MLA Style

The Modern Language Association or MLA style is used primarily when writing a paper for the humanities.

Books
Articles and Periodicals
Other Sources
Internet Sources

Sample Entries: Books

Arrange the information into three units; each is followed by a period and one space:

(1) author's full name: last name first, first name (end with period and a space)
(2) title and subtitle: (italicize, end with period and one space )
(3) Publication information: city of publication: publisher (shortened to one word), year of publication. (end entry with a period and a space)
(4) Medium of publication. (end with a period )

A Book by One Author

Wilson, Frank R. The Hand: How Its Use Shapes the Brain, Language, and Human Culture. New York: Pantheon, 1998. Print.

Two or More Books by the Same Author

Hirsh, E. D., Jr. Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know. Boston: Houghton, 1987. Print

---. The Philosophy of Composition. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1977. Print.

A Book by Two or Three Authors

Atwan, Robert, Donald McQuade, and John W. Wright. Edsels, Luckies, and Frigidaires: Advertising the American Way. New York: Dell, 1979. Print

Vare, Ethlie Ann, and Greg Ptacek. Mothers of Invention: From the Bra to the Bomb: Forgotten Women and Their Unforgettable Ideas. New York: Morrow, 1988. Print.

A Book by Four or More Authors

Belenky, Mary Field, et al. Women's Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, and Mind. New York: Basic, 1986. Print.

A Book with an Editor

Hall, Donald, ed. The Oxford Book of American Literary Anecdotes. New York: Oxford UP, 1981. Print.

A Book by a Corporate Author

Public Agenda Foundation. The Health Care Crisis: Containing Costs, Expanding Coverage. New York: McGraw, 1992. Print.

A Book by an Anonymous Author

New York Public Library American History Desk Reference. New York: McMillan, 1997. Print.

A Book with an Author and an Editor

Toomer, Jean. Cane. Ed. Darwin T. Turner. New York: Norton, 1988. Print.

An Anthology or Compilation

Valdez, Luis, and Stan Steiner, eds. Aztlan: An Anthology of Mexican American Literature. New York: Vintage Knopf, 1972. Print.

A Work in an Anthology

Malouf, David. “The Kyogle Line.” The Oxford Book of Travel Stories. Ed. Patricia Craig. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1996. 390-96. Print.

Two or More Works in the Same Anthology

(a) Provide a separate, complete entry for the anthology:

Craig, Patricia, ed. The Oxford Book of Travel Stories. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1996. Print.

(b) then list each selection separately, giving author, title and cross-reference to the anthology:

Desai, Anita. “ Scholar and Gypsy.” Craig 251-73. Print.

Malouf, David. “ The Kyogle Line.” Craig 390-96. Print.

An Introduction, Preface, Foreword, or Afterword

Bernstein, Carl. Afterword. Poison Penmanship: The Gentle Art of Muckraking. By Jessica Mitford. New York: Vintage-Random, 1979. 275-79. Print.

A Multivolume Work

Blotner, Joseph. Faulkner: A Biography. 2 vols. New York: Random, 1974. Print.

An Edition Other Than the First

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Riverside Chaucer. Ed. Larry D. Benson. 3rd ed. Boston: Houghton, 1987. Print.

A Book in a Series

McClave, Heather, ed. Women Writers of the Short Story: Twentieth Century Views. Englewood Cliffs: Spectrum Prentice, 1980. Print. Culture and Literature Ser. 24. Print.

A Republished Book

Malamud, Bernard. The Natural. 1952. New York: Avon, 1980. Print.

Published Proceedings of a Conference

Briggs, John, ed. AIDS: Public Policy Dimensions. Proc. of a health issues conference. 16-17 Jan. 1986. New York: United Hospital Fund of New York, 1987. Print.

A Translation

Giround, Francois. Marie Curie: A Life. Trans. Lydia Davis. New York: Homes, 1986. Print.

A Book with a Title in Its Title

Habich, Robert D. Transcendentalism and the Western Messenger: A History of the Magazine and Its Contributors, 1835-41. Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 1985. Print.

A Book Published before 1900

Field, Kate. The History of Bell's Telephone. London, 1878. Print.

Reference Books: a Dictionary or Encyclopedia - unsigned (or signed) article

“Azimuthal Equidistant Projection.” Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. 1993. Print.

If the article is signed, give the author with last name first, as in standard book format. If a reference book arranges articles alphabetically, omit volume and page numbers.

