CLRC Writing Center
Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Citation:
A Brief Tutorial with Examples
Besides being part of the SBCC academic honesty policy (see College Procedures in the SBCC
schedule of class, general catalogue, or on the SBCC website), there are several important reasons
instructors require accurate citation of sources in research papers:
• If a reader of your essay or article wants to know more about your topic and found the quotes that
you’ve included thought-provoking or pertinent to his or her own interests, accurate citation gives the
reader a path back to that exact resource to which you referenced. Citing sources also lends credibility
to your own work if you draw on valid, trusted sources like scholarly books, professional journals, and
reputable websites (not Wikipedia!).
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Also, consider how inaccurate or missing citation can be an example of the childhood game of
telephone: if a writer is incorrect or neglects to cite a source, the next writer who cites the first writer
will unknowingly provide incomplete or misrepresented data to subsequent readers, possibly setting
off a whole chain of misinformation.
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Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, each scholar, interviewee, webmaster, or instructor who
has created original, information in any form – electronic, verbal, print, image – deserves to be
recognized for their contribution to the scholarship of the subject, no matter how small that
contribution might appear to you.
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Consider the following when deciding to include a citation for information in your paper:
o Citation is required if the information: expresses an opinion; is original thinking; contains
statistics, examples, charts, graphs, images, etc.; is a verbatim (word for word) quote from
someone else or is primarily someone else’s words; is a lesser known fact about a largely
recognized event or idea on which you build your own interpretation of the event or idea.
o Citation is not required if the information: is common or cultural knowledge or is easily found
in many references, like the date President Kennedy was assassinated or fact that the British
had colonized the New World; is information you assimilated as part of your day to day living
for which you cannot identify a source – consider that if the fact is that general, it might not
even be relevant to your argument.
Don’t wait until you have finished writing your paper and are ready to finish that pesky last step, the
works cited page, to begin compiling your list of references. Use the following suggestions help build
your in-process works cited list as soon as you begin the research process:
• Decide where you will keep your list: Be consistent and anticipate where you will be doing most of
your reading: at a table or in front of a computer? Of course, you can do both; just be sure you’re
keeping track of what you’re reading. You can even type your list on the last page in the essay file you
are using for your paper, which is where your works cited list will eventually appear.
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Print resources (books, journals, magazines): If you have the print source (book, journal, etc.) and
intend to keep it for the duration of your project, it is not as essential to write down the publication
information immediately. More importantly, be sure to use Post-it notes or a similar tool to keep track
of the pages where you find information that you want to include in your paper. You will need to note
Created 1/07
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each page number in the parenthetical references in the body of your essay after each quote or
paraphrase to let your reader know exactly where you read the information. If you photocopy an
excerpt from a print source, write down the author and complete publication information on the copy
itself (see below).
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Web-based resources (websites, electronic journals, articles from databases): If you do all of your
web research at the same computer, you can create a folder in your Favorites list and bookmark each
page you access. This will insure that you can find the same page again as you continue reading and
will not have to search for it again when it comes time to build your works cited page. Because
handwriting the URL can be cumbersome, it is a good idea to print the first page of the website
instead. Additionally, you must record on your works cited page what date you accessed the web page,
so make that part of you notes as well.
Using your works cited page to create in-text citations: In MLA citation, the author of a book and the
page number from which you drew the information must be included in the body of your essay to
identify where the quoted information can be found. Depending on how you introduce the quote, the
citation information may appear as part of your sentence and/or after it (see examples in this and the
Incorporating Quotes handout). NOTE: If you prepare your works cited page before or while you
write your essay, you will know exactly what parenthetical information to include in the body of your
essay, which may be different for web or other non-book sources. The in-text citation must clearly
match the entry on the works cited page.
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Here is a list of basic information you will need to create an accurate entry for each resource on
your works cited page. Some sources may require additional information in the citation entry.
Books
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Author’s full name
Title of the book, or a
part of the book
(chapter, etc.)
Name of the editor,
translator, complier
Edition used
Number of volume used
Name of the series
City of publication
Name of publisher
Date of publication
Page numbers
Using MLA Citation
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Periodicals and
journals
Author’s full name
Title of article
Name of the
periodical
Series number or
name
Volume number
(for a scholarly
journal)
Issue number
Date of publication
Page numbers
(Citing electronic
journals requires
additional
information – see
examples below)
Websites
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Author’s full name
Title of the short piece or online
book you are citing
Publication information for any
print version of the source
Version number of the source
Date of electronic publication, latest
update, or posting
Name of subscription service and
library (e.g., Proquest and Eli Luria
Library)
Page numbers, if available
Name of any institution or
organization sponsoring the site if
not listed earlier
Date of access
URL of the source, either exactly,
or the main site if too complicated
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How to build your works cited entries:
Determine what types of sources you have (book by one author, work in an anthology, website).
