MLA Citation Guidelines

A Brief Guide for Citing Sources in the MLA Style November 2009

          Double-space the entire list. 


          Entries are arranged alphabetically by the author’s last name or, in the case of anonymous 
works, by title. 


          New entries begin at the left-hand margin with subsequent lines for the same entry indented one-half inch. 


          Italicize the titles of books, periodicals, databases, and Web sites. Use “quotation marks” for the titles of periodical articles, essays, book chapters and Web pages. 


         Finish the citation with the medium consulted (“Web” and “Print” are used for our examples, but “CD,” “Radio,” “Television” and many others are possible). 
This guide to citing resources in the MLA (Modern Language Association) style was adapted by the reference staff at the Schauerman Library from the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th ed. (2009), and gives examples of the most commonly used citations. For further or more complete information, please consult the “Handbook,” which is kept at the Reference Desk. 
Books in General 
To cite books by one author 
Morrison, Jim. The Lords and the New Creatures. New York: Touchstone, 1971. Print. 
The basic work cited entry includes author, title, and publication information. Take this information from the title page of the book itself, rather than from some secondary source, such as a library catalog. Publisher information is reduced to the absolute minimum: Touchstone Press on the title page becomes Touchstone; University Press becomes UP; Vintage Books becomes Vintage. Finish the citation with the medium of publication, in this case “Print.” 
By two or three authors 
McCrum, Robert, William Cram, and Robert MacNeil. The Story of English. 3rd ed. London: Faber and Faber, 2002. Print. 
The lead author’s name alone is reversed for alphabetizing; second and third authors’ names revert to the normal order and are not alphabetized within the citation, but are listed in the order they appear on the title page. Unless otherwise stated, assume the book is a first edition. If a later edition is specified on the title page, include the information after the title of the book. 


Begin the bibliography, or more properly the “works cited” list, on a separate sheet following the text of your paper but continuing the same pagination.

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More than three authors

Chu, Clara, et al. Internet Multicultural Resources. Huntington Park, CA: South State Cooperative Lib. System, 1997. Print.

The lead author alone is identified by name; coauthors are reduced to the status “et al,” an abbreviation for the Latin “et alia,” meaning “and others.” You may, however, list all the authors in full as they appear on the title page.

Two or more books by the same author

Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. New York: Vintage, 1991. Print. - - -. My Wicked, Wicked Ways. Bloomington, IN: Third Woman, 1987. Print.

Give the author’s name for the first publication only. Basic publication information includes the city alone, but if the city is not well known (as well known as London, Tokyo, and New York, for example) include an abbreviation for country, state, or province.

By a group or a corporate author

Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee. Official Olympic Souvenir Program: Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad. Los Angeles: The Committee, 1984. Print.

Anonymous publication

Camping on the Coast without a Permit. Santa Barbara, CA: Home Grown, 1972. Print.
For anonymous publications, begin your citation with the title and alphabetize the work in your

bibliography by title, rather than author.

Book with an author and editor or translator

Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. 1847. Ed. David Daiches. London: Penguin, 1985. Print. Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. T.E. Lawrence. London: Oxford UP, 1972. Print.

Poem, short story, chapter, or other work in an anthology

Johnston, Mary. “The Merrimac and the Monitor.” Men at War. Ed. Ernest Hemingway. New York: Crown, 1942. 493-502. Print.

In addition to the basic book publication information include the author and title of the work cited, the editor or translator of the collection, and the inclusive pages for the work.

Government publication

United States. Dept. of Labor. Occupational Outlook Handbook: 2009-09 Library Edition. Washington: GPO, 2008. Print.

If the publication is anonymous, cite the responsible government agency. If the document has an author, the citation may begin with either the author’s name or the agency.

Critical essay reprinted in a collection

Stone, Laurie. “Personal Best: What’s New in Towne.” Village Voice 11 Mar. 1982: 52-53.
Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Christopher Giroux. Vol. 87. Detroit: Gale, 1995.

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366-369. Print.

To cite an essay in a collection that has been previously published elsewhere, give the earlier publication information followed by “Rpt. in” (meaning “Reprinted in”). Always cite the source you are using; do not pretend you saw the article in the original publication.

