3

MLA Citations (based on 9th edition, published in 2020)

Author Names
  • Invert the first name so the last name comes first followed by a comma and the first and middle names.
  • Use initials only if you don’t have the full name.
  • Retain the order of the authors’ names from the title page.
  • If three or more authors, put the first author followed by a comma “et al.”  
  • End the author statement with a period.
  • When the author is any type of organization (government, non-profit, commercial, etc.), provide the organization name where the author’s name would be. Capitalize all the main words of the organization name.
  • No Author?  Begin the citation with the title of the article, book or website, followed by the publication name or publisher.

Single Author: Anderson, John Paul.

Two Authors:   Jones, Charles Andrew and Pamela Susan Smith.

Three or More Authors: Brown, Dee, et al.

Group Authors: National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute.

Book Citations

Author, First Middle. Title of Book: Subtitle. Publisher, Publication Year.

Author, First Middle. “Title of Essay, Poem, Short Story or Chapter.” Title of Book: Subtitle, edited by Editor’s Name, Publisher, Publication Year, Pages.

Author, First Middle. Title of Book: Subtitle. Publisher, Publication Year. EBook Container, DOI or URL.

  • Put title in italics and capitalize all main words of the title. If there is a subtitle, put a colon after the title. End the title statement with a period.
  • Put the publisher name as from the title page.
  • Use the year from the verso of the title page. If no year is provided, use “n.d.”
  • Use page numbers only if a specific section of a title is used, such as a chapter, short story, poem, etc.
  • If title has a DOI, begin DOI with  https://doi.org.; include a URL only if there is no DOI. Do not include http: // or https:// for the URL. If a permalink is available use that URL. Put a period after the DOI/URL.
Article Citations
  • If accessed via the Internet, provide the DOI if available beginning with https://doi.org.; provide the permalink URL if no DOI; do not include http: // or https:// in the URL.  
  • If the periodical is issued seasonally, include the season of the issue in lower case before the year.
  • If no volume and/or issue number is available, provide the date in this format: day month year, then pages.
  • If the full-text article is accessed through a database, provide the database name.
  • Include the edition only if there is more than one edition on a regular basis, such as morning and late edition.
Journal or Magazine Article

Author(s). “Title of Article: Subtitle of Article.” Title of Journal, vol. #, no. #, pp. #-#, season year. Database, DOI or URL

Newspaper Article

Author(s). “Title of Article: Subtitle of Article.” Title of Newspaper (Edition), day month year, pages. Database, DOI or URL.

Websites
  • If a website is for electronic access to material otherwise published, use the citation format for the original publication format, and add the DOI and date accessed. If the source is only a website, use the following format.

Author(s). Name of Website. Name of Institution/Organization website sponsor, date of creation, DOI, URL permalink or URL.

 

Article/Section of Website

Author(s). “Section of Website.” Name of Website. Name of Institution/Organization website sponsor, date of creation, DOI, URL permalink or URL.

Reference Samples in MLA Format

Journal Article

Jones, Cheryl Jean. “Research in College: What Do Students Do?” College Readiness, Vol. 42, no. 5, 1970, pp. 72-86.  doi:10.1345.cr.1970.899

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Magazine Article

Smith, Martha. Diane. “Johnny is in College?”  Redbook, 18 Sept. 1989, pp. 42-43.

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Book

Arnold, James. Andrew. Retaining What You Read.  Caxton Press, 2009.

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Book Chapter

Miller, Ruby A. “Living the American dream.”  Prepare for the working world (3rd. ed.), edited by Roger E. Sanborn. Thompson Publishers, 2002, pp. 376-389.

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.gov websites

Cook, Scott. Idaho Standards for Learning Challenge: Take the Challenge. Idaho State Dept. of Education. 10 Oct. 2015, www.sde.idaho.gov.

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.com websites

Ramseth, Luke. “No New Taxes in Proposed Bonneville County Budget.” Post Register. 21 Aug. 2015, www.postregister.com/.

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.org websites

Jensen, Mike. “Our Partner Agencies.” United Way. United Way, 21 Aug. 2015, unitedwayif.org/.

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.edu websites

Jolley, Charlene.  Chemistry for Everyone. Idaho State Univ., 21 Aug. 2015, www.isu.edu/.

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License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Bridging the Gap: A Guide to College-Level Research Copyright © 2021 by Catherine J Gray is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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