The system described in this section is recommended by the Modern Language Association (MLA). MLA style is commonly used in English and the humanities. If you are unsure whether to use MLA style, check with your instructor.

MLA style uses in-text citations to identify sources within the text of a research paper and a list of works cited at the end of the paper to document them. For additional examples of in-text citations or works-cited entries, consult the following source:

MLA Handbook, 8th ed. The Modern Language Association of America, 2016.

The first student paper that appears later in this chapter uses MLA style.

Your paper must include in-text citations — either signal phrases (attributions) or parenthetical citations — for all material you paraphrase, summarize, or quote from sources. Many instructors prefer that you use signal phrases rather than only parenthetical citations in most places because signal phrases allow you to put sources in context. (The sections "Using a Signal Phrase" and "Using a Parenthetical Citation" provide more detail on using these types of in-text citations in your research project.)

For either type of citation, use the following rules.

Examples showing in-text citations in MLA style follow.

One author

According to Vance Packard . . . (58).

. . . (Packard 58).

Two authors. Include all authors’ names, in either a signal phrase or a parenthetical citation.

Marquez and Allison assert . . . (74).

. . . (Marquez and Allison 74).

Three or more authors. Include the first author’s last name followed by either a phrase referring to the other authors (in a signal phrase) or et al., Latin for “and others” (in a parenthetical citation).

Hong and colleagues maintain . . . (198).

. . . (Hong et al. 198).

Two or more works by the same author. When citing two or more sources by the same author or group of authors in your paper, include the full or abbreviated title in the citation to indicate the proper work.

FIRST WORK

In For God, Country, and Coca-Cola, Pendergrast describes . . . (96).

Pendergrast describes . . . (For God 96).

. . . (Pendergrast, For God 96).

SECOND WORK

In Uncommon Grounds, Pendergrast maintains . . . (42).

Pendergrast maintains . . . (Uncommon Grounds 42).

. . . (Pendergrast, Uncommon Grounds 42).

Corporate or organizational author. When the author is given as a corporation, an organization, or a government office, reference the organization’s name as the author name.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health . . . (2).

. . . (National Institute of Mental Health 2).

Unknown author. If the author is unknown, use the full title in a signal phrase or a shortened form in parentheses.

According to the article “Medical Mysteries and Surgical Surprises,” . . . (79).

. . . (“Medical Mysteries” 79).

Authors with the same last name. Include the first initial of these authors in all parenthetical citations. Use the complete first name if both authors have the same first initial.

John Dillon proposes . . . (974).

. . . (J. Dillon 974).

Two or more sources in the same citation. When citing two or more sources of one idea in parentheses, separate the citations with a semicolon.

. . . (Breakwater 33; Holden 198).

Entire work. To refer to an entire work, such as a Web page, a film, or a book, it is generally preferable to cite the source within the text rather than in a parenthetical reference; do not include page numbers.

In For God, Country, and Coca-Cola, Pendergrast presents an unauthorized history of Coca-Cola, the soft drink and the company that produces it.

Chapter in an edited book or work in an anthology. An anthology is a collection of writings (articles, stories, poems) by different authors. In the in-text citation, name the author who wrote the work (not the editor of the anthology) and include the page number(s) from the anthology. The corresponding entry in the list of works cited begins with the author’s last name; it also names the editor of the anthology.

IN-TEXT CITATION

According to Ina Ferris . . . (239).

. . . (Ferris 239).

WORKS-CITED ENTRY

Ferris, Ina. “The Irish Novel 1800–1829.” Cambridge Companion to Fiction in the Romantic Period, edited by Richard Maxwell and Katie Trumpener, Cambridge UP, 2008, pp. 235–49.

Multivolume work. When citing two or more volumes of a multivolume work, indicate the volume number, followed by a colon and the page number.

Terman indicates . . . (2: 261).

. . . (Terman 2: 261).

Indirect source. When quoting an indirect source (someone whose ideas came to you through another source, such as a magazine article or book), make this clear by adding, in parentheses, the last name and page number of the source in which the quote or information appeared, preceded by the abbreviation qtd. in.

