MLA STYLE OF CITATION

(Please note that the underlining on this page is only to show the MLA formatting.)

According to the MLA Handbook by Joseph Gibaldi, "Nearly all research builds on previous research" (114). As a researcher, you will study and seek to build on the work of previous writers and researchers. Whenever you draw on another’s work, you must document your source by stating what you borrowed – facts, opinions, or quotations – and where you borrowed the material from. Failure to identify what you borrowed and where the borrowed material can be found is plagiarism.

Footnotes were once the only accepted method for acknowledging sources used in the paper. Today, MLA allows you to key brief parenthetical citations (also known as In-text citations) to an alphabetical list of works that appears at the end of the paper. The above quote, taken from the MLA Handbook, provides an example of a parenthetical citation. Note that the author and the text were identified in the sentence preceding the quoted line (this is called a signal phrase). At the end of the line a number is found enclosed in parenthesis; that number is the page number on which the quote can be found in the book. At the end of this document, a source section (Works Cited) is found. In that section you will find an entry that matches the Gibaldi work.

As the above example shows, MLA style citations contain only enough information to enable readers to find the source in the works cited list. If the author’s name is not mentioned in the text, then both the author’s last name and the page number need to appear in the parenthesis: "(Gibaldi 114)."

There are many ways to document sources. Most disciplines have their own systems. MLA is widely used in humanities (English and History). It is generally simpler and more economical than other styles, but it does share features with other styles: parenthetical citations keyed to a works cited list. The difference in documentation styles according to discipline happens because of the kind of research and scholarship done. When the timeliness of the research is crucial (as it is in the sciences and medical fields) the date of the publication is given prominence. For this reason, many science and medical fields use APA (American Psychological Association) style for documentation.

APA and MLA are the two most popular styled found on most college campuses. It is wise to know about both and know how to effectively use at least one of the styles.

THE WORKS CITED LIST

"Although the list of works cited appears at the end of your paper, you need to draft the section in advance, so that you will know what information to give in parenthetical references as you write" (Gibaldi 116). If you have two or more works by the same author, you need to include shortened titles with the author’s last name: "(Ellington, Afro-Eurasian Eclipse, 24)" to distinguish it from "(Ellington, Far East Side, 56)." If you have two authors’ with the same last name, you must add initials to keep them separate: "(K. Roemer 123-4)" to distinguish it from "(M. Roemer 67)." The creation of a Works Cited list prior to writing your paper saves confusion and time. It also allows for quick, accurate documentation of summaries, paraphrases, facts, and quotes used in the text of your paper.

The heading Works Cited indicates the list contains all of the works that you will cite in your text. When you cite a work, you call upon the work to use as a example of your discussion.

PLACEMENT OF WORKS CITED

The Works Cited list appears at the end of the paper. If the last page of your text ends on page six but uses only one-half of the page, begin the Works Cited list at the top of page seven. The upper right hand corner of the page will provide your last name and the page number, half an inch from the top edge of the page and flush with the right one-inch margin (use the header/footer feature in Word Perfect and Microsoft Word software programs to do this). The title of the page, Works Cited, is centered one inch from the top edge of the page. (Do not place the title in italics or bold type. In addition, do not underline the title). Double-space between the title and the first entry. (It is recommended that you set your typewriter or computer program to recognize double-spaced lines before you begin the page). Begin each entry flush with the left margin; if an entry runs more than one line, indent the second line and all other lines which belong with this entry five spaces, one-half inch, or one tab (most typewriters and computer programs are pre-set with a tab at five spaces) from the left margin. Double-space the entire list, both between and within entries. (Both Word Perfect and Microsoft Office provide a format feature called "hanging indent." Adding a button to your toolbar will save you time and frustration when creating this list.) Double-space the entire list, both between and within entries.

ARRANGEMENTS OF ENTRIES

Alphabetize entries in the works cited list by the author’s last name, using the letter-by-letter system. If the author’s name is unknown, alphabetize by the title, ignoring any initial A, An, or The. Therefore, a work titled "The Decade of the Spy" would appear under D and not under T.

PREPARING A WORKS CITED ENTRY

When compiling your bibliography (description of sources), you may find using one three-by-five (or four-by-six) card for each entry handy. Keeping track of all sources viewed and used when researching will save you time later. You should get in the habit of recording the sources as they will appear in the Works Cited. Note cards allow you to easily alphabetize the entries or thumb through the list to review an entry. Alternately, you may choose to use a computer to list and alphabetize your sources.

