Note: Citations should be double spaced and the 2nd & following lines indented 5 spaces. Additional format information is provided at the bottom of this page. The 2009 edition of the MLA handbook notes that URLs are no longer required when citing web sources. If you do include a URL, place it after the date of access and enclosed in angle brackets:
Eaves, Morris,Robert Essick, and Joseph Viscomi, eds. The William Blake Archive. Lib. of Congress., 28 Sept. 2007. Web. 20 Nov. 2007. <http://www.blakearchive.org/blake/>.
Book
Format:
Author last name, first name. Title of book. City of publication: Publisher,
publication year.
Okuda, Michael, and Denise Okuda. Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future. New York: Pocket, 1993.
Electronic book
Format:
Author last name, first name. Title of book. City of publication: Publisher,
publication year. Electronic publisher. Web. Day month year of access.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghlin Mifflin, 2001. netLibrary. Web. 26 June 2009.
Book accessed from Google Books
Format:
Author last name, first name. Title of book. City of publication: Publisher, publication year. Google Book Search. Web.Day month year of access.
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed:On (Not) Getting by in America. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2001. Google Book Search. Web. 14 June 2009.
Article or chapter within books
Format:
Author last name, first name. "Title of chapter." Title of Book Ed. first
name last name. City of publication: Publisher, publication year. Pages of chapter.
James, Nancy E. "Two Sides of Paradise: The Eden Myth According to Kirk and Spock." Spectrum of the Fantastic. Ed. Donald Palumbo. Westport: Greenwood, 1988. 219-223.
Encyclopedia or other multi-volume work
Format:
Author last name, first name. "Title
of article." Title of Work. Edition #. Publication year.
Barron, Neil. "Science Fiction." The Encyclopedia Americana. International ed. 2002.
Article from a printed journal
Format:
Author last name, first name. "Title of article." Title of journal volume
# (publication year): pages.
Wilcox, Rhonda. "Shifting Roles and Synthetic Women in Star Trek: The Next Generation." Studies in Popular Culture 13.2 (1991): 53-65.
Article from an online journal
Format:
Author last name, first name. "Title of article". Title of journal volume. issue
(publication year): pages (if no there are no page numbers, use n. pag.). Web. Day month year of access.
Rohrbaugh, Guy, and Louis deRosset. "A New Route to the Necessity of Origin." Mind 113.452 (2004): 705-725. Web. 5 Jan. 2005.
Shehan, Constance L., and Amanda B. Moras. "Deconstructing Laundry: Gendered Technologies and the Reluctant Redesihn of Household Labor." Michigan Family Review 11 (2006): n.pag. Web. 23 Sept. 2008.
Journal article from an online database
Format:
Author last name, first name. "Title of article." Title of journal volume
number. issue if available (publication year): pages. Database Name. Web. Day month year of access.
Gump, Steven E. "The Cost of Cutting Class: Attendance as a Predictor of Student Success." College Teaching 53.1 (2005): 21-26.OmniFile Full Text Mega. Web. 5 Feb. 2006.
Article from a print magazine
Format:
Author last name, first name. "Title of article." Title of Magazine day
month year of publication: pages.
Pimental, David, and Anne Wilson. "World Population, Agriculture and Malnutrition." World Watch Sept.-Oct. 2004: 23-25.
Article from an online magazine
Format:
Author last name, first name. "Title of article." Title of Magazine volume.
issue (publication year): pages (if no there are no page numbers, use n. pag.). Web. Day month year of access.
Kiser, Rick. "No One Rules the Net, Not Yet." Information Today 21. 9 (Oct. 2004). n. pag. Web. 6 Jan. 2005.
Magazine article from an online database
Format:
Author last name, first name. "Title of article." Title of Magazine Volume
number issue if available (publication year): pages. Name of database. Web. Day month year of access.
Miller, Michael J. "The Year of Living Musically." PC Magazine 23.23 (2004): 7. Academic Search Elite. Web. 6 Jan. 2009.
Article from a print newspaper
Format:
Author last name, first name. "Title of article." Title of newspaper day
month year of publication: pages.
Perez, Evan. "New Pressure to Simplify Air Fares." Wall Street Journal 5 Jan. 2005: D1, D8.
Article from an online newspaper
Format:
Author last name, first name. "Title of article." Title of newspaper day
month year of publication. Web. Day month year of access.
White, Susan E. "Former Wal-Mart Greeter Accuses Chain of Discrimination." Virginian-Pilot 24 July 2007. Web. 25 July 2007.
Newspaper article from a database
Format:
Author last name, first name. "Title of article." Title of newspaper publication date day month year: section or page numbers. Database name. Web. Day month year of access.
