MLA Style Guide

When you write a research paper, it is important to keep accurate records of the resources you've consulted and of the ideas you've quoted or used from others. The Modern Language Association (MLA) has established guidelines and formats on how to credit the authors of the sources you use and clarify which ideas belong to you and which belong to other sources. Documenting your sources includes creating a list of works cited that provides acknowledgement of and detailed information about your sources. Generally, you document what you've used from each source by giving a short parenthetical reference within the text of your research paper.

Parenthetical References in your text:

Citing author's name in text
Tannen has argued this point (178-85).
or
This was argued by Kerrigan and Braden (210-15).

Citing author's name in reference
This point has already been argued (Tannen 178-85).
or
Others hold the opposite point of view (e.g., Kerrigan and Braden 210-15).

Citing entire works
McRae's The Literature of Science includes many examples of this trend.

Corporate author
A study prepared by the United States Department of Commerce dismissed this as being obsolete (lines 14-16).
or
By 2010, government agencies will have solved this issue (Natl. Research Council 19).

Sources without page numbers
In the television series With Feathers, the segment entitled "Chicken Amok" features some shocking moments.
or
The SlideCat database is now available via the Internet and has changed the way researchers locate slides.

List of Works Cited (Print Materials)

Books, journals, magazines, and newspapers are identified by underlining the title. Article or chapter titles are identified by "quotation marks." "Works Cited" is the heading in the MLA style. Begin each entry flush with the left margin. If an entry runs more than one line, indent the following entry lines 5 spaces. Double space each entry.

Book by one author
Rattenbury, Ken. Duke Ellington, Jazz Composer. New Haven: Yale UP, 1990.

Book by two or more authors
Jakobson, Roman, and Linda R. Waugh. The Sound Shape of Language.
         Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1975.

An anthology or compilation
Frye, Northrop, ed. Sound and Poetry. New York: Columbia UP, 1957.

Work in an anthology
Allende, Isabel. "Toad's Mouth." Trans. Margaret Sayers Peden. A Hammock
         beneath the Mangoes: Stories from Latin America. Ed. Thomas
         Colchie. New York: Plume, 1992. 83-88.

Article from a magazine
Bazell, Robert. "Science and Society: Growth Industry." New Republic 15
         Mar. 1993: 13-14.

Article from a scholarly journal
Scotto, Peter. "Censorship, Reading, and Interpretation: A Case Study
         from the Soviet Union." PMLA 109 (1994): 61-70.

Article from a newspaper
Feder, Barnaby J. "For Job Seekers, a Toll-Free Gift of Expert Advice."
          New York Times 30 Dec. 1993, late ed.: D1+.

Government Publication
United States. Congress. Senate. Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments.
         Hearings on the "Equal Rights Amendment". 91st Cong., 2nd sess.
         S. Res. 61. Washington: GPO, 1970.

List of Works Cited (Electronic Sources)

Identifying a citation from an electronic publication (e.g. the World Wide Web [WWW], an online database, or CD-ROM) may often require more information than standard print resources. Some elements may vary or be changed into something that makes sense in the context of electronic publishing. If you can’t find some of this information, cite what is available.

General Guidelines—Articles From An Online Periodical:

• author’s name (if given)
• "title of work" (if any) in quotation marks
• name of periodical (underlined)
• volume number, issue number, or other identifying number
• year of publication
• range or total number of pages or paragraphs (if available)
• title of database (underlined)

Scholarly journals available online independently or as part of an archival database of journals (e.g. JSTOR, PCI, Project Muse) provide the following additional information:

• date of access and <URL>

Maynard, W. Barksdale. "Thoreau's House at Walden." Art Bulletin 81.2
         (1999): 303-25. JSTOR. 19 Nov. 2002 http://www.JSTOR.org/

If the article was accessed through a library or institutional subscription service (e.g. Infotrac Expanded Academic, PsycInfo, Lexis-Nexis) provide the following additional information:

• name of database publisher/subscription service
• name and location of library or library system providing access
• date of access and URL of subscription service's home page, if known

Bueno, Eva Paulino. "Carolina Maria De Jesus in the Context of
         Testimonios: Race, Sexuality, and Exclusion." Criticism 41. 2
         (1999): 257. Infotrac Expanded Academic ASAP, Gale. 22 Sept.
         2000 http://web4.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/

General Guidelines—Online Reference Database, Scholarly Project, Professional, Personal Site:

• author’s name (if given)
• title of project (underlined)
• name of editor (if given)
• electronic publication info, including version number, date of electronic publication or last update, and name of sponsoring institution
• date of access and <URL>

Article in a Reference Database
"Colour" Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Version 99.1 1999.
         Encyclopædia Britannica. 22 December 1999 http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?eu=117710&sctn=26

Scholarly Project
Dickens Project. Ed. Jon Michael Varese. 1999. University of California,
         Santa Cruz. 22 December 1999 http://humwww.ucsc.edu/dickens

Professional Site
McHenry Library Instructional Services. Deborah A. Murphy. 20
         December 1999. University of California, Santa Cruz . 22
         December 1999 http://library.ucsc.edu/ref/instruction

Personal Site
Cayute, Ima. Home page. 10 August 1997 http://www.cayute.ulib.ca

Online Government Publication
United States. Dept. of Justice. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
         Prevention. Juvenile Crime. by Henry Smith. Dec. 2001. 29 June 2003
         http://www.ncjrs.org/pdfiles1/191031.pdf

General Guidelines—Online Book

• author’s name (If editor, translator, etc., cite name followed by appropriate abbreviation.)
• title of work (underlined)
• name of editor, etc. (if relevant)
• publication information
• date of access and <URL>

Dos Passos, John. One Man's Initiation: 1917; A Novel. Ithaca:
         Cornell University Press, 1969. 1 January 1999. Internet Modern
         History Sourcebook. 22 December 1999
         http://eldred.ne.mediaone.net/wwone/initiation.html

General Guidelines—Article In An Online Periodical

• author’s name (if given)
• "title of work" (if any) in quotation marks
• name of periodical (underlined)
• volume number, issue number, or other identifying number
• date of publication
• range or total number of pages or paragraphs
• date of access and <URL>

Article in Online Journal
Carranza, L.E. "Le Corbusier and the Problems of Representation." Journal
         of Architectural Education 48.2 (1994). 22 September 1997
         http://wwwmitpress.mit.edu/jrnls-catalog/arch-ed-abstracts/File:jae48-2.html

Article in Online Newspaper
Ferriss, Susan. "Latino Rock - Hot Like a ‘Volcano’: Mission District Label
         1st to Focus on Trend." San Francisco Examiner 16 July 1995.
          23 Sept. 1997 http://www.examiner.com

Article in Online Magazine
Mindiola, Jim. "Selena & Me: A Virtual Chicano’s Journey of Discovery."
         Frontera 2.1 (1997). 17 Sept. 1997
         http://www.mercado.com/frontera/current/Selena/index.htm

General Guidelines—Publication On CD-ROM, Disk, Or Magnetic Tape

• author’s name (If editor, translator, etc., cite name followed by appropriate abbreviation.)
• title of publication (underlined)
• name or editor, etc. (if relevant)
• publication medium (CD-ROM, etc.)
• edition, release or version (if relevent)
• place of publication
• name of publisher
• date of publication

Singh, Susheela. "Early Marriage Among Women in Developing Countries."
         International Family Planning Perspectives 22.4 (1996): 148+.
         Contemporary Women’s Issues. CD-ROM. RDS, Inc. 1992-present.