MLA-Style Citation Guide
Bibliography/Works Cited/Source List
Why We Do This
Whenever you draw on another’s work, you must also document your source by indicating where you
borrowed it from. Through documentation, you will provide your readers with a description of key
features of each source. You need to state the author and the medium of publication. Your bibliography
should be a clear guide to your readers.
How to do it
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th ed.,
Chapter 5 Preparing the list of works cited
Chapter 6 Citing Sources in the Text, examples at the end of the document
FORMAT
The works cited should be completely double-spaced, with the second and subsequent lines of each
entry indented 5 spaces or ½ inch from the left margin (hanging indention).
Alphabetize the entries by the author’s surname or by title if the name is not known.
Follow all the MLA rules for capitalization, etc.
EXAMPLES
Non periodical Prints
What are these? Books, pamphlets, anthologies or compilations
Book with one Author
Last name, First name. Title of book. City Published in: Publisher, Year published. Print.
Harbord, Janet. The Evolution of Film: Rethinking Film Studies. Cambridge: Polity, 2007. Print.
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MLA-Style Citation Guide
If you were to do an annotated bibliography, a brief description of the source is required.
Harbord, Janet. The Evolution of Film: Rethinking Film Studies. Cambridge: Polity, 2007. Print. A
synthesis of classic film theory and an examination of the contemporary situation of film studies
that draws on recent scholarship in philosophy, anthropology and media studies.
Two or More Works by the Same Author-use three hyphens three times, followed by a period
than the title of the work.
Tannen, Deborah. Talking Voices: Repetition, Dialogue and Imagery in Conversational Discourse. 2nd
ed. New York: Cambridge UP, 2007. Print. Studies in Interactional Sociolinguistics 26.
---. You’re Wearing That? Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation. New York:
Ballantine-Randome, 2006. Print.
Work with an Editor instead of an Author
Baker, Russell, ed. The Norton Book of Light Verse. New York: Norton, 1993. Print.
Book with More than One Author
Author by last names in alphabetical order. Title. City: Publisher, Year Published. Print
Gilbert, Sandra M. and Susan Gubar, eds. The Female Imagination and the Modernist Aesthetic.
New York: Gordon, 1986. Print.
Anthology or a Compilation
Indicate the work cited is a compilation or if it is edited and translated by using ed. and trans.
Davis, Anita Price, comp. North Carolina during the Great Depression: A Documentary Portrait of a
Decade. Jefferson: McFarland, 2003. Print.
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MLA-Style Citation Guide
Work in an Anthology
Author. “Title.” Trans. Name Title of work article was in. Editor’s name. City: Publisher, Year. Pages.
Print.
Allende, Isabel. “Toad’s Mouth.” Trans. Margaret Sayers Peden. A Hammock beneath the Mangoes:
Stories from Latin America Ed. Thomas Colchie. New York: Plume, 1992. 83-88. Print.
Article in a Reference Book
“Article Title.” Title of Reference Book. Edition. Year. Print
“Ginsburg, Ruth Bader.” Who’s Who in America. 62nd ed. 2008. Print.
Periodical Print Publications
What are these? Newspapers, magazines, journals
Author’s name. “Title of the article.” Title of publication. Issue number. (Year): pages of article
Format Type.
Piper, Andrew. “Rethinking the Print Object: Goethe and the Book fo Everything.” PMLA 121.1
(2006): 124-38. Print.
In some cases you may not have volume numbers. Cite the issue numbers of such journals alone.
Kafka, Ben. “The Demon of Writing: Paperwork, Public Safety, and the Reign of Terror.”
Representations 98 (2007): 1-24. Print.
An Article in a Scholarly Journal with More Than One Series
Striner, Richard. “Political Newtonism: The Cosmic Model of Politics in Europe and America.”
William and Mary Quarterly 3rd ser. 52.4 (1995): 583-608. Print.
Article in a Newspaper
Author. “Title of Article.” Title of Newspaper. Date of Article. City edition.: Column page. Print.
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MLA-Style Citation Guide
Jeromack, Paul. “This Once, a David of the Art World Does Goliath a Favor.” New York Times 13 July
2002, New England ed.: A13+. Print.
Article in a Magazine
Author. “Title.” Title of Magazine. Month Yr: pages. Print.
McEvoy, Dermot. “Little Books, Big Success.” Publisher Weekly 30 Oct. 2006: 26-28. Print.
A Review
Author. Rev. of Title of Work Reviewed by author of reviewed work. Title of Publication of which
Review is in. Issue Month Year: Page numbers. Print.
Mendelsohn, Daniel. “September 11 at the Movies.” Rev. of United 93, directed Paul Greengrass
and World Trade Center, dir. Oliver Stone. New York Review of Books 21 Sept. 2006: 43-46. Print.
