OSCOLA Referencing System

Summary: MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. This resource, updated to reflect the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed.) and the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (2nd ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page.

1. General Format

MLA style specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and using the English language in writing. MLA style also provides writers with a system for referencing their sources through parenthetical citation in their essays and Works Cited pages.

Writers who properly use MLA also build their credibility by demonstrating accountability to their source material. Most importantly, the use of MLA style can protect writers from accusations of plagiarism, which is the purposeful or accidental uncredited use of source material by other writers.

If you are asked to use MLA format, be sure to consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th edition). Publishing scholars and graduate students should also consult the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (2nd edition). The MLA Handbook is available in most writing labs and reference libraries; it is also widely available in bookstores, libraries, and at the MLA web site. See the Additional Resources section of this handout for a list of helpful books and sites about using MLA style.

Paper Format

The preparation of papers and manuscripts in MLA style is covered in chapter four of the MLA Handbook, and chapter four of the MLA Style Manual. Below are some basic guidelines for formatting a paper in MLA style.

General Guidelines

• Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper,
• Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font like Times New Roman or Courier.
• Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks (unless otherwise instructed by your instructor).
• Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides. Indent the first line of a paragraph one half-inch (five spaces or press tab once) from the left margin.
• Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor may ask that you omit the number on your first page. Always follow your instructor's guidelines.)
• Use either italics or underlining throughout your essay for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis.
• If you have any endnotes, include them on a separate page before your Works Cited page.

Formatting the First Page of Your Paper

• Do not make a title page for your paper unless specifically requested.
• In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text.
• Double space again and center the title. Don't underline your title or put it in quotation marks; write the title in Title Case, not in all capital letters.
• Use quotation marks and underlining or italics when referring to other works in your title, just as you would in your text, e.g.,
  • Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Morality Play
  • Human Weariness in "After Apple Picking"
• Double space between the title and the first line of the text.
• Create a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name, followed by a space with a page number; number all pages consecutively with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor or other readers may ask that you omit last name/page number header on your first page. Always follow their guidelines.)

Here is a sample first page of an essay in MLA style:

 

2. In-Text Citations: The Basics

Guidelines for referring to the works of others in your text using MLA style is covered in chapter six of the MLA Handbook and in chapter seven of the MLA Style Manual. Both books provide extensive examples, so it's a good idea to consult them if you want to become even more familiar with MLA guidelines or if you have a particular reference question.

Basic In-Text Citation Rules

In MLA style, referring to the works of others in your text is done by using what's known as parenthetical citation. Immediately following a quotation from a source or a paraphrase of a source's ideas, you place the author's name followed by a space and the relevant page number(s).

When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name. Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work, or italicize or underline it if it's a longer work.

Your in-text citation will correspond with an entry in your Works Cited page, which, for the Burke citation above, will look something like this:

We'll learn how to make a Works Cited page in a bit, but right now it's important to know that parenthetical citations and Works Cited pages allow readers to know which sources you consulted in writing your essay, so that they can either verify your interpretation of the sources or use them in their own scholarly work.

Multiple Citations

To cite multiple sources in the same parenthetical reference, separate the citations by a semi-colon:

When Citation is not Needed

Common sense and ethics should determine your need for documenting sources. You do not need to give sources for familiar proverbs, well-known quotations or common knowledge. Remember, this is a rhetorical choice, based on audience. If you're writing for an expert audience of a scholarly journal, they'll have different expectations of what constitutes common knowledge.

3. In-Text Citations: Author-Page Style

MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. For example:

The citation, both (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tells readers that the information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by an author named Wordsworth. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works Cited page, where, under the name of Wordsworth, they would find the following information:

Author-Page Citation for Classic and Literary Works with Multiple Editions

Page numbers are always required, but additional citation information can help literary scholars, who may have a different edition of a classic work like Marx and Engels's The Communist Manifesto. In such cases, give the page number of your edition (making sure the edition is listed in your Works Cited page, of course) followed by a semicolon, and then the appropriate abbreviations for volume (vol.), book (bk.), part (pt.), chapter (ch.), section (sec.), paragraph (par.) as available. For example:

Anonymous Work/Author Unknown

If the work you are citing to has no author, use an abbreviated version of the work's title. (For non-print sources, such as films, TV series, pictures, or other media, or electronic sources, include the name that begins the entry in the Works Cited page). For example:

Citing Authors with Same Last Names

Sometimes more information is necessary to identify the source from which a quotation is taken. For instance, if two or more authors have the same last name, provide both authors' first initials (or even the authors' full name if different authors share initials) in your citation. For example:

Citing Multiple Works by the Same Author

If you cite more than one work by a particular author, include a shortened title for the particular work from which you are quoting to distinguish it from the others.

