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MLA Referencing
Personal Project / Resources /
MLA Referencing
MLA References identify the following information about a source: Author. Title. Publisher, Date of Publication, Location of Publication. and Date Accessed. For clarity often also the type of source is identified. Below are some of the most common categories of sources and how to reference to them.
More detail? Check out the
UNIS Library Lib Guide on MLA referencing
Looking for a tool to help you out? Try
Bibme.com and its browser extension.
Written information on webpages, in books, magazine articles, scientific publications etc.
Common Elements
Author(s): Names of the Authors. If multiple authors, identify the main author or content creator and add "et al.".
Title: The title of the book, web page, news article, article or ...
Publisher: Magazine, Website, Newspaper, Series or ...
Date of Publication: Day Month Year
Location of Publication: Web address, city or ...
Type: Web page, PDF, News Article, Book, Article or ...
Date Accessed: Day Month Year (online sources only)
Example references
Smith, John et al. The Benefits of Exercise. Healthy Living Today, 15 May 2024, healthylivingtoday.com/exercise-benefits. Web page. Accessed 20 May 2024.
Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 2008. Book
Watson, J. D., and F. H. C. Crick. "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid." Nature, vol. 171, no. 4356, 25 Apr. 1953, pp. 737-38..
Information provided in non-textual form such as video, audio, podcasts, tutorials, imagery.
Common Elements
Author(s): Names of the creator. If multiple creators, identify the main creator and add "et al.".
Title: The title of the image, photo, illustration or ...
Publisher: Magazine, Website, Press Agency, Studio, Record Label, Film Label or ...
Date of First Publication: Day Month Year
Location of Publication: Web address, city or ...
Type: Photograph, Illustration, Painting, Song, Speech, Piece, Recording, video, clip, film, movie, documentary v...
Date Accessed: Day Month Year (online sources only)
Example references
da Vinci, Leonardo. Mona Lisa. 1519, Musée du Louvre, Paris. Painting.
Út, Nick. The Terror of War. World Press Photo Archive, 1973, www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo/1973/nick-ut/1. Photo Accessed 19 May 2025. Photograph
Martin, Chris et al. Yellow. Parachutes, Parlophone, 2000. Song.
Obama, Barack. "Speech on Climate Change at Georgetown University." White House Archives, 25 June 2013, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/remarks-president-obama-climate-change. Speech. Accessed 19 May 2025.
Smith, John et al. Big Wheels, Bigger Thrills: The World of Monster Trucks. Velocity Pictures, Detroit, 2023. Documentary.
CodingIsFun. "Python Basics: Variables and Data Types." YouTube, 15 Oct. 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=abcdefg123.
Information gained from consulting a human being. For instance, in an interview, chat, phone call or online video call.
Common Elements
Author(s): Names of the interviewer. If multiple interviewers, identify the main creator and add "et al.".
Title: The main topic of the interview
Publisher: Interview by ... + publication
Date of First Publication: Date of the interview
Location of Publication: City or ...
Type: Interview or Personal Interview.
Example references
Hawk, Tony. The Evolution of Trucks. Interview by Sam Jones. Skateboarding Today, June 2024, pp. 45-52.
Leppard, Jeff. School Event Organisation Protocols. Interview by Ella Gubbels, 6 June 2023, Hanoi. Personal Interview.
Information gained from (large-scale) data collection. This could, for instance, be a survey, set of observations or data from a science experiment. It could be your data or data gathered by someone else.
Common Elements
Author(s): Names of the survey conductor. Most likely: You.
Title: State the event you observed
Publisher: N/A
Date of First Publication: Date of the observation
Location of Publication: City or more specific
Type: Survey Data, Experimental results, Observation
Example references
Shea, Katie. Opinions on US Elections. 1 Jan 2025, Montreal. Survey Data.
Teens, Social Media and Technology. Pew Research Center, 2022, www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/. Survey Data.
Dore, Harley. UNIS Varsity Girls Soccer Practice. 6 June 2024, Hanoi. Observation.
McMahon, David. Ikea Shopping Trip. 25 November 2021, Ikea Stockholm Sud. Observation.
Information gained from interaction with an AI chatbot. This is the weakest type of source and probably should be avoided other than for initial research and source finding.
Common Elements
Prompt: State the event you observed
Bot: SchoolAI, Gemini, ToddleAI
Date of conversation
Url to chat conversation
Type: AI
Example references
“I'm looking for information about LASIK eye surgery” prompt. Impacts of Science Research Assistant, Schoolai.com. app.schoolai.com/spaces/cm4jdiywh002c13kwibt7jc8t. Accessed 19 Feb. 2025. AI.