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Works Cited / Bibliographic Format for References (2009)
MLA Style Guide
(based on the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th ed., 2009)
In MLA (Modern Language Association) style, sources are acknowledged by short parenthetical citations in the text instead of numbered footnotes. The parenthetical citation includes just enough information to point the reader to the complete information about the source in the Works Cited list. The parenthetical usually includes the author's last name (use the first one or two main words from the title if an anonymous work), and the page number cited. Leave the author's name out of the parenthetical if it is clearly stated in your sentence. When your Works Cited list includes more than one work by an author, the parenthetical should include part of the title, i.e., (Hudson, West Nile 125). If the entire work is being acknowledged, or there is no page or paragraph number (as in the case of online works), incorporate the author's name into the sentence instead of using a parenthetical.
Fiction or Nonfiction books
Type of Entry |
Bibliography / Works Cited List |
Citation in Text |
|
1. Book – one author |
- Last Name, First Name. Book Title. Place of Publication:
- Publisher, copyright date. Print.
- Smith, Joan. Famous Women. Chicago: Wilson and Company,
- 1992. Print.
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(Smith 170)
Smith has argued…(170)
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2.
Book – more than one author |
- Last, First, First and Last, and First and Last. Book Title. Place of
- Publication: Publisher,
copyright date. Print.
- Jones, Richard, Carl Smith, and John Dow. Running Wild. New
- York: Random House, 1995. Print.
|
(Jones, Smith, and Dow 9) |
3.
Essays, poems, short stories in an anthology
(collection of works/articles) |
- Original author of work.
“Title of Work.” Title of Book. Editor of book.
- Place of Publication: Publisher, Copyright date. Pages article is found. Print.
- Peploe, James. “Poe’s Ultimate Downfall.” Gothic Tales. Ed.
- John Smith. New York: McGraw Hill, 1998. 39-52. Print.
|
(Poe 45)
Poe’s main character, Roderick Usher, mentions “phantasmagoric conceptions” (Peploe 45)... |
|
4.
Book – author with an editor |
- Last, First. Book Title. Editor. Place of Publication: Publisher, copyright
- date. Print.
- Dickinson, Emily. Great Poems of Emily Dickinson. Ed.
;Henry
- Smith. Boston: Houghton, 1974. Print.
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(Dickinson 25) |
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5.
Book – edited |
- Title. Editor. Place of Publication: Publisher, copyright date.Print.
- Medieval Civilization
. Smith, Sue and Mary Jones, eds. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972. Print.
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(Medieval 175) |
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6.
Bible |
- Title of Bible
. Place of Publication: Publisher, copyright date.Print.
- Holy Bible King James Version
. New York: Catholic Review, 1969. Print.
|
First reference
(King James Version, Gen. 3.15)
Subsequent references
(2 Cor. 5.17) |
Reference books
Type of Entry |
Bibliography / Works Cited List |
Citation in Text |
|
7.
Article – unsigned in a reference book (most are multi-volume sets) |
Look to see if an author is scripted before or after the subject article. If no author is to be found:
- “Article/Heading title.”
- Reference book title
. Editor. Volume. Place of publication: Publisher, copyright date. Print.
- “Vietnam.” The Sixties in America.
- Ed. Owen Edwards. Vol. 1. New York: Salem Press, 1999. Print.
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(“Vietnam” 192)
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8.
Article – signed in a reference book (most are multi-volume sets) |
If an author is scripted before or after the subject article:
- Author last name, first name. “Article/Heading title.”
- Reference book title
. Editor. Volume. Place of publication: Publisher, copyright date. Print.
- Luft, Herbert. “Berlin Wall.” The Sixties in America.
- Ed. Rachel Wellek. Vol. 6. New York: Salem Press, 1999. Print.
|
(Luft 5807) |
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9.
Dictionary |
- “Word.” Title of Dictionary. Edition. Copyright date. Print.
- “Verisimilitude.” Webster’s Dictionary. 14th ed. 1996.
- Print.
|
(“Verisimilitude”)
no page number is necessary because entries are arranged alphabetically |
10.
Reprinted article
Decide format for original article. Is it a signed reference article, a journal article, a news article, etc.? Then use the corresponding format. Everything after the “Rpt in” Should follow the example |
- Author Last Name, First Name. “Title of Original Article.”
- Title of Original Book Volume (Year): Pages. Rpt. In Title of Reference Book. Editor’s Name. Volume. Place of Publication: Publisher, copyright date. Pages. Print.
- Roberts, Shelia. “The Bell Jar: Plath’s Confined
- World.” World Literature Review 24 (1984): 232-38. Rpt. In Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Dennis Poupard. Vol. 25. Detroit: Gale, 1988. 399-402. Print.
|
(Roberts 400) |
Periodicals
Type of Entry |
Bibliography / Works Cited List |
Citation in Text |
|
11.
Journal article
(regardless of type of pagination) |
- Last, First. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal Volume
- number. Issue (Year): page numbers. Print.
- Carter, John. “Motors in Our World.” Science News 51
- (1984): 499-506. Print.
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(Carter 500) |
|
12.
Magazine article (signed) |
- Last, First. “Title of Article.” Title of Magazine day month
- year: page numbers. Print.
- Pikar, Avil. “Why Homework Can Hurt.” Newsweek 23
- Dec. 1991: 70-71. Print.
|
(Pikar 70) |
|
13.
