MLA Style for sources

THE "NEW" OLD SCHOOL WAY TO CITE YOUR OWN SOURCES

Can't figure out how to cite a source? Scroll down until you find the type of source you need help with. If it's not here, ask a Social Studies Teacher.

SOURCES IN PRINT

Books

Author(s). Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.

Book with one author

Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. Denver: MacMurray, 1999.

Book with more than one author

Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Boston: Allyn, 2000.

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") 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.

Book with a corporate author

American Allergy Association. Allergies in Children. New York: Random, 1998.

Book or article with no author named

Encyclopedia of Indiana. New York: Somerset, 1993.

"Cigarette Sales Fall 30% as California Tax Rises." New York Times 14 Sept. 1999: A17.

Anthology or collection

Peterson, Nancy J., ed. Toni Morrison: Critical and Theoretical Approaches. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1997.

A part of a book (such as an essay in a collection)

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Collection. Ed. Editor's Name(s). Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. Pages.

Essay in a collection

Harris, Muriel. "Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers." A Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers One to One. Ed. Ben Rafoth. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2000. 24-34.

Article from a reference book

"Jamaica." Encyclopedia Britannica. 1999 ed.

An article in a periodical (such as a newspaper or magazine)

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Source Day Month Year: pages.

Magazine or newspaper article

Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time 20 Nov. 2000: 70-71.

Trembacki, Paul. "Brees Hopes to Win Heisman for Team." Purdue Exponent 5 Dec. 2000: 20.

An article in a scholarly journal

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal Vol (Year): pages.

"Vol" indicates the volume number of the journal. 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.

Essay in a journal with continuous pagination

Allen, Emily. "Staging Identity: Frances Burney's Allegory of Genre." Eighteenth-Century Studies 31 (1998): 433-51.

Essay in a journal that pages each issue separately

Duvall, John N. "The (Super)Marketplace of Images: Television as Unmediated Mediation in DeLillo's White Noise." Arizona Quarterly 50.3 (1994): 127-53.

OTHER TYPES OF SOURCES

Government publication

United States Dept. of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010: Understanding and Improving Health. Washington: GPO, 2000.

Pamphlet

Office of the Dean of Students. Resources for Success: Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorders. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University, 2000.

Interview that you conducted

Purdue, Pete. Personal Interview. 1 Dec. 2000.

A lecture or a speech

To cite a lecture or a speech, "give the speaker's name, the title of the lecture or speech (if known) in quotation marks, the meeting and the sponsoring organization (if applicable), the location [including place and city, if available], and the date. If there is no title, use an appropriate descriptive label (e.g., Lecture, Address, Keynote speech), neither underlined nor enclosed in quotation marks" (MLA Handbook, 206).

Harris, Muriel. "Writing Labs: A Short History." 2003 Writing Center Conference. National Writing Centers Association. La Swank Hotel, Seattle. 28 March 2003.

Advertisement

Lufthansa. Advertisement. Time 20 Nov. 2000: 151.

Television/radio program

"The Blessing Way." The X-Files. Fox. WXIA, Atlanta. 19 Jul. 1998.

Sound recording

U2. All That You Can't Leave Behind. Interscope, 2000.

Film

The Usual Suspects. Dir. Bryan Singer. Perf. Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Stephen Baldwin, and Benecio del Toro. Polygram, 1995.

TV Advertisement

Staples. Advertisement. CBS. 3 Dec. 2000.

ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS ONLINE

Most confusion seems to come from how to cite internet sources. For primary sources found on websites here is a good rule of thumb: Cite the source as if you found the actual document, then add the electronic source information at the end. For example.:
Lincoln, Abraham. "The Gettysburg Address." 19 Nov. 1863. Library of Congress Online Exhibits: The Gettysburg Address. Library of Congress. 19 April 2005. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/gadd/gatr1.html

ELECTRONIC SOURCES

If no author is given for a web page or electronic source, start with and alphabetize by the title of the piece and use a shortened version of the title for parenthetical citations.