According to Ephron (qtd. in Thomas 33), . . .

Personal interview, letter, email, conversation. The MLA Handbook does not provide advice for citing a personal interview or correspondence, but it would make sense to name the person in your text.

In an interview with Professor Emilio Lopez, . . .

Literature and poetry. Include information that will help readers locate the material in any edition of the literary work. Include page numbers from the edition you use.

Include complete publication information for the edition you use in the list of works cited.

Internet sources. In general, Internet sources are cited like their printed counterparts. Give enough information in the citation so that readers can locate the source in your list of works cited. If the electronic source provides page numbers, you should provide them too. If the source uses another ordering system, such as paragraphs (par. or pars.), sections (sec.), or screens (screen), provide the abbreviation with the appropriate number.

Brian Beckman argues that “centrifugal force is a fiction” (par. 6).

. . . (Beckman, par. 6).

If the source does not have paragraphs or page numbers, which is often the case, cite the work by author, title of the document or site, or sponsor of the site, whichever begins your entry in the list of works cited.

AUTHOR

Teresa Schmidt discusses . . .

. . . (Schmidt).

TITLE

The “Band of Brothers” section of the History Channel site . . .

. . . (“Band”).

SPONSOR

According to a Web page posted by the Council for Indigenous Arts and Culture, . . .

. . . (Council).

Follow these general guidelines for preparing the list.

The following sections describe how to format works-cited entries for books, periodicals, Internet sources, and other sources.

General guidelines and sample entries for books follow. Include the elements listed below, which you will find on the book’s title page and copyright page. See Figure 24.5 for an example.

Author. Begin with the author’s last name, followed by the first name.

Title. Provide the full title of the book, including the subtitle. It should be capitalized and italicized.

Publisher. Use the full name of the publisher (W. W. Norton or Basic Books). Do not use words or abbreviations such as Company, Ltd., or Inc. Standardize the punctuation, using the word and in place of & (ampersand). For university presses, use the abbreviations U for University and P for Press with no periods.

Date. Use the most recent publication date listed on the book’s copyright page.

If applicable, also include the original publication date, editor, translator, edition, and volumes used; these should be placed immediately after the title of the work.

Book with one author

Rybczynski, Witold. Makeshift Metropolis: Ideas about Cities. Scribner Publishing, 2010.

Book with two or more authors. List the names in the order they appear on the title page of the book, and separate the names with commas. The second author's name is not reversed. For books with three authors, include only the first author’s name followed by et al.

TWO AUTHORS

Botkin, Daniel B., and Diana Pérez. Powering the Future: A Scientist’s Guide to Energy Independence. FT Press, 2010.

THREE OR MORE AUTHORS

Lewin, Benjamin, et al. Lewin’s Genes X. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2011.

Book with no named author. Put the title first and alphabetize the entry by title. (Do not consider the words A, An, or The when alphabetizing.)

The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Abingdon Press, 2006.

Book by a corporation or organization. List the organization or corporation as the author, omitting any initial article (A, An, The). If author and publisher are the same, omit the author and include the publisher following the title.

American Red Cross. First Aid and Safety for Babies and Children. StayWell, 2009.

Government publication. If there is no author, list the government first followed by the department and agency. With an author, list government, department, and agency as the publisher.

United States, Office of Management and Budget. A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing America’s Promise. Government Printing Office, 2009.

Edited book or anthology. List the editor’s name followed by a comma and the word "editor" (or "editors" as shown.)

Szeman, Imre, and Timothy Kaposy, editors. Cultural Theory: An Anthology.Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.

Chapter in an edited book or work in an anthology. List the author and title of the work, followed by the title and editor of the anthology. (Include the words “edited by” before the editor’s name.) Publisher, date, and the pages where the work appears follow.

Riis, Jacob. “How the Other Half Lives.” The Affordable Housing Reader, edited J. R. Tighe, Routledge, 2013, pp. 6-13.

Introduction, preface, foreword, or afterword

Aaron, Hank. Foreword. We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball, by Kadir Nelson, Disney Publishing, 2008, p. vi.

Translated book. After the title, include the phrase “Translated by” followed by the first and last names of the translator.