Additionally, if the author's name is not mentioned in the sentence, you would format your citation with the author's name followed by a comma, follwed by a shortened title of the work, followed, when appropriate, by page numbers:

Citing Indirect Sources

Sometimes you may have to use an indirect source. An indirect source is a source cited in another source. For such indirect quotations, use "qtd. in" to indicate the source you actually consulted. For example:

Note that, in most cases, a responsible researcher will attempt to find the original source, rather than citing an indirect source.

Citing the Bible

In your first parenthetical citation, you want to make clear which Bible you're using (and underline or italicize the title), as each version varies in its translation, followed by book (do not italicize or underline), chapter and verse. For example:

All future references can then just cite book, chapter, and verse, since you've established which edition of the Bible you will be using.

4. Formatting Quotations

When you directly quote the works of others in your paper, you will format quotations differently depending on their length. Formatting quotations using MLA style is covered in section 2.7 of the of the MLA Handbook (which begins on page 80) and in section 3.9 of the MLA Style Manual (which begins on page 102). Below are some basic guidelines for incorporating quotations into your paper.

Short Quotations

To indicate short quotations (fewer than four typed lines of prose or three lines of verse) in your text, enclose the quotation within double quotation marks. Provide the author and specific page citation (in the case of verse, provide line numbers) in the text, and include a complete reference on the Works Cited page. Punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and semicolons should appear after the parenthetical citation. Question marks and exclamation points should appear within the quotation marks if they are a part of the quoted passage but after the parenthetical citation if they are a part of your text. For example:

Mark breaks in short quotations of verse with a slash, /, at the end of each line of verse:

Long Quotations

Place quotations longer than four typed lines in a free-standing block of text, and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, with the entire quote indented one inch from the left margin; maintain double-spacing. Only indent the first line of the quotation by a half inch if you are citing multiple paragraphs. Your parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark. When quoting verse, maintain original line breaks. (You should maintain double-spacing throughout your essay.) For example:

Poetry will be handled something like this:

Adding or Omitting Words In Quotations

If you add a word or words in a quotation, you should put brackets around the words to indicate that they are not part of the original text.

If you omit a word or words from a quotation, you should indicate the deleted word or word by using ellipsis marks, which are three periods (...) preceded and followed by a space. For example:

NOTE: According to the 6th Edition of the MLA Handbook, brackets are no longer needed around ellipses unless adding brackets would clarify your use of ellipses. For example, if there are ellipsis marks in the quoted author's work, do not put brackets around them; but do use brackets around ellipsis marks you add, so as to distinguish them from ellipsis marks in the quoted author's work. Also note that the MLA Style Guide still requires brackets, so it's probably best practice to follow the MLA manual appropriate to your assignment or publication.

5. Footnotes and Endnotes

Because long explanatory notes can be distracting to readers, most academic style guidelines (including MLA and APA) recommend limited use of footnotes/endnotes; however, certain publishers encourage or require note references in lieu of parenthetical references (see the MLA Handbook, Appendix B, and the MLA Style Manual, Appendix A, for other systems of MLA citation).

MLA discourages extensive use of explanatory or digressive notes. MLA style does, however, allow you to use endnotes or footnotes for evaluative bibliographic comments, for example:

You can also use endnotes or footnotes for occasional explanatory notes or other brief additional helpful information that might be too digressive for the main text:

Numbering Endnotes and Footnotes

Footnotes in MLA format are indicated by consecutively-numbered superscript arabic numbers in the main text after the punctuation of the phrase or clause the note refers to:

However, note references appear before dashes:

Do not use asterisks, daggers, or other symbols for note references. The list of endnotes and footnotes (either of which, for papers submitted for publication, should be listed on a separate page, as indicated below) should correspond to the note references in the text.