Work from a Taking Sides book
Example of an article/essay previously published; title of article/essay unchanged
Roche, John P. “The Founding Fathers: A Reform Caucus in Action.” American Political Science

Review 55.4 (1961). Rpt. in Taking Sides: Clashing Views in United States History, Volume 1, the Colonial Period to Reconstruction. 13th ed. Ed. Larry Madaras and James M. SoRelle. Boston: McGraw, 2009. 114-125. Print. Taking Sides.

Since the Taking Sides books are primarily collections of articles or essays that were originally published in other sources such as journals or books, it is necessary to indicate that an article/essay is reprinted in (“Rpt. in”) a specific Taking Sides title. Information on the original source should also be included, and it can be found usually footnoted at the beginning of the article/essay. In this case, the original title was not changed. (If the original title was changed, use the Opposing Viewpoints example below to guide you.) Add the editor(s), publication information, the page numbers of the article, medium of publication, and series title.

Work from an Opposing Viewpoints book
Example of an article/essay previously published; title of article/essay changed Harrison, Mark. “Privatizing Education Would Be Beneficial.” Education. Ed. David Haugen

and Susan Musser. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2009. 82-91. Print. Opposing Viewpoints Ser. Rpt. of “Public Problems, Private Solutions: School Choice and Its Consequences.” Cato Journal 25 (2005): 203-212.

The Opposing Viewpoints books, like the Taking Sides books, are primarily collections. In the example given above, the title of the previously published article changed when it was included in the Opposing Viewpoints book. In this case, first indicate the new title and publication facts, followed by “Rpt. of” (“Reprint of”), the original title, and the original publication facts.

Reference Works An anonymous article

“Azimuthal Equidistant Projection.” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. 2003. Print. For standard reference works reappearing often in new editions, include only the edition and year of

publication.

An article in a reference work, signed

Honderich, Ted. “Determinism and Freedom.” Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Donald M. Borchert. Vol. 3. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2006. Print.

For less familiar reference works, give complete publication information.

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Periodical Literature (Newspapers, Magazines, Scholarly Journals)

An article in a newspaper

Hawkins, Edwina. “Housing Starts Go Down the Tubes.” South Bay News and Review [Redondo Beach] 2 June 2009, late ed.: A1+. Print.

When citing a newspaper, give the name in italics as it appears on the masthead, omitting any introductory articles (“a,” “the”). If a local paper does not include the city of publication in its title, supply this information in brackets: for example, Daily Breeze [Torrance]. Include the edition, as different editions of the same issue may include different material.

An article in a magazine

Poniewozik, James. “A Modern Jurassic Family: Discovery’s Digital Dinos Mix Fact and Guesswork.” Time 17 Apr. 2000: 80. Print.

If an article continues on consecutive pages, show the range after the colon (e.g. 80-5). If a multi- page article is not printed on consecutive pages, include the first page and a plus sign (80+).

An article in a scholarly journal

Caesar, Judith. “Murakami and the Inklings.” Explicator 67.1 (2008): 26-30. Print.

Include the journal title in italics, the volume number and issue number (if available) and year (in parentheses), a colon, and the page numbers. In our example 67.1 is the first issue of the 67th volume.

Documents from a Subscription Service/Database If you are citing a periodical article, begin the entry by citing the article as you would a newspaper, magazine, or journal entry in print. If pagination is not available, use “n. pag.” Conclude your citation with these three elements: Title of the database in italics, medium of publication (Web) and date of access (day, month, and year). If you 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. are citing a nonperiodical document, record the following information in sequence: Title of the document in quotation marks Title of the print source italicized (if the nonperiodical work you are citing also appeared in print, for example, an Encyclopedia Britannica entry) Date of publication (if the nonperiodical work you are citing also appeared in print) Title of the database italicized Medium of publication (Web) Date accessed (day, month, and year) Examples of citations are given below for databases available through El Camino College.

Alt HealthWatch Shulman, Laina. “Hydrate and Rejuvenate.” Alive: Canadian Journal of Health May 2008: 68-69. Alt HealthWatch. Web. 9 Oct. 2008.