Find the example below that corresponds to it, or consult the MLA Handbook.
Identify the publication information in your source necessary to build a works cited entry.
Follow the directions included after examples to arrange your works cited page.
If you cannot find some information for a source, include all that is available.
Pay careful attention to all punctuation and formatting, like underlining.
The examples below are excerpted from MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Sixth Edition.
This handout is a quick reference guide; use the MLA Handbook or similar reference
for a complete, authoritative description to accurately cite a wide variety of sources.
BOOKS AND OTHER NONPERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS
Most book entries require at least the following:
• Author’s name: last name first, then a comma; first and middle name or initial if any, followed by
a period. Do not separate hyphenated names: Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de.
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Title of the Book: include the full title, the first and then every important word, capitalized,
followed by a period; underline book titles; use “quotation marks” for titles of poems, articles,
short stories.
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Publication information: include the place of publication, followed by a colon; the name of the
publisher, followed by a comma; the year of publication, followed by a period.
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Format: entries on a works cited page are double spaced and have a hanging indent: the first line
is flush with the left margin and the lines that follow are indented one tab space. Do not add
additional spaces between entries. (see example, last page of handout)
Book by a Single Author
Fukuyama, Francis. Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution. New
York: Farrar, 2002.
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An Anthology or a Compilation (entire book, not an article, poem, or short piece – see below)
Lopate, Phopate, ed. The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the
Present. New York: Anchor-Doubleday, 1994.
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Two or More Books by the Same Author (as they would appear on works cited page)
Borroff, Marie. Language and the Past: Verbal Artistry in Frost, Stevens, and Moore. Chicago: U
of Chicago P, 1979.
---, trans. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. New York: Norton, 1967.
---, ed. Wallace Stevens: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice, 1963.
Using MLA Citation
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A Book by Two or More Authors (list authors in title page order; note first/last name order)
Eggins, Suzanne, and Diana Slade. Analysing Casual Conversation. London: Cassel, 1997.
Marquart, James W., Sheldon Ekland Olson, and Jonathan R. Sorensen. The Rope, the Chair, and
the Needle: Capital Punishment in Texas, 1923-1990. Austin: U of Texas P, 1994.
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A Work in an Anthology (poem, article, or other work in a collection by different authors)
Franco, Veronica. “To the Painter Jacopo Tintoretto.” Poems and Selected Letters. Ed. and trans.
Ann Rosalind Jones and Maragret F. Rosenthal. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1998. 35-37.
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Article in a Reference Book (encyclopedias and dictionaries)
“Azimuthal Equidistant Projection.” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. 1993.
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An Edition Other than the First (a version other than the 1st edition)
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Barbara Am Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York:
Washington Square-Pocket, 1992.
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A Republished Book (like a paperback version of a book originally published as a hardcover)
Atwood, Margaret. The Blind Assassin. 2000. New York: Knopf-Random, 2001.
ARTICLES AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS IN PERIODICALS
Most periodical entries require at least the following:
• Author’s name: last name first, then a comma; first and middle name or initial if any, followed
by a period. Do not separate hyphenated names: Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de.
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Title of the Article: include the full title, the first and then every important word, capitalized,
followed by a period; enclose titles in “quotation marks.”
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Publication information: journal title, underlined; the volume number; the year of publication, in
parentheses, then a colon; the inclusive page numbers, followed by a period.
An Article in a Scholarly Journal (continuous numbering from issue to issue)
Hanks, Patrick. “Do Word Meanings Exist?” Computers and the Humanities 34 (2000): 205-15.
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An Article in a Scholarly Journal That Pages Each Issue Separately (add issue after volume)
Albada, Kelly F. “The Public and Private Dialogue about the American Family on Television.”
Journal of Communication 50.4 (2000): 79-110.
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An Article in a Newspaper (include section letter/number; + = continued on another page)
Chang, Kenneth. “The Melting (Freezing) of Antarctica.” New York Times 2 Apr. 2002, late ed.:
F1+.
