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MLA Style Citations : Basic

	Author (for all types of materials)
	Editor (for books)
	Book (not an encyclopedia or dictionary)
	Newspaper Article (print)
	Newspaper Article from a Database
	Magazine Article (print)
	Magazine Article from a Database
	Journal Article (print)
	Journal Article from a Database
	Reference Source (print or online encyclopedia or dictionary)
	Internet Site
	Chapter or Article in an Edited Book
	Interview
	Videorecording
Parenthetical Citations : A guide on citing quotes, paraphrases, and summaries within the text of your paper
Shortened URLS for Databases : A list of shortened Internet addresses for popular library databases



• All citations should be double spaced
• Indent after the first line
• Entries are not numbered
• Alphabetize by the first word of the entry
• If no author is listed, begin with title
• Underlining or italics may be used for titles, check with your instructor for his/her preference. If italics are used, the font must be obviously different from the standard print
• Dates are in Day Month Year format (e.g. 12 Dec. 1992) with all months abbreviated to three letters followed by a period (Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sep., Oct., Nov., Dec.) except May, June, and July, which are left as is
• A rubric for distinguishing a journal article from a magazine article is located at Academic Journal or Popular Magazine?
• All citations end with a period

• Authors are the same for all types of materials

  One Author:

Author's Last Name, First Name Middle Initial [if given].

Two Authors:

Author #1 as above, and Author #2 First Name Middle Initial Last Name.

Three Authors:

Author #1 as above, Author #2 as above, and Author #3 First Name Middle

Initial Last Name.

More Than Three Authors:

• List the first author and the Latin abbreviation et al which means and others

Author #1 as above, et al.

Corporate or Organizational Entity as Author:

Name of company or agency.

No Author Listed:

• Common in newspaper articles and Web sites
• Omit the author and go directly to the title

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• This only applies to editors of books -- not to editors of periodicals or reference sources, which are not used
• Everything remains the same except follow the author's name with a comma and ed.

  One Editor:

Editor's Last Name, First Name Middle Initial, ed.

Two Editors:

Editor #1 as above, and Editor #2 First Name Middle Initial Last Name, eds.

Three Editors

Editor #1 as above, Editor #2 as above, and Editor #3 First Name Middle

Initial Last Name, eds.

More Than Three Editors:

Editor #1 as above, et al.

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Author's Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book.

edition. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year.

Newspaper article with no edition or section:

Author. "Article Title." Newspaper Title Date of Publication: Pages.

Newspaper article with an edition:

Author. "Article Title." Newspaper Title Date of Publication, ed.: Pages.

Newspaper article with a section:

Author. "Article Title." Newspaper Title Date of Publication, sec.: Pages.

Newspaper article with an edition and section:

Author. "Article Title." Newspaper Title Date of Publication, ed., sec.: Pages.

Newspaper Article from Database

• The following information must be added after a basic newspaper article citation:
  • Name of database (EBSCOhost is NOT a database -- you must use the actual name such as Academic Search Elite, etc.)
  • Place of access
  • The date you accessed the article (in Day Month Year format)
  • The main or shortened URL for the database
    • List of database URLs

Author's Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. "Title of Article." Newspaper

Title Day Month Year, edition: section: Pages. Name of Database.

Dixie College Lib. Day Month Year you Accessed the article. <Main

URL for database>.

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• A rubric for distinguishing a journal article from a magazine article is located at Academic Journal or Popular Magazine?

Author's Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. "Title of Article." Name of

Magazine Day Month Year: Pages.

Magazine Article from Database

• The following information must be added after a basic journal article citation:
  • Name of database (EBSCOhost is NOT a database -- you must use the actual name such as Academic Search Elite, etc.)
  • Place of access
  • The date you accessed the article (in Day Month Year format)
  • The main or shortened URL for the database
    • List of database URLs

Author's Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. "Title of Article." Magazine

Title Day Month Year: Pages. Name of Database. Dixie College Lib.

Day Month Year you accessed the article. <Main URL for

database>.

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• A rubric for distinguishing a journal article from a magazine article is located at Academic Journal or Popular Magazine?

Author's Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. "Title of Article." Journal

Title Volume.Issue (Year): Pages.

Journal Article from Database

• The following information must be added after a basic journal article citation:
  • Name of database (EBSCOhost is NOT a database -- you must use the actual name such as Academic Search Elite, etc.)
  • Place of access
  • The date you accessed the article (in Day Month Year format)
  • The main or shortened URL for the database
    • List of database URLs

Author's Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. "Title of Article." Journal

Title Volume.Issue (Year): Pages. Name of Database. Dixie College

Lib. Day Month Year you accessed the article. <Main URL for

database>.

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• Use only the author of the entry, if given. Do not use the editor of the encyclopedia

  Reference Book Entry (Print):

Author's Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. "Title of Entry." Name of

Reference Source. edition. year.

Subscription Online Reference Source:

Author's Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. "Title of Entry." Title of

Reference Source. edition. year. Dixie College Lib., Day Month

Year of Access. <Database URL>.

Online Reference Source Not Accessed by Subscription:

Author's Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. "Title of Entry." Name of

Reference Source. edition. year. Day Month Year of Access.

<Database URL>.

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• Often, all the requested information cannot be located. The three items that must be present in a citation for a Website are:
  • Title of page
  • Date accessed
  • Complete URL (Internet address)

Author's Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. "Title of Article." Name of

Website. Name of organizational sponsor (not advertising

sponsor). Date published or updated. Day Month Year of Access.

<Complete URL>.

• For articles written by different authors within an edited book
• List author and title of article first, then book information
• For a book with one editor, use Ed., more than one editor, use Eds.
• Do not invert editor's name
• Follow publication information with the beginning and ending pages of the article (e.g. 223-54.)

Author's Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. "Title of Chapter." Title of Book.

Eds. Editor #1 First Name Last Name, and Editor #2 First Name Last

Name. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. Pages.

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• If you used information from someone you personally interviewed, use this style of citation
• For other types of interviews, (television, print, radio, etc.), see the MLA Style Manual

Last Name of Person Interviewed, First Name of Person Interviewed.

Type of Interview (Personal Interview, Telephone Interview, etc.).

Day Month Year of Interview.

• After the title of the film, list the director's name after the abbreviation Dir.
• The distributor is listed next (United Artists, RKO, Sony, etc.)

Title of Film. Dir. First Name Last Name. Distributor, Year of Release.

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Link to MLA Style : Parenthetical (In-text) Citations

PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS BASIC GUIDE

For situations not covered by these examples,
see the MLA Style Manual at the library Reference Desk.

Back to MLA Style