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Britannica Online Academic Edition “Mauna Kea.” Encyclopedia Britannica. 2008. [Encyclopedia] Britannica Online Academic Edition. Web. 1 Oct. 2008.

Business Source Premier Nelson, Teresa and Laurie L. Levesque. “The Status of Women in Corporate Governance in High-Growth, High-Potential Firms.” Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice 31.2 (2007): 209- 32. Business Source Premier. Web. 30 Sept. 2008.

CINAHL Plus with Full Text Traynor, K. “Stakeholders Seek to Prevent I.V. Medication Errors.” American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy 65.16 (2008):1494+. CINAHL Plus With Full Text. Web. 1 Oct. 2008.

CountryWatch “Country Review: Australia.” CountryWatch 2005. CountryWatch. Web. 5 Sept. 2005. Note: The Country Review documents were originally published in print so “CountryWatch 2005” in the above example refers to the print version. It is followed by “CountryWatch “ as the title of the database.

CQ Researcher Billitteri, Thomas J. "Afghanistan Dilemma." CQ Researcher 7 Aug. 2009: 669-692. CQ Researcher Online. Web. 2 Sept. 2009.

(EBSCOhost) Academic Search Premier Alkalay-Gut, Karen. “Literary Dialogues: Rock and Victorian Poetry.” Poetics Today 21.1 (2000): 33-60. Academic Search Premier. Web. 9 Oct. 2008.

(EBSCOhost) MasterFILE Premier Karlgaard, Rich. "Our Health Care Crisis: Age, Obesity, Lawyers." Forbes 7 Sep. 2009: 19. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 2 Sept. 2009.

ERIC Corral, Will H. and Daphne Patai. “An End to Foreign Languages, An End to Liberal Arts.” Chronicle of Higher Education June 2008: A30. ERIC. Web. 9 Oct. 2008.

Ethnic NewsWatch Chesanow, David. “Leading the Way: Asian American Artists of the Older Generation.” International Examiner 15 May 2001: 22. Ethnic NewsWatch. Web. 11 Oct. 2001.

Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia "Sierra Nevada." [n.d.] Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. Web. 14 Oct. 2008.

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Gale Literary Databases "Gabriel Garcia Marquez." Contemporary Authors Online. 14 Dec. 2007. Gale Literary Databases. Web. 23 Nov. 2009.

GreenFILE Magdoff, Fred. “The Political Economy and Ecology of Biofuels.” Monthly Review: An Independent Socialist Magazine Jul.-Aug. 2008: 34-50. GreenFILE. Web. 8 Oct. 2008.

Health and Wellness Resource Center “Ulterior Transactions.” Mosby’s Medical, Nursing, & Allied Health Dictionary. 5th ed. 1998. Health and Wellness Resource Center. Web. 14 Dec. 2001.

Health Reference Center: Academic Tenore, Josie L. “Challenges in Eating Disorders: Past and Present.” American Family Physician 64 (2001): 367. Health Reference Center. Web. 17 Oct. 2002. Health Source: Consumer Edition Weider, Joe. “Turning Back the Clock.” Joe Weider’s Muscle & Fitness June 2002: 22. Health Source: Consumer Edition. Web. 27 Sept. 2002. Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition Rubin, Peter. “When Medical Students Go Off The Rails.” BMJ: British Medical Journal 325 (2002): 556. Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition. Web. 4 Oct. 2002.

Issues and Controversies “Drug Legalization." Issues and Controversies on File 5 Jan. 2001. Issues and Controversies. Web. 11 Oct. 2001.

JSTOR Arts and Sciences Levine, George. “Frankenstein and the Tradition of Realism.” NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction 7 (1973): 14-30. JSTOR. Web. 2 Oct. 2008.

Literature Resource Center Cardwell, Sarah. “Jane Austen on Screen.” The Modern Language Review 100.3 (2005): 793. Literature Resource Center. Web. 7 Oct. 2008.

Newspaper Source Brand, Madeline. “How to Capture Sound on a Piece of Paper.” Day to Day (National Public Radio) 27 Mar. 2008. Newspaper Source. Web. 7 Oct. 2008.