When handwriting or typing these cards, underline titles of books, magazines, movie titles and other titles that normally appear in italics. Italics may be used, but you must be consistent using one or the other; do not use both. MLA recommends using underlining to create distinction and to avoid ambiguity.

Use MLA style of citation format consistently:

• Begin with the first line of the entry at the left margin and indent all subsequent lines one-half inch.
• Invert the author’s name so it appears last name first. If a book or article has more than one author, the second author’s name appears in normal order (first name followed by last name).
• When no author is named, list the source by the tile of the work.
• Cite the complete title; indicate full subtitles following a colon.
• Use periods and one space to separate author, title, and publication information.
• Double-space entries.
• Gather information for complete citations before leaving the library.

The following provides a list of required information for various sources and samples for each type of source with appropriate punctuation.

Author. Title of Book. Place of publication: publisher, date.

EXAMPLE:

Townsend, Robert M. The Medieval Village Economy. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1993.

*NOTE: UP means University Press. MLA allows for this abbreviation in the Works Cited.

First author, and Second author. Title of Print Version of Work. Place of publication: publisher, date.

EXAMPLE:

Egins, Suzanne, and Diane Slade. Analyzing Causal Conversation. London: Cassell, 1997.

Welsch, Roger L., and Linda K. Welsch. Cather’s Kitchens: Foodways in Literature and Life. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 1987.

*NOTE: The names of additional authors are in normal order.

Author. Title of Book. Editor. Place of publication: publisher, date.

EXAMPLE:

Rossetti, Christina. Selected Prose of Christina Rossetti. Ed. David A. Kent and P. G. Stanwood. New York: St. Martin’s, 1998.

Twain, Mark. Roughing It. Ed. Harriett E. Smith and Edgar M. Branch. Berkeley: U of California P, 1993.

*NOTE: When the editor appears in the middle of the entry, abbreviate Editor and capitalize Ed.

Editor. Title of Book. Place of publication: publisher, date.

EXAMPLE:

Martin, Michael T., ed. New Latin American Cinema. 2 vols. Detroit: Wayne State UP, 1997.

Sadie, Stanley, ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 20 vols. London: Macmillan, 1980.

*NOTE: Editor is abbreviated and in lower case.

Author. "Title of Article." Title of Book. Year of Edition.

EXAMPLE:

"Azimuthal Equidistant Projection." Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. 1993.

Allen, Anita L. "Privacy in Health Care." Encyclopedia of Bioethics. Ed. Warrant T. Reich. Rev. ed. 5 vols. New York: Macmillan-Simon, 1995.

*NOTE: Page numbers are not needed when entries are arranged alphabetically.

*Give full publisher information when citing less familiar reference books.

*When the author is not known, begin the entry with the article title.

Author/Organization. Title of Book. Place of publication: publisher, date.

EXAMPLE:

American Medical Association. The American Medical Association Encyclopedia of Medicine. New York: Random, 1989.

Gemological Institute of America. The Diamond Dictionary. Santa Monica, CA: GIA, 1977.

*NOTE: MLA allows for the abbreviation of most publisher’s names. Random House Publishers is shortened to Random. W. W. Norton and Company is shortened to Norton.

*When the city is not well known, you must include the two-letter postal state abbreviation.

Author of Article. "Title of Article." Title of Work. Editor of Work. Place of publication: publisher, date of publication. Page numbers.

EXAMPLE:

Modelski, George, and William R. Thompson. "Long Cycles and Global War." Handbook of War Studies. Ed. Manus I. Midlarsky. Ann Arbor: U Michigan P, 1993. 23-4.

Author. Title of Book. Edition of Book. Place of publication: publisher, date.

EXAMPLE:

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Ed. F. W. Robinson. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton, 1957.

Hyde, Margaret O., and Elizabeth Held Forsyth. Suicide: The Hidden Epidemic. Rev. ed. New York: Watts, 1986.

*NOTE: Rev. ed. means revised edition.

Author. Title of Pamphlet. City of Publication: Name of publisher, year. Pages.

EXAMPE:

Adams, Andrew B. Hospice Care. New York: American Cancer Soc., 1984. 9-16.

America’s Cup? The Sober Truth about Alcohol and Boating. Alexandria, VA: Boat/U.S., nd.

*NOTE: Some pamphlets do not contain all the information needed. When this happens, use the following abbreviations to designate the missing information.