Kawakami, Hiromi. Manazuru. Translated by Michael Emmerich, Counterpoint Press, 2010.

Two or more works by the same author(s). Use the author’s name for only the first entry. For subsequent entries, use three hyphens followed by a period. List the entries in alphabetical order by title. List works for which the person is the only author before those for which he or she is the first coauthor.

Adams, Ryan. Hellosunshine. Akashic Books, 2009.

---. Infinity Blues. Akashic Books, 2009.

Myers, Walter D. Lockdown. Amistad Press, 2010.

Myers, Walter D., and Christopher Myers. Jazz. Holiday House, 2006.

Edition other than the first. Indicate the number of the edition following the title.

Barker, Ellen M. Neuroscience Nursing. 3rd ed., Mosby-Elsevier, 2008.

Multivolume work. If the reference is to all the volumes in a multivolume work, give the number of volumes at the end of the citation.

Price, Emmett G. Encyclopedia of African American Music. ABC-CLIO, 2011. 3 vols.

One volume of a multivolume work. If the reference is to one volume in a multivolume work, give the volume number before the publisher.

Price, Emmett G. Encyclopedia of African American Music. Vol. 1, ABC-CLIO, 2011. 3 vols.

Encyclopedia or dictionary entry. Note that when citing well-known reference books, you do not need to give the full publication information, just the edition and year.

Robinson, Lisa Clayton. “Harlem Writers Guild.” Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, 2nd ed., Oxford UP, 2005.

If more than one of these rules applies to a source, cite the necessary information in the order given in the preceding examples. For instance, to cite a reading from this textbook, treat it as a work in an anthology in an edition other than the first:

Zaitchik, Alexander. “Alien World: How Treacherous Border Crossing Became a Theme Park.” Successful College Writing: Skills, Strategies, Learning Styles, edited by Kathleen T. McWhorter, 5th ed., Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012, pp. 258-63.

A periodical is a publication that appears at regular intervals: newspapers generally appear daily, magazines weekly or monthly, and scholarly journals quarterly. General guidelines and sample entries for various types of periodical articles follow. Include the elements listed below, most of which you should find on the first page of the article. See Figure 24.6 for an example.

Author. Use the same format for listing authors’ names as for books. If no author is listed, begin the entry with the article title and alphabetize the entry by its title (ignore The, An, or A).

Article title. The title should appear in double quotation marks; a period falls inside the ending quotation mark.

Periodical title. Italicize the title of the periodical, including the word A, An, or The at the beginning: The Journal of the American Medical Association, The New York Times.

Volume/issue and date. For scholarly journals, give the volume and issue numbers and date of publication (often a season and year or just a year): vol. 54, no. 1, Autumn 2012. In all periodicals, list in the following order: day, month, year; abbreviate the names of months except for May, June, and July.

Location. In a print article, the location of the source is indicated by page numbers. When citing an online article, include the DOI (digital object identifier, a permanent code) or URL (permalink preferred). If you obtained an article from a subscription database, include just the URL for the database (for example, go.galegroup.com/ ), not the specific URL for the article, since readers may not have access to the article through the subscription service. If an article begins in one place, such as on pages 19 to 21, and is continued elsewhere, such as on pages 79 to 80, write pp. 19+ for the page numbers (not pp. 19-80). Otherwise, include the first and last page number separated by a hyphen, for instance p. 40 or pp. 39-43.

Article in a magazine

Article in a newspaper

Article in a scholarly journal

Article in a monthly magazine

Killingsworth, Jason. “The Unbearable Lightness of Being Jonsi.” Paste Magazine, May 2010, pp. 49-53.

Article in an edition of a newspaper. If an edition name (National.ed) appears on the newspaper’s first page, include it after the date.

Urbina, Ian. “Gas Wells Recycle Water, but Toxic Risks Persist.” The New York Times, 2 Mar. 2011, late ed., pp. A1+.

Editorial or letter to the editor. Cite the article or letter beginning with the author’s name (if provided), and add the word Editorial or Letter followed by a period after the title. Often editorials are unsigned, and letters to the editor omit titles.

