MLA Citation Guide
Why Cite? Whether you’re taking information from a book, article or website, the purpose of citing the
source is:
to credit the author and publisher of the information you are using
to show that your work has a factual basis
to provide a bibliography so that others can locate the references you used
to avoid plagiarizing - using someone else’s words or ideas without citing them
Below are some examples of how to cite your sources. For more examples, see the MLA Handbook (8th edition)
on reserve at the library’s Information Desk, LB 2369 .M52 2016. For in-text format, see pages 116-127.
Books, Book Chapters & eBooks
General reference form:
Author, Firstname. Title of work. Publisher, year.
Author, Firstname, & Firstname Author. “Title of chapter or entry.” Title of
book, edited by Firstname Editor, Publisher, year.
Tips:
For more than 3 authors, use the “last name, first name” of 1
st
author followed by a
comma and et al.
If the author and publisher are the same, start entry with title and only use the organization as the
publisher.
If an eBook, follow year with a comma, then insert address, omitting http://.
Place info about editions, volume numbers, etc. after title, and follow with a comma.
If you have a URL or web address, follow year with a comma, then insert address, omitting http://.
Burns, Lori. Disruptive divas: Feminism, identity & popular music. Routledge, 2002.
Herrmann, Anne. Coming Out Swiss: In Search of Heidi, Chocolate, and My Other Life. University
of Wisconsin Press, 2014,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=713938&site=ehost-live.
Beckett, Stephen T. “Experiments with Chocolate and Chocolate Products.” The Science of
Chocolate, 2
nd
ed., edited by Stephen T. Beckett, 2008,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=496665&site=ehost-live.
Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 5th ed., American Psychiatric Association,
2013.
Works Cited
MUST be Double-
Spaced! Entries
should have a
Hanging Indent
and be arranged
alphabetically!
Magazine, Journal, Newspaper & Newsletter Articles
General reference form:
Author, Firstname, & Firstname Author. “Title of article.” Title of periodical, vol. #, no. #, date,
pp. ##-##.
Author, Firstname, & Firstname Author. “Title of article.” Title of periodical, vol. #, no. #, date,
pp. ##-##. Name of database, doi:xxx.xxx.xxx.
Tips:
For articles in journals assigned a DOI, use it instead of the URL.
If no DOI is assigned to the article and you retrieved it online, include the home page URL from the
journal, newsletter, or magazine in the reference. Omit the http://.
If a newspaper article is not printed on consecutive pages, include only the 1
st
page and a +.
Aschwanden, Christie, et al. “Chocolate: A Learned Lust.” Health (Time Inc. Health), vol. 13, no.
3, Apr. 1999, p. 26. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=1705471&site=ehost-live.
Dalley, Simon & Abraham Buunk. “The Motivation to Diet in Young Women: Fear is Stronger than
Hope.” European Journal of Social Psychology, vol. 41, no. 5, 2011, pp. 672–680. Wiley
Online Library, doi:10.1002/ejsp.816.
Einstein, D. M., et al. “On Sara's Dove Bar Habit.” The American Mathematical Monthly, vol. 116,
no. 9, 2009, pp. 831-835. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40391301.
Yoon, Carol. “Chocolate Lovers are Made, Not Born, Science Learns.” New York Times, 26 Jan.
1999, pp. F5, www.nytimes.com/1999/01/26/science/chocolate-lovers-are-made-not-
born-science-learns.html.
Webpages & Websites
General form:
Author, Firstname. Title of website, date, URL.
Author, Firstname. “Title of posting.” Title of website, date, URL.
Tips:
If there is no author, the title moves to the author position.
If the item has no online publication date or is constantly changing, use the date accessed instead.
Masnick, Mike. “Devin Nunes Demands Satirical Internet Cow Stop Making Fun of Him... or Else.”
Tech Dirt, 6 Nov. 2019, www.techdirt.com/articles/20191105/17362043335/devin-nunes-
demands-satirical-internet-cow-stop-making-fun-him-else.shtml. Accessed 11 Nov. 2019.
