MLA Style

The following are examples of the most commonly cited sources. If you do not see the source you have listed below, look in our copy of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (which is located on the research help table) or ask a teacher or librarian to help you.

Books

Elements of the basic entry for books:

author’s name, title of book, city of publication, publisher, date of publication

Book – One Author:

Kaku, Michio. Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the

Tenth Dimension. New York: Oxford UP, 1994.

Book – Two or Three Authors:

Kerrigan, Peter, and Gordon Smith. The Idea of the Renaissance. New York:

Knopf, 1989.

Book – Author with a Translator:

Rahner, Karl. Meditations of Freedom and the Spirit. Trans. Rosaleen Ockenden. New York: Seabury,

1978.

Book – Author with an Editor (and with the use of only one volume of a multi-volume set):

Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Oxford Sherlock Holmes. Ed. Owen Dudley Edwards. Vol. 8. New York: Oxford

UP, 1993.

Book – No Author:

A Guide to Our Federal Lands. Washington: Natl. Geographic Soc., 1984.

Book – Editor (also, book with multi-volumes):

Schlesinger, Arthur M., gen. ed. History of U.S. Political Parties. 4 vols. New York: Chelsea, 1973.

Book – Multiple Editors (also, book with multi-volumes):

Inge, M. Thomas, Maurice Duke, and Jackson R. Bryer, eds. Black American Writers: Bibliographical

Essays. 2 vols. New York: St. Martin’s, 1978.

Book – Article From an Encyclopedia or Other Reference Book:

Elements of an entry for an article from an encyclopedia or other reference book:

author of the article, title of the article, title of the book, editor of the book, city of publication, publisher, date of publication

von Hallaberg, Robert. "Politics and Poetry." The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Ed.

Alex Preminger and T.V.F. Brogan. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1993.

Book - Short Work from an Anthology:

Elements of the basic entry for a short work from an anthology:

Author’s name, title of article (or poem), title of book, editor of book, place of publication, publisher, publication date, page or page numbers

Lazard, Naomi. "In Answer to Your Query." The Norton Book of Light Verse. Ed. Russell Baker. New York:

Norton, 1986. 52-53.

Magazine Article:

Elements of the basic entry for magazine articles:

author’s name, title of the article, title of the magazine, publication date, page number or numbers

Chang, Yahlin. "Roll Over, Beethoven: The Computer Aided ‘Brain Opera’ is Music for Everyman."

Newsweek 29 Aug. 1996: 71.

Journal Article:

Elements of the basic entry for journal articles:

author’s name, title of the article, title of the journal, the volume number, year of publication, pages numbers

Hanks, Patrick. "Do Word Meanings Exist?" Computers and the Humanities 34 (2000): 205-15.

Newspaper Article:

Elements of the basic entry for newspaper articles:

author’s name, title of the article, title of the newspaper, publication date, edition of newspaper, section of newspaper followed by the page number

James, Caryn. "Adding the Power of TV to the Power of the Printed Page." New York Times 21 Nov. 1996,

late ed.: C15.

Jeromack, Paul. "This Once, a David of the Art World Does Goliath a Favor." New York Times 13 July

2002, New England ed.: A13+.

Article in a Subscription Database:

Elements for a basic subscription database entry (not all elements may be present):

author of article, title of article, title of magazine or newspaper, publication information about magazine or newspaper, name of subscription database (underlined), name of service/publisher of database, name of library which subscribes to the database (with a city and state abbreviation)(if you choose), date you access the database, URL of database (if known)

Wells, Paul. "Songs for the Suffering." Maclean’s 17 Jan. 2005:56. ProQuest. ProQuest.   Notre Dame High

School Library, Batavia, NY. 23 Jan. 2005 <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb>.

Web Sites:

Elements for a basic web site entry (not all elements may be present):

author of web site, title of web site (underlined), editor, publication date, name of institution or organization which sponsors the site, the date you accessed the information, and the address of the web site, enclosed in angle brackets < >

Note about angle brackets when using Word or another word-processing program: Word and other programs will transform your web address into a hyperlink and erase the angle brackets you type. So, after this happens, go to the "Edit" menu and choose "Undo Auto-Format."

Notes about web site addresses:

If a URL is long and appears on more than one line in your works cited page, divide the URL onto another line only after a slash in the address.

If a URL for a page is very long, you can give just the URL of the home page or search screen.

If people can get to the specific part of the web page you used by clicking on a series of links from the home page, then you can write the address for the homepage, and then the path (the series of links you click on).

Example:

"This Day in Technology History: August 20." History Channel.com. 2002. History

Channel. 14 May 2002 <http://historychannel.com/>. Path: Technology

History; This Day in Technology History.

Web Sites - More Examples:

"City Profile: San Francisco." CNN.com. 2002. Cable News Network. 14 May

2002 <http://www.cnn.com/TRAVEL/atevo/city/SanFrancisco/intro.html>.

Jane Austen Information Page. Ed. Henry Churchyard. 6 Sept. 2000. 15 June

2002 <http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/janeinfo.html>.

Web Site – Article From a Magazine:

Landsburg, Steven E. "Who Shall Inherit the Earth?" Slate 1 May 1997. 2 May

1997 <http://www.slate.com/Economics/97-05-01/Economics.asp>.

CD-ROMs

Elements for a basic entry for a CD-ROM:

author’s name (if given), article title (if given), title of CD-ROM (underlined), name of editor, compiler, etc. (if given), publication medium (CD-ROM), edition, release, version, etc. (if given), place of publication, publisher, date of publication

"Article Title." DISCovering U.S. History 1.0. [CD-ROM] Detroit: Gale Research, 1997.

"Article Title.", American Decades 1.0. [CD-ROM] Detroit:: Gale Research, 1998.

"Article Title,", African-American History and Culture: A CD-ROM Encyclopedia. [CD-ROM] New

York: Facts on File, 1999.

"Article Title.", The American Indian: A Multimedia Encyclopedia Version 2.0. [CD-ROM] New York:

Facts on File, 1996.

Last name of poet, First name of poet. "Title of poem." The Classic Hundred Poems: A Columbia

Granger's Multimedia Anthology. [CD-ROM] Ed. William Harmon, Alice Quinn and

Cindee Scott. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.

"Article Title.", Encyclopedia of World Biography. [CD-ROM] Detroit: Gale Research, 1999.

Last name of poet, First name of poet. "Title of Poem." Columbia Granger's World of Poetry CD-

ROM 3. [CD-ROM] Ed. William Harmon. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.

Welcome to the Catholic Church. [CD-ROM] Harmony Media, 2001.