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Citing Sources within Your Document

The MLA's in-text citation system follows a parenthetical format emphasizing authors and page numbers rather than dates. The logic behind this approach stems from the fact that texts in the humanities remain authoritative and relevant far longer than those in other fields, particularly the "hard" sciences.

The general format is quite simple. Each citation includes the last name of the author and the specific page number where the material will be found. Placed inside parentheses, the citation appears just before the period at the end of the sentence. In the case of quoted material, the citation is placed between the final quotation mark and the period at the end of the sentence.

MLA in-text formatting rules are as follows:

• One space goes between the author's name and the page number.
• Punctuation and page abbreviations ("p." or "pp.") are not required.

Specific rules depend on whether or not an author's name is mentioned in the sentence where the citation occurs. Go to "Examples of MLA In-Text Formatting Rules" to view examples of how to apply the basic formatting rules in each of these situations. Go to "Examples of MLA Variations to In-Text Formatting Rule" to view specific variations to these rules.

Examples of MLA In-Text Formatting Rules

1. Author's Name Not Included in the Sentence

Format:
When the author's name is not included in the sentence, both the last name of the author and the page number should be cited in parentheses.

Example:

By taking on such an "unladylike" project as the representation of black life, Peterkin managed to offend, in one way or another, quite a few Southerners, including all of the men in her family: her father, her husband, and her brother (Thompson 16).

2. Author's Name Included in the Sentence

Format:
When the author's name is included in the sentence, you may omit this name from the parentheses to avoid redundancy, using only the page numbers.

Example:

James Henry Rice, Jr., a South Carolina naturalist and author, claimed that Gonzales had "rescued the 'Gullah' of the sea islands and the rice plantations from oblivion, into which it was fast descending" (241).

MLA Directory of Variations to In-Text Formatting Rules

1. Citing an Unknown Author

Format:
In cases where you are citing an anonymous source, or a source for which the author is unknown, use a shortened version of the title. It is important that the shortened title you use points your reader to the appropriate entry in the works cited list. For this reason, you will probably want to include the word in the full title which determines how that title is alphabetized in the works cited list. Also make sure that you punctuate the shortened title appropriately, as with the article title in the example below.

Example:

One anonymous review, appearing in the New York Times Book Review, boldly asserted that "Mrs. Peterkin of South Carolina is one of the first to write a book unaffectedly about negroes, without conscious or unconscious belittling mockery in view of superior white advancement" ("Again" 122).

2. Citing Web or Internet Sources

Format:
When you cite an Internet Source, you need only to use the last name of the author (or the shortened title, if the source is anonymous). Since most sources from the Internet or Web are not paginated in the same way that print sources are, you may forgo the use of page numbers.

Example:

These types of information are indispensable when citing electronic sources (Walker).

3. Citing Author Appearing More than Once in Works Cited

Format:
When you are working with more than one source by the same author in your paper, you need to make sure that you specify which source you are using by citing the shortened version of the title along with the author's name. In a case like this, you do use punctuation, placing a comma between the author's name and the shortened title, but just a space between the shortened title and the page numbers.

Example:

But he ends his article with a tactful, diplomatic suggestion that "the exploration of Negro life and character rather than its exploitation must come from Negro authors themselves" (Brown, "Character" 203).

4. Citing Two or More Authors with Same Last Name in Works Cited

Format:
When your works cited list includes sources written by two (or more) different authors with the same last name, you will need to specify the author's name by including a first initial. (In cases where the authors share the first initial as well, you will need to cite full first names.)

Example:

He asserts that this Creole language has been in use for four centuries in the area (R. Smith 67).

5. Citing Sources with Two or Three Authors

Format:
When you are using a source written by two or three authors cite the last names of all of the authors, being sure to write the names in the same order in the corresponding works cited entry.

Example:

The Gullah Creole was situated in the middle of this debate (Stoney and Shelby 2).

6. Citing Sources with More Than Three Authors

Format:
When you are using a source written by more than three authors, cite the last name of the first author listed on the source and then insert the abbreviation "et al." (Latin for "and others") in the place of the following names.

Example:

This theory was, however, tremendously controversial (Wilder et al. 42).

7. Citing Sources with Corporate Authors

The term "corporate author" refers to groups of people who are responsible for producing documents, whether they be commissions, associations, committees, organizations, or any other like group. When a corporate author (like "American Medical Association") is named on a title page of a work, no individual authors are normally given. The name of a corporate author is treated just like the name of an individual author in the works cited list. See below for the format for parenthetical documentation when citing corporate authors.

