Guide and Samples for MLA Citations

9th edition, updated 31 Aug 2021.

Some basic rules for MLA Work Cited lists are:

All citations should be double spaced.
Indent after the first line of each entry (hanging indent.)
Entries are not numbered; alphabetize by the first word of the entry.
If no author is listed, begin with the title.
Italics must be used for titles of books and periodicals. If italics are used, the font must be obviously different from the standard print.
Capitalize titles of books and articles according to convention, no matter how they appear in a database or catalog.
Editions of books are noted after the title in the following format: 2nd ed. First editions are not listed as such. If no edition is listed, omit the edition section.
Dates are in Day Month Year format (e.g. 12 Dec. 1992) with all months abbreviated to three letters followed by a period (Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Oct., Nov., Dec.) except May, June, and July, which are left as is and Sept.
Page numbers in MLA are sometimes shortened. If the page numbers are three or more digits, shorten the second number to two digits when possible. Examples: 8–9; 44–49; 112–23; 492–506; 1253–66.
Omit http:// when using electronic sources, except when stating DOI number.

Author/Editor Format

Authors that are organizations, corporations, government entities, etc. Do not invert or use abbreviations.
Only the first author’s name is inverted. Second author is formatted normally.
Multiple authors are separated with commas and the word and.
List up to two (2) authors; above that number, use the first and et al.
If an entire edited book is cited, the editor is listed as the author with the word editor after his name or editors if there is more than one editor. Multiple editors are formatted the same way as authors.
Examples of author/editor formats:
- Smith, John Dunn, and Robert L. Jones.
- Smith, Joshua David, et al.
- Smith, Jeffrey D., editor.
- Smith, Jeffrey D., et al., editors
- American Civil Liberties Union

Publisher Format

On the work cited page, shortened forms of publishers’ names immediately follow the cities of publication.
- Omit articles
- Omit Co., Inc., Ltd, Corp, etc.
- Use UP for academic presses (e.g. MIT P; U Arkansas P; Pennsylvania UP.)
If Publisher and author are the same corporation, then omit author and use corporation as the publisher.

Book

Book	Format: Author’s Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Edition, Publisher, Year of print publication. Example: Sternberg, Elaine. Just Business: Business Ethics in Action. 2nd ed., Oxford UP, 2000. Utah County Facts Book. Utah Association of Counties, 1981. Ermann, M. David, et al., editors. Computers, Ethics, and Society. Oxford UP, 1997.
eBook (read on a device with no URL)	Format: Author’s Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. Title of Book: Subtitle of book. Edition, Publisher, Year of online publication. Example: Crystal, David. Making a Point: The Persnickety Story of English Punctuation. E-book ed., St. Martin’s Press, 2015. MLA Handbook. 9th ed., e-book ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2021.
eBook	Format: Author’s Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. Title of Book: Subtitle of book. Edition, Publisher, Year of online publication. Name of Website, URL or doi number. Example: Speed, Harold. The Practice and Science of Drawing. Seeley, 1913. Project Guttenberg, www.gutenberg.org/files/14264/14264-h/14264-h.htm. Mead, Lawrence M., et al. Grumman Aerospace and Gulfstream American Gulfstream III Case Study in Aircraft Design. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1980. ebrary, https://doi.org/10.2514/4.868061
Chapter in an Edited Book / Anthology	Format: Author’s Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. “Title of Chapter or Article.” Title of Book: Subtitle of Book, other contributors, edition, Publisher, Date of print Publication, Pages. Name of website or database, URL or doi number. Example: Grealy, Lucy. “Fear Itself.” The Broadview Anthology of Expository Prose, edited by Tammy Roberts, et al., Broadview, 2002, pp. 450–61.
Chapter in an Edited eBook / Anthology	Format: Author’s Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. “Title of Chapter or Article.” Title of Book: Subtitle of Book, other contributors, edition, Publisher, Date of online Publication, Pages. Example: Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Masque of the Red Death.” Classic Short Stories, edited by Adam L. Gowans, Nova Science Publishers, 2008, pp. 53–57. ebrary, site.ebrary.com/lib/dixie/reader.action?ppg=7&docID=10698269&tm=1462296700736.