A website

Author(s). Name of Page. Date of Posting/Revision. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site. Date of Access <electronic address>.

It is necessary to list your date of access because web postings are often updated, and information available at one date may no longer be available later. Be sure to include the complete address for the site. Also, note the use of angled brackets around the electronic address; MLA requires them for clarity.

Website examples

Felluga, Dino. Undergraduate Guide to Literary Theory. 17 Dec. 1999. Purdue University. 15 Nov. 2000 <http://omni.cc.purdue.edu%7Efelluga/theory2.html>. Purdue Online Writing Lab. 2003. Purdue University. 10 Feb. 2003 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu>.

An article on a web site

Author(s)."Article Title." Name of website. Date of posting/revision. Name of institution/organization affiliated with site. Date of access <electronic address>.

Article on a website

Poland, Dave. "The Hot Button." Roughcut. 26 Oct. 1998. Turner Network Television. 28 Oct. 1998 <http://www.roughcut.com>.

An article in an online journal or magazine

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume. Issue (Year): Pages/Paragraphs. Date of Access <electronic address>.

Some electronic journals and magazines provide paragraph or page numbers; include them if available. This format is also appropriate to online magazines; as with a print version, you should provide a complete publication date rather than volume and issue number.

Online journal article

Wheelis, Mark. "Investigating Disease Outbreaks Under a Protocol to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention." Emerging Infectious Diseases 6.6 (2000): 33 pars. 5 Dec. 2000 <http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol6no6/wheelis.htm>.

An Online Image or Series of Images

Artist if available. "Description or title of image." Date of image. Online image. Title of larger site. Date of download. <electronic address>.

Smith, Greg. "Rhesus Monkeys in the Zoo." No date. Online image. Monkey Picture Gallery. 3 May 2003. <http://monkeys.online.org/rhesus.jpg>.

E-mail (or other personal communications)

Author. "Title of the message (if any)" E-mail to person's name. Date of the message.

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

Kunka, Andrew. "Re: Modernist Literature." E-mail to the author. 15 Nov. 2000.

Email communication between two parties, not including the author

Neyhart, David. "Re: Online Tutoring." E-mail to Joe Barbato. 1 Dec. 2000.

Online Posting

Karper, Erin. "Welcome!" Online posting. 23 Oct. 2000. Professional Writing Bulletin Board. 12 Nov. 2000 <http://linnell.english.purdue.edu/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000001.html>.

An article or publication retrieved from an electronic database

In most cases, electronic databases have citations already made and featured with the article. Go to the database page you used to take notes with and look for a citation (ASK for help if you can't find it).

Internet Website: Last Name, First Name. Title of Website. Date last updated. Website Publisher. Date accessed. URL (optional but helpful)

Examples: Flannery O’Connor Collection. 7 July 2006. Georgia College and State University. 31 August 2006.

TV / Radio Transcript: “Title of TV/Radio episode/segment.” Title of Program. Broadcast date. Transcript. Name of Database. Date accessed

Example: “Special Edition: The Iraq War.” CNN Special Report. 5 April 2003. Transcript. eLibrary. 27 March 2006.

Video Documentary: Title of Film. Director’s First Name Last Name. Copyright Year. Medium. Production Company Name. Edition Date.

Example: Finding Harmony. Kent Williams. 2003. DVD. Zen Buddhist Lecture Series Video. 2003.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Blog Post: Last Name, First Name. “Title of the Blog Post Entry.” Blog Title. Publisher. Date posted. Web. Date Accessed

YouTube Video: Title of Video. Channel Publisher. Date of Publication of Video. YouTube. Web. Date Accessed

Tweet: Last Name, First Name (Username). “Enter the tweet message here.” Date posted, time viewed. Tweet.

Facebook/Instagram Post: Last Name, First Name. “Enter Facebook post here.” Facebook. Date posted. [Date accessed <web address>]

Email: Last Name, First Name, “Subject of Message.” Message to Recipients Name. Date of Message. Email.

Report abuse