Biers, John M. "Corporate Acquirers Screen Targets for Possible Corruption." Wall Street Journal 3 Dec. 2004: A8. ABI/INFORM. Web. 6 June 2007.
Online scholarly or institutional project
Format:
Author last name, first name [if given]. Title of web document. Editor [if given]. Date of website creation or update. Name of institution affiliated with the site. Web. Day month year of access.
Eaves, Morris,Robert Essick, and Joseph Viscomi, eds. The William Blake Archive. Lib. of Congress., 28 Sept. 2007. Web. 20 Nov. 2007. <http://www.blakearchive.org/blake/>.
OR
Eaves, Morris,Robert Essick, and Joseph Viscomi, eds. The William Blake Archive. Lib. of Congress., 28 Sept. 2007. Web. 20 Nov. 2007.
Online government publication
Format:
Issuing agency. Document title. Auhtor (if given). Database or sponsoring agency (if given). Day month year of publication. Web. Day month year of access.
United States. Dept. of Justice. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Law Enforcement and Juvenile Crime. By Howard N. Snyder. 2001. National Criminal Justice Reference Service. Web. 15 May 2008.
Film or video recording
Format:
Title. Director (abbreviated to Dir.). Relevant performers, screenwriters, producers, etc. Distributor, Year. Medium.
It's a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra.Perf. James Stewart and Donna Reed.RKO, 1946. Film.
Video viewed online
Format:
Last name, First name of performer, director, etc. (if given). Title. Title of site. Day month year of posting. Web. Day month year of access.
The Shelter Pet Project. YouTube. 24 Sept. 2009. Web.20 Oct. 2009.
Musical composition
Format:
Composer last name, first name. Title of composition, form, number, or key.
Berlioz, Hector. Symphonie Fantastique, op. 14.
Sound recording
Format:
Artist last name, first name. Title of recording. Manufacturer, date of issue.
Holiday, Billie. The Essence of Billie Holiday. Columbia, 1991.
Song from a sound recording
Format:
Artist last name, first name. "Title of song." Day month year of recording. [if given] Title of recording. Manufacturer, date of issue.
The Beatles. "I'm Only Sleeping." Rec. 5 Aug. 1966. Revolver. Capitol, 1990.
Painting, sculpture, or photograph
Format:
Artist last name, first name. Title of work. Year of creation. Institution or collection that houses work, city of instituion or collection.
Manet, Edouard. Music Lesson. 1870. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Photographic reproduction of a painting, sculpture, or photograph
Artist last name, first name. Title of work. Year of creation. Institution or collection that houses work, city of instituion or collection. [Publication information for source]
El Greco. Burial of Count Orgaz. 1586. San Tome, Toledo. Renaissane Perspectives in Literature and the Visual Arts. By Murray Roston. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1987. 274.
Notes
- In MLA style, the alphabetical list of works cited is titled Works Cited and is composed on a separate page from the essay. Number each page, continuing the page numbers of the text.
- Arrange the items on your reference list alphabetically by author, interfiling books, articles, etc.
- Doublespace all lines.
- Indent the second and following lines 5 spaces (or one half inch).
- If including a web address, divide it at the end of a line, break it after a slash. Do not insert a hyphen.
- If no author is given, start with the title.
- Abbreviate the names of all months except May, June, and July.
- When an article does not appear on consecutive pages, give the number of the first page and a plus sign: 56+.
- Underlining and italics are equivalent; select one or the other to use throughout your essay.
- If the encyclopedia does not arrange its articles alphabetically, treat the encyclopedia article as if it were a book article. Specific volume and page numbers are cited in the text, not in the list of references.
- For guidelines concerning differences between journals and magazine, consult the library's webpage: Magazine vs journal.
- For magazines, do not give volume and issue numbers even if they are listed. Do list the complete publication date of the magazine.
- Websites: include the title of the web page, the name of the entire web site, the organization that posted it (this may be the same as the name of the website), and the author of the specific page (if given). Also include the full date the page was created or last updated (day, month, year if available) and the date you looked at it.
- Internet Magazine Articles:
- As for page numbers, different databases will provide different information. Include the range of pages (ex. 25-28.); or the starting page followed by a hyphen, a blank space, and a period (ex. 64- .); or the total number of pages or paragraphs (ex. 12 pp. or 33 pars.). If no page information is given, then leave it out.
- The rules concerning a title within a title are not displayed here for purposes of clarity. See the printed version of the manual for details.
- For documents and situations not listed here, see the printed version of the manual: MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (2009): REF LB2369 .G53 2000.
Additional information
Citing Information - UNC Chapel Hill Libraries
MLA in-text parenthetical citations - Duke University Libraries
Frequently asked questions about MLA style from the Modern Language Association