N.p. = No place of publication

n.p. = No publisher

n.d. = No date

N. pag. = No page

*NOTE: Most pamphlets can be treated like a book.

Name of the government in order of (country, state, province, county). Name of the agency or sponsoring department. Office, bureau, or committee publishing the documents. Title of the Publication. If appropriate, add the number and session of Congress. City of Publication: Name of the publisher, year published.

EXAMPLE:

United States. Dept. of Labor. Child Care: A Workforce Issue. Washington: GPO, 1988.

United States. Dept. of Justice. Natl. Inst. Of Justice. Prosecuting Gangs: A National Assessment. By Claire Johnson, Barbara Webster, and Edward Connors. Feb. 1995. 29 Jun 1998 <http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles/pgang.txt>.

*NOTE: Unless otherwise stated, most United States Government publications were completed in Washington, D.C. In the Works Cited, Washington is all that is needed for the place.

*Additionally, the Government Printing Office or GPO publishes most US government publications. Unless specifically stated with a different publisher, use GPO as the publisher.

*Abbreviate: National, Department, Congress, and Institute.

*Some government publications have a specified author. When this happens, begin with the author.

Author. "Title of Dissertation." Identification title. Name of school, date.

EXAMPLE:

Ligget, Lucinda R. "Bret Harte’s ‘M’liss’." Unpublished master’s thesis, Indiana State U, 1991.

Salmon, Jaslin U. Black Executives in White Businesses. Diss. U of Illinois-Chicago, 1977. Washington: UP of America, 1979.

Gans, Eric L. "The Discovery of Illlusion: Flaubert’s Early Works, 1835-1837." Diss. Johns Hopkins U, 1967. DA 27 (1967): 3046A.

*NOTE: Use the abbreviation Diss. for Dissertation prior to identifying the school where the paper was completed.

*The final sample shows how to cite a published dissertation or dissertation abstract.

Author. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine date published: page numbers.

EXAMPLE:

Hosford, William F., and John L. Duncan. "The Aluminum Beverage Can." Scientific American Sept. 1994: 48-53

Auster, Bruce B., Stephen Budiansky, and Steven V. Roberts. "The Pentagon under the Gun." U. S. News and World Report 22 Mar. 1993: 24-26.

*NOTE: MLA allows for the three-letter abbreviation of months.

*Dates are always written as day month and year (11 Apr. 2000).

Author. "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume number (Publication Year): page numbers.

EXAMPLE:

Most, Andrea. "We Know We Belong to the Land: The Theatricality of Assimilation in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!" PMLA 113 (1998): 77-89.

Hallin, Daniel C. "Sound Bite News: Television Coverage of Elections, 1968-1988." Journal of Communication 42.2 (1992): 5-24.

*NOTE: The volume number is placed before the date without the word volume. When a journal has both a volume and issue or numbers, place the volume number first followed by a period and then add the issue or number of the volume.

Author (if given). "Title of Article." Name of newspaper date (day mo. Year), edition: section and page.

EXAMPLE:

Goldberg, Vicki. "Photographing a Mexico Where Silence Reigned." New York Times 23 Mar. 1997, late ed., sec. 2: 39+.

Alaton, Salem, "So, Did They Live Happily Every After?" Globe and Mail [Toronto] 27 Dec. 1997: D1+.

*NOTE: Some papers have numerous sections designated by numbers, not letters, which do not appear as part of the page numbers. Whenever the section is not part of the pagination, put a comma after the date or edition and add the abbreviation sec., the appropriate letter or number, and the page number or numbers.

*When the section number is part of the page number, do not add the abbreviation sec.

*For articles that appear on page one and skip to page sixteen, add a plus sign.

*For newspapers that are not well-known and easily identified with their city of origin, add the city and state in square brackets after the name of the paper.

Title of Film. Producer or Director. Main Performers. Distributor, year produced.

EXAMPLE:

Apocalypse Now. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Perf. Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, and Robert Duvall. United Artists, 1979. Suggested by Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.

*NOTE: Abbreviate Director and Performers using Dir. and Perf.

*If you wish to highlight the work or contribution of the director as the most important factor, begin with the director’s name (last name, followed by first name), a comma, and the abbreviated title dir.

"Title of Episode." Title of Program. Main performers. Network or station. Local Station, local city. Date program aired.