Sample Entries: Articles and Periodicals

A periodical is a publication that appears regularly at fixed intervals. Each entry contains

(1) author or editor. (last name, then first name. End with a period and a space)
(2) “Title of the article.” (period inside quotation marks) (one space)
(3) Title of the periodical (italicized) (no period)
(4) the volume number and/or issue number (for a scholarly journal) (one space)
(4a) date of publication (year in parenthesis for scholarly journal) (colon): (space)
(4b) day, month and year for popular magazine (abbreviate except May, June, July) (colon): (space)
(5) page numbers (or range of pages) on which article appears. (no “p” or “pp”)
(6) medium of publication (period).

An Article in a Journal with Continuous Pagination

Fulwiler, Toby. “How Well Does Writing Across the Curriculum Work?” College English 46 (1984): 113-25. Print.

An Article in a Journal That Numbers Pages in Each Issue Separately

Walker, Jack. “The Primary Game.” Wilson Quarterly 12.1 (1988): 64-77. Print.

An Article from a Monthly or Bimonthly Periodical

Edsall, Thomas Byrne. “The Return of Inequality.” Atlantic June 1988: 86-94. Print.

An Article from a Weekly or Biweekly Periodical

McPhee, John. “The Control of Nature: Cooling the Lava.” New Yorker 22 Feb.1988: 43-77. Print.

A Signed Article

Darst, Guy. “Environmentalists Want Hotels, Concessions Removed from US Parks.” Boston Globe 25 May 1988, New England ed.: A17. Print

An Unsigned Article

“It Barks! It Kicks! It Scores!” Newsweek 30 July 2001: 12. Print

An Editorial

“Young, Gifted, Black and Inspired.” Editorial. Washington Post 18 May 1988, late ed.: C20. Print.

An Article Whose Title Contains A Quotation or Title within a Quotation

Hurley, C. Harold. “Cracking the Secret Code in Oates’s ‘Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?’ ” Studies in Short Fiction 24 (1987): 62-66. Print.

A Review

Petersen, William. “Wanted: Democratic Babies.” Rev. of The Birth Dearth: What Happens When People in Free Countries Don’t Have Enough Babies? By Ben J. Wattenberg. American Scholar 57 (1988): 312-14. Print.

Sample Entries: Other Sources

Government Document

United States. Cong. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Immigration and Nationality Act with Amendments and Notes on Related Laws. 7th ed. Washington: GPO, 1980. Print.

Films, Radio and Television Programs

The Last Emperor. Dir. Bernardo Bertolucci. Perf. John Lone and Peter O'Toole. Columbia, 1987. Film.

“If God Ever Listened: A Portrait of Alice Walker.” Horizons. Prod. Jane Rosenthal. Nat. Public Radio. WBST, Muncie. 3 Mar. 1984. Radio.

“The Hero's Adventurer.” Moyers: Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth. Prod. Catherine Tatge. PBS. WNET, New York. 23 May 1988. Television.

Performances

A Walk in the Woods. By Lee Blessing. Dir. Des McAnuff. Perf. Sam Waterston and Robert Prosky. Booth Theatre, New York. 17 May 1988. Performance.

Ozawa, Seiji, cond. Boston Symphony Orch. Concert. Symphony Hall. Boston. 30 Sept. 1988. Performance.

Recordings

Simon, Paul, “Under African Skies.” Graceland. Warner, 1986. CD.

Works of Art

Botticelli, Sandro. Giuliano de’ Medici. Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Rodin, Auguste. The Gate of Hell. Rodin Museum, Paris.

Maps and Charts

Sonoma and Napa Counties. Map. San Francisco: California Automobile Assn., 1984. Print.

Moscow, Idaho. Map. Google 15 May 2008. Web. 25 May 2009.

Cartoons and Advertisements

Adams, Scott. “Dilbert.” Cartoon. Editorial Humor 3 Mar. 1998: 9. Print.

Air France. “The Fine Art of Flying.” Advertisement. Travel and Leisure May 1988: 9. Print.

Published Letters and E-mail Messages

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. “To Ernest Hemingway.” 1 June 1934. The Letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ed. Andrew Turnbull. New York: Scribner's, 1963: 308 10. Print.

Harner, James L. “Research Question.” Message to R.C. Smith. 20 Aug. 2001. E-mail.

Interviews

Ellison, Ralph. “Indivisible Man.” Interview with James Alan McPherson. Atlantic Dec. 1970: 45-60. Print.

Diamond, Carol. Telephone interview. 27 Dec. 1988. Telephone Interview.

Lectures, Speeches, and Addresses

Russo, Michael. “A Painter Speaks His Mind.” Museum of Fine Arts. Boston. 5 Aug. 1984. Lecture.

