MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION
PARENTHETICAL DOCUMENTATION
Parenthetical references place citations in the body of
the paper where appropriate. These citations, whether
in text or parenthetical require inclusion of both the
author’s name and the page number(s) in
parentheses where the information can be
located. [MLA 6.2 & 6.3]
MLA standards determine how a research paper should look and
how the “works cited” should appear both within and at the end
of the paper. The guidelines allow a reader to locate the original
source used as well as aid in avoiding
plagiarism.
For example: “The ideology of men and marriage in
the early 18 century was “t is a truth universally
acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a
good fortune, must be in want of a wife” (Austen 1).
• Keep track of sources.
• Maintain all publication information for each source.
• Keep a record of how to locate each, such as call
numbers of books and URLs of websites.
TIP
TIPS
MLA Handbook for writers
of Research Papers, 7th ed.,
New York: MLA 2009. Print.
Call # LB2369.G532009
The numbers in [ ] refer to the appropriate
chapter(s) to consult in the handbook.
Book One Author
Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice.
Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of
New York: Bantam, 1981. Print
Publication. Medium of Publication.
[MLA 5.5.2]
Book Two or more Authors
Author’s first given name appears in last name, Grimm, Jacob, Wilhelm Grimm, and Lily
first name format; subsequent author names
Owens. The Complete Brothers Grimm
appear in first name last name format.
Fairy Tales. New York: Gramercy,
[MLA 5.5.4]
2006. Print. [MLA 5.5.4]
Article in Reference Book
Author's Last Name, First Name. “Title of
Article”. Title of Encyclopedia. Ed. Editor first
name Editor Last name. Edition. Volume
Number [if more than one]. Place of
Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.
Date of Publication. Print. [MLA 5.5.7]
eBook
Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Kelly, Anthony E. Handbook of Research
Place of Publication. Publisher. Online
Designs in Mathematics and Science
Database Name. Web. Date of Access.
Education. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence
[MLA 5.6.2 & 5.6.2c]
Erlbaum Associates, 2000.
NetLibrary. Web. 18 Feb. 2010.
Magazine Article in Print
Author’s, Last Name, First Name. “Title of
Magazine Article.” Title of Magazine Day,
Month, Year, Pages. Print. [MLA 5.4.6]
Randall, Margaret. “Barbara Kingsolver
1955-.” Contemporary Literary
Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter.
Vol. 130. Detroit: Gale Group. 2000.
Print.
Murphy, Astin. “Make Way for the Ducks.”
Sports Illustrated 29 Sept. 2003:
54-59. Print.
LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES - SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY EDWARDSVILLE
Edwardsville, IL 62026-1063 URL: http://www.siue.edu/lovejoylibrary Phone: 618-650-INFO Fax: 618-650-2717
3/18/11
Everett, Matt. “9/11: The Greatest Lie
Ever Told.” Journal of
Psychohistory 38.2 (2010):
133-167. Print.
Scholarly Journal in Print
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of
Article.” Title of Journal Volume#.Issue# (Year
of Publication): Pages. Medium of publication.
[MLA 5.4.2]
Journal in Online Database
Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Journal Downes, Anne. "Putting Readers First:
Frontline Training in Victoria."
Article." Title of Journal Volume# (Date of
APLIS 23.4 (2010): 132-140.
Publication): Pages (if available). Name of the
Academic Search Complete.
Journal Database. Location of electronic database.
EBSCO. Web. 3 Mar. 2011.
Date of access. [MLA 5.6.4]
Newspaper in Print
Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of
Newspaper Article." Title of Newspaper Date of
Publication, Edition: Section and Page Number(s)
of Article. Medium of publication. [MLA 5.4.5]
If article not on consective pages, use “+.”
Stephen, Holden. "Film Review; How an
Irish Mother Became a Warrior for
Peace." New York Times Sept.
2000:14. Print.
Newspaper Online
Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of
Newspaper Article." Title of Newspaper. Date
of Publication, Edition: Section # and Page
Number(s) of Article. Name of the Newspaper.
Database. Location of electronic database. Date
of access. [MLA 5.6.4]
Binswanger, C.K., and Lucy Howard.
"A Titanic event takes Tokyo."
Newsweek 130.19 (1997):8.
Academic SearchComplete.
EBSCO. Web. 16 Feb. 2011.
Website
Author Last Name, First Name. “Title
of Web Page.” Title of Web Site. Name of
Sponsoring Institution/Organization. Date of
Publication or Last Revision. Type of Media.
Date of Access. <URL>. [MLA 5.6.2b & 5.7.18]
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
“SIUE Final Robotics Project
TEAM DREAM”. YouTube.
Google, Inc 15 Dec. 2010. Web.
3 March 2011. www.youtube.com/
watch?=IQSf5i1YlmA.
Videotape or DVD
Film Title. Dir. Director First Name, Last Name.
Original Year of Release. Distributor. Year of
Current Release. Medium. [MLA 5.7.3]
Bioterror. Dir. Kirk Wolfinger. WGBH
Educational Foundation, 2002
Videocassette.
Interviewer
Last Name, First Name of Person Interviewed,
Type of Interview; (Personal or Telephone),
Day, Month Year of Interview. [MLA 5.5.7]
Icato, Ken. Personal interview. 11 April
2009.
Government Document
Author. If no author start with the name of the
National Government Agency. Subdivision or
Agency. Report Number & Session. Place of
Publication: (generally Washington): GPO, Date.
Medium of Publication. [MLA 6.6.20]
United States. Congressional Budget
Office. The Economic and Budget
Outlook: Fiscal Years 1999-2008.
Washington: 1998. Print.
More Parenthetical Examples
1.
3.
2.
Others hold the opposite view (e.g. Smith and
Brown 460-63).
According to Gilbert “memory theory was
not…” (58).
4.
In fact, “all Utopian fiction whirls
contemporary actors”… (Rabkin,
Greenberg and Olander (7).
Their cluster on literary is a resource for
teaching the place of oral cultures…
(Later et al. 155-66).
**Need the format for a source not listed? A more detailed LibGuide is available from our website, consult the MLA
Handbook for Writers of Research (Ready Ref. LB2369.G53 2009) or visit a member of the Writing Center staff in
the library.
For additional assistance contact Lydia Jackson, Instruction and Reference Librarian ([email protected] or 618-650-2604).
LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES - SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY EDWARDSVILLE
Edwardsville, IL 62026-1063 URL: http://www.siue.edu/lovejoylibrary Phone: 618-650-INFO Fax: 618-650-2717
3/18/11