This list, alphabetized by the first word in each entry (usually the author’s name), should appear at the end of your essay. It provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and be able to read any sources you cite in the essay. Each source you cite in the essay must appear in your works-cited list.
New Rules Effective 2009
Italics replaces underlining: Titles of books, magazines, films, etc. are placed in italics.
Web addresses for databases and web pages are not needed unless the teacher instructs you to use them. If required, enclose web address in brackets <url>.
Every citation requires the listing of a source’s format (print, web, CD-ROM, etc.)
Missing information: If the date of publication is missing, write n.d. If there is no publisher, write N.p. If the site doesn’t have page numbers write n. pag.
Scholarly journal articles now require both volume and issue numbers. Scholarly journals generally contain longer, original work written by experts for scholars in that profession, such as The Journal of American History. There is no change in the rules for magazines, which are generally written by journalists and may be found in newsstands and bookstores. Newsweek is a magazine.
Basic Rules
The first line of each entry in your list should be flush left. The next lines in the same citation should be indented one-half inch.
All references should be double-spaced within and between sources.
Use a single space after each period.
Authors’ names are inverted (last name first): if a work has more than one author, invert only the first author’s name, follow it with a comma, then continue listing the rest of the authors, first name before the last.
Alphabetize letter by letter, ignoring spaces and punctuation marks. If no author is given, alphabetize by the title of the piece. If two entries have the same first coauthor, alphabetize by the last names of the second authors.
Capitalize each word in the titles of articles, books, etc. Don’t capitalize short parts of speech such as articles, prepositions, or conjunctions (unless one is the first word of the title or subtitle). Use a colon to separate a title and subtitle.
Italicize titles of independent works: books, journals, magazines, newspapers, websites, and films.
Use quotation marks around the titles of articles in journals, encyclopedias, magazines, and newspapers. Also use quotation marks for the titles of works published within larger works (short stories, book chapters, pages in Web sites, poems, songs, etc.)
Abbreviate names of all months except May, June & July.
Print Media Book
Last Name, First Name of Author. Title. Edition. City of publication: Publisher, copyright year. Format.
With author
Wheeler, Keith. The Fall of Japan. Alexandria: Time-Life Books, 1983. Print.
Without author
The Fall of Japan. Alexandria: Time-Life Books, 1983. Print.
With multiple authors
Woods, Michael and Mary B. Woods. Ancient Agriculture. Minneapolis: Lerner, 2000. Print.
Encyclopedia
Last Name, First Name of Author. “Title of Article.” Encyclopedia Title. Edition. Copyright year. Format.
With Author
Fairchild, Mark D. “Color.” World Book Encyclopedia. 2009 ed. Print.
Without Author
“Baseball.” Compton’s by Britannica. 2007 ed. Print.
Multivolume Work
Last Name, First Name of Author. Title. Edition. Total number of volumes (if using more than 2 volumes). City of publication: Publisher, copyright year. Format.
Sadie, Stanley, ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2nd ed. 29 vols. New York: Grove, 2001. Print.
Book in a Series
Last Name, First Name of Author. Title of Book. City of publication: Publisher, copyright year. Format. Series name series number (if given).
Anderson, Daniel. Native American Tribal Warfare. New York: Random House, 2006. Print. Native American Life 6.
Magazine/Scholarly Journal
Magazine:
Last Name, First Name of Author. “Title of Article.” Title of Magazine Day Mo. Year: pages. Format.
Compton, Karl T. “If the Atomic Bomb Had Not Been.” Atlantic Monthly 28 Dec. 1946: 56. Print.
Scholarly Journal:
Last Name, First Name of Author. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages. Print.
Piper, Andrew. “Rethinking the Print Object: Goethe and the Book of Everything.” PMLA 121.1 (2006): 124-38. Print.
Newspaper
Last Name, First Name of Author. “Title of Article.” Title of Newspaper Day Mo. Year, section: pages (use “+” for nonconsecutive pages). Format.