Encyclopedia

General Encyclopedia	Format: Editor’s Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. “Title of Entry or Article.” Name of Reference Source, edition, Publisher, Year of print publication. Example: Flexner, Stuart Berg, and Leonore Crary Hauck, editors. “Crossbowman.” Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2nd ed., Random House, 1993. “The Art of Architecture.” Encyclopædia Britannica: Macropædia, 15th ed., Encyclopædia Britannica, 2002.
General Encyclopedia from a Website	Format: Editor’s Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. “Title of Entry or Article.” Name of Reference Source, edition, Publisher, Year of online publication, URL or doi number. Example: “Photonics.” The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., Columbia UP, 2016, www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Photonics.aspx#2.
Subject Encyclopedia	Format: Author’s Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. “Title of Entry or Article.” Name of Reference Source, other contributors, edition, volume, Publisher, Year of print publication, page. Example: “Asteroids.” The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Universe, edited by James W. Guthrie, 2nd ed., vol. 1, Watson-Guptill, 2001, p. 52. Juturu, Vijaya. “Type 2 Diabetes.” Encyclopedia of Obesity, edited Kathleen Keller, vol. 2, Sage Publications, 2008, pp. 158–59.
Electronic Subject Encyclopedia from a Database	Format: Author’s Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. “Title of Entry or Article.” Name of Reference Source, other contributors, edition, volume number, Publisher, Date of online publication. Name of database, URL or doi number. Example: Miller, Charles E. “Group Decision Rules.” Encyclopedia of Leadership, edited by George R. Goethals, Georgia J. Sorenson, and James MacGregor Burns, Sage Publications, 15 Sept. 2007. Sage Knowledge, https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412952392.n138.

Periodicals

Scholarly Journal	Format: Author’s Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. “Title of Article.” Name of Journal, volume number, issue number, date of print publication, page numbers. Example: Hise, Greg. “Home Building and Industrial Decentralization in Los Angeles: The Roots of the Postwar Urban Region.” Journal of Urban History, vol. 19, no. 6, Feb. 1993, pp. 95–125.
Scholarly Journal from a Database	Format: Author’s Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. “Title of Article.” Name of Journal, volume number, issue number, date of online publication, page numbers. Name of Database, URL or doi number. Example: Rosner, David, and Gerald Markowitz. “Building the World that Kills Us: The Politics of Lead, Science and Polluted Homes, 1970 to 2000.” Journal of Urban History, vol. 42, no. 2, Mar. 2016, pp. 323–45. Sage Journals, https://doi.org/10.1177/0096144215623954.
Scholarly e-Journal	Format: Author’s Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. “Title of Article.” Name of Journal, volume number, issue number, date of online publication, location. Example: Graiouid, Said. “From Postmodernism to Post-Tradition: The End of Theory in the Age of Global Conservatism.” Reconstruction, vol. 7, no. 4, 2007, reconstruction.eserver.org/Issues/074/graiouid.shtml.
Magazine / Trade Publication	Format: Author’s Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. “Title of Article.” Name of Magazine, volume number, issue number, date of publication, page numbers. Example: Rowell, Melody. “What’s it Like to live in the World’s Most Polluted City.” National Geographic, 26 Apr. 2016, pp. 25–30.
Magazine / Trade Publication from a Database	Format: Author’s Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. “Title of Article.” Name of Magazine, volume number, issue number, date of online publication, page numbers. Name of Database, URL or doi number. Example: Ansari, Aziz, and Charlotte Alter. “Love in the Age of Like.” Time, vol. 185, no. 22, 15 June 2015, pp. 40–46. Academic Search Premier, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=103066216&login.asp&site=ehost-live.
Electronic Magazine	Format: Author’s Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. “Title of Article.” Name of Newspaper, volume number, issue number, date of online publication, URL. Example: McDonald, Brent, and Emily B. Hager. “The Psychologist Warden.” New York Times, 30 July 2015, www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000003808532/the-psychologist-warden.html.
Newspaper	Format: Author’s Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. “Title of Article.” Name of Newspaper [if local use city], edition, date of publication, pages. Example: Brozan, Nadine. “Where Home is a Real Sanctuary.” New York Times, 16 June 2002, pp. D11+. “Cold Weather Chills Home Building in Many States.” Wall Street Journal, eastern ed.,14 Feb. 2002, p. B17. “Home Building was Off in April.” New York Times, 17 Apr. 2002, p. C14.
Newspaper from a Database	Format: Author’s Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. “Title of Article.” Name of Newspaper [if local use city], date of publication, pages. Name of database, URL or doi number. Example: Dockery, Paula. “Fracking could Become a Disaster Here in Florida.” South Florida Sun-Sentinel [Fort Lauderdale], 16 June 2002, pp. D11+. ProQuest Newsstand, search.proquest.com/docview/1766901883?accountid=27045.
Electronic Newspaper	Format: Author’s Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. “Title of Article.” Name of Newspaper, date of online publication, URL. Example: Shukamn, David. “What is Fracking and Why is it Controversial?” BBC News, 16 Dec. 2015, www.bbc.com/news/uk-14432401.