Format:
MLA suggests that writers incorporate the name of the corporate author into the sentence in order to avoid having an overly lengthy parenthetical reference at the end of the sentence. (However, including the name in parentheses is allowable as well.)

Example:

The grant proposal submitted by Bas Bleu Theatre Company reflects this need (17).

8. Citing an Indirect "Second-hand" Source

Format:
Remember that you can't treat a source like you have it in hand unless you actually have it in hand (or the electronic equivalent of "in hand," of course). If you want to cite an idea or quote which one of your sources uses, you need to indicate that this is a "second-hand" source by showing in your citation that this information is quoted in (qtd. in) the source you actually have in hand.

Example:

Julia Peterkin, for instance, envisioned the black folk as sufferers in "a patient struggle with fate, and not in any race conflict at all" (qtd. in Clark 219).

9. Citing Sources with Multiple Volumes

Format:
When you are citing a multivolume source, be sure to indicate in the parentheses which particular volume you are citing.

Example:

In ancient times, astrological predictions were sometimes used as a kind of black magic (Sarton 2: 319).

10. Citing Novels and Short Stories

Format:
When citing literary works, it is often necessary to include books, numbers, chapter numbers, verses, lines, acts, scenes, or other appropriate section types.

Example:

In A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens describes the aptly named Stryver, who "had a pushing way of shouldering himself (morally and physically) into companies and conversations, that argued well for his shouldering his way up in life" (110; bk. 2, ch. 4).

11. Citing Plays

Format:
When citing literary works, it is often necessary to include books, numbers, chapter numbers, verses, lines, acts, scenes, or other appropriate section types.

Example:

Taking on such an "unladylike" project as the representation of Love, Iago says, "is merely a lust of the blood and a permission of the will" (Othello 1.3.326).

12. Citing Poems

Format:
When citing literary works, it is often necessary to include books, numbers, chapter numbers, verses, lines, acts, scenes, or other appropriate section types.

Example:

"The world is too much with us; late and soon/Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers" (lines 1-2).

13. Citing Two or More Authors Contributing to a Fact or Idea

Format:
If you wish to cite two or more authors as contributors to a particular idea you are using in your paper, you may cite both names as you normally would in the parentheses. Simply separate them with a semicolon.

Example:

However, African American scholars have normally suggested just the opposite (Brown 15-16; Turner 80-87). " up to Menu

14. Citing an Entire Work

Format:
When referring to an entire work like a book, study, or article (rather than to a specific part of the work), it is best to paraphrase the information being used. This way, the author's name (or the name of the work, if it is anonymous), is mentioned in the sentence, but there is no need for particular documentation at the end of the sentence.

Example:

Turner's study served to redirect radically the discourse on Gullah that had developed to that point.

Note: Even though there is no formal parenthetical documentation here, Turner's work should appear in the works cited list.

Citing Sources at the End of Your Document

The end documentation in the MLA system is called a Works Cited page. It is a list located at the end of a document or book and contains all the bibliographic information needed to find out more about cited source material.

This list is a selective bibliography and does not include a full accounting of sources related to or consulted before you began writing your document, but only those actually cited.

Proper MLA documentation depends on this list. Without it the in-text citations would make little sense as they would no longer be pointing to corresponding entries in the end documentation.

MLA Works Cited Formatting

MLA Works Cited formatting rules call for the end documentation to begin on a new page at the end of your document and that it carry the next sequential number available. For instance, if your paper is 6½ pages long, the Works Cited should begin on page 8, not halfway down page 7.

Note: Unless otherwise informed, you can count on your instructor not counting the Works Cited page into the total count of an eight page assignment.

The page itself should be formatted in the following way:

• The title of the page-Works Cited-should be centered one inch from the top of the page.
• Double space between the title and the first entry, then double space all entries.

Individual entries should be formatted in the following way:

• The first line of an entry is flush with the left margin.
• When the entry has a second line, give that line a hanging indent five spaces in from the margin.
• Entries are listed alphabetically by author: last name first.
• Use only one space after periods and colons.
• Spell out months containing up to four letters; abbreviate all others to three letters (i.e., July, Dec.).

Specific rules depend on whether or not an author's name is mentioned in the sentence where the citation occurs. Go to "MLA Directory of Works Cited Formatting Rules" to view examples of how to apply the basic formatting rules in each of these situations. Go to "MLA Directory of Variations to Works Cited Formatting Rules" to view specific variations to these rules.