Formatting Endnotes and Footnotes

The MLA recommends that all notes be listed on a separate page titled Notes (no quotation marks or italics), which should appear before the Works Cited page. This is especially important for papers being submitted for publication. The notes themselves are listed by consecutive superscript arabic numbers and appear double-spaced in regular paragraph format (a new paragraph for each note) on a separate page under the word Notes (centered, in plain text without quotation marks).

In the case that you need to format footnotes on the same page as the main text, footnotes should begin four lines (two double-spaced lines) below the main text. Single-space notes formatted as footnotes on the page, but double-space between individual notes.

6. Works Cited Page: Basic Format

According to MLA style, you must have a Works Cited page at the end of your research paper. Works Cited page preparation and formatting is covered in chapter 5 of the MLA Handbook, and chapter 6 of the MLA Style Manual. All entries in the Works Cited page must correspond to the works cited in your main text.

Basic Rules

• 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.
• Label the page Works Cited (do not underline the words Works Cited or put them in quotation marks) and center the words Works Cited at the top of the page.
• Double space all citations, but do not skip spaces between entries.
• List page numbers of sources efficiently, when needed. If you refer to a journal article that appeared on pages 225 through 250, list the page numbers on your Works Cited page as 225-50.
• If you're citing an article or a publication that was originally issued in print form but that you retrieved from an online database, you should provide enough information so that the reader can locate the article either in its original print form or retrieve it from the online database (if they have access).

Capitalization and Punctuation

• Capitalise each word in the titles of articles, books, etc, but do not capitalise articles, short prepositions, or conjunctions unless one is the first word of the title or subtitle: Gone with the Wind, The Art of War, There Is Nothing Left to Lose
• Use italics or underlining for titles of larger works (books, magazines) and quotation marks for titles of shorter works (poems, articles)

Listing Author Names

Entries are listed by author name (or, for entire edited collections, editor names). Author names are written last name first; middle names or middle initials follow the first name:

Do not list titles (Dr., Sir, Saint, etc.) or degrees (PhD, MA, DDS, etc.) with names. A book listing an author named "John Bigbrain, PhD" appears simply as "Bigbrain, John"; do, however, include suffixes like "Jr." or "II." Putting it all together, a work by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would be cited as "King, Martin Luther, Jr.," with the suffix following the first or middle name and a comma. For additional information on handling names, consult section 3.8 of The MLA Handbook and sections 6.6.1 and 3.6 of the MLA Style Manual.

More than One Work by an Author

If you have cited more than one work by a particular author, order the entries alphabetically by title, and use three hyphens in place of the author's name for every entry after the first:

When an author or collection editor appears both as the sole author of a text and as the first author of a group, list solo-author entries first:

Work with No Known Author

Alphabetize works with no known author by their title; use a shortened version of the title in the parenthetical citations in your paper. In this case, Boring Postcards USA has no known author:

7. Works Cited Page: Books

The MLA Style Manual provides extensive examples of print source citations in chapter six; the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers provides extensive examples covering a wide variety of potential sources in chapter six. If your particular case is not covered here, use the basic forms to determine the correct format, or consult one of the MLA books.

Books

First or single author's name is written last name, first name. The basic form for a book citation is:

Book with One Author

Book with More Than One Author

First author name is written last name first; subsequent author names are written first name, last name.

If there are more than three authors, you may list only the first author followed by the phrase et al. (the abbreviation for the Latin phrase "and others"; no period after "et") in place of the other authors' names, or you may list all the authors in the order in which their names appear on the title page.

or

Two or More Books by the Same Author

After the first listing of the author's name, use three hyphens and a period instead of the author's name. List books alphabetically by title.

Book by a Corporate Author

A corporate author may be a commission, a committee, or any group whose individual members are not identified on the title page:

Book with No Author

List and alphabetize by the title of the book.

For parenthetical citations of sources with no author named, use a shortened version of the title instead of an author's name. Use quotation marks and underlining as appropriate. For example, parenthetical citations of the source above would appear as follows: (Encyclopedia 235).

