MLA Citation Style
MLA (Modern Language Association) Style is widely used in the humanities, especially in writing on language and literature. MLA style uses brief parenthetical citations in the text that refer to an alphabetical list of works cited appearing at the end of the work.
MLA Style is generally used by disciplines in the humanities, including:
- English
- Literatures
- Art
- Philosophy
This guide gives example citations for the most common information formats used in MLA Style well as links to other sources and examples.
Example Citations: Books
General Format for Books
Author Last Name, Author First name. Title. Publisher, Year.
Basic Book
McCorker, Frank. Storymaking and Mythtelling: Comic Literary and Film Images. Oxbridge, 1992.
Two Authors
Druin, Allison, and Solomon, Cynthia. Designing Multimedia Environments for Children. J. Wiley & Sons, 1996.
Article or chapter in an edited book or anthology
Yorbach, Erich. "Odysseus Wonderful." Peripatesis: The Representation of Fantasy and Adventure in Western Literature. Edited by Polly Feemis. Syracuse University Press, 1943. pp. 3-23.
Electronic Book
Coffey, Frank. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Elvis. Alpha Books, 1997. eBooks on EBSCOhost.11 May 2000.
Example Citations: Articles
General Format
Author Last Name, Author First Name. "Article Title." Journal Title, Version, Number, Publication Date, Page Numbers.
Journal article, two authors
L'Ambrosch, Zampoun and Teodolinda Roncaglia. "From Marco Polo to James Joyce: Coping with New Cultures." Acculturation in Literature, vol. 45, no. 2, 1990, pp. 156-172.
Journal article from an online database
Bustin, Richard. “The Living City: Thirdspace and the Contemporary Geography Curriculum.” Geography, vol. 96, no. 2, 1 July 2011, pp. 60–68. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41320337
Newspaper Article from an Online Database
Biskupic, Joan. “In Shaping of Internet Law, First Amendment Is Winning.” The Washington Post, 12 Sept. 1999, p. A2. ProQuest Newsstand, search.proquest.com/docview/1729603029?accountid=14784.
Newspaper Article from Web or Print Source
Friskics-Warren, Bill. "The Latest Nonconformist from Nashville West." New York Times. 7 May 2000.
Example Citations: Web Sites
General Format
Author Last Name, Author First Name. “Title of Article or Individual Page.” Title of website, Name of publisher, Date of publication, URL or DOI.
Web page with Author
Peace, Richard. “A Promising Study Reveals New Hope for an HIV Cure.” Huffington Post, 11 Nov. 2016, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hiv-study-vaccine-immune- system_us_5823c0bde4b0e80b02cec738
Webpage with no Author
"New Media @ the Center." The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. U of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center, 2009. http://www.writing.wisc.edu/newMedia@theCenter.html
Entire Website
National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, http://www.weather.gov/
Example Citations: Other Materials
General Format for Lecture Notes
Lecturer's name. "Title of lecture." Meeting. Name of sponsoring organization. Location of lecture, date.
**If you don't know the title of the lecture, or the lecture doesn't have a title, use the title Lecture (without the quotation marks).
Examples:
Litfin, Karen. "Introduction to Political Economy." Political Science 203. University of Washington. Seattle, 16 October 2000.
Collins, Kathleen. Lecture. Sociology 300. University of Washington. Seattle, 16 October 2014.
Example Citations: Conference Proceedings
General Format
Author Last Name, First Name. “Paper Title.” Proceedings Title, Conference Location and Date, edited by Editor Name(s), Publisher, Date of Publication.
Works cited: Published Paper
If you’re citing a paper from published conference proceedings, the format to use is as follows:
Lewis, Jack. “Lost Literature: The Social Consequences of Stock Loss.” Proceedings of the International Library Conference, Amsterdam, 13–14 June, edited by W. Oldham, LCP Publications, 2015.
Works cited: Unpublished Paper
You can also cite an unpublished conference paper. This could be something you saw presented at a conference, but it could also be a paper you found on a conference or university website. The format for citing an unpublished paper is based on MLA rules for citing a public speech.
Author Last Name, Author First Name. “Paper Title.” Conference Name, Location and Date. Conference Presentation.
Example:
Lewis, Jack. “Lost Literature: The Social Consequences of Stock Loss.” International Library Conference, Amsterdam, 13–14 June 2015. Conference Presentation. www.internet-librarian.com/2015/papers-presented/lewis-stock-loss.pdf
Source: https://style.mla.org/