Professional Development Collection Hiser, Krist. “Taking Faculty Development Online.” Diverse: Issues in Higher Education 25.14 (2008): 19. Professional Development Collection. Web. 7 Oct. 2008.

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ProQuest National Newspapers Core Zernike, Kate. “School Puts a New Spin on Earth Day after Suit.” New York Times 29 Apr. 2000, East Coast late ed.: B5+. ProQuest National Newspapers Core. Web. 1 May 2000.

Psychology and Behavioral Science Collection Schredl, Michael and Daniel Erlacher. “Self-Reported Effects of Dreams on Waking-Life Creativity: An Empirical Study.” Journal of Psychology 141.1 (2007): 35-46. Psychology and Behavioral Science Collection. Web. 7 Oct. 2008.

Regional Business News Cruz, Sherri. “Fashion Island Lands County’s First Pinkberry Store.” Orange County Business Journal 24 Sept. 2007:27. Regional Business News. Web. 19 Feb. 2009. Religion and Philosophy Collection Shenk, Joshua Wolf. “America’s Altered States.” Harper’s Magazine May 1999: 38+. Religion and Philosophy Collection. Web. 7 Oct. 2008.

Science Online Junge, Wolfgang, and Nathan Nelson. “Nature’s Rotary Electromotors.“ Science 29 Apr. 2005: 642-44. Science Online. Web. 5 Mar. 2009.

Today’s Science “The Strange Chemistry of Jupiter’s Moons.” Today’s Science on File Oct. 2001. Today’s Science. Web. 21 Dec. 2001.

Vocational and Career Collection Dodson, Thomas A., and DiAnne L. Borders. “Men in Traditional and Nontraditional Careers: Gender Role Attitudes, Gender Role Conflict, and Job Satisfaction.” Career Development Quarterly 54.4 (2006): 293-296. Vocational and Career Collection. Web. 7 Oct. 2008.

Other Web Resources

To cite a source from the Web, include as much of the following information as is available:

1.            Name of the author/editor of a source such as a Web page or document, and if appropriate, 
followed by an abbreviation such as ed. for editor. 


2.            Title of the page or document in quotation marks; title of an online book or name of an entire 
Internet site in italics. 


3.            Title of the overall Web site in italics, if distinct from above. 


4.            Any version numbers available. 


5.            Publisher or sponsor of site. If this is not available, use “N.p.” 


6.            Date of posting/publication. If nothing is available, use “n.d” 


7.            Medium of publication. (Web). 


8.            The date of access/your visit to the site (day, month, year). 


9.            Include the URL in angle brackets only if the document cannot be found without it, or if your 
instructor requires it. 


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1) Basic format for a page on a Web site

Last name, first name of author. “Title of document.” Name of Web site.
Name of organization associated with the site (sometimes found by clicking on a link leading to information on another page), date of posting. Medium of publication (Web). Date you accessed the site.

Example:

Nails, Debra. “Socrates.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Center for the Study of Lang. and Info. Stanford U, 16 Sept. 2005. Web. 27 May 2009.

2) Basic format for an entire Web site

Name of the site. Editor if available. Name of organization associated with
the site, date of posting. Medium of publication. Date you accessed the site.

Example:
Si, Spain. Ed. Jose Felix Barrio. Vers. 3.0. Embassy of Spain, Ottawa, May 2003. Web.

27 May 2009.

3) Basic format for an online government publication

Name of the government. Name of government agency. Publication title. Name of the author
if known, preceded by the word “By.” Date of posting. Medium of publication. Date of access.

Example:

United States. Dept. of Justice. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Law Enforcement and Juvenile Crime. By Howard N. Snyder. Dec. 2001. Web. 29 June 2002.

4) Basic format for an eBook accessed from the El Camino College Library Catalog

Author’s last name, first name. Title of the book. Place of publication: publisher, date of publication. NetLibrary. Medium of publication. Date of access.

Example:

Mackell, Thomas J., Jr. When the Good Pensions Go Away: Why Americans Need a New Deal for Pension and Health Care Reform. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2008. NetLibrary.
Web. 12 May 2009.

Revised 11/30/09

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