A Guide to MLA Style Documentation in Research Papers
The common documentation style taught in Comp. I is the style developed by the Modern Library Association of America as presented in the 7th edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. This handbook offers complete guidelines for the basic format of your paper as well as formatting for documentation of sources in the body of the paper as well as the “Works Cited” page.
This handout outlines citation styles for the most commonly used types of sources. If you have a source not illustrated here, or if you have questions or concerns about proper page formatting, consult the MLA Handbook (LB2369.G53 2009) on the Ready Reference Shelf in the Reference Alcove.
Avoid plagiarism which is defined as using someone else’s ideas or way of phrasing an idea and presenting it as your own. This is intellectual theft and is morally and ethically wrong. Failure to properly credit the original works can lead to a charge of plagiarism, resulting in not just a failing grade for that assignment, but a failing grade in the class, and even a disciplinary action by the university.
Formatting Your MLA Works Cited List
· MLA uses an author/page style of in-text source recognition, or note.
· A Works Cited list must appear at the end of your paper. All sources cited in text must be included.
· List the works cited using the author’s name, last name first, as it appears on the title page. If there is no author, list the work by title.
· Works Cited information must be accurate and should include the author, title of the work, publishing information, year, and format. (i.e. Print, DVD, Web, etc.)
· Arrange the list alphabetically, letter by letter, word by word. “Brown, John” comes before “Browning, Robert” because “Brown” is a complete word, even though “i” comes before “j” alphabetically. Arrangement has nothing to do with the format of the work being cited (i.e. book and journal articles are arranged together not separately).
· If the author’s name is unknown the title of the work appears first, and is alphabetized in the list by the first significant word in the title (disregard A, An and The).
· The Works Cited list should be double spaced between the lines of an entry and double spaced between entries.
· A hanging indentation (first line flush to the left margin and all successive lines of a reference indented one tab) is used at the beginning of each entry.
· Each entry is double spaced, with a double space between each entry.
· Capitalize all significant words in a title.
· Titles of books, journals, etc. are in italics. Titles of articles or essays etc. within a collection are in regular font surrounded by quotation marks.
· Surround the title of an article from a newspaper, magazine, encyclopedia or dictionary with quotation marks.
· Give the medium of the source; e.g. Print, Microform, Web, etc. If the source was accessed on the Web, give the date accessed as well.
· Watch your punctuation. Follow the punctuation in this guide or check the MLA Handbook to be sure you are placing commas, periods, colons and brackets in the proper places.
· Legal and sacred texts have their own citation styles. Consult the handbook for these.
· A sample Works Cited list appears on page 8 as illustration.
Works Cited
MLA pp. 123-212
Books
MLA pp. 148-181
These citations usually have the following parts:
1. Author, editor, compiler or translator.
Give as it appears in the book, placing the last name first. Leave out titles and degrees
that precede or follow the name but include suffixes such as Jr. or VI.
If more than one author, editor, etc. is given, give the second author’s name in normal
order, not last name first.
2. Title.
Italics should be used for the title of any book, magazine, newspaper, journal or
database.
Capitalize the first letter of all significant words in the title and subtitle.
3. Publishing information. This is usually found on the front and back of title page of any
of any print book.
City of publication. Indicate the state using the common two letter abbreviation, only if
The city is not well known (Englewood Cliffs, NJ) or to clarify if two or more cities have
the same name Kansas City, MO as opposed to Kansas City, KS).
Drop any beginning articles (A, An, The), descriptive words (Publishers, Books, House,
etc.), and business abbreviations (Co., Corp., Inc., Ltd.) as well as first names or initials
if the name is that of a person (W.W. Norton, Henry Holt, etc.)
If the publisher is a University press, abbreviate “U” for university and “P” for press (U of
Missouri P).
Use the most recent copyright date given for the book. This is usually on the back of the
title page.
If more than one place of publication is given, use only the first one listed.
If no place of publication is given, use “N.P.” of no publisher is given, use “n.p.”
If only a part of a book is cited, i.e. only one chapter pertains to your subject, follow the date with the inclusive page numbers for that part.
EXAMPLES
* One author:
Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1958. Print.
* Two authors: (keep the names in the order given on source)
Stephenson, Richard, and Harry C. Bredemeier. The Analysis of Social Systems.
New York: Holt, 1962. Print.
* Two authors with the same last name:
Lamb, Charles, and Mary Lamb. Tales from Shakespeare. New York: Macmillan, 1965.