Using MLA Citation
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An Article in a Magazine (do not include volume or issue #, even if listed; use + for add. pages)
Amelar, Sarah. “Restoration and 42nd Street.” Architecture Mar. 1998: 146-50. (monthly)
Mehta, Pratap Bhanu. “Exploding Myths.” New Republic 6 June 1998: 17-19. (> monthly)
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A Review (of a book or performance)
Updike, John. “No Brakes.” Rev. of Sinclair Lewis: Rebel from Main Street, by Richard
Lingeman. New Yorker 4 Feb. 2002: 77-80. (book)
Tommasini, Anthony. “A Feminist Look at Sophocles.” Rev. of Jocasta, by Cornelia Connelly
Center for Educ., New York. New York Times, 11 June 1998, late ed.: E5. (performance)
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An Anonymous Article (do not count a, an, the when alphabetizing on works cited page)
“It Barks! It Kicks! It Scores!” Newsweek 30 July 2001: 12.
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An Editorial (add the descriptive label Editorial with no punctuation around it)
Gergen, David. “A Question of Values.” Editorial. US News and World Report 11 Feb. 2002: 72.
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A Letter to the Editor (add the descriptive label Letter with no punctuation around it)
Safer, Morley. Letter. New York Times 31 Oct. 1993. late ed., sec. 2:4.
MISCELLANEOUS PRINT AND NONPRINT SOURCES
Most television or radio entries require at least the following:
• Episode information: title of episode or segment, in quotation marks; title of program, underlined;
title of the series, with no punctuation.
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Broadcast information: name of the network, call letters and city of the local station; broadcast
date.
A Television or Radio Program
“Fredrick Douglass.” Civil War Journal. Narr. Danny Glover. Dir. Craig Haffner. Arts and
Entertainment Network. 6 Apr. 1993. (television)
I Capuleti e I Montecchi. By Vincenzo Bellini. Perf. Andrea Rost and Vesselina Kasarova. Lyric
Opera of Chicago. Cond. Bruno Campanella. Lyric Opera of Chicago Radio Network.
WFMT, Chicago. 25 May 2002. (radio)
Springsteen, Bruce. “Dancing in the Dark.” Born in the USA. Columbia, 1984. Music video. Dir.
Brian De Palma. VH1. 10 May 2002. (music video)
Using MLA Citation
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A Sound Recording (for works other than CD, include medium type, with no extra punctuation)
Joplin, Scott. Treemonisha. Perf. Carmen Balthrop, Betty Allen, and Curtis Rayam. Houston
Grand Opera Orch. And Chorus. Cond. Dunter Schuller. Audiocassette. Deutsche
Grammophon, 1976. (tape)
Gabriel, Peter. Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ, a Film by Martin Scorsese. Rec.
1989. Geffen, 2002. (soundtrack – movie title not double underlined)
Hiliday, Billie. Od Bless the Child.” Rec. 9 May 1941. The Essence of Billie Holiday. Columbia,
1991. (single song)
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A Film or Video Recording (include director, distributor, year of release)
Like Water for Chocolate [Como agua para chocolate]. Screenplay by Laura Esquivel. Dir.Alfonso
Arau. Perf. Lumi Cavazos, Marco Lombardi, and Regina Torne. Miramax, 1993.
It’s a Wonderful Life. Dir Frank Capra. Perf. James Steward, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, and
Thomas Mitchell. 1946. DVD. Republic, 2001. (recording of older original)
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A Performance (include the site and date of the performance)
Medea. By Euripides. Trans. Alistair Elliot. Dir. Jonathan Kent. Perf. Diana Rigg. Longacre
Theater, New York. 7 Apr. 1994.
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A Painting, Sculpture, or Photograph (include artist’s name, title of work, collection information)
Rembrandt van Rijn. Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer. Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York. (painting)
El Greco. Curial of Count Orgaz. San Tomé, Toledo. Renaissance Perspectives in Literature and
the Visual Arts. By Murray Roston. Princeton: Princeton, UP, 1987. 274. (photo)
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An Interview (include interviewee and interviewer, as well as publication info if applicable)
Breslin, Jimmy. Interview with Neal Conan. Talk of the Nation. Natl. Public Radio. WBUR,
Boston. 26 Mar. 2002. (radio)
Fellini, Federico. “The Long Interview.” Juliet of the Spirits. Ed. Tullio Kezich. Trans. Howard
Greefield. New York: Ballantine, 1966. 17-64 (published)
Poussaint, Alvin F. Telephone interview. 10 Dec. 1998 (personal)
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A Lecture, a Speech, an Address, or a Reading (include speaker’s name, location, date)
Attwood, Margaret. “Silencing the Scream.” Boundaries of the Imagination Forum. MLA
Convention. Royal York Hotel, Toronto. 29 Dec. 1993.
Using MLA Citation
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ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS
In the order listed, include as much of the following as possible:
• Author’s name: last name, first name, followed by a period; usually found at the top or bottom of the
webpage; search carefully on websites as there is no standard format for including this.