A Translated Book

Cite as you would any other book, and add "Trans." followed by the translator's/translators' name(s):

Republished Book

Books may be republished due to popularity without becoming a new edition, which is usually a revision of the original. For these books, insert the original publication date before the publication information.

An Edition of a Book

There are two types of editions in book publishing: a book that has been published more than once in different editions and a book that is prepared by someone other than the author (typically an editor).

A Subsequent Edition

Cite the book as you normally would, but add the number of the edition after the title.

A Work Prepared by an Editor

Cite the book as you normally would, but add the editor after the title.

Anthology or Collection

List by editor or editors, followed by a comma and "ed." or, for multiple editors, "eds."

A Work in an Anthology, Reference, or Collection

Book parts include an essay in an edited collection or anthology, or a chapter of a book. The basic form is:

Some actual examples:

Cross-referencing: If you cite more than one essay from the same edited collection, the MLA indicates that it is optional to cross-reference within your works cited list in order to avoid writing out the publishing information for each separate essay. You should should consider this option if you have many references from one text. To do so, include a separate entry for the entire collection listed by the editor's name. For individual essays from that collection, simply list the author's name, the title of the essay, the editor's last name, and the page numbers. For example:

Poem or Short Story Examples:

If the specific literary work is part of the same author's collection, then there will be no editor to reference:

Article in Reference Book:

For entries in encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference works, cite the piece as you would any other work in a collection but do not include the publisher information. Also, if the reference book is organised alphabetically, as most are, don't list the volume or the page number of the article or item.

A Multivolume Work

When citing only one volume of a multivolume work, include the volume number after the work's title, or after the work's editor or translator.

When citing more than one volume of a multivolume work, cite the total number of volumes in the work.

When citing multivolume works in your text, always include the volume number followed by a colon, then the page number(s):

If the volume you are using has its own title, cite the book without referring to the other volumes as if it were an independent publication.

Or, if you want to reference the larger multivolume as part of your citation, you may include "Vol. number of" before listing the title of the entire work, the total number of volumes, and the date.

An Introduction, a Preface, a Foreword, or an Afterword

When citing an introduction, a preface, a forward, or an afterword, write the name of the authors and then give the name of the part being cited, which should not be italicized, underlined or enclosed in quotation marks.

If the writer of the piece is different from the author of the complete work, then write the full name of the complete work's author after the word "By." For example:

Other Print/Book Sources

Certain book sources are handled in a special way by MLA style.

The Bible

Give the name of the specific edition, any editor(s) associated with it, followed by the publication information:

Your parenthetical citation will include the name of the specific edition of the Bible, followed by an abbreviation of the book and chapter:verse(s), e.g., (The New Jerusalem Bible Gen. 1:2-6).

A Government Publication

Cite the author of the publication if the author is identified. Otherwise start with the name of the government, followed by the agency and any subdivision that served as the corporate author. For congressional documents, be sure to include the number of the congress and the session when the hearing was held or resolution passed. (GPO is the abbr. for the Government Printing Office.)

A Pamphlet

Cite the title and publication information for the pamphlet just as you would a book without an author.

Dissertations

Dissertations and master's theses may be used as sources whether published or not. Cite the work as you would a book, but include the designation Diss. (or MA/MS thesis) followed by the degree-granting school and the year the degree was awarded.

If the dissertation is published, treat the title as you would any book title and include the date it was published at the end. You may also include the University Microfilms International (UMI) order number if you want to:

If the work is not published, put the title in quotation marks and end with the date the degree was awarded:

8. Works Cited: Periodicals

MLA style is slightly different for popular periodicals, like magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals, as you'll learn below.

Article in a Magazine

Cite by listing the article's author, putting the title of the article in quotations marks, and underlining or italicizing the periodical title. Follow with the date with date and remember to abbreviate the month. Basic format:

Article in a Newspaper

Cite a newspaper article as you would a magazine article, but note the different pagination in a newspaper. If there is more than one edition available for that date (as in an early and late edition of a newspaper), identify the edition following the date (e.g., 17 May 1987, late ed.).

If the newspaper is local, include the city name in brackets after the title of the newspaper.

