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Modern Language Association (MLA) Citations
For a Works Cited Page
a. Begin your Works Cited page on a separate page at the end of your research paper. It should have the same one-inch margins and last name, page number header as the rest of your paper.
b. Label the page Works Cited (do not italicize the words Works Cited or put them in quotation marks) and center the words Works Cited at the top of the page.
c. Double space all citations, but do not skip spaces between entries.
d. Indent the second and subsequent lines of citations.
e. The citations should be put in alphabetical order by authorís last name.
f. Punctuation matters in citations, so be careful.
g. Alphabetize works with no known author by their title.
h. All of the titles should be italicized.
i. Some materials do not provide all of the information requested by MLA. Do your best to make as complete of a citation as you can. Some information may be missing. If so, skip it and move on to the next requested piece of information.
BOOKS WITH ONE AUTHOR
Format:
Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. City of Publication:
Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.
Examples:
Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York:
Penguin, 1987. Print.
Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. Denver: MacMurray,
1999. Print.
BOOKS WITH TWO OR THREE AUTHORS
Format:
Lastname, Firstname, and Lastname, Firstname. Title of
Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of
Publication. Medium of Publication.
Example:
Gillespie, Paula, and Lerner, Neil. The Allyn and Bacon
Guide to Peer Tutoring. Boston: Allyn, 2000. Print.
BOOKS WITH MORE THAN THREE AUTHORS
Format:
First Author’s Lastname, Firstname, et al. Title of
Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of
Publication. Medium of Publication.
Example:
Gebhard, David, et al. A Guide to Architecture in San
Francisco & Northern California. Santa Barbara:
Peregrine, 1973. Print.
WORK IN AN ANTHOLOGY, REFERENCE, OR COLLECTION
Format:
Lastname, First name. "Title of Essay." Title of
Collection/Book. Ed. Editor's Name(s). City of
Publication: Publisher, Year. Page range of entry.
Medium of Publication.
Examples:
Harris, Muriel. "Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers." A
Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers One to One. Ed. Ben
Rafoth. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2000. 24-34. Print.
Swanson, Gunnar. "Graphic Design Education as a Liberal
Art: Design and Knowledge in the University and The
'Real World.'" The Education of a Graphic Designer.
Ed. Steven Heller. New York: Allworth Press, 1998.13-24. Print.ARTICLE IN A REFERENCE BOOK (encyclopedia, dictionary)
Format:
“Title of Article or Entry.” Title of Reference Book.
Edition. Year. Format.
Example:
"Ideology." The American Heritage Dictionary. 3rd ed. 1997.
Print.
“Los Angeles.” The New Encyclopaedia Britannica:
Macropaedia. 15th ed. 1998. Print.
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
Format:
Author’s last name, firstname. “Title of Article.”
Italicized Title of Newspaper Day Month Year of
Publication, edition: page number(s). Format.
Examples:
Brubaker, Bill. "New Health Center Targets County's
Uninsured Patients." Washington Post 24 May 2007,
LZ01. Print.
Krugman, Andrew. "Fear of Eating." New York Times 21 May
2007, late ed.: A1. Print.
MAGAZINE ARTICLEFormat:
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day
Month Year: pages. Medium of publication.
Examples:
Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time 20
Nov. 2000: 70-71. Print.
Buchman, Dana. "A Special Education." Good Housekeeping
Mar. 2006: 143-48. Print.
CITING AN ENTIRE WEBSITE
Format:
Editor, author, or compiler’s last name, first name (if
available). Name of Site. Version number (if
available). Name of institution/organization
affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date
of resource creation (day month year). Medium of
publication. Date of access (day month year).
Example:
The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at
Purdue and Purdue U, 2008. Web. 23 Apr. 2008.
Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory.
Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003. Web. 10 May 2006.CITING A PAGE ON A WEBSITE
Format:
Author’s last name, firstname. “Title of the work.” Italicized Title of the Website.
Name of Institution/Organization, Day month and year of publication (as
available). Format. Day month and year of access.
Example:
"How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow. Demand Media, n.d.
Web. 24 Feb. 2009.
n.d. = no date
CITING AN ARTICLE FROM AN ONLINE DATABASE
Format:
Author’s last name, firstname. “Title of the article.”
Italicized Title of Journal. Volume number. Issue (when
issue number is available). Day Month Year of
Publication: page range. Italicized Name of Database.
Format. Day Month Year when accessed.
Examples:
Junge, Wolfgang, and Nelson, Nathan. “Nature's Rotary
Electromotors.” Science. 29 Apr. 2005: 642-44. Science
Online. Web. 5 Mar. 2009.
Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-
Century England.” Historical Journal. 50.1 (2007): 173-
96. ProQuest. Web. 27 May 2009.
Here is a sample of the first page of a paper in MLA style:
Information Obtained from:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
http://library.csun.edu/egarcia/documents/mlacitation_quickguide.pdf
Easy Online Citation Maker