Cuomo, Mario. Keynote address. Opening Sess. Democratic Natl. Conv. San Francisco. 16 July 1984. Address.

Podcast

Patterson, Chris. ÒWill School Consolidation Improve Education?Ó Host Michael Quinn Sullivan. Texas PolicyCast. Texas Public Policy Foundation, 13 Apr. 2006. MP3 file. 27 Apr. 2008.

Special Feature on DVD

ÒSweeney's London.Ó Prod. Eric Young. Sweeney Todd. The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Dir. Tim Burton. Dreamworks, 2007. DVD. Disc 2.

CITING ELECTRONIC INFORMATION

BASIC MLA FORMAT FOR REFERENCING ANY MATERIAL FROM THE INTERNET:

1. Begin with name of author, editor, or corporate author (if available), last name first, first name. If author is not given, start with title. (end with period)
2. “Title of work or site.” (enclose in quotation marks) (end with period)
3. Title of the Web source. (italics) (period) space
4. Sponsor of the Web site, (comma) space
5. Date of posting of electronic publication or latest update/posting. (period) If there is no updated date, use n.d. = no date
6. Medium = Web. (period)
7. Date of your access. (period)
(The URL is given only if required by the instructor.)
e.g.Electronic address, or URL, of the source (in angle brackets < >) (end with period)

Scholarly Book Online

Evangelista, Stefano. Rev. of Victorian and Edwardian Responses to the Italian Renaissance, ed. John E. Law and Lene Ostermark-Johansen. Victorian Studies 46.4 (2006) 729-31. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Mar. 2007.

Professional Site

United States. Environmental Protection Agency. Drinking Water Standards. EPA, 28 Nov. 2006. Web.24 Jan. 2007.

Article in an Online Journal

Belau, Linda. “Trauma and the Material Signifier.” Postmodern Culture 11.2 (2001): n.pag. Web. 20 Feb. 2009. (n.pag. is used when no pagination is given.)

A Newspaper Article

Markoff, John. “The Voice on the Phone Is NOT Human, but It’s Helpful.” New York Times, 21 June 1998. Web. 25 June 1999. < www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/biztech/articles/21voice.html> .

A Magazine Article

Landsburg, Steven E. “Who Shall Inherit the Earth?” Slate.com. 1 May 1997. Web. 1 Oct. 1999.

Scholarly Journal

Armstrong, Grace. Rev. of Fortune’s Faces: The Roman de la Rose and the Poetics of Contingency, by Daniel Heller-Roazen. Bryn Mawr Review of Comparative Literature 6.1 (2007): n. pag. Web. 5 June 2009.

CD ROM Single Edition (an Encyclopedia or Dictionary)

“O’ Keeffe, Georgia.” The American Dictionary of the English Language. 6th ed. Boston: Houghton, 2006. CD ROM.

Entry in a Weblog (blog)

Burdick, Dennis. Weblog comment. The Checkout. Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2006. Web. 19 Jan. 2007.

A Work from an Online Service to which a Library Subscribes

Netchaeva, Irina. “E-Government and E-Democracy.” International Journal for Communication Studies 64 (2002): 467-78. Academic Search Elite. EBSCOhost. Santa Clara U, Orradre Lib. Web, 20 Dec. 2002.

A Non-Periodical Publication on a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM

Sleek, Scott. “The Chemistry of Air Pollution.” Magill’ s Survey of Science. 2008 ed. Pasadena: Salem, 2008. CD-ROM.

Material from a Periodically Published Database on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM

Krach, Peg. “Myths and Facts about Alcohol Abuse in the Elderly.” Nursing. Feb. 1998: 25+. Abstract. CD-ROM. Periodical Abstracts Ondisc. UMI-ProQuest. Feb. 2001.

A Multi-Disc Publication

United States. Dept. of State. Patterns of Global Terrorism. 2004. CD-ROM. National Trade Data Bank. US Dept. of Commerce. Dec. 2005. Disc 3.

A Digital File

Hudson, Jennifer, perf. “And I Am Telling You I’ m Not Going.” Dreamgirls: Music from the Motion Picture. Sony BMG, 2006. MP3 file.

Citing Work that Appears in More than One Publication Medium

If a work used is published in more than one medium (e.g. a book with a CD-ROM), follow the format for the medium of the component that was the primary source. In the place for the medium of publication, specify alphabetically all the medium that was consulted.

Burnard, Lou, Katherine O’ Brien O'Keeffe, and John Unsworth, eds. Electronic Textual Editing. New York: MLA, 2006. CD-ROM, Print.