A Concise Works Cited Guide for MLA (9th ed.)
Books and Media
The information needed to cite a book consists of three main components: the author, title, and publication information. If the citation is more than one line the second line (and those that follow) will be indented by 0.5 inches, creating a hanging indent.
The basic book format is as follows:
| Author last name, first name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication date. |
A Book by One Author
(If citing multiple books by the same author, as shown below, you will only type the authors full name in the first entry. Every entry after that type three hyphens in place of the author’s name)
Morrison, Toni. A Mercy. Knopf, 2008.
---. The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches and Meditations. Knopf, 2019.
A Book with Two or More Authors
(If you have a book with three or more authors, type the first author’s name [remember: last name, first name] followed by a comma and et al.)
Levitt, Steven D. and Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. William Morrow, 2005.
Nelson, Donna J., et al., editors. Hollywood Chemistry: When Science Met Entertainment. American Chemical Society, 2013.
A Work in an Anthology
|
Author last name, first name. “Title of work in collection.” Title of collection, edited by ____ , Publisher, Publication date, Page range (written as: pp. xx – xx). |
Sedaris, David. “Guy Walks into a Bar Car.” The Best American Essays 2010, edited by Christopher Hitchens, Houghton Mifflin, 2010, pp. 169-178.
An eBook
| Author last name, first name. Title. E-book, publisher, publication date. Name of eBook provider, URL (if needed). |
Alam, Rumaan. Leave the World Behind. E-book, Ecco, 2020. Overdrive, https://mobius.overdrive.com/mobius-stchas/content/media/5207423?cid=119872.
*If you are citing an e-textbook you can truncate (shorten) the URL since it is behind a paywall and not openly accessible.* Use the "root" of the URL for your citation. Example: www.cengage.com
DVD/Feature Film
| Title of film. Directed by ____ , Film studio or distributor, Release year. |
The Revenant. Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2016.
Articles from Print Sources
The following is the basic format for citing an article from an academic journal:
| Author last name, first name. “Title of article.” Journal title, Volume, Issue #, Date of publication, Page #s. |
Article in an Academic Journal
Foltyn, Jacque Lynn. “Dead Famous and Dead Sexy: Popular Culture, Forensics, and the Rise of the Corpse.” Mortality, vol. 13, no. 2, May 2008, pp. 153-172.
*Note that when doing a citation for a popular magazine or newspaper you won’t need to include volume and issue number
Articles from a Library Database
The following is the basic format for citing an article from a library database:
|
Author last name, first name. “Title of article.” Journal title, Volume, Issue #, Date of publication, Page #s. Database name, DOI or Permalink to article. |
Article in Academic Search Premier
Baade, Christina. “A Complicated Transformation: Beyoncé, ‘Blue,’ and the Politics of Black Motherhood.” Popular Music and Society, vol. 42, no. 1, Feb. 2019, pp. 42-60. Academic Search Premier, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=hlh&AN=134473464&site=ehost-live&scope=site&custid=092-700.
Article in Opposing Viewpoints
Coates, Ta-Nehisi. “The Legacy of Malcolm X.” The Atlantic, May 2011, Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A269875561/OVIC?u=sain32367&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=fb9b8234.
MLA Guide for Citing ELECTRONIC SOURCES (9th ed.)
The most frequently utilized internet resource is an article you find online. The formatting for that is as follows:
| Author last name, first name. “Title of article.” Title of website, date of publication, URL. |
Article on a website
Loofbourow, Lili. “Ted Lasso Has Been a Rom-Com All Along.” Slate, 20 Aug. 2021, https://slate.com/culture/2021/08/ted-lasso-episode-rainbow-a-romantic-comedy.html.
* If no author is provided begin an entry with the title of the article.
* If the site has no copyright date or other date of publication include the access date after the URL.
An Entire Website
(When citing an entire website, it’s helpful to include your date of access if no publication date is available since websites can be updated frequently. Place the access date after the URL.)
| Website Title. Publisher, date of publication or copyright (if available), URL. Date of access (if applicable). |
The Pluralism Project. Harvard University, 2021, pluralism.org.
eBook
(Similar to citing a print book. The additions here are: including the format “E-book” after the title, the name of the eBook provider, and the eBook URL at the end of the citation [URLs aren’t needed if accessing a title that you own])
| Author last name, first name. Title. E-book, publisher, publication date. Name of eBook provider, URL (if needed). |
Limón, Ada. The Carrying: Poems. E-book, Milkweed Editions, 2018. eBook Collection (EBSCO), https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=nlebk&AN=1868747&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=092-700&ebv=EK&ppid=Page-__-1.
Audiobook
(Follow formatting above but include narrator and “audiobook ed.” after the title.)
|
Author last name, first name. Title. Narrated by ___ , audiobook ed., audiobook publisher, publication date. Name of audiobook provider, URL (if needed). |
Philyaw, Deesha. The Secret Lives of Church Ladies. Narrated by Janina Edwards, audiobook ed., Tantor Media, 2020. OverDrive, https://mobius.overdrive.com/mobius-stchas/content/media/5696762
YouTube Video
| “Title of video.” Website, uploaded by username/author, publication date, URL. |
“Arnie the Doughnut read by Chris O’Dowd.” YouTube, uploaded by StorylineOnline, 31 May 2018, https://youtu.be/6E67n1vZZjQ.
Other Streaming Video
| Title of film. Directed by ____ , Film studio or distributor, Release year. Streaming provider, URL. |
Screened Out. Dir. Jon Hyatt, Dark Star Pictures, 2020. Kanopy. https://stchas.kanopy.com/video/screened-out.
AI
|
"Description of what was generated." AI tool, Specific version of AI tool, AI tool creator, date content generated, URL. |
“Describe the symbolism of the green light in the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald” prompt.
ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.
* example from the MLA Style Center: https://style.mla.org/citing-generative-ai/
X Post
| Account name [@OnlineHandle]. “Text of tweet.” X, date, URL. |
Kyra [@criscesmoon]. “i wish someone understood the random very deep breath i have to take every once in a while throughout my day” X, 23 Aug. 2021, https://twitter.com/criscesmoon/status/1429702587255824387.
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