
Schweier, Ulrich, et al. KODEKS, the German Slavistics Server. Otto-Friedrich-Universität
Bamberg. 15 Aug. 2006. <http://kodeks.uni-bamberg.de/>.
Segre, Cesare. Semiotics and Literary Criticism. Trans. John Meddemmen. Approaches to
Semiotics. Vol. 35. The Hague: Mouton, 1973.
Smith, Dinitia. "After Four Centuries, Still Gaining Devotees." New York Times 22 Apr. 1997,
late ed. ed.: C12.
"Solferino, Battle Of." The New Encyclopedia Britannica. Ed. Robert McHenry. 15th ed. Vol.
10. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1992. 944-45.
Vermeer, Johannes. The Kitchen Maid. 1658. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Vermeer 1632-1675:
Veiled Emotions. By Norbert Schneider. Koln: Benedict Taschen, 1994. 65.
Whytehead, Helen Louise Alexandra. "Translating Dialect : Trainspotting ; the Novel and the
Film." M.A. Diss. University of Kent, 1999.
30