In Text Citations||Formatting Entries||MLA Citation Examples: Books|| MLA Citation Examples: Articles||MLA Citation Examples: Web Sites and Digital media||MLA Web Resources

Typically, the Arts and Humanities use the MLA (Modern Language Association) style for research papers. The MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing is the third edition and provides the updated formats for notes and citations to be used in 2009. The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th edition is also available as a resource. To supplement these there is a copy of Documenting Sources: A Hacker Handbooks Supplement, 2009 MLA Changes available at the Citation Station near the reference desk and as a downloadable PDF.

MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th edition

Documenting Sources: A Hacker Handbooks Supplement, 2009 MLA Changes

In Text Citations

Author's name used in a signal phrase or as a parenthetical.

Example 1: According to Jensen, Cage used chance operations initially to organize the pre-composed charts for his composition Music for Changes in 1951 (97).

Example 2: Chance operations allowed Cage to introduce random events into a controlled system (Jensen 97).

Two to three authors used in signal phrase or as a parenthetical. If there are three authors used in a parenthetical citation separate them with commas.

Example 1: As Havens and Ghaemi state "the kind of depression...patients experience is not simply recurrent major depressive episodes, separated by periods of euthymia, but...chronic, unremitting depresssion..."(138).

Example 2: "It is our view that many bipolar may not have clinical depression viewed as endogenus disease entity, but rather they may be suffering from clinical "despair," as defined by existential philosophers Soren Kierkegaard and Karl Jaspers" (Havens and Ghaemi 138).

Multiple authors used in signal phrase or as a parenthetical.

Example 1: In the course of their research, Lazarinis et al., have found that the increased demand for non-English web documents is creating major issues for search engines (230).

Example 2: "Search engines crawl the Web and fetch documents which are then indexed and included in their databases" (Lazarinis et al. 231).

Government agency or Corporation as an author for an in-text citation.

Example 1: Agoraphobia according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is an intense fear of being trapped in inescapable situations that ultimately leads to the avoidance of situations where this may occur (n.p.).

Example 2: The onset of Agoraphobia occurs around the age of twenty and strickens approximately 1.8 million adults (National Institute of Mental Health).

For an unknown author use the complete title as a signal phrase or use a shortened or abbreviated form of the title for the parenthetical. Remember book titles are italicized while article titles are placed in quotation marks.

Example 1: According to the article, "Lab-Grown Meat a Reality, But Who Will Eat It?," the idea for lab grown meat has been around for centuries and has been used in science fiction novels as well (n.p.).

Example 2: Biologist Vladamir Mironov has been producing "shmeat" in formless sheets for years ( Lab-Grown Meat n.p.).

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Works Cited

The Works Cited Page(s) should be on a separate page at the end of the project with the label Works Cited centered 1" from the top of the sheet.

All citations entries should be hanging; first line flush with left margin, each additional line shall be indented 5 spaces from left margin.

Citation entries should be double spaced.

Entries should be alphabetized by authors last name. Unauthored entries should be alphabetized by the first significant title word.

Formatting Entries

Author's and editor's names are always inverted. List the last name first, followed by a comma, then their first name and a period after them. For editor(s), the abbreviation ed(s). should be placed after the editor's name followed by a period.

Example 1: Beckett, Samuel.

Example2: Bloom, Harold, ed.

If there are more than 3 authors/editors, you can list the first author followed by a comma and add "et al" for the remaining contributors and place a period after "al." or you can list each individual author as they appear on the title page, inverting only the first author's name.

Example 3: Dewey, John, et al.

Example 4: Dewey, John, Morton Subudnick, Julian Beck and Ethel Merman.

Book titles should always be italicized and followed by a period. All nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and subordinating conjunctions (e.g. after, if, that, until and when) should be capitalized. The following are not capitalized: articles (unless they are the first word in the title), prepositions and coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for or so) as well as the infinitive to.

Example 5: Szanto, Andras, ed. What Orwell Didn't Know: Propaganda and the New Face of American Politics.

The titles of articles from periodicals should be in quotations and follow the same capitalization rules as books (Ex. 5).

Example 6: "John Cage, Chance Operations, and the Chaos Game: Cage and the I Ching."

Periodical titles should be always italicized and any articles preceding the title should be omitted.

Example 7: The New York Times=New York Times

The Plain Dealer=Plain Dealer

The Journal of Cognitive Dissonance Theory=Journal of Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Entries for academic journals should include the volume, issue number, publication year in parentheses followed by a colon and the page numbers for the complete article not just the pages used for the research project.

Example 8: Leonardo Music Journal 13.1 (2003): 11-15.

Magazine entries that are published weekly or bi-weekly should include the complete date (e.g., day, abbreviated month and year). Monthly or bi-monthly publications should include the abbreviated month or months followed by the year. In each instance, a colon should follow the year and conclude with the page numbers.

Example 9: Time 24, Aug. 2009: 23-29.

                   Utne Reader Sept.-Oct. 2009: 56-59.

Entries for newspapers should contain the complete date (e.g., day, abbreviated month and year) followed by a comma then the specific edition if there is one. The date or edition (if there is one) should be followed by a colon then the page number. If the article appears on more than one page then the number should be followed by +, e.g. C5+.

