MLA Handbook by
The new, ninth edition builds on the MLA's unique approach to documenting sources using a template of core elements--facts, common to most sources, like author, title, and publication date--that allows writers to cite any type of work, from books, e-books, and journal articles in databases to song lyrics, online images, social media posts, dissertations, and more.
Journal Article from a Database
| General Format | Author Last Name, Author First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, vol. #, no. #, Year, pp. firstpage-lastpage. Name of Database, DOI or URL. |
|
Example |
Adams, Jenni. "'Into Eternity's Certain Breadth': Ambivalent Escapes in Markus Zusak's The Book Thief." Children's Literature in Education, vol. 41, no. 3, 2010, pp. 123-146. Academic Search Complete, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=52471149&site=ehost-live&scope=site. |
Magazine Article from a Database
| General Format | Author Last Name, Author First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine, Day Month Year of Publication, pp. firstpage-lastpage. Name of Database, permalink. |
| Example | Biedenham, Isabella. "Markus Zusak." Entertainment Weekly, 4 March 2016, p. 63. Academic Search Complete, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=113323582&site=ehost-live&scope=site. |
Newspaper Article from a Database
| General Format | Author Last Name, Author First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle of Article." Title of Newspaper, Day Month Year published, pp. firstpage-lastpage. Name of Database, permalink. |
| Example | Piepenburg, Erik. "'The Book Thief' Receives a New Life on the Stage." New York Times, 25 October 2012, p. C1. Nexis Uni, https://advance.lexis.com/api/document?collection=news&id=urn%3acontentItem%3a56WP-RN51-JBG3-653C-00000-00&context=1519360&identityprofileid=9S2NJV55532. |
Article from a Print Journal
| General Format | Author Last Name, Author First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, vol. #, no. issue#, Year, pp. firstpage-lastpage. |
| Example | Malasri, S. et al. "Water Absorption of Wooden Pallets." International Journal of Applied Science and Technology, vol. 2, no. 9, 2012, pp. 1-10. |
Article from a Print Magazine
| General Format | Author Last Name, Author First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine, vol. #, no. #, Month Year, pp. firstpage-lastpage. |
| Example | Denney, Pam. "Graduate Degree." Memphis, vol. 41, no. 12, March 2017, pp. 62-63. |
Article from a Print Newspaper
| General Format | Author Last Name, Author First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Newspaper, Day Month Year, pp. firstpage-lastpage. |
| Example | Young, Lesley. "Peace & Tofu: A Visit to Magnolia Grove Monastery." Memphis Flyer, 15 June 2017, pp. 30-31. |
Article from an Internet Journal
| General Format | Author Last Name, Author First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, vol. #, no. #, Year of Publication, DOI OR URL. |
| Example | Sagi-Schwartz, Abraham et al. "Against all odds: Genocidal trauma is associated with longer life-expectancy of the survivors." PLoS One, vol. 8, no. 7, 2013, p. e69179. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0069179. |
Article from an Internet Magazine
| General Format | Author Last Name, Author First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine. Day Month Year of Publication, URL. |
| Example | Lee, Paula Young. "The Power of Pop Literature: Why We Need Diverse YA Books More than Ever." Salon.com. 30 September 2016, www.salon.com/2016/09/30/the-power-of-pop-literature-why-we-need-diverse-ya-books-more-than-ever/. |
Article from the Website of a Newspaper
| General Format | Author Last Name, Author First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Newspaper. Day Month Year of publication, URL. |
| Example | Creagh, Sunanda. "Hope Amid the Flames." Sydney Morning Herald, 24 September 2005, http://www.smh.com.au/news/books/hope-amid-the-flames/2005/09/22/1126982166740.html. |
Book by One Author
| General Format | Author Last Name, Author First Name. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Publisher, year. |
| Example | Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. Knopf, 2006. |
Book by Two Authors
| General Format | First Author Last Name, First Author First Name, and Second Author First Name Last Name. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Publisher, Year. |
| Example | Mazur, Dan, and Alexander Danner. Comics: A Global History, 1968 to the Present. Thames & Hudson, 2014. |
Book by More than Two Authors
| General Format | First Author Last Name, First Author First Name, et al. Title of Book. Publisher, Year. |
| Example | Bell, Inge, et al. This Book is Not Required: An Emotional and Intellectual Survival Manual for Students. 4th ed. Sage, 2011. |
Edited Book - Complete Work
| General Format | Editor Last Name, Editor First Name, editor. Title of Book. Publisher, year. |
| Example | Dawidowicz, Lucy S., editor. A Holocaust Reader. Behrman House, 1976. |
Chapter in a Book
Use this format to cite a chapter or article in a book. An editor's name may or may not be available; if there is one, include it where noted in the General Format example.
