MLA Citation Style Examples
GENERAL INFO
Single Author
Reverse name with comma.
Franke, Damon.
Two or Three
Authors
Same order as on title page
(not alphabetical). Only
reverse name of first author.
Broer, Lawrence R., and Gloria
Holland.
MacLaury, Robert E., Galina V.
Paramei, and Don Dedirck.
> 3 Authors
List first author followed
by, et al.
Plag, Ingo, et al.
Editors, etc
If persons are editors,
translators, or compilers, place
a comma after the final name
and add abbreviation.
Davis, Anita Price, comp.
Kepner, Susan Fulop, ed. and trans.
Plag, Ingo, et al, eds.
Only Author
Initials Listed
Use what is listed or spell out
name if known.
Rowling, J.K.
Rowling, J[oanne] K[athleen].
Corporate
Authors
Use the full (not abbreviated)
name of the commission,
association, committee, or
other group.
National Research Council.
Urban Land Institute.
7th Edition (2009)
PRINT RESOURCES
Scholarly
Journal
Last, First. “Article Title.” Journal Title volume.issue (Year): pages. Print.
Piper, Andrew. “Rethinking the Print Object: Goethe and the Book of Everything.” PMLA
121.1 (2006): 124-38. Print.
Tibullus, Albius. “How to Be Tibullus.” Trans. David Wray. Chicago Review 48.4 (200203): 102-06. Print.
Newspaper
Last, First. “Article Title.” Newspaper Title Day Month Year, edition: page+. Print.
Alaton, Salem. “So, Did They Live Happily Ever After?” Globe and Mail [Toronto] 27 Dec.
1997: D1+. Print.
Jeromack, Paul. “This Once, a David of Art World Does Goliath a Favor.” New York
Times 13 July 2002, late ed.: B7+. Print.
*DO NOT INCLUDE VOLUME OR ISSUE NUMBERS
Magazine
Last, First. “Article Title.” Magazine Title Day Month Year: pages. Print.
McEvoy, Dermot. “Little Books, Big Success.” Publishers Weekly 30 Oct. 2006: 26-28.
Print.
Anonymous
Begin with Title
No Place of
Publication
Given
Use n.p.
No Publisher
Given
Use n.p.
New York: n.p., 2008.
Baker, Nancy L., and Nancy Huling, eds. A Research Guide for Undergraduate Students:
English and American Literature. 6th ed. New York: MLA, 2006. Print.
No Date of
Publication
Given
Use n.d.
New York: U of Gotham P, n.d.
Franke, Damon. Modernist Heresies: British Literary History, 1883-1924. Columbus:
Ohio State UP, 2008. Print.
No Pagination
Given
Use n. pag.
Weintraub, Arlene, and Laura Cohen. “A Thousand-Year Plan for Nuclear Waste.”
Business Week 6 May 2002: 94-96. Print.
N.p.: U of Gotham P, 2008.
*DO NOT INCLUDE VOLUME OR ISSUE NUMBERS
Book
Last, First. Book Title. Edition. City: Publisher, Year. Print.
Modern Language Association. Language Study in the Age of Globalization: The
College-Level Experience. New York: MLA, n.d. Print.
New York: U of Gotham P, 2008. N.
pag.
Rowling, J[oanne] K[athleen]. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. New York: LevineScholastic, 2000. Print.
*TREAT A BROCHURE OR PAMPHLET AS YOU WOULD A BOOK
*IF SEVERAL CITIES ARE LISTED, GIVE ONLY THE FIRST
* REFER TO PAGES 247-248 OF THE MANUAL FOR PUBLISHER ABBREVIATIONS
For further reference, consult:
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th Ed. New York: MLA, 2009.
COPIES ARE AVAILABLE ON RESERVE AT THE CIRCULATION DESK.
Book
Last, First. Book Title. City, Year. Print.
Published
Before 1900
Brome, Richard. The Dramatic Works of Richard Brome. 3 vols. London, 1873. Print.
Translation
Last, First. Book Title. Ed./Trans. First Last. City: Publisher, Year. Print.
Dewey, John. The School and Society. Chicago, 1899. Print.
Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Viking, 1996. Print.
U.S. Conn Library
U.S. Conn Library ● Wayne State College ● www.wsc.edu/library ● (402)375-7258
Forward,
Preface,
etc
Last, First. Forward. Book Title. By First Last. City: Publisher, Year. Pages. Print.
Felstiner, John. Preface. Selected Poems and Prose of Paul Celan. Trans. Felstiner. New
York: Norton, 2001. xix-xxxvi. Print.
Scholarly
Edition
When referring primarily to the work:
Last, First. Book Title. Ed. First Last. City: Publisher, Year. Print.
Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. Ed. Claudia Johnson. New York: Norton, 2001. Print.
Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War.
1895. Ed. Fredson Bowers, Charlottesville: UP of Virginia, 1975. Print.
When referring primarily to the work of the editor:
WEB RESOURCES
Print
Resource
Retrieved
from the
Web
Use the guidelines
for print sources.
Replace Print. with:
Title of Website.
Web. Date of
Access.
Last, First, ed. Book Title. Ed. By First Last. City: Publisher, Year. Print.
Bowers, Fredson, ed. The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War.
1895. By Stephen Crane. Charlottesville: UP of Virginia, 1975. Print.
Work in an
Anthology
Last, First. “Work Title.” First Last Book Title. Ed/Comp. First Last. City:
Publisher, Year. Pages. Print.
Allende, Isable. “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.
“A Witchcraft Story.” The Hopi Way: Tales from a Vanishing Culture. Comp. Mando
Sevillano. Flagstaff: Northland, 1986. 33-42. Print.
Article in a
Reference
Book
“Ginsburg, Ruth Bader.” Who’s Who in America. 62nd ed. 2008. Print.
*FULL PUBLICATION INFO NOT REQUIRED FOR GENERAL REFERENCE WORKS
*ADD PAGE NUMBERS IF WORK NOT ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY
Illustrated
Book or
Graphic
Narrative
Last, First, role. Book Title. Other by First Last. City: Publisher, Year. Print.
Pekar, Harvey, writer. The Quitter. Art by Dean Haspiel. Gray tones by Lee Loughride.
Letters by Pat Brosseau. New York: Vertigo-DC Comics, 2005. Print.
Proceedings
of a
Conference
Published
Dissertation
Print
Resource
Retrieved
from an
Online
Database
Use the guidelines
for print sources.
Replace Print. with:
Title of Database.
Web. Date of
Access.
Tibullus, Albius. “How to Be Tibullus.” Trans. David Wray.
Chicago Review 48.4 (2002-03): 102-06. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 15 May 2008.
Jeromack, Paul. “This Once, a David of Art World Does Goliath
a Favor.” New York Times 13 July 2002, late ed.: B7+.
LexisNexis. Web. 2 Sept. 2008.
McEvoy, Dermot. “Little Books, Big Success.” Publishers Weekly
30 Oct. 2006: 26-28. Literary Reference Center. Web. 21
Jan. 2009.
Online Only
Scholarly
Journal
Article
Use the guidelines
for print sources.
Other Web
Resources
Last, First. “Title of the Work.” Title of the Overall Website. Publisher or Sponsor
of Site, Date of Publication. Web. Date of Access.
Last, First. Book Title. Illus. First Last. City: Publisher, Year. Print.
Baum, L. Frank. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Introd. Regina Barreca. Illus. W. W.
Denslow. New York: Signet-Penguin, 2006. Print.
Bierce, Ambrose. “Academy.” The Devil’s Dictionary. The
Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce. Vol. 7. New York:
Neale, 1911. N. pag. The Ambrose Bierce Project. Web.
7 Aug. 2008.
Whittier, John G. “A Prayer.” The Freedmen’s Book. Ed. L. Maria
Child. Boston, 1866. 178. Google Book Search. Web.
26 Feb. 2008.
Last, First. “Article Title.” Reference Title. Ed. First Last. Edition. Volume. City:
Publisher, Year. Print.
Allen, Anita L. “Privacy in Health Care.” Encyclopedia of Bioethics. Ed. Stephen G. Post.
3rd ed. Vol. 4. New York: Macmillan-Thomson, 2004. Print.
Cascardi, Anthony J. Ideologies of History in the Spanish Golden
Age. University Park: Pennsylvania State UP, 1997.
Penn State Romance Studies. Web. 12 Mar. 2007.
Replace Print. with:
Web. Date of
Access.
Landauer, Michelle. “Images of Virtue: Reading, Reformation
and the Visualization of Culture in Rosseau’s La nouvelle
Héloïse.” Romanticism on the Net 46 (2007): n. pag.
Web. 8 Nov. 2007.
Committee on Scholarly Editions. “Guidelines for Editors of Scholarly Editions.”
Modern Language Association. MLA, 25 Sept. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
“de Kooning, Willem.” Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Encyclopaedia Britannica,
2008. Web. 20 July 2007.
Last, First. “Presentation or Section Title.” Proceedings Title. Ed. Last First. Date &
Location of Conference if not in Title, Publisher: Conference Name, Year.
Pages. Print.
Green, Joshua. “The Rove Presidency.” The Atlantic.com. Atlantic Monthly Group,
Sept. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
Hualde, Jose Ignacio. “Patterns of Correspondence in the Adaptation of Spanish
Borrowings in Basque.” Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Annual Meeting of
the Berkeley Linguistics Society, February 12-15, 1999: General Session and
Parasession on Loan Word Phenomena. Ed. Steve S. Chang, Lily Liaw, and Josef
Ruppenhofer. Berkeley: Berkeley Linguistics Soc., 2000. 348-58. Print.