EXAMPLE:

X-Files. Perf. Gillian Anderson and David Duchovney. Fox. WXIN, Indianapolis. 20 Jun. 1999.

"The Understudy." Steinfeld. Perf. Bette Midler. NBC. WTHR, Indianapolis. 18 May 1995.

Author or Moderator. "Title of Episode or segment." Title of Program. Title of Series. Name of the Network. Call letters and city of the local station, broadcast date.

EXAMPLE:

"Death and Society." Narr. Joanne Silberner. Weekend Edition Sunday. Natl. Public Radio. WUWM, Milwaukee. 25 Jan. 1998.

Fishkin, Fred. "Privacy and the Net." Boot Camp. CBS Radio. WCBS, New York. 5 Mar. 1998. Transcript. 29 June 1998 <http://newsradio88.com/boot/archive/march_1998/march_5.html>.

*NOTE: If you are citing a transcript of a program, add the description Transcript at the end of the entry. Note the end of the entry is before the online information.

Interviewee. Type of Interview. Date of Interview.

Or

Interviewee. Type of Interview. Place of Interview. Publisher. Date of Interview. Date Retrieved <URL>.

EXAMPLE:

Otwell, Stephen. Personal Interview. 11 Nov. 1996.

Stewart, Jimmy. Interview. Reflections on the Silver Screen. Arts and Entertainment. 5 Nov. 1994.

Nadar, Ralph. Interview with Ray Suarez. Talk of the Nation. Natl. Public Radio. 16 Apr. 1998. 3 July 1998 <http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/980416.totn.01.ram>.

Author (if given). Publication information for the printed source including "title of article." Title of Work and date of print publication. Title of Database. Publication Medium. Name of the Vendor. Electronic publication date.

EXAMPLE:

Russo, Michelle Cash. "Recovering from Bibliographic Instruction Blahs." RQ: Reference Quarterly 32 (1992): 178-83. InfoTrac: Magazine Index Plus. CD-ROM. Information Access. Dec. 1993.

United States. Cong. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Report on the Fair Use of Copyrighted Works. 11 Aug. 1992. 102nd Cong. 1st sess. Congressional Masterfile 2. CD-ROM. Congressional Information Service. Dec. 1996.

Author (if given or editor, if identified). Title of Publication. Name of editor, compiler, or translator (if relevant). Publication medium. Edition, release,or version (if relevant). Place of publication: publisher.

EXAMPLE:

Braunmuller, A. R., ed. Macbeth. By William Shakespeare. CD-ROM. New York: Voyager, 1994.

English Poetry Full-Text Database. Magnetic tape. Rel. 2. Cambridge, Eng.: Chadwyck-Healey, 1993.

Writer of E-mail or author. "Title of Message." Description of message that includes the recipient. Date of message.

Author. "Title of the document." Give description online posting. Date when material was posted. The name of the forum. The date of access <the online address of the Internet site>.

EXAMPLE:

Boyle, Anthony T. "RE: Utopia." E-mail to Daniel J. Cahill. 21 June 1997.

Harner, James L. E-mail to the author. 20 Aug. 1998.

Holland, Norman. "Overcoming Depression." Online posting. 19 Mar. 1997. Psyart. 21 Mar. 1997 <http://web.clas.ufl.edu/ipsa/psyart.htm>.

Title of project or database. Name of the editor of the project or database. Electronic publication information, including version.

EXAMPLE:

Britannica Online. Vers. 98.2 Apr. 1998. Encyclopedia Britannica. 8 Mauy 1998. <http://www.eb.com>.

The History Channel Online. 1998. History Channel. 19 June 1998 <http://historychannel.com/>.

Project Bartleby. Ed.Steven van Leeuwen. May 1998. Columbia U. 5 May 1998 <http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/>.number (if not part of title), date of electronic publication, name of sponsoring institution or organization. Date of access <URL>.

Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet. 26 May 1998. Lib. of Congress, Washington. 19 June 1998 <http://thomas.loc.gov/>.

Author. "Title of Work." Title of Project or database. Name of editor. Vers.number. Date of electronic publication. Name of sponsoring institution. Date of access <URL>.

EXAMPLE:

"City Profile: San Francisco." CNN Interactive. 19 June 1998. Cable News Network. 19 June 1998 <http://www.cnn.com/TRAVEL/CITY.GUIDES/WTR/>.