* More than three authors: (name first author listed)
Kadis, Adler, L., et al. A Practicum of Group Psychotherapy. New York: Harper,
1963. Print.
* More than one entry by the same author:
O’Neill, Eugene. Long Day’s Journey into Night. New Haven: Yale UP, 1956. Print.
---. Mourning Becomes Electra, a Trilogy. New York: Norton, 1931. Print.
* Corporate Author:
American Medical Association. The American Medical Association Encyclopedia of Medicine. New
York: Random, 1989. Print.
Note: Cite the corporate author, even if the work is published by that entity.
For Government Documents, see pp. 174-176 of the Handbook.
* Republished book: (Give original publishing date, immediately following the title)
Doctorow, E. L. Welcome To Hard Times. 1960. New York: Viking-Penguin, 1996. Print.
* Book with a publisher’s imprint: (examples: Anchor Books, Perennial Library, Vintage)
Morrison, Toni. Sula. 1973. New York: Plume-Penguin, 2002. Print.
* Books with two or more publishers:
Duff, J. Wright. A Literary History of Rome: From the Origins to the Close of the Golden Age.
Ed. A. M. Duff. 3rd ed. 1953. London: Benn. New York: Barnes, 1967. Print.
* Book accessed online:
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1850; Bartleby.com, 1999.
Bartleby.com. Web. 22 Sept. 2009.
* An edited collection or anthology:
Bradly, Thomas, et al., eds. The American Tradition in Literature. New York: Grosset, 1987.
Print.
* A multivoume work:
Churchill, Winston S. The Age of Revolution. New York: Dodd, 1957. Vol. 3 of A History of the
English-Speaking Peoples. 4 vols. 1956-58. Print.
* An authored essay or article in a collection or anthology:
Lazard, Naomi. “In answer to Your Query.” The Norton Book of Light Verse. Ed. Russell Baker.
New York: Norton, 1986. 52-73. Print.
NOTE: This illustrates two other possibilities: a work with both an author and editor, and inclusive pagination.
* A dictionary entry or encyclopedia article with no author given:
“Freedom.” Encyclopedia Americana. 1985 ed. Print.
“Loneliness.” Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary. 1993. Print.
* An encyclopedia authored article:
Mohanty, Jitendra M. “Indian Philosophy.” The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia.
15th ed. 1987. Print.
* A specific definition in a dictionary:
“Noon.” Def. 4b. The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. Print.
NOTE: There are no pages, or editors given. If there is not edition statement, give the date as the edition.
Periodicals; also known as Newspapers, Magazines and Professional Journals
MLA 190-193; All Formats
Follow the format for books, except:
1. Surround the title of the article with quotation marks, follow that with the title of the
periodical, underlined and the date of its issue, day (if given), month, year.
2. For a magazine/journal give the volume number with the year in parenthesis followed by
a colon and the pagination.
If there is no volume, give the date of issue without parenthesis.
If the publication is unpaged, use “n. pag.”
If it is continuous give the inclusive pages (44-53).
If it skips pages give the initial page with a plus sign (10+).
3. For a newspaper give the date of issue, edition (if known) page and section.
If the article continues to another page give the initial page with a plus sign (D1+)
4. Give the format that was used to view the article.
If the format is a publication independently on the web, give the medium in italics (Web) and date of access (day, month, year).
If the article was found in an online database (i.e. EBSCOhost), give the title of the database, in italics, medium, in italics (Web), and date of access (day, month, year).
5. Microform versions are referred to by their specific format.
For articles viewed on microfilm, give the full information as you would for the print version, with the word Microfilm at the end of the citation.
For microfiche, give the full information as you would for the print version, use the word fiche (lower case), and give the grid information.
Examples
If there are two or more authors, format the author information as given in the examples on page 2.
* Newspaper article, page & section:
Greeley, Andrew. “Todays Morality Play: The Sitcom.” New York Times 17 May 1990: 3A.
Microfilm.
* Newspaper article, no page number:
Gould, Elaine. “Troubled Teens.” USA Today Dec. 1995: n. pag. Print.
* Anonymous article:
“A Traffic Ban Drives Rome Crazy.” Newsweek 16 Mar. 1987: 47+. Microfilm.
* Newspaper article on microfiche:
Chaple, Don. “Child Protection Laws Needed.” Star-Ledger [Newark, NJ] 14 Jan. 1990: n. pag.
Newsbank: Welfare and Social Problems (1990): fiche 1, grids A9-12.
