MLA Reference Style Quick Guide
Created by Rebecca Koga
Revised 3/2/2011
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Before Using this guide, please note:
Information included between { } should not appear in your citations; this information is only for your use.
If you cannot find a particular element listed, skip that element within your citation and go on to the next.
For example, if there is no author listed then begin your citation with the title of the work.
If you have multiple works by the same author(s), begin each subsequent entry with ---. Omit author names.
See 7.4 of source for a list of commonly used words that can be abbreviated.
When citing a book published prior to 1900, omit the name of the publisher and use a comma after the place
of publication. Ex. … London, 1873. Print.
Citations that are longer than one line should be formatted with a ½” hanging indent, as exemplified below.
Dates should be formatted Day Month Year. Abbreviate all months except for May, June, and July.
Works Cited
Book with Single Author
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Title of Book: Subtitle. City of Publication: Publisher’s Name,
Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.
Franke, Damon. Modernist Heresies: British Literary History. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 2008. Print.
Book with an editor instead of an author
Editor’s Last Name, Editor’s First Name, ed. Title of book: Subtitle. City of Publication: Publisher’s
Name, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.
Book with two or three authors Record authors as listed on title page, not necessarily in alphabetical
order. Reverse only the name of the first author, add a comma, and give other names in normal form,
using the word and before the last author’s name.
Samson, Henry, Jenny Taylor, and John Adams. Title of Book. …
Book with more than three authors Give either the first author’s name followed by et al. or list all
authors as listed on the title page. The choice is yours.
Samson, Henry, et al. Title of Book, …
Samson, Henry, Jenny Taylor, Susan Baker, Maria Williams, and John Adams. Title of Book. …
Book With a Corporate Author List corporation in place of author’s name.
American Chemical Society. Title of Book. …
Work in an anthology
Author of piece. “Title of Work.” {If work was originally printed independently, such as a play or novel,
italicize the title instead of placing it within quotation marks.} Trans. {if relevant} of anthology.
Title of Anthology. Ed. Editor of Anthology. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.
Pages of Work. Medium of work.
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Trans. Ann Smith. Shakespeare’s Plays. Ed. John Adams and Susan
Harris. London: Oxford Books, 2005. 45-124. Print.
More, Hannah. “The Black Slave Trade: A Poem.” British Women Poets of the Romantic Era. Ed. Paula
R. Feldman. Baltimore: John Hopkins UP, 1997. 472-82. Print.
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Article in a reference book Treat an encyclopedia article or dictionary entry as you would a work in an
anthology. If article is signed, give author’s name first, otherwise list title of entry first.
Book with Edition Information Include the edition information after the title.
… Title. 6th ed.
Illustrated Book or Graphic Novel Give illustrator’s name, preceded by Illus. after the title. If editor or
translator information is also present, list information as it appears on the title page.
Andersen, Hans C. The Princess and the Pea. Illus. Janet Stevens. Trans. Hans Olander. Oslo: Danish
Press, 2009. Print.
Multiple Volumes If you use two or more volumes cite the total number of volumes. When citing in the
text, refer to the specific volume and page numbers. If you use only one volume, state the number of the
volume in the entry, giving publication info for that volume alone and citing only the specific page
numbers for in text citations.
Blanco, Richard L., ed. The American Revolution, 1775-1783: An Encyclopedia. 3 vols. Hamden:
Garland, 1993-1995. Print.
Blanco, Richard L., ed. The American Revolution, 1775-1783: An Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. Hamden:
Garland, 1994. Print.
Book as Part of a Series {Include Series name and number at the end of listing.}
…Print. Latin Amer. Lit. and Culture 7.
The Bible
Title. Editor. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of source.
New Jerusalem Bible. Henry Wansbrough, gen. ed. New York: Doubleday, 1985. Print.
An article in a newspaper
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. “Title of article: Subtitle.” Title of Newspaper [City of
Publication if not included in title of paper] Date of publication, edition: section number or letter
or name page number {if article is continued on another page, use + instead of listing each
separate page}. Medium of source.
Dwyer, Jim. “Yeats Meets the Digital Age.” Courier News [Elgin] 27 Dec. 2010, late ed.: D1+. Print.
An article in a magazine
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. “Title of Article: Subtitle.” Name of Magazine- Date of
Publication: Page Numbers. Medium of Source.
Kates, Robert W. “Population and Consumption: What We Know, What We Need to Know.”
Environment 26 Apr. 2010: 10-19. Print.
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An article in a Scholarly Journal Follow citation for article in a magazine, but precede the date with
volume and number information, then list only the year of publication. If found online, include date of
access at end of citation.
Smith, Rebecca. “Motivating Your Students.” Journal of Secondary Education 54.3 (2011): 23-45. Print.
Harris, Susan. “Dancing for Exercise.” Journal of Physical Education 32.4 (2008): 34-48. Web. 28 June
2009.
Websites
Author. “Title of Page.” Title of Website. Publisher or Sponsor if site. Date of publication. Medium of
source. Date of access.
Smith, Jones. “Our Mission.” The William Blake Archive. Library of Congress. 23 June 2004. Web. 23
Feb. 2009.
Articles from a database Follow page numbers with Title of Database. Medium. Date of Access.
Harris, Susan. “Dancing for Exercise.” Journal of Physical Education 32.4 (2008): 34-48. Ebsco. Web. 28
June 2009.
Notes about online sources:
-If publisher or sponsor is not available, use n.p.
-If page numbers are not listed online, use n. pag.
-If publication date is not available, use n.d.
- When using online sources, a URL can be very long or sometimes specific to a user or session.
Therefore, inclusion of the URL is optional. Include the URL if there is no other way a reader could find
the same source or when required by your instructor. If you include the URL, enclose the entire URL in
angle brackets at the very end of your citation. Ex. … Date of Access. http://www.dhmo.org
In Text Citations
If your works cited page contains only one entry for an author, your parenthetical citation needs only
the author’s last name and page numbers. (Patterson 188-89)
If your works cited page contains entries for different authors with the same last name, use the
author’s first initial in your citation. (A. Patterson 183-85) (S. Patterson 92-5)
If your works cited page contains multiple entries for the same author, include the author’s last name,
and the cited title (if brief) or a shortened version of the title in the same format as the works cited
page. (Frye, Anatomy 238) or (Moulthrop, “Traveling” 184)
Keep references as brief as possible. Give only the information needed to identify a source, author
and, if necessary, title. Do not use abbreviations such as ed., trans., and comp. after the name.
Citations should follow the statement being cited as soon as possible, but where there would be a
normal pause, such as a period. Citations should precede the punctuation mark. …, such has never
been seen before (Moulthrop 235).
If you have included the author’s name in the statement, you do not need to repeat it in the citation.
Patterson states that “lives were just beginning while others were ending” (154).
Citing the Bible: The first time you cite the Bible, state the element that begins the works cited list,
then identify the scripture passage. In subsequent citations cite only the passage. (New Jerusalem
Bible, Ezek. 1.5-10). … (Rev. 4.6-8).
Source
Modern Language Association. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: Mod.
Lang. Assn., 2009. Print.
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