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 for Writers of Research Papers, 7th ed. New York: MLA, 2009. Print.

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

Marquez and Allison assert . . . (74).

. . . (Marquez and Allison 74).

Four or more authors. You may use all of the authors’ last names or 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). Whichever option you choose, apply it consistently within your paper.

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 42).

. . . (Pendergrast, Uncommon 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. Use abbreviations such as Natl. and Cong. in parenthetical references.

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

. . . (Natl. 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, use the author’s name, preferably within the text rather than in a parenthetical reference; do not include page numbers. The title is optional.

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. Ed. Richard Maxwell and Katie Trumpener. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2008. 235–49. Print.

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. Give the name of 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.

Place of publication. Do not abbreviate city names (use Los Angeles, not LA). It is not necessary to include an abbreviation for the state or country.

Publisher. Use a shortened form of the publisher’s name; usually one word is sufficient (Houghton Mifflin is listed as Houghton). 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.

Medium. For printed books, the medium of publication is Print. For e-books, use the file format (Kindle e-book, PDF e-book).

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. New York: Scribner, 2010. Print.

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 and subsequent authors’ names are not reversed. For books with four or more authors, you can either list all names or only the first author’s name followed by et al.

TWO OR THREE AUTHORS

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

FOUR OR MORE AUTHORS

Lewin, Benjamin, Jocelyn E. Krebs, Stephen T. Kilpatrick, Elliott S. Goldstein, and Benjamin Lewin. Lewin’s Genes X. Sudbury: Jones, 2011. Print.

Lewin, Benjamin, et al. Lewin’s Genes X. Sudbury: Jones, 2011. Print.

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

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

The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Nashville: Abingdon, 2006. Print.

Book by a corporation or organization. List the organization or corporation as the author, omitting any initial article (A, An, The).

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

Government publication. If there is no author, list the government followed by the department and agency of the government. Use abbreviations such as Dept. and Natl. if the meaning is clear.

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

Edited book or anthology. List the editor’s name followed by a comma and the abbreviation ed. or eds.

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

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 (Ed. is the abbreviation for “Edited by”); city, publisher, and date; and the pages where the work appears.

Riis, Jacob. “How the Other Half Lives.” The Affordable Housing Reader. Ed. J. R. Tighe. London: Routledge, 2013. 6-13. Print.

Introduction, preface, foreword, or afterword

Aaron, Hank. Foreword. We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. By Kadir Nelson. New York: Jump at the Sun, 2008. Print.

Translated book. After the title, include the abbreviation Trans. followed by the first and last names of the translator.

Kawakami, Hiromi. Manazuru. Trans. Michael Emmerich. Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2010. Print.

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. New York: Akashic, 2009. Print.

---. Infinity Blues. New York: Akashic, 2009. Print.

Myers, Walter D. Lockdown. New York: Amistad, 2010. Print.

Myers, Walter D., and Christopher Myers. Jazz. New York: Holiday, 2006. Print.

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

Barker, Ellen M. Neuroscience Nursing. 3rd ed. St. Louis: Mosby-Elsevier, 2008. Print.

Multivolume work. Give the number of volumes after the title.

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

One volume of a multivolume work. Give the volume number after the title.

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.

Teixeira, Robert. “Suffrage Movement.” Encyclopedia of Gender and Society. Ed. Jodi O’Brien. Los Angeles: Sage, 2009. Print.

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. Ed. Kathleen T. McWhorter. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford, 2012. 258-63. Print.

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 or underline the title of the periodical. Do not include the word A, An, or The at the beginning: Journal of the American Medical Association, New York Times.

Date or volume/issue (year). For magazines and newspapers, list the date in the following order: day, month, year; abbreviate the names of months except for May, June, and July. For scholarly journals, give the volume and issue numbers and year in parentheses: 72.2 (2005).

Page(s). 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 19+ for the page numbers (not 19-80). Otherwise, include the first and last page number separated by a hyphen (39-43).

Medium. For printed periodicals, the medium of publication is Print.

The basic format for citing a periodical article is as follows.

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: 49-53. Print.

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

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

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.” Editorial. New York Times 19 Sept. 2013: A30. Print.

Ginn, Lee. Letter. Wired Dec. 2008: 19. Print.

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

Peters, Justin. “Original Sin.” Rev. of Spam: A Shadow History of the Internet, by Finn Brunton. Columbia Journalism Review 52.3 (2013): 58-59. Print.

Citations for Internet sources should include enough information to enable readers to locate the sources. Since URLs are long and subject to change, the MLA suggests including them only when the information listed below is unlikely to be enough to enable readers to find the source.

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, give as many of the following elements as possible, and list them in the order shown:

Author. Include the name of the person or organization if it is available.