Note: These directories include only the most common formatting rules. If what you are looking for is not covered in them, please go to Additional MLA Resources for more information. When formatting online Web site and Internet sources becomes confusing, clarify expectations with your instructor.

MLA Directory of Works Cited Formatting Rules

Books, Anthologies and Collections

1. Book with One Author

Format:
Author's Last Name, Author's First Name. Title. Place of Publication: Name of Publisher [with words like "university" and "press" reduced to initials], Year of Publication.

Example:

Creel, Margaret Washington. A Peculiar People: Slave Religion and Community-Culture Among the Gullahs. New York and London: New York U P, 1988.

2. Book with Two or Three Authors

Format:
Last Name of First Author Listed, First Name of First Author Listed, First Name of Second Author Listed (Space) Second Name of Second Author Listed, and First Name of Third Author Listed (Space) Second Name of Third Author Listed. Title. Place of Publication: Name of Publisher, Year of Publication.

Example:

Gross, Seymour L. and John Edward Hardy. Images of the Negro in American Literature. Chicago and London: U of Chicago P, 1966.

3. Book with Four or More Authors

Format:
Last Name of First Author Listed, First Name of First Author Listed, et al. Title. Place of Publication: Name of Publisher, Year of Publication.

Example:

Roark, James L., et al. The American Promise. Boston: Bedford, 1998.

4. Edited Book

Format:
Last Name of Editor, First Name of Editor, ed. Title. Place of Publication: Name of Publisher, Year of Publication.

Example:

Anderson, Mary Crow, ed. Two Scholarly Friends: Yates Snowden--John Bennett Correspondence, 1902-1932. Columbia, S.C.: U of South Carolina P, 1993.

5. Book Editions

Format:
Last Name of Author, First Name of Author. Title. Number of Edition (e.g. 2nd ed.). Place of Publication: Name of Publisher, Year of Publication.

Example:

Reid, Stephen. The Prentice Hall Guide for College Writers. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1998.

6. Republished Book

Format:
Last Name of Author, First Name of Author. Title. Date of First Publication. Place of New Publication: Publisher, Date of New Publication.

Example:

Clark, Emily. Innocence Abroad. 1931. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1975.

7. Multivolume Book

Format:
Last Name of Author, First Name of Author. Title of Multivolume Work. Editor's Name [if there is an editor]. Number of Volumes. Place of Publication: Name of Publisher, Year of Publication.

Example:

Out of Many: A History of the American People. 2 vols. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice, 1994.

8. Reference Book

Format:
Last Name of Author, First Name of Author (if author's name is given). "Title of Entry or Article." Title of Dictionary or Encyclopedia. Edition. Place of Publication: Publisher (if given), Year of Publication.

Example:

Binder, Raymond C., et al. "Mathematical Aspects of Physical Theories." Encyclopedia Britannica: Macropaedia. 15th ed. 1993.

9. An Isolated Source Taken from an Anthology or Collection

Format:
Last Name of Author of Work Within the Collection, First Name of Author of Work Within the Collection. "Title of Work Within the Collection." Title of Collection. Ed. Name of Editor(s) of the Collection. Edition number (if applicable). Place of Publication of Collection: Publisher of Collection, Year of Publication of Collection. Page Numbers Within the Collection Where the Work Can Be Found.

Example:

Ortiz, Simon. "The Language We Know." Living Languages: Contexts for Reading and Writing. Ed. Nancy Buffington, Marvin Diogenes, and Clyde Moneyhun. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1997. 40-47.

10. Cross-Referenced Sources from an Anthology or Collection

When you are using several sources from the same anthology or collection, you may use a shorthand method of citing these sources. Simply create a full entry for the anthology or collection, and cross-reference the individual pieces to that entry.

Format:
Last Name of Author of Work Within the Collection, First Name of Author of Work Within the Collection. "Title of Work Within the Collection." Last Names of Editors of the Collection (space) Page Numbers Within the Collection Where the Work Can Be Found.

Example: (along with full entry for the collection itself)

Buffington, Nancy, Marvin Diogenes, and Clyde Moneyhun, eds. Living Languages: Contexts for Reading and Writing. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1997. Ortiz, Simon. "The Language We Speak." Buffington, Diogenes, and Moneyhun 40-47. Witherspoon, Abigail. "This Pen for Hire." Buffington, Diogenes, and Moneyhun 173-82.