Example 10: Plain Dealer 21 Aug. 2009: A1+.

All entries should identify the medium of publication, e.g. print, web, dvd, etc.

Example 11: Utne Reader Sept.-Oct. 2009: 56-59. Print.

Entries for web based resources should contain the following additions: site publisher; if the publisher is unknown use n.p.(no publisher), date of publication; if no date is available, use n.d. (no date), and date of access (day, month and year).

Example 12: "John Cage." Epic Poetry Center at SUNY

                               Buffalo.EPC@Buffalo, 2009. Web. 22,

                               Aug. 2007.

Entries for resources retrieved from databases should contain the title of database in italics, medium of publication (Web), and finally the date of access (day, month and year).

Example 13: Tone, Yasunao. "John Cage and Recording." Leonardo

                               Music Journal 13.1 (2003): 11-15. Academic Search

                                Complete. Web. 22 Aug. 2009.

Entries for sources retrieved from blogs should be formatted as follows:

Editor, screen name, author, or compiler name (if available). “Posting Title.” Name of Site. Version number (if available). Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher). Medium of publication. Date of access.

Example 14: Douthat, Ross. "The Tea Party." The Atlantic Wire.

                            The Atlantic, 16 Apr 2009 08:41 am. Web.

                            29 Jan. 2010.

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MLA Citation Examples

Books

Knowlson, James. Damned to Fame: the Life of Samuel Beckett. New

       York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. Print.

Szanto, Andras, ed. What Orwell Didn't Know: Propaganda and the New

       Face of American Politics. New York: Public Affairs, 2007. Print.

Ashour, Radwa, Ferial J. Ghazoul and Hasna Reda-Mekdashi, eds. Arab

       Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide, 1873-1999.

       Cairo: American University , 2008. Print.

Parmitter, Tara K. "The American Journey Narrative in the Muppets

       Movies." Kermit Culture: Critical Perspectives on Jim Henson's

       Muppets. Ed. Jennifer C. Garlen and Anissa M. Graham.

       Jefferson: McFarland, 2009. 129-141. Print.

Gall, Timothy L., ed. Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily

       Life. 4 vols. Detroit: Gale, 1997. Print.

EBooks/Electronic Books

Armstrong, David. Revolution and World Order: The Revolutionary

       State in International Society. Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1993.

       OhioLINK Electronic Book Center. Web. 17 Jan. 2009.

Hodge, Bob, Louie, Kam. The Politics of Chinese Language and Culture:

       The Art of Reading Dragons. London: Routledge, 1998. NetLibrary.

       Web. 23 Feb. 2009.

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Articles

Magazine

Academic Journal

       Music Journal 13.1 (2003): 11-15. Academic Search

       Complete. Web. 22 Aug. 2009.

Hirschberger, Gilad, et al. "Attachment, Marital Satisfaction,

       and Divorce During the First Fifteen Years of Parenthood."

       Personal Relationships 16.3 (2009): 401-420. Psychology

       and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 13 Oct. 2009.

Newspaper

       Increases." Plain Dealer 21 Aug. 2009: A1+. Print.

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Web Sites

"John Cage." Epic Poetry Center at SUNY Buffalo. EPC@Buffalo, 2009.

       Web. 21 Aug. 2009.

National Institute of Mental Health. Bipolar disorder. National Institutes

       of Health, 2009. Web. 21 Aug. 2009.

Rentas, Khadijah. "In an Instant, Waves Go from Majestic to Monstrous."

       CNN.com. Cable News Network, 25 Aug. 2009. Web. 25 Aug. 2009.

Interviews

Capote, Truman. Capote's Non-Fiction Novel (1966). YouTube. CBCtv,

       6 Aug. 2008. Web. 10 Oct. 2009.

Lennon, John. Jim Ladd Innerviews October 10, 1974. YouTube.

       30 Aug. 2008. Web. 13 Oct. 2009.

Blogs

Douthat, Ross. "The Tea Party." The Atlantic Wire.

      The Atlantic, 16 Apr 2009 08:41 am. Web.

       29 Jan. 2010.

Visual Art

Rothko, Mark. Orange, Red and Red. 1962. Dallas Museum of Art.

       OhioLINK Digital Media Center: The ART Collection. Web.

       21 Oct. 2009.

Weininger, Andor. Revue: Mechanische Buhne, Phase I-III. 1926.

       Musuem of Modern Art (MOMA). Bauhaus 1919-1939: Workshops

       for Modernity. Web. 29 Oct. 2009.

Riedel, Charlie. Super Bowl XLIV. 2010. Associated Press. OhioLINK

       Digital Media Center: AP Images. Web. 8 Feb. 2010.

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MLA Web Resources

MLA Update 2009 (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/15/) The latest updates from MLA compiled by the Owl at Purdue University.

MLA Style Guide with 3rd Edition Updates (http://library.csus.edu/guides/rogenmoserd/general/mla.html) from Sacremento State University.

MLA Flash Tutorial (http://library.hunter.cuny.edu/tutorials/mla/mla_tutorial.html) from Hunter Library at CUNY is an excellent resource that explains the MLA style including the updates in the 3rd edition.

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Questions or comments, contact:
Michael Billings, Reference Librarian