With Author
Duke, Lynne. “An African Icon, Mandela’s Other is Significant in Her Own Right.” Washington Post 1 Mar. 1997, A10. Print.
Without Author
“Gore Meets with Tutu, Mandela.” Herald 17 Feb. 1997, sec A: 8. Print.
Personal Interview
Name of person(s) interviewed. Personal/Telephone Interview. Day Mo. Year of Interview.
Dyson, Amy. Personal Interview. 10 Oct. 2000.
Government Publication
Name of Government. Name of agency. Title of Publication. City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Format.
United States. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010: Understanding and Improving Health. Washington: GPO, 2000. Print.
Advertisement
Name of Product or Company. Advertisement. Title of Publication Date of Issue: Page (Follow pattern for type of publication). Format.
Lufthansa. Advertisement. Time 20 Nov. 2000: 151. Print.
Electronic Media Television or Radio Broadcast
“Title of episode or segment.” Title of program or series. Name of network. Broadcast date. Medium of reception.
“Frederick Douglass.” Civil War Journal. Arts and Entertainment Network. 6 Apr. 1993. Television.
Film
Title. Director. (Insert key info., e.g. Performers, Producer or Screenwriter, here). Distributor, Year of Release. Medium consulted.
Telling the Weather. Dir. Sidney Platt. NGT Inc., 1996. Film.
DVD or Videocassette
Title. Director. (Insert key info., e.g. Performer, Producer or Screenwriter, here). Original Release Year. Distributor, Year of Release. Medium (Video cassette or DVD).
Saving Private Ryan. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Perf. Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Matt Damon and Tom Sizemore. 1998. Dream Works Home Entertainment, 1999. DVD.
Sound Recording
Artist(s). Title of Recording or Works. Manufacturer, year of issue. Format.
U2. All That You Can’t Leave Behind. Interscope, 2000. CD.
E-Mail
Author. “Title of Message (from subject line, if any).” E-mail to author. Day Mo. Year. Medium of delivery.
Jones, Tom. “RE: Opinion Regarding Nuclear Fission.” E-mail to Bob Smith. 25 Sept. 2001. E-mail.
Article in an Electronic Database
Last Name, First Name of Author (if given). “Title of Article.” Title of Encyclopedia, Book, Magazine or Newspaper. Day Mo. Year of publication: Section or Pages in print version. Title of Database. Format. Day Mo. Year of access.
Online Encyclopedia
Petrakis, Peter L. “Zygote.” Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2009. Grolier Online. Web. 19 Nov. 2009.
Online Databases, ex: EBSCO
Yang, Jia Lynn, Nina Easton, and Maha Atal. “Obama & GOOGLE (a love story).” Fortune 11 Nov. 2009: 104-112. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 19 Nov. 2009.
Web Publications
Last Name, First Name of Author (if given). “Title of work.” Title of overall Web site (if different from title of work). Version/edition used. Publisher/sponsor of the site (if not available, use N.p.), Day Mo. Year of publication (if not available, use n.d.). Format. Day Mo. Year of access.
Encyclopedia Article
“Van Gogh, Vincent.” Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2008. Web. 15 May 2008.
Online Newspaper
“The Scientists Speak.” Editorial. New York Times. New York Times, 20 Nov. 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.
Article on Web Site
Liu, Alan, ed. Home page. Voice of the Shuttle. Dept. of English, U of California, Santa Barbara, n.d. Web. 15 May 2008.
Map
“Maplewood, New Jersey.” Map. Google Maps. Google, 15 May 2008. Web. 15 May 2008.
Intext Quotations MLA format follows the author-page method of citation. This means that the author’s last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear in your works-cited list. The author’s name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence.
1. Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (263).
2. Romantic poetry is characterized by the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth 263).
Source: Modern Language Association of America. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: MLA, 2009. Print.