Dove, Rita. "Lady Freedom among Us." The Electronic Text Center. Ed. David Seaman. 1998. Alderman Lib., Virginia. 19 June 1998 <http://etext.lib.Virginia.edu/subjects/afam.html>.

"Fresco." Britannica Online. Vers. 98.2. Apr. 1998. Encyclopedia Britannica. 8 May 1998.<http://www.eb.com:180>.

"This Day in History: August 20." The History Channel Online. History Channel. 19 June 1998 <http://historychannel.com/this day/today/980820.html>.

Thompson, Heather Ann. "Understanding Rioting in Postwar Urban America." Journal of Urban History 26.3 (Mar. 2000): 391-403. Ebscohost. 16 Nov. 2000 <http://ehostrgw1.epnet.com/fulltext…Los%.20Angles%20riots#22&fuzzyterm=>.

Books can be placed online independently or as part of a scholarly project.

Author. Title of Work. Editor or translator. Place of publication: publisher, date of publication. Date of access <URL>.

Or

Author. Title of Work. Editor or translator. Place of publication: publisher, date of publication. Title of Project or Database. Vers. Number. Date of electronic publication. Name of sponsoring institution. Date of access <URL>.

EXAMPLE:

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Twice-Told Tales. Ed. George Parsons Lathrop. Boston: Houghton, 1883. 1 Mar. 1998 <http://eldred.ne.mediaone.net/nh/ttt.html>.

Keats, John. Poetical Works. 1884. Project Bartleby. Ed. Steven van Leeuwen. May 1998. Columbia U. 5 May 1998 <http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/keats/>.

Author. "Title of Work." Name of Periodical Vol. Number. Issue number (Date of publication): number range of pages or paragraphs. Date of access <URL>.

EXAMPLE:

Elam, Diane. "Disciplining Woman: Feminism or Women’s Studies." Surfaces 5.101 (1995): 11 pp. 24 June 1998 <http://tornade.ere.umontreal.ca:80/~guedon/Surfaces/vol5/elam.html>.

"Endangered Species Act Upheld." AP Online 22 June 1998. 22 June 1998 <http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-Court-Endangered-Species.html>.

Jenkins, James J. "Comprehending Comprehension." Rev. of Language Comprehension as Structure, by M. A. Gernsbacher. Psychology 95.6.26 (1995): 5 pars. 3 Feb. 1997 <gopher://gopher.lib.Virginia.edu:70/0/alpha/psyc/1995/psyc.95.6.26.language-comprehension.6.Jenkins>.

Sohmer, Steve. "12 June 1599: Opening Day at Shakespeare’s Globe." Early Modern Literary Studies 3.1 (1997): 46 pars. 26 June 1998 <http://www.huma nities.ualberta.ca./emls/02-3/sohmjuli.html>.

Author or creator of site. Title of Site. (if site is untitled, add description Home page (neither underlined nor in quotation marks). Date site created. The name of any institution or organization associated with the site. Date of access <URL>.

EXAMPLE:

Lancashire, Ian. Home Page. 1 May 1998 <http://www.chass.utoronto.ca:8080/~ian/>.

Romance Languages and Literatures Home Page. 1 Jan. 1997. Dept. of Romance Langs. and Lits., U of Chicago. 8 July 1998 <http://humanities.uchicago.edu/romance/>.

1. Be consistent in using either underlining or italics.

2. Be consistent in writing dates as day-month-year style (22 July 1999) or month-day-year (July 22, 1999).

3. In the text, spell out names of states, countries, and provinces. In the documentation (Works Cited), abbreviate the names of states, provinces, and countries.

4. Shorten publisher’s names by omitting articles, business, abbreviations (Co., Corp., Inc., Ltd.) and descriptive words (Books, House, Press, Publishers). When citing a university press, add the abbreviations P (Press) or U (University). Include only the surname for publisher names that include the name of a person: W. W. Norton and Company is identified as Norton. When the publisher has the name of more than one person, cite only the first surname.

5. Do not abbreviate the names of months in the text or your essay, but abbreviate the months in the works cited.

6. To list two or more books or articles by the same author, alphabetize the author’s works and then list his or her name in the first entry only. In the second entry, in place of the author’s name, type three hyphen [- - -.] followed by a period and the title of the work.

7. Double-space between works cited entries and double-space lines within each entry.

Works Cited

Gilbaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 5th ed. New York: MLA, 1999.

Perrin, Robert. The Beacon Handbook and Desk Reference. 5th ed. Boston: Houghton, 2000.