Quade, Alex. “Elite Team Rescues Troops behind Enemy Lines.” CNN.com. Cable News
Network, 19 Mar. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
Last, First. Dissertation Title. Diss. University, Year. City: Publisher, Year. Print.
Fullerton, Matilda. Women’s Leadership in the Public Schools: Towards a Feminist
Educational Leadership Model. Diss. Washington State U, 2001. Ann Arbor: UMI,
2001. Print.
IF UNPUBLISHED, USE QUOTATION MARKS INSTEAD OF ITALICS. PUBLICATION INFO WILL NOT BE PRESENT.
Lui, Alan, ed. Home page. Voice of the Shuttle. Dept. of English, U of California, Santa
Barbara, n.d. Web. 2 May 2009.
“The Scientists Speak.” Editorial. New York Times. New York Times, 20 Nov. 2007.
Web. 5 Apr. 2009.
*NOTE: GIVE GENERIC LABEL (Homepage, Introduction, Online Posting, etc)
WITHOUT ITALICS OR QUOTATION MARKS FOR UNTITLED WORKS
*INCLUSION OF AN URL IS OPTIONAL. INCLUDE IT IF YOU COULD NOT LOCATE RESOURCE WITHOUT IT OR IF
REQUIRED BY AN INSTRUCTOR. EXAMPLE: <http://www.wsc.edu/library>.
CITING MLA REFERENCES IN-TEXT
MLA style provides a way to acknowledge another's facts, words, or ideas in your paper
by inserting a brief indication of the source, usually the author's last name and page.
Complete information will be found in the list of works cited (the references or
bibliography) at the end of the paper. If the source is an electronic book and lacks
numbering, omit numbers from your parenthetical references.
Author and Title Cited in
Text (no parenthetical citation
Author Cited in Text
Direct Quotation with
Name of Author
Direct Quotation without
Name of Author
Type of citation
Author cited in text
Parenthetical format
One work by one
author
Tannen has argued this point
(178-85).
(Tannen 178-85)
As metaphors for the workings of nature, Darwin used
the tangled bank, the tree of life, and the face of nature
(Gould 14).
Gould attributes Darwin's success to his gift for making
the appropriate metaphor (14).
Gould explains that Darwin used the metaphor of the
tree of life "to express the other form of interconnectedness-genealogical rather than ecological-and to illustrate both success and failure in the history of life" (14).
Darwin used the metaphor of the tree of life "to express
the other form of interconnectedness-genealogical
rather than ecological" (Gould 14).
NOTE: Text and examples directly from http://library.csus.edu/guides/rogenmoserd/general/mla.html
One work by two
authors
Marx and Engels described
their struggles as ... (79).
(Marx and Engels 79)
One work by three
authors
Smith, Yang, and Moore argue
that ... (76).
(Smith, Yang, and Moore 76)
One work by four or
more authors
Jones et al. indicated ... (4).
(Jones et al. 4)
Corporate Author
(in parenthesis, shorten terms that
are commonly
abbreviated)
In 1963 the United Nations
Economic Commission for
Africa predicted … (79-86).
(United Nations, Economic
Commission for Africa 7986).
According to a study by the
National Research Council ...
(15).
(Natl. Research Council 15).
No Author
(in parenthesis, use
a shortened title of
the work)
In “The Impact of Global
Warming in North America ” …
(6).
(“Impact of Global Warming”
6).
To cite multiple sources in the same parenthetical reference, separate the citations by a
semi-colon:
. . . as has been discussed elsewhere (Burke 3; Dewey 21).
Sometimes more information is necessary to identify the source from which a
quotation is taken. For instance, if two or more authors have the same last name,
provide both authors' first initials (or even the authors' full name if different authors
share initials) in your citation:
Although some medical ethicists claim that cloning will lead to designer
children (R. Miller 12), others note that the advantages for medical research outweigh this consideration (A. Miller 46).
NOTE: Text and examples directly from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/
(Wordsworth 263)
Wordsworth stated that ...
(263).
In The Literary Nature of Darwin, Gould explores some
of Darwin's most effective metaphors.
necessary when citing the entire
work rather than a specific idea
within the work)
Author Not Cited in Text
BASIC IN-TEXT CITATION STYLES
Two or more works by Lightenor has argued … ("Too
(Lightenor, “Too Soon” 38)
one author (include
Soon" 38), though he has
(Lightenor, “Hand-Eye
shortened title)
acknowledged elsewhere ...
Development” 17)
("Hand-Eye Development" 17).