A Review

To cite a review, include the abbreviation "Rev. of" plus information about the performance that is being cited before giving the periodical information, as shown in following basic format:

An Editorial & Letter to the Editor

Cite as you would any article in a periodical, but include the designators "Editorial" or "Letter" to identify the type of work it is.

Anonymous Articles

Cite the article title first, and finish the citation as you would any other for that kind of periodical.

An Article in a Scholarly Journal

Actual example:

If the journal uses continuous pagination throughout a particular volume, only volume and year are needed, e.g. Modern Fiction Studies 40 (1998): 251-81. If each issue of the journal begins on page 1, however, you must also provide the issue number following the volume, e.g. Mosaic 19.3 (1986): 33-49.

Journal with Continuous Pagination

Journal with Non-Continuous Pagination

9. Works Cited: Electronic Sources

The MLA Style Manual provides some examples of electronic source citations in chapter six; however, the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers covers a wider variety of electronic sources in chapter six. If your particular source is not covered here, use the basic forms to determine the correct format, consult the MLA Handbook, or talk to your instructor.

Some Tips on Handling Electronic Sources

It is always a good idea to maintain personal copies of electronic information, when possible. It is good practice to print or save Web pages or, better, using a program like Adobe Acrobat, to keep your own copies for future reference. Most Web browsers will include URL/electronic address information when you print, which makes later reference easy. Also learn to use the Bookmark function in your Web browser.

Special Warning for Researchers Writing/Publishing Electronically

MLA style requires electronic addresses to be listed between carets (<, >). This is a dangerous practice for anyone writing or publishing electronically, as carets are also used to set off HTML, XHTML, XML and other markup language tags (e.g., HTML's paragraph tag, < p >). When writing in electronic formats, be sure to properly encode your carets.

Basic Style for Citations of Electronic Sources

Here are some common features you should try and find before citing electronic sources in MLA style. Always include as much information as is available/applicable:

• Author and/or editor names
• Name of the database, or title of project, book, article
• Any version numbers available
• Date of version, revision, or posting
• Publisher information
• Date you accessed the material
• Electronic address, printed between carets ([<, >]).

Web Sources

Web sites (in MLA style, the "W" in Web is capitalised, and "Web site" or "Web sites" are written as two words) and Web pages are arguably the most commonly cited form of electronic resource today. Below are a variety of Web sites and pages you might need to cite.

An Entire Web Site

Basic format:

It is necessary to list your date of access because web postings are often updated, and information available on one date may no longer be available later. Be sure to include the complete address for the site. Here are some examples:

For course or department websites, include "Course home page" or "Dept. home page" after the name of the tutor or department and before the institution's name, followed by the date of access and URL.

Long URLs

URLs that won't fit on one line of your Works Cited list should be broken at slashes, when possible.

Some Web sites have unusually long URLs that would be virtually impossible to retype; others use frames, so the URL appears the same for each page. To address this problem, either refer to a site's search URL, or provide the path to the resource from an entry page with an easier URL. Begin the path with the word Path followed by a colon, followed by the name of each link, separated by a semicolon. For example, the Amazon.com URL for customer privacy and security information is <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/
tg/browse/-/551434/104-0801289-6225502>, so we'd need to simplify the citation:

A Page on a Web Site

For an individual page on a Web site, list the author or alias if known, followed by the information covered above for entire Web sites. Make sure the URL points to the exact page you are referring to, or the entry or home page for a collection of pages you're referring to:

An Image, Including a Painting, Sculpture, or Photograph

For works housed outside of an online home, include the artist's name, the year the work was created, and the institution (e.g., a gallery or museum) that houses it (if applicable), follwed by the city where it is located. Include the complete information for the site where you found the image, including the date of access. In this first example, the image was found on the Web site belonging to the work's home museum:

In this next example, the owner of the online site for the image is different than the image's home museum:

For other images, cite as you would any other Web page, but make sure you're crediting the original creator of the image. Here's an example from Webshots.com, an online photo-sharing site ("brandychloe" is a username):

The above example links directly to the image; but we could also provide the user's profile URL, and give the path for reaching the image, e.g.

Doing so helps others verify information about the images creator, where as linking directly to an image file, like a JPEG (.jpg) may make verification difficult or impossible.