* Newspaper article in an online database (Newsbank)
Leiser, Ken. “AA Slashes Operations Here: Airport Authority Freezes Spending Runway Work
Goes on.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch 17 July 2003. Newsbank. Web. 22 Sept. 2009.
* Article in an online newspaper or newswire:
Loven, Jennifer. “Obama Urges Israeli, Palestinian Sides to Do More.” St. Louis Post
Dispatch. n. pag. stltoday.com.. Web. 22 Sept. 2009.
* Magazine/ journal article, without volume, discontinuous pages:
Perry, Patrick. “Pancreatic Cancer—Family Ties.” Saturday Evening Post Nov./Dec. 2001: 36+.
* Magazine/journal article, with volume given and continuous pages:
Craner, Paul M. “New Tool for ancient Art: The Computer and Music.” Computers and the
Humanities 25 (1991): 303-13. Print.
* Magazine/journal article accessed through an online database (EBSCOhost, Gale Cengage Collection, etc.)
Tolson, Nancy. “Making Books Available: The Role of Early Libraries, Librarians and Booksellers
in the Promotion of African American Children’s Literature.” African American Review 32
(1998). Academic Search Elite. Web. 22 Sept. 2009.
* Article in an online magazine:
Walsh, Joan. “Is Race Really Catnip to the media.” Salon.com. Web. 22 Sept. 2009.
NOTE: For loose leaf reprint services, abstracts, reviews, editorials, letters to the editor, special issues, and serialized articles, see pp. 188-193.
Non-Print Sources
MLA pp. 194-200
* Film, in its entirety:
It’s a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. Perf. James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore,
and Thomas Mitchell. RKO, 1946. Film.
* Film, if citing the contribution of a specific individual:
Chaplin, Charles, dir. Modern Times. Perf. Chaplin and Paulette Goddard. United Artists, 1936.
Film.
* Video, DVD, etc., slide program or film strip:
Alcohol Use and Its Medical Consequences: A Comprehensive Teaching Program for Biomedical
Education. Prod. Project Cork, Dartmouth Medical School. Milner-Fenwick, 1982.
Slide program.
* Video, DVD, etc., slide program or film, contribution of a specific individual:
Hitchcock, Alfred, dir. Suspicion. Perf. Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. 1941. Turner, 1995.
Videocassette.
* Live performance:
Hamlet. By William Shakespeare. Dir. John Gielgud. Perf. Richard Burton. Shubert Theatre,
Boston. 4 Mar. 1964.
* Live performance, contribution of a specific individual:
Rigg, Diana, perf. Medea. By Euripides. Trans. Alistair Elliot. Dir. Jonathan Kent. Longacre
Theatre, New York, 7 Apr. 1994. Performance.
* Television program, broadcast:
“The Buccaneers”. By Edith Wharton. Adapt. Maggie Wadey. Perf. Mira Sorvino, Alison Elliot,
and Carla Gugino. 3 episodes. Masterpiece Theatre. Introd. Russell Baker. PBS,
WGBH, Boston, 27 Apr-11 May, 1997. Television.
* Radio program, broadcast:
“Death and Society” Narr. Joanne Silberner. Weekend Edition Sunday. Natl. Public Radio.
WUWM, Milwaukee. 25 June 1998. Radio.
* Recorded television or radio program, if primarily the work of an individual:
Adams, Douglas. “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” Perf. Martin Benson, Peter Davidson,
Sandra Dickenson, David Dixon and Simon Jones. n.d. BBC Studio. BBC Warner, 2005.
DVD.
* Musical sound recording, medium other than CD:
Ellington, Duke. cond. Duke Ellington Orch. First Carnegie Hall Concert. Rec. 23 Jan. 1943.
Prestige, 1977. LP.
Marsalis, Branford. Romances for Saxophone. English Chamber Orch. Cond. Andrew Litton.
Audiocassette. CBS, 1986
NOTE: Refer to reel-to-reel tape as audiotape.
* Specific song or composition on a recording:
Bartoli, Cecilia. “Les filles de Cadix.” By Pauline Viardot. Chant d’amour. London, 1996. CD.
* Spoken word recording:
Burnett, Frances Hodgson. The Secret Garden. 1911. Read by Helena Bonham Carter.
Penguin-High Bridge, 1993. Audiocassette.
* Specific work on a recording:
Whitman, Walt. “America.” In Their Own Voices: A Century of Recorded Poetry. Rhino, 1996.
CD.
* Digital file