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MVCC Learning Commons Writing Lab
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MLA 8 Edition
(April 2016 Update)
This guide includes information from Norton, OWL at Purdue and the MLA website.
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All researched information must be properly quoted,
summarized or paraphrased. Citations are required.
Do not be like this guy!
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Core elements are used to properly document sources. MLA states
that writers should list all available elements in the specified order.
Authors
 One author should be listed with last name and then first name.
Example: Lamb, Wally.
 For two authors, the first author is listed last name first, but the second
author is listed first name first.
Example: Smith, Michael and Rachel Jones.
 For three or more authors, provide the first author’s name in standard
format followed by et al.
Example: Smith, Michael, et al.
 Middle names and initials should be included.
Examples: Jones, Rachel Marie
Rodriquez, Maria L.
 Specify if the person cited is an editor or translator.
 Norton explains contributors as follows:
For works with multiple contributors, put the one whose work you
wish to highlight before the title, and list any others you want to
mention after the title. For contributors named before the title, put
the label after the name: Fincher, David, director. For those named
after the title, specify their role first: directed
by David Fincher.(12)
Titles
Subtitles should be included with standard capitalization. Writers should not
capitalize articles, prepositions, or coordinating conjunctions unless they are at
the beginning of the title or subtitle.
 Books, periodicals and other longer works should be in italics.
 Shorter works should be placed in quotation marks. This includes poems,
short stories, newspaper article titles and journal article titles.
 No title? Norton recommends describing the source without special
formatting (no quotation marks or italics). Example: Letter to the author,
Review of doo wop concert.
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Publication Information
 Provide full names of publishers, but do not include company or Inc.
 Use U for University and P for Press when citing university presses.
Example: Princeton UP
Dates
 If a full date is provided, include it.
 Use the most recent publication date for books.
 Abbreviate as follows: Jan., Feb., Mar. Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.
(May, June and July are not abbreviated).
 For periodicals, specify the month or season if it is given.
Examples: Fall 2015, 2014, Apr. 12. Aug. 2016.
 Include access dates for online sources.
Example: Accessed 5 July 2016
 If a time is provided, the writer should include it as well.
Example: 5 July 2016, 8:30 a.m.
Location
 Give a page number or page range for books. If the information is not on
consecutive pages, provide the first page number and a plus sign.
Example: pp. 15+
 Give the URL without the http://
 Provide the DOI for database sources.
 For objects found in a museum or some other place, provide the name of
the place and the city’s location.
Example: Menil Collection, Houston.
 For live performances and presentations, include the venue and city.
Example: Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles.
Punctuation
 A period is included between the author’s name and the title.
Example: Lamb, Wally. She’s Come Undone
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 Remember to put a comma between the author’s last and first name.
Example: Lamb, Wally.
o Containers
 MLA refers to the place where information is found as containers. This
includes periodicals and databases. Commas must be placed between
elements in each container, and a period is placed at the end of the
container.
Norton’s Example:
Semuels, Alana. “The Future Will Be Quiet.” The Atlantic, Apr. 2016,
pp. 19-20. ProQuest, search.proquest.com/docview/1777443553?
Accounted+42654. Accessed 5. Apr. 2016.
Citing authors and contributors is used for print, online, and some other media
sources. The following information is from Norton’s supplemental update created
in 2016.
1. ONE AUTHOR
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title. Publisher, Date.
Norton’s Example:
Anderson, Curtis. The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling
Less of More. Hyperion, 2006.
2. TWO AUTHORS
1ST Author’s Last Name, First Name, and 2nd Author’s First Name and Last
Names. Title. Publisher, Date.
Norton’s Example:
Lunsford, Andrea, and Lisa Ede. Singular Texts/Plural Authors:
Perspectives on Collaborative Writing. Southern Illinois UP, 1990.
3. THREE OR MORE AUTHORS
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1st Author’s Last Name, First Name, et al. Title. Publisher, Date.