Newspaper article (unsigned) |
- “Title of Article.” Title of Newspaper day month year: page.
- Print.
[If the newspaper is a certain edition, morning or late, etc., add a comma after the date and place the edition. Follow the edition, or the date if there is no edition, with a colon and the page number(s)]
- “Give Baltimore More Hope.” The Baltimore Sun. 18
- Dec. 1994: G6. Print.
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(“Give” G6) |
Miscellaneous
Type of Entry |
Bibliography / Works Cited List |
Citation in Text |
|
14.
Interview |
- Wiesel, Elie. Interview with Ted Koppel. Nightline.
- ABC. WABC, New York. 18 Apr. 2002. DVD.
- Ekey, William. Personal Interview. 12 January 2007.
|
Mention in your text
According to Mr. Ekey… |
|
15.
Cartoon |
- Trudeau, Garry. "Doonesbury." Comic Strip. The
- Baltimore Sun
4 May 2002: 26. Print.
|
Mention in your text
Trudeau’s humor in “Doonesbury”… |
|
16.
Map (non-digital) |
- Michigan
. Map. Chicago: Rand, 2000. Print.
|
Mention in your text
Michigan shows Brown Lake…” |
|
17.
Art work
(painting, photograph, sculpture, etc.) |
Original
Bearden, Romare. The Train. Carole and Alex Rosenberg Collection, New York.
Photograph of work (indicate complete pub. info for the source in which photo appears, including page)
- El Greco. Burial of Count Orgaz. San Tomé, Toledo.
- Resaissance Perspectives in Literature and Visual Arts. By Murray Roston. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1987. 192. Print.
|
Mention in your text
- The mystery of Bearden’s The Train…
|
|
18.
Film or video |
- Title of film. Screenplay writer. Director. Main actors.
- Distributed by, year released.
- Jaws. Screenplay by Peter Benchley. Dir. Steven
- Spielberg. Perf. Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss. Universal Pictures, 1975. Film.
|
Mention in your text
The horror in Jaws… |
Digital Sources
Check online databases and other web services for “How to Cite” or Bibliography links. These links give you the actual citation or up to date steps and examples for MLA and APA formats.
Type of Entry |
Bibliography / Works Cited List |
Citation in Text
(no page numbers used for digital sources) |
19.
Article from an online database
When citing an online source, include the pub’tn date (1999) and the date you visited the site (25 Feb. 2004). |
Follow guidelines given to you by the database |
Mention in your text:
Plath wrote...(“Sylvia”)
According to Frick... |
|
20.
Newspaper article from online database
When citing an online source, include pub. date (5 June 1998) and date you visited the site (25 Sept. 2003). |
Follow guidelines given to you by the database |
Mention in your text:
Fletcher reports... |
|
21.
Article/Work from a Web site
|
- Author/editor. "Title of Article." Web Site. last updated
- copyright. Publisher or sponsor or the site or N.p. if none given. Date of publication or n.d. if none given. Type/medium of publication (Web). Date of access (day, month, and year).
- Baish, Vanessa. "Self-Image." Teen Health and
- Wellness: Real Life, Real Answers
. 2007. Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2007.
|
Mention in your text:
Baish states...
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22.
Entire Web site
When citing an online source, include the pub. date (2003) and the date you visited the site (25 Sept. 2003). |
- Electronic Poetry Center
. 2003. State University of
New York Buffalo. 25 Sept. 2003 <http://epc.buffalo.edu>. |
Mention in your text:
The Electronic Poetry Center archives... |
|
23.
CD-Rom
|
- Author’s Last, First. “Title of Article.” CD-ROM Source.
- Publisher of CD-ROM Source: Place of publication, Copyright date. CD-ROM.
- Aristotle. The Complete Works of Aristotle: The
- Revised Oxford Translation.
Ed. Jonathan Barnes. 2 vols. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1984. CD-ROM.
|
Mention in your text:
Aristotle wrote… |
|
24.
Online government document |
- Agency. Title of Source. Date of pub.(day, month, year).
- Medium of source. Date of access (day, month, year).
- Center for Disease Control. Fighting AIDS. 1984.
- Web. 15 December 1998.
|
Mention in your text:
According to the Center for Disease Control ... |
25.
Online graphics |
- “Title of graphic.” Graphic type. Copyright holder. Name of
- site providing graphic. Date of access (day, month, year)
“Afganistan.” Map. Magellan Geographix. SIRS Knowledge Source. Web. 25 Feb. 2004. |
Mention in your text:
- “Afganistan” shows that the country’s population…
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SAMPLE WORKS CITED PAGE
- Alvarez, Claire. "Inside Investigative Reporting: Nellie Bly’s Madhouse Memoir.” Newsweek. 25 Nov. 1999: 42-56.
- Print.
- American Experience: Around the World in 72 Days. 1999. PBS Online. Web. 10 October 2006.
- Elbert, Monica M. “1850-1910.” Women Who Changed America. Ed. Robert Davis. Philadelphia: Chelsea House,
- 2004. 181-202. Print.
- Kroeger, Brooke. Nellie Bly. New York: Random House, 1994. Print.
- "Nellie Bly." Great Lives from History. Ed. Larissa Juliet Taylor. Vol. 1. California: Salem Press, 2006. Print.
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