Citing Your Sources
Lesson 6

MLA Citation Style

The Modern Language Association (MLA) citation system was first developed in 1951 for use by researchers, and was published as the MLA Style Sheet. In 1977 the MLA Style Sheet was expanded for use by students and renamed the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. The MLA Handbook is updated periodically to take new formats into consideration. The advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web has provided a new challenge to citation systems. To get the most current information regarding MLA citation style for the Internet, see the Official MLA Electronic Style Guide.

The MLA citation style uses a combination of parenthetical citations in the text of the document and a list of works cited located at the end of the document. The parenthetical citations are placed at the end of a quotation and refer the reader to the list of works cited for a more complete citation.

Citing sources with MLA

The most authoritative source for MLA citation guidelines is the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers which can be purchased at most bookstores. The MLA Handbook is also available in the reference area of most college libraries.

As we said before, the MLA citation style requires parenthetical citations in the text of the document, and a list of works cited. For the parenthetical citation it is usually enough to list the author's last name and the page from which the quote is taken. Here is an example:

Medieval Europe was a place both of "raids, pillages, slavery, and extortion" and of "traveling merchants, monetary exchange, towns if not cities, and active markets in grain" (Townsend 10).

Townsend is the author of the book from which the quote was taken. The quote came from page 10 of the book. If your reader turned to your list of works cited she/he would find the complete citation for the book:

Townsend, Robert M. The Medieval Village Economy. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1993.

Below are a few examples of how to use MLA citation style to cite resources. For a complete list consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers

Book with single author

Parenthetical Citation

(Author's last name [space] Page number)

List of Works Cited

Basic Format
Author's Last Name [space] Author's First Name. Title of Work. Place of Publication: Publisher, Date of Publication.

Sample Citation
Quaratiello, Arlene Rodda. The College Student's Research Companion. New York: Neal Schuman Publishers, 1997.

Encyclopedia article

Parenthetical Citation

(Author's last name [space] Page number)

List of Works Cited

Basic Format
Author of Article [last name first]. "Title of Article." Title of Encyclopedia. Edition. Date of Publication.

Sample Citation
Bedau, Hugo Adam. "Civil Disobedience." Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics. 1998. (No edition is listed in this example because the encyclopedia is a first edition).

Magazine Article

Parenthetical Citation

(Author's last name [space] Page number)

List of Works Cited

Basic Format
Author's Last Name [space] Author's First Name. "Title of Magazine Article." Title of Magazine. Date of Publication: Page Numbers of Article.

Sample Citation
Krimmerman, Len. "Worker Ownership's Uncertain Future: Lessons From Two Decades of Trials." Dollars and Sense: What's Left in Economics. Sept./Oct. 1998: 28-32.

Scholarly Journal Article

Parenthetical Citation

(Author's last name [space] Page number)

List of Works Cited

Basic Format
Author's Last Name [space] Author's First Name. "Title of Journal Article." Title of Journal Volume Number. Issue Number (Date of Publication) : Page Numbers of Article.

Sample Citation
Whitney, Elspeth. "The Witch 'She' / The Historian 'He': Gender and the Historiography of the European Witch-Hunts." Journal of Women's History 7.3 (1995) : 77-101.

Newspaper Article

Parenthetical Citation

(Author's last name [space] Page number)

List of Works Cited

Basic Format
Author's Last Name [space] Author's First Name. "Title of Newspaper Article." Title of Newspaper. Date of Publication, Edition, Section and Page Number(s) of Article.

Sample Citation
Feder, Barnaby J. "For Job Seekers, A Toll-Free Gift of Expert Advice." New York Times 30 Dec. 1993, late ed.: D1+.

Web Page

Web pages are more difficult to cite because they do not contain pagination; authors may not be listed; and it may not be clear who is the publisher or upon what date the page was published. When citing a web page you should try and get as much traditional citation information as possible. In addition to the traditional citation information you will need to include the web page address (URL).

Parenthetical Citation

(Author's last name if given; if there is no author, use title of the web page; if there is no title use the name of the organization producing the web page)

List of Works Cited

Basic Format
Author's Last Name [space] Author's First Name. "Title of Web Page." Title of the Complete Web Site if Applicable. Date of Publication, or Last Revision. <Web Page Address (URL)> (Date on which you visited the web site)

Sample Citation
Eland, Thomas W. "Information Literacy Tutorial." Minneapolis Community and Technical College Library. 1999. <http://www.minneapolis.edu/acad/library/tutorials/infolit/home.htm> (Sept. 2, 1998).

Remember, full-text magazine and journal articles from online databases accessed via the World Wide Web are not web pages. There is a specific way to cite online full-text articles using MLA. Consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers for instructions.

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