Websites

Components usually found on a website, in order.

Name of the author, compiler, director, editor, narrator, performer, or translator of the work.
Title of the work (italicized if the work is independent; in quotation marks if it is part of a larger work).
Title of the overall website - italicized (if distinct from item 2),
Publisher or sponsor of the site (if distinct from item 1 or 3),
Date of publication (day, month, and year as available),
URL.
Date of access (this is considered the version you used, especially important if no date can be found for the website)

Websites / Blogs

Format:

Author’s Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. “Title of Article or section if using only part of the website.” Name of Website, Name of organizational sponsor (not advertising sponsor), date published or updated, URL. Date of access (needed if no date is found.)

Example:

Education: Human Development Network, The World Bank, go.worldbank.org/8TJ7JTJWJ0. Accessed 5 May 2016.

“Gender Inequality and Women in the US Labor Force.” International Labour Organization, 1996–2016, www.ilo.org/washington/areas/gender-equality-in-the-workplace/WCMS_159496/lang--en/index.htm.

Stroud, Butler. “Japan Finally Accepts ICJ Ruling Applies to All Scientific Whaling.” WDC, Whale Dolphin Conservation, 25 Apr. 2016, us.whales.org/blog/2016/04/japan-finally-accepts-icj-ruling-applies-to-all-scientific-whaling.

