MLA Citations

Reference and Curriculum Services

Homer Babbidge Library • University of Connecticut

MLA Citations

Edition

Revised by Kathy Banas-Marti

February 2018

How to Prepare Bibliographic Citations: Modern Language Association

SOURCE: Modern Language Association. MLA Handbook. 8

ed., MLA, 2016.

Babbidge Library/ Level B/ Ref. LB 2369 G53 2016

The 8th edition of the MLA Handbook provides a “universal set of guidelines” for citing sources across all

format types. The previous editions of the MLA Handbook gave a separate set of citation instructions for

each format type. The 8

edition of the MLA Handbook focuses on core elements that are common to all

formats, as follows:

Author

Title of Source (e.g. a book, article, chapter, song, or episode.)

Title of Container (e.g. a journal, a book, album, TV show.)

Other Contributors (e.g. editors, translator, series creator, producer.) Version

Number (e.g. vol. and issue of a journal.)

Publisher

Publication date

Location (e.g. page numbers or timestamp)

All of these elements go into creating a bibliographic citation for the “Works Cited” page. The list of “Works

Cited” is the bibliography or the list of the sources cited in the text of the research paper and appears at the

end of the paper.

Works Cited

Books

Book: Single Author

Lastname, Firstname. Title of the Book: Plus a Subtitle. Publisher, Year of Publication.

Jacobs, Alan. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. Oxford UP, 2011.

Book: Multiple Authors

List up to three authors in the order in which they are displayed on the title page of the book. For more

than three authors, the first author is listed followed by et al.

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Lastname, Firstname, Firstname Lastname, and Firstname Lastname. Title of the Book: Plus a

Subtitle.

Publisher, Year of Publication

Barickman, Richard, Susan Peck MacDonald, and Myra Stark. Corrupt Relations: Dickens, Thackeray,

Trollope, Collins, and the Victorian Sexual System. Columbia UP, 1982.

Book: Editor

Lastname, Firstname. Title of the Book: Plus a Subtitle. edited by Firstname Lastname, Publisher, Year

of Publication.

Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. edited by Claudia Johnson, Norton, 2001.

Book: No Author

Title of the Book: Plus a Subtitle. edited by Firstname Lastname, Publisher, Year of Publication.

French XX Bibliography: A Bibliography for the Study of French Literature and Culture Since 1885. edited by Sheri

K. Dion, Susquehanna UP, 2014.

Anthologies and Book Chapters

Chapter of an Anthology

Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Chapter." Title of the Book: Plus a Subtitle. Publisher, Year of

Publication. Inclusive Page Numbers.

Moravcevich, Nicholas. “The Romanticization of the Prostitute in Dostoevsky’s Fiction.” The Image of the

Prostitute in Modern Literature. edited by Pierre L. Horn and Mary Beth Pringle, Ungar, 1984. 53-61.

Reference Works

Entry: No Author

"Title of Entry."Title of the Book: Plus a Subtitle. Ed. Firstname Lastname. Publisher, Year of

Publication.

"Conway, William Augustus." The Reader's Encyclopedia of Shakespeare. edited by Oscar James Campbell,

Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1966.

Entry: Author

Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Entry." Title of the Book: Plus a Subtitle. Ed. Firstname Lastname.

Edition. Publisher, Year of Publication.

Kiernan, Brian. “Australian Novel.” Encyclopedia of the Novel. edited by Paul Schellinger, Fitzroy

Dearborn, 1998.

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Articles

Scholarly Articles

Article: Single Author

Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, vol. number, issue number, Year, Inclusive

Page Numbers. Database (optional), URL (optional).

Baranczak, Stanislaw. “The Polish Complex.” Partisan Review, vol.51, no.3, 1984, pp. 433-441.

Article: Multiple Authors

Lastname, Firstname, and Firstname Lastname. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, vol. Number, Issue

no., Year. Inclusive Page Numbers. Database (optional), URL (optional).

Beasley, Myron M., and Patricia M. Hager. "Intervention, Instigation, Interruption: Art, Activism, and Social Policy."

Journal of Poverty, vol. 18, no. 1, 2014, pp. 1-4.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10875549.2014.866397.

Newspapers

Print Article: Single Author

Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Article." Title of Publication, Date of Publication, Page or Section.

Maddocks, Melvin. “Remembering Jorge Luis Borges and His Grand Illusions.” Christian Science Monitor,

20 June 1986, p. A 23.

Websites

An Entire Website

Lastname, Firstname or Corporate Name. Title of the Website. Date range, URL.

Hollmichel, Stefanie. So Many Books. 2003-13, http://somanybooksblog.com.

A Blog Post or Comments

Lastname, Firstname. "Title of the Post." Title of the Blog,Title of Sponsoring Site (optional),

Date Posted or Revised, URL.