An Article in a Web Magazine

For example:

An Article in an Online Scholarly Journal

Online scholarly journals are treated different from online magazines. First, you must include volume and issue information, when available. Also, some electronic journals and magazines provide paragraph or page numbers; again, include them if available.

An Article from an Electronic Subscription Service

When citing material accessed via an electronic subscription service (e.g., a database or online collection your library subscribes to), cite the relevant publication information as you would for a periodical (author, article title, periodical title, and volume, date, and page number information) followed by the name of the database or subscription collection, the name of the library through which you accessed the content, including the library's city and state, plus date of access. If a URL is available for the home page of the service, include it. Do not include a URL to the article itself, because it is not openly accessible. For example:

E-mail or Other Personal Communication

This same format may be used for personal interviews or personal letters. These do not have titles, and the description should be appropriate. Instead of "Email to John Smith," you would have "Personal interview."

E-mail to You

MLA style capitalises the E in E-mail, and separates E and mail with a hyphen.

E-mail Communication Between Two Parties, Not Including the Author

A Listserv or E-mail Discussion List Posting

If the listserv does not have an open archive, or an archive that is open to subscribers only (e.g., a password-protected list archive), give the URL for the membership or subscription page of the listserv.

<http://www.interversity.org/lists/techrhet/subscribe.html>

Discussion Board/Forum Posting

If an author name is not available, use the username for the post.

Weblog Postings

MLA does not yet have any official rules for citing blog entries or comments. But as the technology becomes more widely used for academic discussions, you may find yourself referencing blogs more often. If you are drawing on a blog as a source, make sure you consider the credibility of the weblog site and/or the author of the posting or comment. Also, check with your instructor or editor to see what their stance is on incorporating evidence from blog entries.

If you decide to use blogs, we suggest the following for how you would cite blog entries and comments depending on the author or sponsor of the weblog.

Citing Personal Weblog Entries

List the author of the blog (even if there is only a screen name available), provide the name of the particular entry you are referring to, identify that it is a weblog entry and then follow the basic formatting for a website as listed above.

NOTE: Give the exact date of the posted entry so your readers can look it up by date in the archive. If possible, include the archive address for the posted entry as the URL in your citation as you would for an online forum. If the site doesn't have a public archive, follow the suggestion under "Listserv" citation above.

Citing Entries on Organizational or Corporate Weblogs/Blogs

List as you would for a personal blog, but include the corporation or organization that sponsors the weblog.

Citing Comments Posted to a Weblog

Follow the same basic format for blog entries, but identify that the posting is a comment and not an orginial blog entry by the organization or weblog author. Also refer to the screen name that appears as the author of the comment, even if that author is anonymous.

NOTE: Some weblog sites don't require titles for comments, so you should just list the first few words of the comment itself to provide enough identifying information for the comment.

An Article or Publication in Print and Electronic Form

If you're citing an article or a publication that was originally issued in print form but that you retrieved from an online database that your library subscribes to, you should provide enough information so that the reader can locate the article either in its original print form or retrieve it from the online database (if they have access).

Provide the following information in your citation:

• Author's name (if not available, use the article title as the first part of the citation)
• Article Title
• Periodical Name
• Publication Date
• Page Number/Range
• Database Name
• Service Name
• Name of the library where or through which the service was accessed
• Name of the town/city where service was accessed
• Date of Access
• URL of the service (but not the whole URL for the article, since those are usually very long and won't be easily re-used by someone trying to retrieve the information)

The generic citation form would look like this:

Here's an example:

Article in a Database on CD-ROM

Article From a Periodically Published CD-ROM

10. Works Cited: Other Non-Print Sources

Below you will find MLA style guidance for other non-print sources.

A Personal Interview

Listed by the name of the person you have interviewed.

A Lecture or Speech

Include speaker name, title of the speech (if any) in quotes, details about the meeting or event where the speech was given, including its location and date of delivery. In lieu of a title, label the speech according to its type, e.g., Guest Lecture, Keynote Address, State of the Union Address.

A Painting, Sculpture, or Photograph

Include the artist's name, the year the work was created, and the institution (e.g., a gallery or museum) that houses it, followed by the city where it is located.

