Dixie State College - Val A. Browning Library

Back to Library Help

MLA Style : Reference Sources

Reference sources are books like encyclopedias and dictionaries, which are usually found in the reference section of libraries
Entries from both general and subject encyclopedias, as well dictionaries, have a slightly different format
Entries from encyclopedias both print and online are treated as articles in a modified format
Both general and subject encyclopedias are treated as reference sources
Author's Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. "Title of Entry or

Article." Title of Reference Source. edition. year.

Examples:

Print Encyclopedia Entry with Author

Ring, Arnold A. "Real Estate." Encyclopedia Americana. 1997.

Print Encyclopedia Entry without Author

"The Art of Architecture." Encyclopædia Britannica: Macropædia. 15th ed.

2002.

Print Dictionary Entry

"Home." Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989.

Authors

The first part of a book citation is the author(s), which is the same for all formats of materials. See Authors page for more information
If the author of an article is given, the name is formatted as for all authors
If no author is listed, begin with title of article or entry

Entry Title

The entry is the article or part of the reference work you are using
Entry title is within quotation marks, just as with a periodical article
Entry title is capitalized according to conventions for titles
Editors of reference books are never included

Author. "Title of Entry or Article."
Examples:

With Author

Ring, Arnold A. "Real Estate." Encyclopedia Americana. 1997.

Without Author

"The Art of Architecture." Encyclopædia Britannica: Macropædia. 15th ed.

2002.

Title of Reference Work

The title is the name of the work
Underline the title and subtitle (Italics may be used but underlining is recommended for clarity)
Capitalize title according to conventions: Capitalize all words except A, an, the, of, to, on, at and similar words that are capitalized only if they appear at the the beginning of the title or subtitle
End the title section with a period
Underline does not continue under the period
Author. "Title of Entry or Article." Title of Reference Work.

Examples:

With Author

Ring, Arnold A. "Real Estate." Encyclopedia Americana.

Without Author

"The Art of Architecture." Encyclopædia Britannica

Subtitle

Some reference books have a subtitle that follows the title after a
colon (:)
Capitalize the subtitle the same as a title
Punctuate the title and subtitle as it appears except for the addition of the colon between title and subtitle
Author. ""Title of Entry or Article." Title of Reference Work: Subtitle.

Example: (without author):

"The Art of Architecture." Encyclopædia Britannica: Macropædia.

Edition

Edition information is the same as for books
If there is an edition, it is added after the title and subtitle
Do not list first editions unless there are subsequent editions already in print
The format is: 2nd ed., 3rd ed., etc.

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

of Reference Source. edition.

Example: (without author):

"The Art of Architecture." Encyclopædia Britannica: Macropædia. 15th ed.
Year of Publication

Place of publication and publisher are not included
Year of publication is followed by a period
The citation always ends with a period
Author's Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. "Title of Entry or Article."

Title of Reference Source. edition. year.

Examples:

With Author

Ring, Arnold A. "Real Estate." Encyclopedia Americana. 1997.

Without Author

"The Art of Architecture." Encyclopædia Britannica: Macropædia. 15th ed.

2002.

Online Reference Sources (Subscription)

The basic citation for a reference entry from an online database is the same as a print entry
If the online source is accessed through a subscription, add appropriate access information

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

of Reference Source. edition. year. Name of Database (if

needed). Dixie College Lib., St. George, UT. Day Month Year of

Access. <Database URL>.

Examples:

"Building Construction" Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Dixie State College

Lib., St. George, UT. Dixie State College Lib., St. George, UT. 15

June 2002. <http://www.search.eb.com/>.

"Concrete." Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. EBSCOhost Middle

Search Plus. Dixie State College Lib., St. George, UT. Dixie State

College Lib., St. George, UT. 15 June 2002. <http://www.epnet.

com>.

Name of Database

If the reference work is from a general database, include the name of the database
Author's Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. "Title of Entry or Article."

Name of Reference Source. edition. year. Name of Database (if

needed).

Example:

"Concrete." Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. EBSCOhost Middle

Search Plus. Dixie State College Lib., St. George, UT. Dixie State

College Lib., St. George, UT. 15 June 2002. <http://www.epnet.

com>.

Access Information

The next element is the access information
For all subscription databases, the access information is the Dixie College Library or Browning Library
Subscription databases are those you must be on campus or use the off-campus access to use
Library is always abbreviated "Lib." in MLA citations
The library information is followed by a comma

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

Name of Reference Source. edition. year. Name of Database (if

needed). Dixie College Lib.,

Example:

"Building Construction" Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Dixie State College

Lib., St. George, UT. Dixie State College Lib.,

Place of Access

For all subscription databases, the place of access is St. George, UT
States are abbreviated with the same two letter abbreivations used for book place of publication
The state and city may be omitted if place reference is clear
The place of access ends with a period

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

of Reference Source. edition. year. Name of Database (if

needed). Dixie College Lib., St. George, UT.

Example:

"Building Construction" Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Dixie State College

Lib., St. George, UT. Dixie State College Lib., St. George, UT.

Date of Access

This is the date you accessed the article in the online database
The date is in the usual Day Month Year format
The date ends with a period

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

of Reference Source. edition. year. Name of Database (if

needed). Dixie College Lib., St. George, UT. Day Month Year of

Access.

Example:

"Building Construction" Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Dixie State College

Lib., St. George, UT. Dixie State College Lib., St. George, UT. 15

June 2002.

Brief URL

A brief URL is the final element
A URL is a Uniform Resource Locator, the Internet address of a Web site
The URL is shortened to access only the database, not the article
The brief URL is enclosed in angled brackets ( < > )
The citation ends with a period

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

of Reference Source. edition. year. Name of Database (if

needed). Dixie College Lib., St. George, UT. Day Month Year of

Access. <Database URL>.

Example:

"Building Construction" Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Dixie State College

Lib., St. George, UT. Dixie State College Lib., St. George, UT. 15

June 2002. <http://www.search.eb.com/>.

Online Reference Source (Not Accessed by Subscription)

Freely accessible online reference sources include only the date of access and URL
Date is in standard Day Month Year format
URL us enclosed within angled brackets ( < > )
The citation ends with a period

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

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

<Complete URL>.

Examples:

"Housing (shelter)." Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2002. 15 June 2002.

<http://encarta.msn.com>.

"Building." Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 15 June 2002.

<http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary>.