Hathcock, April. "White Librarianship in Blackface: Diversity Initiatives in LIS." In the Library with the Lead Pipe, 7

Oct. 2015, http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2015/lis-diversity/.

Social Media

Twitter

@handlename. "Text of Tweet." Twitter, Date Posted, Time Posted, URL.

@UConn. "Six years straight as a Top 25 public university! - #BestColleges.” Twitter, 13 Sep. 2016, 4:51 am,

http://today.uconn.edu/2016/09/uconn-marks-sixth-year-among-top-25-public-universities/.

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Lastname, Firstname. "Subject Line of Email." Received by FIrstname Lastname, Date.

Anderson, Peter. "Re: Need help with my MLA Citations" Received by Jennifer Smith, 14 Sep. 2016.

Music and Videos

Music

Song

Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Song." Title of the Album. Record Label, Year of Release. URL

(optional).

Swift, Taylor. “Blank Space.” 1989. Big Machine Records, 2014, http://www.taylorswift.com/releases#/release/12453.

On the Web

YouTube

"Title of Video." YouTube, uploaded by Firstname Lastname or Corporate Name, Date Posted, URL.

"And, Or, Not.” YouTube, uploaded by uconnlibraries, 15 June 2016,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atLVxu86bv0.

Streaming Service

"Title of Episode. Title of the Series: Plus a Subtitle. Season number, episode number, Original

Network, original air date. Platform, URL.

"Serenity." Firefly, season 1, episode 1, Fox Television, 20 Dec. 2002. Netflix,

https://www.netflix.com/watch/70133876.

Television

Television Series

Title of the Series: Plus a Subtitle. Created By Firstname Lastname, Production Company. Date

Range

Pretty Little Liars. created by I. Marlene King, ABC Family. 2001-2016.

Single Episode of a Series

"Title of Episode." Title of the Series: Plus a Subtitle. Created by Firstname Lastname, performance by

Firstname Lastname, season number, episode number, Production Company. Date.

“Spread Your Wings.” Modern Family. created by Steven Levitan, performance by Ed O’Neill, season 7,

episode 11, 20

Century Fox Television, 13 Jan. 2016.

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Films

Film or Movie

Lastname, Firstname, director. Title of the Movie: Plus a Subtitle. Primary Production Company, Year

of Release.

Abrams, J.J., director. Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Walt Disney Studios, 2015.

Other Common Sources

Images

Image in Print (Including a Painting, Sculpture, or Photograph)

Lastname, Firstname (of artist or creator). Title of Image. Date of creation, Institution and City

where it is housed. Title of Book it Appears in, By Firstname, Lastname, Publisher, Page

number.

Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800, Museo del Prado, Madrid. Gardener's Art Through the Ages,

by Richard G. Tansey and Fred S. Kleiner, Harcourt Brace, p. 939.

Images Online (Including a Painting, Sculpture, or Photograph)

Lastname, Firstname (of artist or creator). Title of Image., Date of creation, Institution and City where it

is housed, Name of website, URL, Date of Access.

Klee, Paul. Twittering Machine. 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Artchive,

www.artchive.com/artchive/K/klee/twittering_machine.jpg.html. Accessed May 2006.

Lectures or Presentations

Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Presentation." Name of Specific Event. Name of Conference or

Organizing Event, Date, Location

Stein, Bob. “Reading and Writing in the Digital Era.” Discovering Digital Dimensions, Computers and Writing

Conference, 23 May 2003, Union Club Hotel, West Lafayette, IN. Keynote Address.

Government Documents

Any citation entry of a document from a government agency should begin with the name of the

government, then the agency name, with any other organizational bodies between them. Names are

arranged smallest to largest entity. U.S. Congressional publications should include the number and

session of the Congress, and the identifying number of the publication.

Name of Country or State, Name of Agency, Additional Agencies as needed. Title of the Report: Plus a

Subtitle. Publisher, Year of Publication.

United States. Senate. Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Committee of the Judiciary. Hearing on the

English Language Amendment. 98th Cong., 2nd sess. S. Res. 167. GPO, 1984.

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In-Text Citations

In-Text citations are brief citations found after a direct quote or a paraphrase to indicate the source

you consulted. They are located in the body of your work. In-Text citations are placed in parentheses.

A typical in-text citation is composed of the element that comes first in the entry in the works-cited list

(usually the author’s last name) and a page number.

Reading is “just half of literacy. The other half is writing” (Baron 194).

When using the author’s name in the sentence, only include the page number in parentheses.

According to Naomi Baron, reading is just half of literacy. The other half is writing” (194).

For more examples and information consult the following online sources: The

MLA Style Center https://style.mla.org/

MLA Formatting and Style Guide (Purdue OWL)

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

EasyBib – MLA Format (8

ed.) https://www.easybib.com/guides/citation-

guides/mla-8/