Developed by the Modern Language Association, this style is most widely used for research papers in the humanities.
Citing sources in this style consists of two parts:
See How to Format Works-Cited List and How to Format In-Text Citations.
The 9th edition of the MLA Handbook asks writers to create citations and works-cited lists using a template of core-elements -- a set of objective facts common to most materials-- rather than having a different template for different kinds of publication formats. While this approach is more flexible for new media, it may be challenging for you to know which core elements are relevant to the source you are citing. Thus, this guide also provides some examples of commonly cited sources.
The core elements are:
Author | Title of Source | Title of Container | Contributor | Version | Number | Publisher | Publication Date | Location
An in-text citation provides your reader with two pieces of information:
Said makes a similar argument (3-4).
This point has been argued previously (Said 3-4).
The article "Black Workers Matter" links racism and union representation (18).
The link between racism and union representation is important ("Black Workers Matter" 18).
Later, the protagonist of Jane Eyre proclaims, "I would always rather be happy than dignified" (413).
(Smith, Jones, and Brown 323)
(Bia et al. 161)
(K. Shepard 36)
(J. Shepard 212)
We should all try to "live in the Past, the Present, and the Future" (Dickens, A Christmas Carol 95).
(Pushkin, ch. 5)
According to the Human Rights Campaign's map of state laws and policies ....
("Hell Hath No Fury" 00:15:23-00:18:58)
The "Works Cited" list provides details on all sources you used in your paper. If you include other sources consulted during your research, title the page "Works Consulted."
The menu below lists the core elements in a works-cited entry with its associated punctuation mark. Use information found in the source itself; do not use information about the source found on websites or in library catalogs. If an element does not exist for the source you are citing, skip it. For further details on an element, open the menu item.
The author is the person or group responsible for creating or producing the work.
The title of the source is often located near the author's name and prominently displayed.
A container is the larger work in which the source appears.
Other contributors are other people credited for the work.
Version indicates that there is more than one form of the work.
Number refers to works appearing in a numbered sequence.
Instances where the number element is used include:
Publisher is the organization responsible for making the content publicly available.
Publication date documents the date of the work you used.
Location specifies where you found the item within a larger container.
In general, if one of the core citation elements is missing, you may skip that element in the works-cited entry.
It is always better to consult the original source, but if it cannot be obtained, cite the secondary source in the works-cited list. If you are citing a quotation, use "qtd. in" (quoted in) in the in-text citation. Example: (qtd. in Smith 22). (MLA Handbook 124)
Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Source. Title of Container, Other Contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication Date, Location.
For further details on the core elements, see How to Format the Works-Cited List.
Perle, George. Serial Composition and Atonality: An Introduction to the Music of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern. 6th ed., U of California P, 1991.
Feder, Ellen K. Family Bonds: Genealogies of Race and Gender. Oxford UP, 2007. ProQuest ebrary, site.ebrary.com/lib/williams/docDetail.action?docID=10194201.
Note: ProQuest ebrary provides a Williams-specific URL as the permalink. To make the "location" element more universal, replace the URL with docID 10194201.
Higonnet, Margaret R., and Joan Templeton, editors. Reconfigured Spheres: Feminist Explorations of Literary Space. U of Massachusetts P, 1994.
García Márquez, Gabriel. One Hundred Years of Solitude. Translated by Gregory Rabassa, HarperCollins Publishers, 2003.
Note: if your focus is on the translation of the text, move the translator's name to the Author position, and the main content author's name to the Other Contributors position.
Rabassa, Gregory, translator. One Hundred Years of Solitude. By Gabriel García Márquez, HarperCollins Publishers, 2003.
Roell, Craig H. "The Piano in the American Home." The Arts and the American Home, 1890-1930, edited by Jessica H. Foy and Karal Ann Marling, U of Tennessee P, 1994, pp. 193-204.
Knox, Bernard. Introduction. Metamorphoses, by Ovid, translated and edited by Charles Martin, W. W. Norton, 2004, pp. ix-xxiv.
If the introduction, preface, foreword, or afterword has a title, include it in quotation marks before the descriptive term (Introduction, Preface, etc.) (MLA Handbook 106).
Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Source. Title of Container, Other Contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication Date, Location.
For further details on the core elements, see How to Format the Works-Cited List.
Wolff, Larry. "‘The Boys are Pickpockets, and the Girl is a Prostitute’: Gender and Juvenile Criminality in Early Victorian England from Oliver Twist to London Labour." New Literary History, vol. 27, no. 2, Spring 1996, pp. 227-249. Project Muse, muse.jhu.edu/article/24302.
Smith, Matthew J. "God's Idioms: Sermon Belief in Donne's London." English Literary Renaissance, vol. 46, no. 1, Winter 2016, pp. 93-128. Wiley Online Library, doi: 10.1111/1475-6757.12061.
Erdrich, Louise. "The Flower." The New Yorker, 29 June 2015, pp. 56-61.
Erdrich, Louise. "The Flower." The New Yorker, 29 June 2015, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/29/the-flower.
Byatt, A.S. "Harry Potter and the Childish Adult." The New York Times, 7 July 2003, p. A13. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times, search.proquest.com/docview/92581320?accountid=15054.
Byatt, A.S. "Harry Potter and the Childish Adult." The New York Times, 7 July 2003, www.nytimes.com/2003/07/07/opinion/harry-potter-and-the-childish-adult.html.
Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Source." Title of Container, Other Contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication Date, Location.
For further details on the core elements, see How to Format the Works Cited List.
"Maps of State Laws and Policies." Human Rights Campaign, 2016, www.hrc.org/state_maps. Accessed 21 August 2016.
Note: Access date is not a core element, but it can be included if it helps to identify the version of the page you consulted or when there is no specific publication date.
Stewart, Jenell. "Natural Hair Creates a More Inclusive Standard." My Natural Hair Journey, Huffington Post, 12 July 2016, www.huffingtonpost.com/jenell-stewart/natural-hair-creates-a-more-inclusive-beauty-standard_b_10949874.html.
Silver H., Comment on "You Are Triggering Me! The Neo-Liberal Rhetoric of Harm, Danger and Trauma," Bully Bloggers, 16 Aug. 2014, 3:17 p.m., bullybloggers.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/you-are-triggering-me-the-neo-liberal-rhetoric-of-harm-danger-and-trauma/#comment-9001.
@POTUS (President Obama). "Today is a big step in our march toward equality. Gay and lesbian couples now have the right to marry, just like anyone else. #LoveWins." Twitter, 26 June 2015, 7:10 a.m., twitter.com/POTUS/status/614435467120001024.
For untitled short works, such as tweets, use the entire tweet without changes as the title (MLA Handbook 29).
Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Source. Title of Container, Other Contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication Date, Location.
For further details on the core elements, see How to Format the Works-Cited List.
Schoenberg, Arnold. A Survivor from Warsaw For Narrator, Men's Chorus, and Orchestra. Op. 46, Bomart Music Publications, 1949.
Bernstein, Leonard. Candide: Opera House Version, 1982. Performance by the New York City Opera Chorus and Orchestra, NW 340/341-2, New World Records, 1986.
Beyoncé. "Sorry." Lemonade, Parkwood Entertainment, 2016, www.beyonce.com/album/lemonade-visual-album/.
NW 340/341-2 in the first example is the record label's catalog number for the album.
Peck, Raoul. L'homme sur les quais [The Man by the Shore]. 1993. Velvet Film, 2013. DVD.
The date of original release (1993 in this example) is an optional element. Include it when it gives your reader insight into the creation of the work. While MLA Handbook, 8th edition, does not require "DVD" to be included in the citation, you can add it to help your reader know how you accessed the film.
"TNC:172 Kennedy-Nixon First Presidential Debate, 1960." YouTube, uploaded by JFK Library, 21 Sept. 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbrcRKqLSRw.
"Chapter One: The Pilot." Jane the Virgin, created by Jennie Snyder Urman, season 1, episode 1, Poppy Productions, 2014. Netflix, www.netflix.com/watch/80060553.
Rodriguez, Gina, performer. "Chapter Forty-Four." Jane the Virgin, created by Jennie Snyder Urman, season 2, episode 22, The CW, 16 May 2016. www.cwtv.com/shows/jane-the-virgin/.
Jane the Virgin: Season 1. Created by Jennie Snyder Urman, performance by Gina Rodriguez, Warner Home Video, 2015. DVD.
If you are writing about a television episode without focusing on a particular individual's contribution, start the entry with the title. If you are focusing on the creator or performer, start with their name and role.
In the examples above, the first example is writing about the first episode in general and it was watched on Netflix. The second example is writing about Gina Rodriguez's performance in a particular episode that was watched online during the season. The last example is writing about the first season in general, watched on DVD. While MLA Handbook, 8th edition, does not require "DVD" to be included in the citation, you can add it to help your reader know how you accessed the film.
Degas, Edgar. The Dance Class. 1874, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Degas, Edgar. The Dance Class. 1874. The Met, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/438817.
Degas, Hilaire-Germain-Edgar. The Dance Class.1874. ArtStor, library.artstor.org.
Degas, Edgar. The Dance Class. 1875-1876. Impressionism: A Centenary Exhibition, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 12, 1974-February 10, 1975, edited by Anne Dayez, Michel Hoog, and Charles S. Moffett, [Metropolitan Museum of Art], 1974, p. 105.
In the examples above, the first one is seeing the artwork in person, the second is accessing the image from the museum's website, the third is accessing it through the library database ArtStor, and the last is using an image from a book.
Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Source. Title of Container, Other Contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication Date, Location.
For further details on the core elements, see How to Format the Works-Cited List.
U.S. Congress, House, Committee on International Relations. The Threat from International Organized Crime and Global Terrorism: Hearing before the Committee on International Relations. Government Printing Office, 1997. 105th Congress, 1st session.
You may end entries for congressional documents with the number of the Congress, session, and the type and number of publication (if applicable). If you are using many congressional publications, consult the Chicago Manual of Style for more specialized guidelines (MLA Handbook 105.).
Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Source. Title of Container, Other Contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication Date, Location.
For further details on the core elements, see How to Format the Works-Cited List.
Falk, Adam. Interview by author, 15 May 2016, Williamstown, MA.
Hopkins, Mark. Letter to Jaime Margalotti, 22 March 1861, Williams College Special Collections, Williamstown, MA, Hopkins Family Papers.
A container is "a work that contains another work". Some works are self-contained, such as a print version of a novel, and other works have more than one container, like an essay that is printed in a book, and also published on a website.
Websites can be but are not always containers. Refer to Chapter 5, section 31 (5.31) of the MLA Handbook for more information on containers.
You do not need to cite common knowledge.