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

Print publication information. If the material was originally published in print, tell where and when it was originally published. Include volume and issue numbers, names of periodicals, names of publishers, dates, and so forth.

Electronic publication information. The information here will differ depending on the type of source.

Medium. For Internet sources, the medium of publication is Web. For e-books, include the file format (PDF file, Kindle e-book file) as the medium.

Access date. Include the date you accessed the document (day, month, year).

Some sample citations for different kinds of Internet sources are given below.

Entire Web site

Documenton a Web site

Article in an online newspaper or magazine

E-book

Entire Web site

Murray, Stephen, Andrew Tallon, and Rory O’Neill., eds. Mapping Gothic France. New York: Media Center for Art Hist., Columbia U & Art Dept., Vassar Coll., 2011. Web. 26 Sept. 2013.

LaMoreaux, Andrew M., ed. The Huntington Archive of Buddhist and Related Art. Coll. of the Arts, Ohio State U, 15 Oct. 1995. Web. 8 Sept. 2004.

Document on a Web site

Molanphy, Chris. “Radio-Friendly Unit Shifters.” Pitchfork. Pitchfork Media, 9 Sept. 2013. Web. 26 Sept. 2013.

Article in an online newspaper or magazine

Braude, Joseph. “Smoke Signals: What America Can Learn from Big Tobacco about Democratizing the Middle East.” New Republic Online. New Republic, 18 Apr. 2005. Web. 21 Apr. 2005.

Article from an online journal

Edmonson, Cole. “Moral Courage and the Nurse Leader.” Online Journal of Issues in Nursing 15.3 (2010): n. pag. Web. 14 Feb. 2011.

Article from an online library database

Williams, D. M., A. Fraser, and D. A. Lawlor. “Associations of Vitamin D, Parathyroid Hormone and Calcium with Cardiovascular Risk Factors in US Adolescents.” Heart 97.4 (2011): 315-20. CINAHL Plus. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.

E-book

Larsson, Steig. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. New York: Knopf, 2008. Kindle e-book.

Online government document

United States. Office of the Dir. of Natl. Intelligence. Natl. Intelligence Council. The Terrorist Threat to the U.S. Homeland. National Intelligence Council. Office of the Dir. of Natl. Intelligence, July 2007. Web. 3 Mar. 2011.

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

Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. Boston: Estes, 1881. Google Books. Web. 14 Feb. 2011.

Posting to an online discussion list or newsgroup. For a discussion group, include the author’s name, 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, the date of posting, the medium, and the date of access. If possible, cite an archived version. If the posting has no title, label it Online posting.

Jones, John. “The End of Species.” ILovePhilosophy.com. I Love Philosophy Forum, 12 Feb. 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.

DVD-ROM or CD-ROM. Include the title, the version (if specified), the publication information, and the medium.

Poulter, Patricia A., and Anne Griffin Perry. Mosby’s Nursing Skills 2.0. Student Version. St Louis: Mosby, 2006. CD-ROM.

Personal communication (interview, letter, email). Indicate the name of the person, followed by the type of communication and the date. For interviews you conducted, indicate the type of interview (telephone, personal, email, and so forth). For a letter, include the designation MS for a manuscript (a letter written by hand) or TS for a typescript (a letter composed on a machine). For emails, include the subject line (if available) in quotation marks.

Burrow, Alby. Telephone interview. 28 Jan. 2011.

Gomez, Pedro. Letter to the author. 19 May 2010. TS.

Adams, Alex. “Pet Care Advice.” Message to Rudy Simmons. 19 Feb. 2011. E-mail.

Published interview. List the person interviewed, and then list the title of the interview (if available) in quotation marks. If the interview has no title, label it Interview. Give the publication details for the source in which the interview was found.

Richards, Eric. “Observation and Memory: An Interview with Eric Richards.” American Music 27.2 (2009): 180-203.

Published letter. Cite a published letter as you would a selection in a book, but include the letter’s date and number (if one has been assigned).

Lewis, C. S. “To His Father.” 4 Sept. 1907. Letter LPIII: 82 of The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis. Ed. Walter Hooper. Vol. 1. San Francisco: Harper, 2004. 5. Print.

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. Include the name of the distributor, the release date, and the medium (Film). For a film on DVD, add the original release date (if relevant) before the distributor, and change the medium to DVD.

Life of Pi. Dir. Ang Lee. Perf. Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Rafe Spall, Gérard Depardieu, Adil Hussain, Ayush Tandon. 2012. Twentieth-Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2013. DVD.

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, local station and city of broadcast (if available), and broadcast date before the medium.

“Mugged.” Flight of the Conchords. Perf. Jermain Clement. HBO. 1 July 2008. Television.

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

Wilco. The Whole Love. Perf. Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, and Nels Cline. dBpm Records, 2011. CD.