Norton’s Example:
Sebranek, Patrick, et al. Writers INC: A Guide to Writing, Thinking, and
Learning. Write Source, 1990.
4. TWO OR MORE WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR
Give the author’s name in the first entry, and then use three hyphens in the
author slot for each of the subsequent works, listing them alphabetically by the
first important word of each title.
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title That Comes First Alphabetically.
Publisher, Date.
Norton’s Example:
Kaplan, Robert D. The Coming Anarchy: Shattering the Dreams of the Post
Cold War. Random House, 2000.
---Eastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the
Caucasus. Random House, 2000.
5. AUTHOR AND EDITOR OR TRANSLATOR
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title. Role by First and Last Names, Publisher,
Date.
Norton’s Examples:
Austen, Jane. Emma. Edited by Stephen M. Parrish, W.W. Norton, 2000.
Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. Translated by Richard Pevear
and Larissa Volokhonsky, Vintage Books, 1993.
Begin the entry with the editor or translator if your focus is their contribution.
Pevear, Richard. And Larissa Volkohonsky, translators. Crime and
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Punishment. By Fyodor Dostoevsky, Vintage Books, 1993.
6. NO AUTHOR OR EDITOR
If an author or editor is not known, start your entry with the title.
Norton’s Example:
The Turner Collection in the Clore Gallery. Tate Publications, 1987. “Being
Invisible Closer to Reality.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11 Aug.
2008, p. A3.
7. ORGANIZATION OR GOVERNMENT AS AUTHOR
Organization Name. Title. Publisher, Date.
Norton’s Examples:
Diagram Group. The Macmillan Visual Desk Reference. Macmillan, 1993.
 Government publications should include the name of the government first,
and then the agency.
United States, Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of
Mental Health. Autism Spectrum Disorders. Government Printing Office,
2004.
 If an organization is the author and the publisher, start with the title, and
use the organization in the publisher space.
Stylebook on Religion 2000: A Reference Guide and Usage Manual.
Catholic News Service, 2002.
Online Resources
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Ebook: Document it just as you would print book, but add the medium used.
Smith, John. Hands. Kindle ed.,W.W. Norton, 2014.
Or
Smith, John. Hands. Ebook, W.W. Norton, 2014.
SHORTER WORKS
Journal and newspaper articles have additional formatting requirements. It is
important to note whether the article was found online, and include relevant
information for the source.
Comment on an Online Article
Commenter. Comment on “Title of Article.” Name of Periodical, Date posted,
Time posted, URL. Accessed Day Month Year.
Angela. Comment on “Poll Results.” USA Today, 31 Aug. 2016, 2:43 p.m.,
www.usatoday.com/article2016.
Blog Entry
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Blog Entry.” Title of Blog, Date,
URL. Accessed Day Month Year.
Example: (This is an example without an author)
“Is it Okay to Wear White after Labor Day?” Fashion of Good Will, 1
Sept. 2016. www.fashionofgoodwill.org/blog/ Accessed 6 Sept. 2016.
Podcast
Last Name, First Name, role. “Title of Episode.” Title of Program, season,
episode, Sponsor, Date, URL. Accessed Day Month Year.
Williams, Robert, host. “Health Advice.” Weekly Updates, season 1, episode 2,
NPR, 10 Oct. 2015. Weeklyupdates.org/season1. Accessed 2 Sept. 2016.
JOURNAL ARTICLE (Online Database)
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Name of Journal,
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Volume, Issue, Date, Pages. Database Name, url or doi. Access date.
Author
Article Title
Journal Name, Volume.
Issue.
Date
Database
Larson, Kelli. A. “Current Bibliography.” The Hemingway Review, vol.28,
no. 2, 2009, pp.148. Literature Resource Center, www.galegroup.com.
Accessed 2 Sept. 2016.
Online Magazine
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Name of Magazine, Date
Magazine title
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on Web. Pages, URL. Accessed Day Month Year.