Audiovisual Materials

Notes:	If your discussion of a work focuses on the contribution of a particular person begin the entry with their name. If you are writing about a film or television series begin with the title. When documenting a work, you should generally cite the organization that had the primary overall responsibility for it. If using a DVD or CD, then include information found on container. If viewed using an app or streaming service, include in citation.
Video	Format: Focused Person, if needed. “Episode, if needed.” Title of work, Other contributors, version, number, publisher, production date. Name of App or streaming service. Example: Schindler’s List. Directed by Steven Spielberg, Universal Pictures, 1993. Universal Studios Home Video, 1994. Gellar, Sarah Michelle, performer. “Hush.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 4, episode 10, Mutant Enemy, 1999. Twentieth Century Fox, 2003, disc 3. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Universal Studios, 1982. Netflix app.
Online Video	Format: Focused Person, if needed. “Episode, if needed.” Title of video, other contributors, version, number, publisher, publication date, URL. Example: Andrews, Austin, performer. “Deaf Ninja.” YouTube, uploaded by AWTI, 6 Feb. 2007, www.youtube.com/watch?v=L91KVUXRBq8. Klairmont, Laura. “Breaking the Cycle of Absentee Fathers.” CNN Heroes, Turner Broadcasting Systems, 27 Apr. 2016, www.cnn.com/2016/03/03/us/cnn-heroes-sheldon-smith-fatherhood-dovetail-project/index.html.
Podcast	Format: Focused Person, if needed. “Episode, if needed.” Title of Podcast, other contributors, version, number, publisher, publication date. Name of App or streaming service. Example: “Yiyun Li Reads ‘On the Street Where you Live.’” The Writer’s Voice: New Fiction from the New Yorker, hosted by Deborah Treisman, podcast ed., The New Yorker/WNYC, 3 Jan. 2017. iTunes app.
Live Performances / Presentations	Format: Author. “Title of Presentation.” Title of work or conference, other contributors, date of performance/presentation, Venue, City (omit city if in the name of venue). Example: McCartney, Paul. “Ocean’s Kingdom.” New York City Ballet, choreographed by Peter Martins, 22 Sept. 2011, David. H. Koch Theater, New York. Atwood, Margaret. “Silencing the Scream.” Boundaries of the Imagination Forum. MLA Annual Convention, 29 Dec. 1993, Royal York Hotel, Toronto.
Music Recording	Format: Focused Person, if needed. “Title of song, if needed.” Title of album, other contributors, version, number, publisher, publication date. Example: Schubert, Franz. Piano Trio in E Flat Major D929. Performance by Wiener Mozart-Trio, unabridged version, Deutsch 929, Preiser Records, 2011. Beyoncé. “Pretty Hurts.” Beyoncé, Parkwood Entertainment, 2013, www.beyonce.com/album/beyonce/?media_view=songs.
Online Photographs	Format: Photographer’s name. Title of work. Date of composition, URL. Example: Hoflehner, Josef. Liquid Wall. 2005, www.josefhoflehner.com/iceland/02.html. Adams, Ansel. Monolith: The Face of Half Dome. 1927, library.artstor.org/library/secure/ViewImages?id=8D1Efjk2NjsgQi85cDV5Q3Qg&userId=gDRAcDwn&zoomparams=&fs=true
Photographs / Art Work	Format: Artist’s name. Title of work (if unknown then description (not in italics)). Date of composition, Museum or collection (if unknown then use Private Collection without city), City of collection or museum (Omit city if in the name of Museum). Example: Bearden, Romare. The Train. 1974, Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Personal Communication

Personal Interview

Format:

Last Name, First Name. Type of Interview, Date of Interview.

Example:

Bush, George. Telephone interview, 15 Apr. 2008.

Format:

Author. “Tweet.” Twitter, date of tweet, time, URL.

Example:

@persiankiwi. “We have report of large street battles in east & west of Tehran now - #Iranelection.” Twitter, 23 June 2009, 11:15 a.m., twitter.com/persiankiwi/status/2293106072.

Format:

Last name, First name Middle initial. E-mail to name, Date of message.

Example:

Yates, Corbin. E-mail to Daniel D. Williams, 21 June 2009.

Jones, Sam. E-mail to author, 22 Apr. 2021.