| General Format | Chapter Author Last Name, Chapter Author First Name. "Title of Chapter." Title of Book, edited by Editor First Name Editor Last Name, Publisher, year, pp. startingpage-endingpage. |
| Example | Minslow, Sarah. "The Diary of a Young Girl and Children's Literature of Atrocity." Critical Insights: The Diary of a Young Girl. Grey House, 2017, pp. 60-75. |
Graphic Novels - follow the citation pattern for books
| General Format | Author Last Name, Author First Name. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Publisher, Year. |
| Example | Spiegelman, Art. MAUS II: And Here My Troubles Began. Pantheon, 1991. |
Comic Books
Comics can appear in many formats. Typically, the citation formats for collected editions follow the pattern for books; individual stories or chapters from a collected edition, the pattern for chapters; and individual issues, the pattern for periodicals insofar as they should include issue numbers.
It is the rare comic that has a single author; all examples below are for multiple authors.
Collected Edition
| General Format | Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Edited by Editor First Name Editor Last Name. Publisher, Year. |
| Example | Gaiman, Neil et al. Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes. Edited by Karen Berger, DC Comics, 1995. |
Chapter from a Collected Edition
| General Format | Chapter Author Last Name, Chapter Author First Name. "Title of Chapter." Title of Book, edited by Editor First Name Editor Last Name, Publisher, year, pp. startingpage-endingpage. |
| Example | Gaiman, Neil et al. "The Sound of Her Wings." Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes, edited by Karen Berger, DC Comics, 1995, pp. 210-234. |
Single Issue
| General Format | Author Last Name, First Name et al. Name of Story. Title of Comic Series, no. issue#. Publisher, Year. |
| Example | Gaiman, Neil et al. The Sound of Her Wings. Sandman, no. 8. DC Comics, 1989. |
Dissertations
| General Format | Author Last Name, Author First Name. Title of Dissertation. Year. Name of Institution, PhD dissertation. |
| Example | Boerman-Cornell, William. Learning to See History: A Content Analysis of the Affordances of Graphic Novels for High School Teaching. 1997. U of Illinois at Chicago, PhD dissertation. |
eBooks
Use this format for eBooks found on the web or in databases like EBSCO eBooks.
See the instructions for Books for how to cite edited works and works by two or more authors.
| General Format | Author Last Name, Author First Name. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Publisher, Year. Database, URL. |
| Example |
Merryman, Molly. Clipped Wings: The Rise and Fall of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) of World War II. New York University Press, 2020. EBSCO eBooks, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=2465407&site=ehost-live&scope=site. |
Print Encyclopedia - Entries
| General Format | Entry Author Last Name, Entry Author First Name, et al. "Title of Entry." Title of Reference Work, edited by Editor First Name Editor Last Name, vol. #, Publisher, Year, pp. firstpage-lastpage. |
| Example | Rosenkranz, Herbert. "Austria." Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, edited by Israel Gutman, vol. 1, MacMillan, 1989, pp.126-132. |
Online Encyclopedias - Entries
| General Format | Entry Author Last Name, Entry Author First Name, et al. "Title of Entry." Title of Reference Work, edited by Editor First Name Editor Last Name, edition, vol. #, Publisher, Year, pp. #-#. Name of Database. URL. |
| Example | Speace, Geri. "Maus." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, edited by Thomas Riggs, 2nd ed. vol. 3, St. James Press, 2013, pp. 501-502. Gale Virtual Reference Library. go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=tel_a_cbu&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CCX2735801775&asid=6c0eff02a29692d296826b6ecbd5f2ca. |
Generative AI
You should cite AI whenever you quote, summarize, or paraphrase something it generates.
Just like when you cite an author's work, your reader wants to know from where you received that information.
Refer to this post from MLA Style's blog to know how to cite generative AI in MLA style:
Chart or Graph from an Article in a Database
| General Format | Creator Last Name, Creator First Name. "Name of Image." Source of Image, vol. #, no. #, Year, p. #. Name of Database. URL. |
| Example | Ball, Robert, and Juan Pablo Hourcade. "The Three Display Conditions Used in the Study." International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, vol. 27, no. 11, 2011, p.1072. Academic Search Ultimate. search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=66285592&site=ehost-live&scope=site. |
Illustration from an Article in a Database
| General Format | "Name of Image." Source of Image, vol. #, no. #, Year, p.#. Name of Database. URL. |
| Example | "Literature." Education Next, vol. 11, no. 4, 2011, p. 89. Academic Onefile. link.gale.com/apps/doc/A267524319/AONE?u=tel_a_cbu&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=f887fb03. |
COPYRIGHT CONCERNS
Images--particularly photographs and illustrations--may be copyrighted: if so the copyright notice should accompany the image wherever you place it in your paper or presentation in addition to listing it in your bibliography. While you can use copyrighted material in the classroom without having to request permission, if you put your paper or presentation on the public web (such as, in a blog or on a personal website) you must have permission for any copyrighted material that you may have reproduced.