Author
Titlee
Dockerman, Elaina. “The History of Why it’s Impossible to Find Clothes
That Fit.” Time, 2 Sept. 2016, http://time.com/4477865/clothes-fithistory/?xid=homepage. Accessed 2 Sept. 2016.
Online Newspaper
Title.
Author &
Date
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Name or Newspaper,
Date on web, URL. Accessed Day Month Year.
McCarvel, Nick. “Serena Williams Makes History, Advances to U.S. Open
Quarters.” USA Today, 6 Sept. 2016. www.usatoday.com/story/sports/
Work on a Website
URL
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Title of
article
Author/Day(current)
Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Website Name. Publisher, Date, URL.
Accessed Day Month Year.
Mack, Justin L. “ITT Tech Shutting Down All Campuses Nationwide.” 6
Sept. 2016. msn.com. Microsoft, 6 Sept. 2016.
*The publisher is often found at the bottom of the page or in the “about us” section.
Email
Sender’s Last Name, First name. “Subject Line.” Received by First and Last
Names, Day Month Year.
Smith, Adam. “Meetings.” Received by Kristen Raab, 12 Aug. 2016.
Text Message
Sender’s Last Name, First Name. Text message. Received by First and Last
Name, Day Month Year.
Jones, Breanne. Text message. Received by Robert Smith, 16 Oct. 2016.
Online Forum Post
Author. “Subject line.” Name of Forum, Day Month Year, URL.
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@Topwriter. “Writing?” Reddit, 12 May 2016, red.it/4fyni0
Post to Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Author. “Title.” “Full text of short untitled post.” Name of Site. Day Month
Year, Time, URL.
Women’s Support Network. “We can only do this if we work together. Unite as
one.” Facebook. 12 Oct. 2015, 3:45 pm.www.facebook.com/women
Online Video
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title. Name of Host Site, Date, URL. Accessed
Day Month Year.
Gonzalez, Juan. Life in Utica. Vimeo, 7 Oct. 2015, vimeo.com/1023. Accessed
10 Jan. 2016.
Print Resources
Book
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title. Publisher, Year of publication.
Example:
Jones, Maria. The Importance of Reference Citations. Mohawk UP, 2014.
Entire Anthology
Last Name, First Name, editor. Title of Anthology, Publisher, Year of
Publication.
Example:
Smith, Jody, editor. Modern Anthology of Fiction, Mohawk UP, 2015.
Work in an Anthology (Play, poem, short story, etc).
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Work.” Title of Anthology, edited
By First and Last Name, Publisher, Year of publication, pages.
Jones, Maria. “Susan’s Room.” Modern Anthology of Fiction, edited by
Jody Smith, Mohawk UP, 2015.
Advertisements
Print
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Name of Product or Company. Advertisement or Description of ad. Title of
Periodical, Date, Page.
Example:
Nike. Sports Merchandise ad. Sports Illustrated, September 2015, p. 6
Audio or Video
Name of Product or Company. Advertisement or Description of ad. Date. Name
of Host Site, URL. Accessed Day Month Year.
Nike. Sports Merchandise commercial. 5 Sept. 2016. YouTube,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=34032984029340239. Accessed 9 Sept.
2016.
Print Newspaper
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Name of Newspaper, Date, pages.
Norton Example:
Saulny, Susan, and Jacques Steinberg. “On College Forms, a Question of Race Can
Perplex.” The New York Times, 14 June 2011, p. A1.
Article in a (Print) Reference Work
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Entry.” Title of Reference Book, edited by
Editor’s First and Last Name, Edition Number, Publisher, Date, Pages.
Example:
Smith, Joseph. “Learning Essentials.” Importance of Learning, edited by Amy Jones,
4th ed., Unique UP, 2012, pp. 112-114.
Reviews follow a similar pattern.
Art
Artist’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Art. Year created, Site, City.
Norton Example:
Van Gogh, Vincent. The Potato Eaters. 1885, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.
