MLA- Modern Language Association
Citing Sources within Your Document
Journals, Magazines and Newspapers
Select an example to view from the following menu:
1. Journal Article with Consecutive Pagination
Most scholarly and professional journals have continuous page numbers throughout the year. The first issue of the year begins with page 1, then the second issue picks up where the first drops off (say, page 98), the third issue picks up where the second drops off (say, page 201), etc. For journals like these, you should cite the volume number, followed by the year.
Format:
Last Name of Author, First Name of Author. "Title of Article." Title of Journal (space, but no punctuation) volume number (year of publication): page numbers.
Example:
Brown, Sterling. "Arcadia, South Carolina." Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life 12 (1934): 59-60.
2. Journal Article with Non-Consecutive Pagination
Some journals begin each issue with the number "1". In cases like this, you should cite the volume number followed by a period, the issue number, and the year.
Format:
Last Name of Author, First Name of Author. "Title of Article." Title of Journal (space, but no punctuation) volume number.issue number (year of publication): page numbers.
Example:
Clifford, James. "On Ethnographic Authority." Representations 1.2 (1983): 118-46.
3. Weekly or Biweekly Magazine Article
Format:
Last Name of Author, First Name of Author. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine (space, but no punctuation) day month (abbreviated version) and year of publication: page numbers. [Use the first page of the article followed by "+" if the article appears on non-consecutive pages.]
Example:
Axthelm, Pete. "Up Front: America's First Poet Laureate, Robert Penn Warren, Was a Wise and Eloquent Son of the South." People Weekly 2 Oct. 1989: 46.
4. Monthly or Bimonthly Magazine Article
Format:
Last Name of Author, First Name of Author. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine (space, but no punctuation) month (abbreviated version) and year of publication: page numbers. [Use the first page of the article followed by "+" if the article appears on non-consecutive pages.]
Example:
Lemley, Brad. "The Underground Architect." New Age Jan.-Feb. 1995: 66+.
If the city of publication is not in the newspaper's title, include it via square brackets: Commercial Appeal [Nashville]. It is not necessary to give volume and issue numbers, even if they appear on the paper. However, if an edition appears on the newspaper's masthead, you should list that after the date and specify the edition (as many newspapers publish multiple editions) as in the following example.
Format:
Last Name of Author, First Name of Author. "Title of Article." Title of Newspaper (minus articles like "the") day (space) month (abbreviated version) and year of publication, specific edition (if applicable): page numbers. [Use the first page of the article followed by "+" if the article appears on non-consecutive pages.]
Example:
Pickens, William. "Negro Literature." [Columbia, S.C.] Palmetto Leader 29 Aug. 1925: 4.