For further information see the Research Guide on Copyright.
Online Video
| General Format | Title of Video. Directed by First Name Last Name of director. Publisher, year, permalink. Accessed Day Month Year. |
| Example |
Tennessee: Memphis Mojo. Directed by Kelly Magelsky. The Television Syndication Company, 2012, https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=104145&xtid=145713. |
Film/Movie
| General Format | Title of Video. Directed by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Year. |
| Example | Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story. Directed by Robert Gordon et al., Tremolo Productions et al., 2007. |
Television or Radio Broadcast
| General Format | "Title of Episode." Title of Program or Series, hosted by Host First Name Last Name, Network, if applicable. Call letters, ;Local city, if applicable. Day Month Year of broadcast. |
| Example | "Frederick Douglass." Civil War Journal. Arts and Entertainment Network. 6 Apr. 1993. |
Sound Recording
| General Format | Creator Last Name, Creator First Name. Title of Piece. Performance by Performer First Name Performer Last Name, conducted by Conductor First Name Conductor Last Name. Recorded Day Month Year of recording. Label name, date of release. |
| Example | Beethoven, Ludwig van. Concerto for Piano & Orchestra No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 19: Concerto for Piano & Orchestra No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58. Performance by Leon Fleisher and the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by George Szell. Recorded 16 April 1961 and 10 Jan 1959. Sony Classical, 1992. |
Video Game with a Contributor
| General Format | Title of Video Game. Created by FirstName LastName, Publisher, Publication Year. Platform game. |
| Example | Cave Story. Created by Daisuke Amaya, Nicalis, 2004. PC game. |
Video Game without a Contributor
| General Format | Title of Video Game. Publisher Name, Publication Year. Platform game. |
| Example | Minecraft. Mojang, 2017. Nintendo Switch game. |
Blogs
| General Format | Blogger Last Name, Blogger First Name. Title of Blog. Year(s), URL. |
| Example |
Hartsell, Mark et al. Timeless: Stories from the Library of Congress. 2007-2024. https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/. |
Blog Postings
| General Format | Blogger Last Name, Blogger First Name. "Title of Blog Entry." Title of Blog, Day Month Year, Direct URL. |
| Example |
Zongker, Brett. "NASA and the Library Send Poetry into Space." Timeless: Stories from the Library of Congress, 25 October 2024, https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2024/10/poet-laureate/. |
Comments
| General Format | Commenter's handle. Comment on "Title of Article or Blog Entry." Title of Blog or Site, Day Month Year, time comment was made. Direct URL. |
| Example |
JudithEllen. Comment on "NASA and the Library Send Poetry into Space." Timeless Stories from the Library of Congress, 25 October 2024, 9:36 a.m. https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2024/10/poet-laureate/. |
Tweets
| General Format | Group Name or Author First Name Last Name. [@handle]. "Text of tweet." Twitter, Day Month Year, URL. |
| Example | [@krissbaird]. "We came, we saw, we met #LarrytheCat." Twitter, 21 July 2017, twitter.com/krissbaird/status/888433038723612672. |
Emails
| General Format | Email Sender. Email to Recipient First Name Recipient Last Name, Day Month Year. |
| Example | Coursera Staff. Email to Kay Cunningham. 17 June 2014. |
These examples pertain to pages purely designed for publication on the Web. Online journal articles and eBooks are treated differently. See the tabs devoted to them for more details.
Webpage with an Author
| General Format | Name of the Editor or Creator of Page. "Title of Web Page." Title of Overall Website if Different, Day Month Year publication as available. URL. Accessed Day Month Year. |
| Example | Smith, Kevin. "Copyright Follies." Scholarly Communications @ Duke. 30 April 2015. http://blogs.library.duke.edu/scholcomm/2015/04/30/copyright-follies/. |
Webpage with No Author
| General Format | "Title of Web Page." Title of Overall Website if Different. Site Publisher if available, Day Month Year created if available, URL. |
| Example | "Plough Library." Christian Brothers University, https://www.cbu.edu/library. |
Basic Reference
| General Format | Give the (Author Lastname page#). |
| Example | Studies have found that "marriages in which the parents share responsibilities tend to be the happiest" (Levine 222). |
Author's Name in Text
| General Format | Give the (page#). |
| Example | Levine reports that parents with shared responsibilities have the happiest marriages (222). |
650 E Parkway S, Memphis, TN 38104 · (901) 321-3432