• Title and print publication information:
o title of the article or webpage, in “quotation marks;” start with this if no author name
available; if no author, do not alphabetize by a, an, the on works cited page
o print version information of the web source; see examples and formatting in print sources
section above.
• Electronic publication information:
o title of the site, database, online periodical, underlined
o name of editor of the site
o version number of the source, or volume and issue of the periodical;
o date of electronic publication, latest update, or posting (example: 15 May 2007)
o name of subscription service (like ProQuest) and name and location of subscriber (like the Eli
Luria Library)
o range of page or paragraph numbers, if given
o name of sponsoring institution or organization (if not cited earlier)
• Access information:
o date researcher accessed the source
o URL, or if impractically long, the URL of the site’s main page, or from a subscription service,
the URL of the service’s home page
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An Entire Internet Site
The Cinderella Project. Ed. Michael N. Salda. Vers. 1.1. Dec. 1997 De Grummond Children’s Lit.
Research Collection, U of Southern Mississippi. 15 May 2002 http://www.dept.usm.edu/~enhgdept/cindereaal/cinderella.html.
CNN.com. 2002. Cable News Network. 15 May 2002 <http://www.cnn.com/>.
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A Home Page for a Course
Cuddy-Keane, Melba. Professing Literature. Course home page. Sept. 2002-Apr. 2001. Dept. of
English, U of Toronto. 4 Oct. 2002
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~mcuddy/ENG9900H/Index.htm.
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A Personal Home Page
Lancashire, Ian. Home page. 28 Mar. 2002. 15 May 2002 http://www.chass.utoronto.ca:8080/~ian/.
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An Online Book (include publication information for original print version)
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Twice-Told Tales. Ed. George Parsons Lathrop. Boston: Houghton, 1883. 16
May 2002 <http:/209.11.144.65/eldritchpress/nh/ttt.html>. (entire online book)
Using MLA Citation
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Menzel, Peter, and Faith D’Aluisio. Introduction. Robo Sapiens: Evolution of a New Species.
Cambridge: MIT P, 2000. MIT Press. 8 May 2002 <http://robosapiens.mit.edu/intro.htm>
(part of an online book)
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An Online Government Publication
United States. Dept. of Justice. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Law
Enforcement and Juvenile Crime. By Howard N. Snyder, Dec. 2001. 29 June 2002
<http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1ojjdp/191031.pdf>.
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An Article in an Online Periodical (include volume and issue number; include database if applicable)
Chan, Evans. “Postmodernism and Hong Kong Cinema.” Postmodern Culture 10.3 (2000). Project
Muse. 20 May 2002 <http://muse.jhuedu/journals/pmc/v020/10.3chan.html>. (Scholarly Journal)
Achenback, Joel. “America’s River.” Washington Post 5 May 2002
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/sp-dyn/articles/A13425-2202may1.html>. (Newspaper)
Brooks, David. “The Culture of Martyrdom.” Atlantic Online June 2002. 24 Sept. 2002
<http://theatlantic.com/issues/2002/06/brooks.htm>. (Article in a Magazine)
Ebert, Roger. Rev. of Memento, dir. Christopher Nolan. Chicago Sun-Times Online 13 Apt. 2001. 18
May 2002 <http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/2001/04/041302.html>. (Review)
“Senior Fitness.” USNews.com 27 May 2002. 20 May 2002
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/020527/biztech/27home.b.htm. (Anonymous Article)
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A Work from a Library or Personal Subscription Service (like ProQuest)
(include database, service, library name and location, and URL of the service’s homepage)
Lukas, Paul. “Signs of the Tome.” Money Oct. 2000. Proquest. SBCC Luria Library, Santa Barbara,
CA 7 Nov. 2000 <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb>.
“Cooling Trend in Antartica.” Futurist. May-June 2002: 15. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. City
U of New York, Graduate Center Lib. 22 May 2002 <http://www.epnet.com/>.
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Guidelines for In-text Citation
Some important points to consider when deciding how to include in-text citations:
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For each quote or paraphrased idea, the author’s name and page number listed on your works
cited page must be included in the body of your essay (see Additional Guidelines below). You
can choose to do this in several ways and should consider what format is most readable and least
disruptive to your sentence:
o In the sentence: According to Townsend, Medieval Europe was a place of both terrible
atrocities and burgeoning commerce (10).
o In the parenthetical citation only: Medieval Europe was a place both of “raids, pillages,
slavery, and extortion” and of “traveling merchants, monetary exchange, towns if not
cities, and active markets in grain” (Townsend 10).