Abstract in Abstracts Journal
Author. “Title.” Dissertation of Publication, Year. DAI number (DAI number is available through the
databases.)
Pineda, Marcela. “Desire in Postmodern Discourse: An Analysis of the Poetry of Cristina Peri Rossi.
Diss. Indiana U, 2004. DAI 65.12 (2005) item DA3156288. Print.
An Editorial
After the author of the letter, indicate the work cited is a Letter.
Safer, Morley. Letter. New York Times 31 Oct. 1993, late ed., sec. 2: 4. Print.
WEB PUBLICATIONS
You need authors, a title, Company page name, date, date you found it on the Web and you need to
indicate that it’s a Web resource. Including full URLS in a resource is subject to change. If it is a PDF
at the end for the medium. If it is a Word file indicate Microsoft Word file.
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MLA-Style Citation Guide
Website
Author. Title of Site. Sponsor, Date Created. Medium. Date Accessed
United States Environmental ProtectionAgency. Drinking Water Standards.EPA, 8 July 2004. Web. 24
Jan. 2006
Page from a Website
Author. “Title.” Webpage. Webpage, date or n.d., Web. Date Accessed
Shiva, Vandana. “Bioethics: A ThirdWorld Issue.” Nativeweb. Nativeweb,n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2006
Page from Website with unknown author
“Title.” Title of Website. Publisher, Year. Web. Date Accessed
“Media Giants.” Frontline: The Merchants of Cool. PBS Online, 2001.Web. 7 Feb. 2006.
Online Book
Author. Title of Book. Website. Webpage, Year. Web. Date Accessed
Milton, John. Paradise Lost: Book I.Poetryfoundation.org. Poetry Foundation, 2008. Web. 14 Dec.
2008.
Portion of an online book
Author. “Chapter Title.” Title of Book. Author of book. City: Publisher, Year Published. Page numbers.
Online book source. Web. Date Accessed
Adams, Henry. “Diplomacy.” The Education of Henry Adams. By Adams. Boston: Houghton, 1918. N. pag.
Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Web. 8 Jan 2007
Scholarly Journal, usually what is used to cite articles from the library online databases
Author. Title of work. Title of Database. Issue. Vol. (Year): page. Web. Year. Date Accessed
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MLA-Style Citation Guide
Armstrong, Grace. Rev. of Fortune’s Faces: The Roman de la Rose and the Poetics of Contingency, by
Daniel Heller-Roazen. Bryn Mawr Review of Comparative Literature 6.1 (2007): n. pag. Web. 5 June
2008.
Periodical Publiction in an Online Database
Author. “Title.” Format. Title of Periodical. Issue. Volume. (Year): page number. Database title. Web.
Date article was found.
Richardson, Lynda. “Something Old, Something New…” Editorial. Canadian Journal on Aging/ La
revue canadienne du vieillissement 26.2 (2007): 81. Project Muse. Web, 30 Nov. 2007.
Blog
Blog author. Title. Blog Source, Date. Web. Date Accessed
Mayer, Caroline. The Checkout. Washington Post, 10 Jan. 2007. Web. 19 Jan. 2007.
Response in a Blog
Editor, screen name, author, or compiler name (if available). “Posting Title.” Name of Site. Version
number (if available). Name ofinstitution/organization affiliated with
the site (sponsor or publisher)
CD-ROM
“Article Title.” Disc Title. Edition number. City: Publisher, Year. Format.
“Pimpernel.” The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 4th ed. Boston: Houghton,
2000. CDROM
E-mail
Author. “Title of e-mail.” Purpose of message. Date. E-mail
Kunka, Andrew. "Re: Modernist Literature." Message to the author.15 Nov. 2000. E‐mail.
PDF File
American Council of Learned Societies. Commission on Cyberinfrastructure for the Humanities and
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MLA-Style Citation Guide
Social Sciences. Our Cultural Commonwealth. New York: ACLS, 2006. PDF file.
ADDITIONAL SOURCES
An Interview
Blanchett, Cate. “In Character with: Cate Blanchett.” Notes on a Scandal. Dir. Richard Eyre. Fox
Searchlight, 2006. DVD
Podcast/Youtube
Author. “Title of Article.” Project Title. Youtube, Date posted. Date Accessed
Murphy, Beth. “Tips for a Good Profile Piece.” Project: Report. YouTube, 7 Sept. 2008. Web. 19 Sept.
2008
Legal Source
Title of Case. Case number. Court. Year. Title of Collection. Publication information. Medium used,
Date Accessed.
Brown v. Board of Educ. 347 US 483-96. Supreme Court of the US. 1954. Supreme Court Collection.
Legal Information Inst., Cornell U Law School, n.d. Web 3 Aug. 2007
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