Art (online)
Artist’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Art. Year Created. Name of Site, URL. Accessed
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Day Month Year.
Norton Example:
Warhol, Andy. Self-portrait. 1979. J. Paul Getty Museum, www.getty.edu/art/collection/
Objects/1016971/andy-warhol-self-portrait-american/. Accessed 1 Jan. 2015.
Film & TV Shows (All Norton Examples)
Title of Film. Roles by First and Last Names, Production Studio, Date.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Directed by Blake Edwards, Paramount, 1961.
Streaming
Title of Film. Role by First and Last Names, Production Studio, Date. Streaming
Service, URL. Accessed Day Month Year.
Interstellar. Directed by Christopher Nolan, Paramount, 2014. Amazon Prime Video,
www.amazon.com/interstellar-Matthew-McConaughey. Accessed 2 May 2015.
Television Show
Original Broadcast
“Title of Episode.” Title of Show, role by First and Last Names, season, episode,
Network, Day Month Year.
“The Silencer.” Criminal Minds, written by Erica Messer, season 8, episode 1,
NBC, 26 Sept. 2012.
DVD
“Title of Episode.” Title of Show, season, episode, role by First and Last Name (if any),
Production Studio. Release Year, disc number.
“The Pants Tent.” 2003. Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season One, performance by Larry
David, season 1, episode 1, HBO Video, 2006, disc 1.
Online
“Title of Episode.” Title of Show, season, episode, role by First and Last Names,
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Production Studio, Day Month Year. Name of Host Site, URL. Accessed Day
Month Year.
“Shadows in the Glass.” Marvel’s Daredevil, season 1, episode 8, Netflix, 10 Apr. 2015.
Netflix, www.netflix.com/watch80018198?trackld=13752289&tctx=0%2c7%2Cbc
Accessed 3 Nov. 2015.
Video Game
Last Name, First Name, role. Title of Game. Distributor, Date of release. Gaming
System or Platform.
Metzen, Chris, and James Waugh, writers. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void. Blizzard
Entertainment, 2015. OS X.
Interviews
Broadcast
Subject’s Last Name, First Name. Interview or “Title of Interview.” Title of
Program, Network, Day Month Year.
Jones, Sarah. Interview. Dateline, NBC, 12 Oct. 2015.
Published
Subject’s Last Name, First Name. Interview or “Title of Interview.” Title of
Publication, Date, Pages.
Jones, Sarah. Interview. Cosmopolitan, Nov. 2013, pp. 73-74.
Personal
Subject’s Last Name, First Name. Personal interview. Day Month Year.
Smith, Amy. Personal interview. 8 Sept. 2016.
Oral Presentation
Presenter’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Presentation.” Sponsoring
Institution, Date, Location.
Rosic, Ibrahim. “My Journey to America.” Mohawk Valley Community
College, 24 Oct. 2014, Mohawk Valley Community College, Utica.
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Formatting Papers
 Title page: Unless your instructor requests a cover/title page, you do not
need one for MLA. You should include Name, course, and title.
 Header: Put your last name and the page numbers in the upper right-hand
corner. This should appear on every page. Steps—1). Insert 2). Page
number.3). Top of page. 4). Close header.
 Font, spacing, margins and indenting: Standard format is 12 point font in
Times New Roman style. Double-space your paper, including the works cited
page. Your paper should have 1 inch margins, which is the standard setting in
Microsoft Word. Indent the first line of each paragraph by using the tab key.
 Long Quotations: For more than four lines of text, more than three poetry
lines, or the inclusion of dialogue from characters in a play, indent quotations
five spaces (one tab). Quotation marks are not needed, and the punctuation
will appear before the parenthetical documentation. These quotes should also
be double-spaced.