If you're referring to a photographic reproduction, include the information as above, but also include the bibliographic information for the source in which the photograph appears, including a page or other reference number (plate, figure, etc.). For example:

See our page on citing electronic resources for citing artworks found online.

Broadcast Television or Radio Program

Put the name of the episode in quotation marks, and the name of the series or single program underlined or in italics. Include the network, followed by the station, city, and date of broadcast.

Recorded Television Shows

Include information about original broadcast, plus medium of recording. When the title of the collection of recordings is different than the original series (e.g., the show Friends is in DVD release under the title Friends: The Complete Sixth Season), list the title that would be help researchers located the recording.

Sound Recordings

Sound recordings list album title, label and year of release (for re-releases, it's good to offer either the original recording date, or original release date, when known). You only need to indicate the medium if you are not referring to a compact disc (CD), e.g., Audiocasette or LP (for long-playing record). See section about online music below.

Entire Albums

List by name of group or artist (individual artists are listed last name first). Album title underlined or in italics, followed by label and year.

Individual Songs

Place the names of individual songs in quotation marks.

Spoken Word Albums

Treat spoken-word albums the same as musical albums.

Films and Movies

List films by their title, and include the name of the director, the film studio or distributor and its release year. If other information, like names of performers, is relevant to how the film is referred to in your paper, include that as well.

Movies in Theaters

If you refer to the film in terms of the role or contribution of a director, writer, or performer, begin the entry with that person's name, last name first, follwed by role.

Recorded Movies

Include format names; "Videocassette" for VHS or Betamax, DVD for Digital Video Disc. Also list original release year after director, performers, etc.

11. Additional Resources

It's always best to consult the current MLA Style Manual or MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers for any MLA question. If you are using MLA style for a class assignment, it's also a good idea to consult your tutor, advisor, TA, or other campus resources for help—they're the ones who can tell you how the style should apply in your particular case.

Print Resources the Modern Language Association

• MLA Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 2nd Edition (ISBN: 0-87352-699-6)
• MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th Edition (ISBN: 0-87352-986-3)

Online Resources

From the MLA:

• Frequently Asked Questions about MLA Style

Formatting Your Paper and Writing in MLA Style

• MLA Format for Annotated Bibliographies (Lesley University)

MLA Style Templates and Sample Papers

• MLA Research Paper Templates in Microsoft Word and Rich Text formats (from Wright University)
• Microsoft Word Templates for MLA Works Cited Pages and Annotated Bibliographies (from Spokane Falls Community College)
• Sample Paper: MLA Style (from Hacker Handbook Resources)

Documenting and Referencing Sources

• MLA Citation Style (from the Long Island University Library)
• MLA Documentation: Citations in Text (from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center)
• MLA parenthetical Documentation (from LEO at St. Cloud University)
• Parenthetical References in MLA Style (from A Research Guide for Students)
• Sample parenthetical References Page (from A Research Guide for Students)
• MLA Documentation: Works Cited Page (from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center)
• Works Cited in MLA Style (from A Research Guide for Students)
• Sample Works Cited Page (from A Research Guide for Students)
• MLA Documentation: Citing Electronic Sources (from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center)
• Using MLA Style to Cite and Document Internet Sources (from Bedford St. Martin's Online!)
• MLA Style: Electronic Formats (from Dr. Mary Ellen Guffey)

12. Abbreviations in MLA

There are a few common trends in abbreviating that you should follow when using MLA, though there are always exceptions to these rules. For a complete list of common abbreviations used in academic writing, see Chapter 7 of the MLA Handbooks for Writers of Research Papers.

Do not use periods or spaces in abbreviations of all capital letters, unless it is a proper name:

NOTE: This also applies to PhD and EdD even though there is a lower case letter in the middle.

Use a period if the abbreviation ends in a lower case letter, unless referring to an internet suffix, where the period should come before the abbreviation:

Use periods between letters without spacing if each letter represents a word in common lower case abbreviations:

Categories of Typical Abbreviations:

• Time designations: Jan., Thurs., yr., sec.
• Geographic names: AK, Ger., No. Amer., USA
• Scholarly abbreviations: abbr., anon., ex., i.e.
• Publishers names: Cambridge UP, Harper, McGraw, SIRS

Abbreviations in Citations

Citations should be as condensed as possible, so you should know the basic rules of abbreviation endorsed by the MLA to concisely provide your readers with reference information.