“Hurricane Sandy and the Poor.” The New York Times, 19 Sept. 2013, p. A30. Editorial.

Ginn, Lee. Wired, Dec. 2008, p. 19. Letter.

Book or film review. List the reviewer’s name and title of the review. After the title, add Review of and give the title and author of the book. For a film review, replace by with directed by. Include publication information for the review itself, not for the material reviewed.

Peters, Justin. “Original Sin.” Review of Spam: A Shadow History of the Internet, by Finn Brunton. Columbia Journalism Review, vol. 52, no. 3, 2013, pp. 58-59.

Citations for Internet sources should include enough information to enable readers to locate the sources. When available, include a DOI (digital object identifier — a permanent code). When a DOI is not available, include the URL (preferably a permalink URL), minus http://. (A DOI or permalink URL will not change over time.) If you are accessing a source through a subscription database, include the URL for the site as a whole (go.galegroup.com/), not the URL for the specific article (go.galegroup.com.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/ps/retrieve.do?sort=DA-SORT&docType=Critical+essay&tabID=T003&prodId=AONE&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchType=BasicSearchForm&contentSegment=&currentPosition=1&searchResultsType=SingleTab&inPS=true&userGroupName=cuny_hunter&docId=GALE|A419910559&contentSet=GALE|A419910559), since this URL may not work for nonsubscribers. You may choose to include an access date at the end of the citation if the source is undated or if you think multiple versions of the source may be available, but it is not required.

Citing Internet sources may not be as straightforward as citing print sources because Web sites differ in how much information they provide and where and how they provide it. As a general rule, follow the guidelines for a similar print source and give as many of the following elements as possible, in the order shown:

Author. Include the name of the person if it is available. If the author is an organization or Web site, only include if it is different from the name of the Web site. Otherwise, begin with the title of the source.

Title of the source. Enclose titles of Web pages in quotation marks; italicize the titles of Web sites and other longer works.

Publication information. If the source is found within an online periodical or Web site, list the periodical or Web site (in italics). List the publisher of a Web site if the name of the publisher is substantially different from the name of the Web site. Do not include the name of the publisher for a periodical.

Version. For an article in a periodical, include the volume, issue, and date or season, just as for print. For e-books, include the format (for example, Kindle) as the version of the source. (The version of an e-book appears at the end of the citation; see the model for an e-book.)

Date of publication. Include the date given in the online publication even if it differs from the print publication date.

Location. If the source includes page, paragraph, or section numbers, include them. Include the DOI (digital object identifier — a permanent code) or the URL (preferably a permalink). If you accessed the source through a database, include the database name (in italics) and URL for the database (for example, go.galegroup.com/) not for the article itself, since your readers might not have a subscription to this database. Include an access date if you think the source might appear in versions published at different times or if the source has no publication date (optional).

Entire Web site

Railton, Stephen. Mark Twain in His Times. Stephen Railton / U of Virginia Library, 2012, twain.lib.virginia.edu/.

Transparency International. Transparency International: The Global Coalition against Corruption. 2015, www.transparency.org/.

The Newton Project. U of Sussex, 2016, www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/prism.php?id=1.

Bae, Rebecca. Home page. Iowa State U, 2015, www.engl.iastate.edu/rebecca-bae-directory-page/.

Document on a Web site

Gallagher, Sean. “The Last Nomads of the Tibetan Plateau.” Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, 25 Oct. 2012, pulitzercenter.org/reporting/china-glaciers-global-warming-climate-change-ecosystem-tibetan-plateau-grasslands-nomads.

“Social and Historical Context: Vitality.” Arapesh Grammar and Digital Language Archive Project, Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, www.arapesh.org/ socio_historical_context_vitality.php. Accessed 22 Mar. 2016.

Article in an online newspaper or magazine

Article in an online newspaper or magazine

Leonard, Andrew. “The Surveillance State High School.” Salon, 27 Nov. 2012, www.salon.com/2012/11/27/the_ surveillance_state_high_school/.