President Randall VanWaganor recently blogged about the transitional state of
Mohawk Valley Community College:
This summer, we’ve experienced a number of major changes — a $30 million
redevelopment of the Rome Campus; a renovated bookstore and food service
area at the Utica Campus; a transformation of the Utica Campus Learning Center
into the new Learning Commons; a full replacement of the platform and support
columns on Payne Hall; and a redesign of the Academic Affairs administrative
structure that also resulted in nearly 70 full-time employees changing offices.
Poetry (3 or more lines)
In the third stanza of Henry David Thoreau’s poem “Inspiration,” he writes:
But if with bended neck I grope
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Listening behind me for my wit,
With faith superior to hope,
More anxious to keep back than forward it; (9-12)
Return to the left margin to continue typing the rest of the paragraph.
Illustrations
Place illustrations by the text about them. If a table is included, format it as follows:
Table 1. This should be above the table. Include a caption and source information
beneath the table.
Works Cited Sample Page
From nowl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/12/
Works Cited
Dean, Cornelia. "Executive on a Mission: Saving the Planet." The New York Times, 22 May 2007,
Alphabetical
www.nytimes.com/2007/05/22/science/earth/22ander.html?_r=0. Accessed 12 May 2016.
Ebert, Roger. Review of An Inconvenient Truth, directed by Davis Guggenheim. rogerebert.com, 1
June 2006, http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/an-inconvenient-truth-2006. Accessed 15 June
Hanging
indent
2016.
Gowdy, John. "Avoiding Self-organized Extinction: Toward a Co-evolutionary Economics of
Sustainability." International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, vol. 14,
no. 1, 2007, pp. 27-36.
An Inconvenient Truth. Directed by Davis Guggenheim, performances by Al Gore and Billy West,
Paramount, 2006.
Leroux, Marcel. Global Warming: Myth or Reality?: The Erring Ways of Climatology. Springer,
2005.
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Milken, Michael, et al. "On Global Warming and Financial Imbalances." New Perspectives
Quarterly, vol. 23, no. 4, 2006, p. 63.
Nordhaus, William D. "After Kyoto: Alternative Mechanisms to Control Global
Warming." American Economic Review, vol. 96, no. 2, 2006, pp. 31-34.
---. "Global Warming Economics." Science, vol. 294, no. 5545, 9 Nov. 2001, pp. 1283-84, DOI:
10.1126/science.1065007.
Regas, Diane. “Three Key Energy Policies That Can Help Us Turn the Corner on
Climate.” Environmental Defense Fund, 1 June 2016, www.edf.org/blog/2016/06/01/3-keyenergy-policies-can-help-us-turn-corner-climate. Accessed 19 July 2016.
7th Edition vs 8th Edition
From https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/22/
The purpose of this page is to show writers who previously used 7th edition MLA the changes
made to 8th edition MLA. Always check with your instructor to see which version is required.
An article from a scholarly journal:
Eighth edition:
Kincaid, Jamaica. “In History.” Callaloo, vol. 24, no. 2, Spring 2001, pp. 620-26.
This version identifies the volume (24), the number (2), and the page numbers (620-26) of the
scholarly journal, rather than leaving those numbers without clear explanation. Also note that
punctuation is simple; only commas separate the journal title, volume, number, date, and page
numbers.
Seventh edition:
Kinkaid, Jamaica. “In History.” Callaloo 24.2 (Spring 2001): 620-26. Web.
This version includes the volume and number (24.2), and page numbers (620-26) of the journal,
but does not explain those references. The seventh edition emphasized following a strict
punctuation formula, such as parentheses around the date and the colon, while the new eighth
edition focuses on providing this information in a more streamlined manner by using only
commas to separate each component.
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A print book with one author:
Eighth edition:
Jacobs, Alan. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. Oxford UP, 2011.
Only the most essential information is included (author’s name, book title, publisher, and date).
Note that the city of publication is not needed, and the medium of publication is eliminated.
Seventh edition:
Jacobs, Alan. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2011.
Print.
This version includes the city of publication (Oxford) and the medium (print).