Journals, Magazines and Newspapers

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+.

5. Newspaper Article

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.

Dissertations and Theses

Format for a dissertation or thesis varies according to whether it is published or unpublished.

1. Unpublished Dissertation or Thesis

Format:
Last Name of Author, First Name of Author. "Title of Dissertation or Thesis." Descriptive Label for Type of Document (Diss. or Thesis). Name of Degree Granting Institution, year written.

Example:

Hughey, Annie Catherine. "The Treatment of the Negro in South Carolina Fiction." Thesis. U of South Carolina, 1933.

2. Published Dissertation or Thesis

If a dissertation or thesis has been published by University Microfilms International (UMI) or by another publisher, you treat it like a book, but include relevant information about the dissertation or thesis before it was published.

Format:
Last Name of Author, First Name of Author. Title of Dissertation or Thesis. Descriptive Label for Type of Document (Diss. or Thesis). Degree-granting University, Date. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. UMI Order Number (if relevant).

Example:

Lavely, Marcia Marvin. A Study of American Literature which Incorporates the Use of the Gullah Dialect (Sea Islands). Diss. U. of Mississippi, 1991. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1998. 9216069.

Media and Field Sources

In papers, we often find ourselves citing sources that aren't written documents, such as radio interviews, films, and television shows. Choose one of the following commonly used formats from the directory below:

1. Films

Note: If citing the work of a specific individual associated with the film, begin the citation with that person's name and an abbreviated indicator. For example: Branagh, Kenneth, perf. Much Ado About Nothing... or Steven Spielberg, dir. Saving Private Ryan...

Format:
Title of Film. Dir. Followed by Name of the Director. Perf. Followed by Names of Central Actors/Performers. Name of Distributor, Year of Distribution.

Example:

High Art. Dir. Lisa Cholodenko. Perf. Ally Sheedy and Radha Mitchell. October Films, 1998.

2. Recordings

There are many different formats for different types of recordings. What follows is a fairly standard type of entry for a modern musical recording, but if you are trying to document a spoken word recording or other variations on musical recordings, you might want to consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed).

Format:
Performer(s). "Title of Song." Title of Compact Disc. Manufacturer, Year of Release.

Example:

Griffith, Nanci. "The Power Lines." Late Night Grande Hotel. MCA Records, 1991.

3. Television or Radio Programs

Format:
"Title of Episode or Program" (if appropriate). Names of Narrator, Director, Performers, or other Relevant Participants. Title of Program. Title of the Series (if any). Name of the Network. Call Letters and City of the Local Station (if any).

Example:

"The Last Place: Diary of a Retirement Home." Prod. Joe Richman. All Things Considered. National Public Radio. 10 Aug. 1998.

4. Lectures or Speeches

Format:
Last Name of Lecturer or Speaker, First Name of Lecturer or Speaker. "Title or Description of Speech/Lecture." Meeting and Sponsoring Organization (if applicable). Place of Event, Day Month (abbreviated version) Year of Event.

Example:

Sofos, John. "Food Safety in the 90's." Colorado State U. Ft. Collins, 23 Oct. 1998.

5. Interviews Conducted by the Writer

Format:
Last Name of Person You Interviewed, First Name of Person You Interviewed. Personal interview. Day(s) Month (abbreviated) Year of Interview.

Note: If your interview was conducted over the telephone or email, insert "Telephone interview" or "Email interview" in the place of "Personal interview."

Example:

Neuhoff, Christine S. Personal interview. 15 Sep. 1998.

6. Surveys Conducted by the Writer

Format:
Name of Survey. Personal Survey. Day Month (abbreviated version) Year of Survey.

Example:

Human Rights Ordinances Questionnaire. Personal survey. 5 Oct. 1998.

Electronic Sources

1. Portable Periodical Databases

Information is often collected in portable databases such as CD-ROM, diskette, or magnetic tapes. Just as print journals, newspapers, magazines, and indexes are published and updated periodically, so are some of these; they should be treated like similarly, with additional information about the electronic format:

1. title of database,
2. publication medium (like "CD-ROM," "Diskette," or "Magnetic Tape"),
3. name of the vendor (the manufacturer or distributor of the CD-ROM, etc.), if relevant, and
4. date of electronic publication (which is likely to be different from the date of print publication).