Remember to follow common trends in abbreviating time and location within citations:

• Month names longer than four letters used in journal and magazine citations: Jan., Sept., Nov.
• Geographic names of states and countries in book citations when the publisher's city is not well known or could be confused with another city: Logan, UT; Manchester, Eng.; Sherbrooke, QC

Shorten publisher's names as much as possible in book citations. You only need to provide your readers with enough information for them to identify the publisher. Many publishers can be identified by only acronyms or a shortened version of their names.

MLA suggests a few rules for you to follow when abbreviating publishers:

• Omit articles, business abbreviations (like Corp. or Inc.), and descriptive words (e.g. Press, Publishers, House)
• Cite only the last name of a publisher with the name of one person (e.g. Norton for W. W. Norton) and only the last name of the first listed for a publisher with multiple names (e.g. McGraw for McGraw-Hill)
• Use standard abbreviations when possible (e.g. Assn. or Soc.)
• Use the acronym of the publisher if the company is commonly know by that abbreviation (e.g. MLA, ERIC, GPO)
• Use only U and P when referring to university presses (e.g. Cambridge UP or U of Chicago P)

Here is a short list of publisher abbreviations that you might use. Consult Chapter 7 of the MLA Handbook for a more complete list.

• Acad. for Educ. Dev. (Academy for Educational Development, Inc.)
• Gale (Gale Research, Inc.)
• Harper (Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc. & HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.)
• Little (Little, Brown and Company, Inc.)
• MIT P (The MIT Press)
• NCTE (The National Council of Teachers of English)
• SIRS (Social Issues Resources Series)
• UMI (University Microfilms International)

13. Works Cited Page: Other Print Sources

This section includes MLA works cited information on sources other than books, periodicals, and electronic sources.

Advertisement

List the company, business, or organization; the publication, broadcast network, or Web address where the advertisement appeared:

A Legal Document

To cite a legal act, make sure you can identify the name of the act, its Public Law number, date it was enacted, and its Statutes at Large cataloging number. Abbreviate Pub. L. and Stat. before the two numbers. Do not use any quotation marks or italics in these citations.

To cite a court case, you need to identify the primary parties involved, the case number, name of the court where the ruling took place, and the date of the ruling.

Refer to The Blue Book: A Uniform System of Citation if you are going to work with several different kinds of legal documents in your research, such as patents.

NOTE: If you are referring to a well-known historical document like the US Constitution or the United States Code (USC), you don't need to include it in the works cited and can simply use an in-text citation like (US Const., art. 1, sec. 1) or (17 USC 304, 1976).

A Map or Chart

Cite a map or chart as you would an anonymous book or pamphlet. Include the appropriate designator after the title.

A Cartoon or Comic Strip

Cite the artist, the title of the cartoon in quotations, and the appropriate designator identifying the type of document it is.

A Letter or Memo

Only cite those letters that are published letters, unpublished letters from archived collections, or those you received as the author/researcher.

Published letters are cited like works in a collection:

Unpublished letters are cited like manuscripts:

Letters to researcher are cited as "Letter to the author" as follows:

A Manuscript or Typescript

Cite the work by its title or by a descriptive term like "Notebook," the type of material it is, any number assigned to it, and the library or archive location where it is housed.

Class/Lecture Notes Taken By Student

MLA does not have any official rule for citing class or lecture notes taken by a student during a class. Our suggestion is that you track down a source on the topic you would like to reference in your notes. Or, if the item is something that a tutor or classmate said that is uniquely their own observation, you should quote them in text without a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence. Thus you would not include this as a source on your Works Cited page. Just provide as much identifying information in the text itself. For example:

Class/Lecture Notes Distributed by Tutor

MLA also does not have any official rule on class/lecture notes that are provided to a class by the tutor, either through handouts or PowerPoint slideshows. Because such notes are documented by a party other than the student, however, we would suggest that you include these in your Works Cited unlike other class notes. Simply consider these documents as you would other unpublished papers or presentations, but use the designator "Course notes" or "Course handout" to identify the type of document it is.