In-Text Citation Using MLA Format

Page Format	If the information derived from more than one page in the work, format page numbers just as you do in an MLA Works Cited. Examples: 3–4; 5–15; 23–29; 431–39; 497–503.
Author named in a signal phrase	If you list the name of the author, the parenthetical citation need only contain the page number. Example: Thomas Friedman wrote, “No two countries that both had McDonald’s had fought a war against each other since each got its McDonald’s” (195).
Author not named within the signal phrase	If the author is not named, include his/her last name in the parenthetical citation. Example: “No two countries that both had McDonald’s had fought a war against each other since each got its McDonald’s” (Friedman 195).
No author listed or unknown author	If the article has no author listed, refer to the first portion of the title as in this example for an article called “A Critique of ‘Lexus and Olive’ View of Globalization.” What’s not there cannot be created. Example: “Friedman, in his book The Lexus and the Olive Tree, has mentioned that globalization is inevitable and irreversible, the forward march of technology makes it so. Governments can no longer control the free flow of information. The cell phone and satellite television have reached even the remotest Indonesian village” (“A Critique” A4).
Work has two authors	If a work has two authors, link their names with the word and (written out, do not use an ampersand) or use the names in a signal phrase. Examples: “The network form is on the rise in a big way, and because of this, societies are entering a new epoch” (Arquilla and Ronfelt 43). According to Czinkota and Tarrant, “Globalization is an inevitable process. The world is becoming more homogenous, and distinctions between national markets are not only fading but, for some products, will disappear altogether” (3).
Work has more than two authors	Use only the first author and “et al.” (an abbreviation for et alii, which in Latin means “and others”). This will match the citation in the Works Cited. Examples: “Individual preventative stress management provides an effective complement for dealing with organizational stress” (Quick et al. 159). Quick et al., contend that “individual preventative stress management provides an effective complement for dealing with organizational stress” (159).
Author has more than one work from the same year in References	If more than one work by the same author is listed in the paper’s bibliography, include a reference to the specific work either within the paper or in the parenthetical citation. If the title is not included in the paper, use a brief reference (shortened title) in the parenthetical citation. Examples: In The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Thomas L. Friedman noted, “No two countries that both had McDonald’s had fought a war against each other since each got its McDonald’s” (195). “No two countries that both had McDonald’s had fought a war against each other since each got its McDonald’s” (Friedman, Lexus 195).
Work Cited page has more than one author with the same last name	If your bibliography includes two authors with the same last name, Milton Friedman and Thomas Friedman, for example, include the author’s first initial in the parenthetical citation or the author’s full name in the signal phrase. Examples: “No two countries that both had McDonald’s had fought a war against each other since each got its McDonald’s” (T. Friedman 195). Thomas Friedman asserts that “no two countries that both had McDonald’s had fought a war against each other since each got its McDonald’s” (195).
Work has no page numbers (web site, etc.)	Do not use the page numbers of a print out of a web page or an article from a database. If there are no page numbers, you cannot invent any. What’s not there cannot be created. Sometimes you are able to determine the pages in an article from a database from the citation or a PDF. Some articles or web sites may be unpaginated. In those cases, list the author’s last name (or if not given, use a brief reference to the title). Remember when paraphrasing unpaginated material that if you include the author’s name in the signal phrase there will be no ending citation which can be confusing for your reader. Be sure to clarify where the material ends. In this case, “Brand” is the author of the web site. Example: “Friedman realized early that to write intelligently about world economics he needed to make himself an expert in six tightly integrated domains that are usually reported separately: financial markets, politics, culture, national security, technology, and the environment” (Brand).
Information is in two or more works	List both works in the parenthetical citation exactly as they would be listed individually, but separate them with a semicolon. List the sources in the same order they will appear in the Works Cited list (alphabetical by first entry). Example: Pundits agree that globalization will impact the future of all businesses as national borders are breached, trade barriers are broken down, and both eventually disappear (Friedman 42; Ronkainen, Czinkota, and Tarrant 1).
Indirect source (a source quoted in another source)	If you use an indirect quotation (information found in a source that was quoting another source, also known as a secondary source) use the following method of in-text citation. This statement, from Glenn Prickett, is quoted on page 30 of Friedman’s book, The Lexus and the Olive Tree. “Qtd. in” stands for “quoted in.” Only Friedman is listed in the Works Cited, not Prickett. Example: An environmental group’s president, Glenn Prickett, made the following observation about arriving by plane in a remote Amazon village: “Touching down on the grass landing strip we were met by the entire village in traditional dress—and undress—and painted faces, with a smattering of American baseball caps bearing random logos” (qtd. in Friedman 30).
Encyclopedia or dictionary	If the encyclopedia entry has an author, use it. If it doesn’t, use the title of the entry. In either case, do not use the page number since these sources are arranged alphabetically. Example: According to the Oxford English Dictionary, globalization is a new word, first used in 1959 (“Global”).
Organizational author	If the author of the work is an organization, government agency, or corporation, list the name of the author in either the signal tag or the parenthetical citation. Since the name of the author cannot be shortened like a title can be, if the name is lengthy (United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, for example), place the name in the signal phrase instead of the parenthetical citation. Examples: According to United States Army, “globalization, the Lexus, is the central organizing principle of the post–Cold War world, even though many individuals and nations resist by holding on to what has traditionally mattered to them—the olive tree” (4). “Globalization, the Lexus, is the central organizing principle of the post–Cold War world, even though many individuals and nations resist by holding on to what has traditionally mattered to them—the olive tree” (United States Army 4).