Format:
Last Name of Author [when there is an author], First Name of Author. "Title of Article in the Database." Journal or Book in Which the Print Version Could be Found. Day Month (abbreviated version) and Year of publication of the print version, Information about Edition, Release, or Version (if relevant): Page Numbers. Title of Database. Publication Medium (i.e., CD-ROM, Diskette, or Magnetic Tape). Vendor of the Database. Date of electronic publication.

Example:

"The Events of Yesterday." The Charleston Mercury 28 Dec. 1860. The Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective. CD-ROM. Folio Corporation. 1990.

2. Portable Non-Periodical Databases

Unlike online databases, which exist on a computer service or network and subject to continual revision, formats for sources on CD-ROM, diskette, or magnetic tape vary according to whether or not the database is published periodically.

Non-periodical databases, like books, are published at a single, specific time. They might be updated, or different versions of them might be issued, but updates/versions are not released in any regular manner. Because these databases are like books, they should be treated like them as much as possible, with an entry listing the basic bibliographic information first, then adding in the information specific to the electronic medium.

Format:
[What follows is the format for a typical entry of this kind.]

Author's Last Name [if author is given], Author's First Name. "Title of the Part of the Work" (if relevant, and underlined if it is a book-length source). Title of Database or Product. Edition, Release, or Version (if relevant). Publication Medium [i.e., CD-ROM, Diskette, or Magnetic Tape]. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.

Example:

Sheehy, Donald, ed. Robert Frost: Poems, Life, Legacy. CD-ROM. New York: Holt, 1997.

3. Computer Software

Format:
Title of Software. Version. Medium. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.

Example:

Electronic Supplements for Real Writing: 1. Interactive Writing Software. Vers. 1. Diskette. Boston: Bedford, 1998.

Internet Sources

1. Reference or Scholarly Project Databases

Note: Not all of the following information will be available in every case.

Format:
Author's name if given, last name first. "Title of Short Work Within the Database or Scholarly Project." [if citing a particular part] Title of Database or Scholarly Project. Name of Editor, if given. Version [if applicable]. Date of Electronic Publication or Last Update. Name of Sponsoring Institution or Organization. Date of Access .

Example:

The Einstein Papers Project. Ed. Robert Schulmann. 18 Feb. 1998. Boston U. 10 Mar. 1998 <http://albert.but.edu>.

2. Personal or Professional Web Sites

Note: Not all of the following information will be available in every case.

Format:
Last Name of Creator, First Name of Creator [if available]. Title of Page. Date of Electronic Publication or Last Update. Date of Access <URL (Electronic Address)>.

Examples:

Watson, Chad J. Home page. 27 Jan. 1998. 10 Mar. 1998 <http://cc.usu.edu/~slypx/index.html>. Nature Conservancy, The. New York's Tug Hill Plateau. No date. 2 July 2002. <http://nature.org/success/art8111.html>.

3. Online Books

Note: Not all of the following information will be available in every case.

Format:
Last Name of Author, First Name of Author. "Title of Part of Book." [if using only a part, and not the book as a whole] Title of Book. Name of Editor, Translator, or Compiler. Place of Publication: Publisher, Date of Print Publication. Title of Internet site. Editor of site, version number, date of electronic publication, name of sponsoring organization. Date of Access <URL (Electronic Address)>.

Example:

Bierce, Ambrose. Can Such Things Be True? New York: Johnathan Cape and Harrison Smith, 1993. 28 Sep. 1998 <gopher://wiretap.spies.com:70/00/Library/Classic/cansuch.txt>.

4. Online Journal Articles

Note: Not all of the following information will be available in every case.

Format:
Last Name of Author, First Name of Author. "Title of Article." Title of Online Journal Volume Number. Issue Number (Date of Publication): Number of Pages, Paragraphs, or Sections, if they're numbered. Date of Access <URL (Electronic Address)>.

Example:

Weaver, Susan. "Subversive Resistance of Aristocracy in Titanic." Nieve Roja. Issue 3 (Summer 1998). 21 Sep. 1998 <http://nieveroja.colostate.edu/issue3/ issue3.cfm>.

5. Online Newspaper Articles

Format:
Last Name of Author, First Name of Author. "Title of Article." Title of Newspaper Date of Publication. Date of Access .

Example:

Weber, Katharine. "In a Painting, Gershwin Packed the House." New York Times Fulltext Online. 30 Aug. 1998. 21 Sep. 1998 <http://set.coalliance.org:2000/cgi-bin/ cw-cgifullRecord+31875+6058+1:3819774+1+13>.

6. Online Magazine Articles

Note: Not all of the following information will be available in every case.