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References in the text must clearly point to specific sources in the list of works cited.
o More than one author with same last name, include the first initial: (A. Patterson 183)
o More than on author, include up to three names: (Patterson, Willis, and Frank 279)
o More than three authors: (Patterson, et al. 922)
o More than one reference for an author, include cited, possibly shortened, title after last
name: (Patterson “Images”)
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Identify the location of the borrowed information as specifically as possible:
o For a print source, give the relevant page number or paragraph number.
o For a literary work or the Bible, also give the stanza, act, scene, line or the chapter and
book: (Shakespeare 5.1.5-10) for Act 5 Scene 1 Lines 5-10; (Genesis 5:13) for Genesis
chapter 5, verse 13.
o For a web source, include the section heading if available.
Additional guidelines:
The first piece of information in a works
cited entry - the first position – is what is
No author
included in parenthesis in the text,
listed (often
whether it is the author, the website title,
true of a
or the sponsoring organization. Shorten
website)
names as necessary, but be sure the reader
can identify to which works cited entry
you are pointing.
In the same paragraph only, if there are no
other quotes from another source in
between the sentences, and all the quotes
More than one
appear on the same page in your source
statement from
text, you may give a single parenthetical
the same
reference after the last quotation. Quotes
author
from the same author but from different
pages numbers need only the page
number in parenthesis.
Using MLA Citation
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Website article title: “Cooling Trend
in Antartica.” = (“Cooling Trend”)
Webpage title: CNN.com =
(CNN.com)
Remember to include page or
paragraph numbers if available.
Be sure your reader can distinguish
your ideas from the quoted data as you
analyze them in your paragraph. Use
introductory phrases to identify the
source of the information in the
sentence. (See Incorporating
Quotations handout)
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Example of In-text Citation and Accompanying Works Cited Page
First page of an MLA research paper (not to scale)
1/2”
1”
Laura N. Josephson
MLA recommends using Times
New Roman 12 pt font, which is
also often required by instructors.
Professor Bennett
Humanities 2710
Double space, including
the heading and title.
8 May 2003
Ellington’s Adventures in Music and Geography
paragraph
indent ½”
Josephson 1
No extra lines in
between heading, title,
or paragraphs
In studying the influence of Latin American, African, and Asian music on modern
American composers, music historians tend to discuss such figures as Aaron Copland, George
Gershwin, Henry Cowell, Alan Hovhaness, and John Cage (Brindle; Griffiths 104-39;
Hitchcock173-98). They usually overlook Duke Ellington, whom Gunther Schuller rightly
calls “one of America’s great composers” (318), probably because they are familiar only wit
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Ellington’s popular pieced, like “Sophisticated lady,” “Mood Indigo,” and “Solitude.” Still
little know are the many ambitious orchestral suites Ellington composed, several of which,
such as Black Brown, and Beige (originally entitled The African Suite), The Liberian Suite,
The Far East Suite, and The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse.
Not all music critics, however, have ignored Ellington’s excursions into longer
musical forms. Raymond Horricks compared him with Ravel, Deluis, and Debussy:
The continually enquiring mind of Ellington…has sought to extend steadily the
Indent
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imaginative boundaries of the musical form on which is subsists…Ellington since the
mid-1930s has been engaged upon extending both the imagery and the formal
construction of written jazz. (122-23)
Ellington’s earliest attempts to move beyond the four-minute limit imposed by the popular
1”
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First page of an MLA Works Cited page (not to scale)
1”
Double space the whole page,
including the title; alphabetize
by first position.
Works Cited
Brindle, Redinald Smith. “The Search Ourwards: The Orient, Jazz,
Archaisms.” The New Music: The Avant-Garde since 1945. New
Hanging
indent ½”
York: Oxford UP, 1975. 133-45.
Burnett, James. “Ellington’s Place as a Composer.” Gammond 141-55.
Duke Ellington. 2002. Estate of Mercer K. Ellington. 3 June 2002
http://www.dukeellington.com/.
Duke Ellington’s Washington. 2002 Public Broadcasting System. 3 June
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2002 http://www.pbs.org/ellingtonsdc/>.
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Ellington, Duke. The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse. 1971. Fantasy, 1991.
–. Black, Brown, and Beige. 1945. RCA, 1995.
–. The Far East Suite. 1965. RCA, 1995.
–. The Latin American Suite. 1969. Fantasy, 1990.
–. The Liberian Suite. LP, Philips, 1947.
Gammond, Peter, ed. Duke Ellington: His Life and Music. 1958. New York:
De Capo, 1977.
Griffiths, Paul. A Concise History of Avant-Garde Music From Debussy to
Boulez. New York: Oxford UP, 1978.
Schuller, Gunther. Early Jazz: Its Roots and Musical Development. New
York: Oxford UP, 1968.
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