Article from an online journal

Bryson, Devin. “The Rise of a New Senegalese Cultural Philosophy?” African Studies Quarterly, vol. 14, no. 3, Mar. 2014, pp. 33-56, asq.africa.ufl.edu/files/Volume-14-Issue-3-Bryson.pdf.

Article from an online library database

Coles, Kimberly Anne. “The Matter of Belief in John Donne’s Holy Sonnets.” Renaissance Quarterly, vol. 68, no. 3, Fall 2015, pp. 899-931. JSTOR, doi:10.1086/683855.

E-book

Larsson, Steig. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Alfred A. Knopf, 2008. Kindle.

Online government document

United States, Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Child Nutrition Programs. Eligibility Manual for School Meals: Determining and Verifying Eligibility. National School Lunch Program, July 2015, www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/cn/SP40_CACFP18_ SFSP20-2015a1.pdf.

Online book. Include the author’s name; title (italicized); the name of any other contributors, such as the editor, translator, or compiler; original publication information (if available); the name of the Web site on which the online book appears; and the URL.

Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. Estes, 1881. Google Books, play.google.com/store/books/details?id=fhUXAAAAYAAJ&rdid=book-fhUXAAAAYAAJ&rdot=1.

Posting to an online discussion list or newsgroup. For a discussion group, include the author’s name or handle (if both are available, include the handle with the name in parentheses), the title or subject line enclosed in quotation marks, the name of the Web site on which the group is found, the sponsor of the site (if different from the name of the Web site), the date of posting, and the URL. If possible, cite an archived version. If the posting has no title, label it Online posting.

Yen, Jessica. “Quotations within Parentheses (Study Measures).” Copyediting-L, 18 Mar. 2016, list. indiana.edu/sympa/arc/copyediting-l/2016-03/msg00492.html.

Twitter post (tweet). Include the name or handle (if you know both, include the name in parentheses after the handle); the whole post; any hashtags; the site name, date, and time; and URL.

@grammarphobia (Patricia T. O’Conner and Steward Kellerman). “Is ‘if you will,’ like, a verbal tic? http://goo.gl/oYrTYP #English #language #grammar #etymology #usage #linguistics #WOTD.” Twitter, 14 Mar. 2016, 9:12 a.m., twitter.com/grammarphobia.

Film, video, or DVD Begin with the title, followed by the director and key performer(s), unless you are focusing on the work of the director or another contributor in which case, list that person in the author position. Include the name of the production company and the release date. For supplementary material on a DVD, include the title of that information, along with the information for the movie; at the end of the citation include the disc number if there was more than one disc. If you watched the video online, include the URL.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, performances by Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, and Naomi Watts, Fox Searchlight, 2014.

Scott, Ridley, director. The Martian. Performances by Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, and Kate Mara, Twentieth Century Fox, 2015.

“Sweeney’s London.” Produced by Eric Young. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, directed by Tim Burton, DreamWorks, 2007, disc 2.

Lewis, Paul. “Citizen Journalism.” YouTube, 14 May 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=9APO9_yNbcg.

Television or radio program. Unless you are focusing on the work of a contributor (the director, screenwriter, or actor), list the title of the episode, if any (in quotation marks), and the title of the program (italicized) first. Then give key names (narrator, producer, director, actors) as necessary. Identify the network and include the broadcast date. If you watched or listened to the program online, include the URL.

“Free Speech on College Campuses.” Washington Journal, narrated by Peter Slen, C-SPAN, 27 Nov. 2015.

“The Cathedral.” Reply All, narrated by Sruthi Pinnamaneni, episode 50, Gimlet Media, 7 Jan. 2016, gimletmedia.com/episode/50-the-cathedral/.

Music recording. Begin with a contributor or title of the work, depending on the focus of your research project. Include the composer or performer and the title of the recording or composition as well as the production company, and the date. Titles of recordings should be italicized, but titles of compositions identified by form (for example, Symphony No. 5) should not.

Blige, Mary J. “Don’t Mind.” Life II: The Journey Continues (Act 1), Geffen, 2011.

Bizet, Georges. Carmen. Performances by Jennifer Larmore, Thomas Moser, Angela Gheorghiu, and Samuel Ramey, Bavarian State Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli, Warner, 1996.