Format:
Last Name of Author, First Name of Author. "Title of Article." Title of Online Magazine Date of Publication. Date of Access .

Example:

Kongshem, Lars. "Censorware: How Well Does Internet Filtering Software Protect Students?" Electronic School Jan. 1997. 10 Mar. 1998 <http://www.electronic- school.com/o198f1.html>.

7. Online Computer Services Articles

Note: Not all of the following information will be available in every case.

Format:
Last Name of Author, First Name of Author. "Title of Article." Title of Journal or Book Where the Print Version of the Source Could be Found. Date of Print Publication, Information about Edition, Release, or Version (if relevant): Page Numbers [if available]. Title of Database. Publication Medium (Online). Name of Computer Service. Day Month (abbreviated version) Year of Access.

Examples:

Wever, Katharine. "In a Painting, Gershwin Packed the House." New York Times 30 Aug. 1998, late ed.: sec. 2, p. 30. New York Times Fulltext. Online. Dialog. 21 Sep. 1998. Boynton, Robert S. "The New Intellectuals." Atlantic Monthly Mar. 1993. Atlantic Monthly Online. Online. America Online. 3 Mar. 1995.

8. Online Reviews, Abstracts, Editorials, Letters to the Editor

Please refer to the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (2nd ed., 1998) for information on citing these types of articles.

Online Communication Sources

Online communications are as citable as any other documented source. Here's how you format three of the most common.

1. E-Mail Communications

Format:
Last Name of Author, First Name of Author. "Title of E-Mail Message from subject line, if any is given." Description of the Message, including the name of the recipient. Day Month Year of Publication.

Example:

Wirth, Eric. E-mail to the author. 12 Mar. 1998.

2. Online Postings

Note: Whenever possible, cite an archival posting to allow readers easy access.

Format:
Last Name of Author, First Name of Author. "Title of Document." Online posting. Day Month (abbreviated version) Year of Posting. Name of Forum or Discussion List [if available]. Day Month (abbreviated version) Year of Access <URL (Electronic Address)>.

Example:

Cowan, Cheryl. "Eating Disorders." Online posting. 23 Feb. 1998. 16 Mar. 1998 <news:alt.arts.ballet>.

3. Synchronous Communications (MOOs and MUDs)

Format:
Last Name of Author, First Name of Author. Description of the Communication. Day Month (abbreviated version) Year of Posting. Name of the Forum. Day Month (abbreviated version) Year of Access <URL (Electronic Address)>.

Example:

Grigar, Dene. Online defense of dissertation "Penelopeia: The Making of Penelope in Homer's Story and Beyond." 25 July 1995. LinguaMOO. 1 May 1997 <http://wwwpub.utdallas.edu/~cynthiah/lingua_archive /phd-defense.txt>.

MLA Directory of Variations to Works Cited Formatting Rules

1. Two or More Works by Same Author Appear in Works Cited

Format:
An exception to using the author's full name in the entry is when you cite a single author more than once. In this instance, it is acceptable to use three-em dashes (---.) in place of the author's name after the first entry. This three-em dash serves the same purpose as "ditto" marks.

Example:

Peterkin, Julia. Black April. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1927. ---. Scarlet Sister Mary. Indianapolis: Bobbs- Merrill, 1928.

2. Anonymous Source or No Author Named on Title Page

Format:
If the author's name is unavailable, the first word in the entry is the first word of the title, and the entry is alphabetized according to this first word. Ignore the words "a," "an," or "the" in the title.

Example:

Parsons, Elsie Clews. Folk-Lore of the Sea Islands, South Carolina. 1923. Chicago: Afro-Am Press, 1969. "A Passing Race." Canadian Magazine 71 (1929): 34. Peterkin, Julia. Black April. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1927.

Additional MLA Resources

Print Resources:

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2003.

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. 2nd ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1998.

Electronic Resources:

The official Modern Language Association Web site, updated regularly, is the comprehensive guide to all things MLA: the organization, its journals, products and services.

Columbia Guide to Online Style is the best alternative. Though not officially recognized by the MLA, this site has long provided guidelines for those seeking to document specific electronic sources using the MLA style sheet.

The beauty of CGOS comes from the sophisticated Internet understanding brought to the table by its authors, Janice Walker and Todd Taylor. If you adopt CGOS, use the MLA style for all print and traditional sources, and apply CGOS guidelines for any online or electronic sources, including software and CD-ROM databases.