Library: Leslie J. Savage Library: MLA

MLA General Rules

Titles of works are in title case: Capitalize each word in a title, and any proper nouns. Otherwise, lowercase.
- Example: Modern Library Services: An Overview of Leslie J. Savage Library
Papers are required to be double-spaced, with 1 inch margins, and italics to indicate the titles of works (note: your instructor may deviate from these guidelines. Always use the instructor's guidelines).
Date formatting: Day Month (abbreviated) Year.
- Example: 8 Feb. 2009.
In-text citations begin with whatever comes first in the corresponding citation in the works cited list.
- Example: ("First Time Visitor's Guide").
  - Full Citation: "First Time Visitor's Guide." Joshua Tree National Park, www.nps.gov/jotr/planyourvisit/first-time-visitors.htm. Accessed 6 Dec. 2023.
- Example: (Gilbert 131).
  - Full Citation: Gilbert, Nora. Gone Girls, 1684-1901: Flights of Feminist Resistance in the Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century British Novel. Oxford University Press, 2023.
  - When referencing specific parts of larger works such as books and journal articles, include the page number in your in-text citation, as show in the above example.

Common Sources

BOOK WITH ONE AUTHOR
Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date, DOI if accessible.

Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. New American Library, 1980.

BOOK WITH TWO AUTHORS

Last Name, First Name and First Name Last Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date.

Pratchett, Terry and Neil Gaiman. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. Workman, 1990.

ESSAY IN A BOOK WITH MULTIPLE CONTRIBUTERS

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Essay." Title of Book, edited by Editor's First and Last Name, Publisher, Publication Date, pp. xx-xx.

JOURNAL ARTICLE, ONLINE DATABASE

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Journal Title, vol. #, no. #, Publication Date, pp. ##-##. Database Name, Permalink or DOI.

Valadez, James, and Richard Duran. “Redefining the Digital Divide: Beyond Access to Computers and the Internet.” High School Journal, vol. 90, no. 3, Feb.-Mar. 2007, pp. 31-44. ERIC, ezproxy.western.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ757023&site=eds-live.

NEWSPAPER, ONLINE

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Name of Newspaper, Date Published, URL.

Angier, Natalie. “Eugenia Cheng Makes Math a Piece of Cake.” The New York Times, 2 May 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/05/03/science/eugenia-cheng-math-how-to-bake-pi.html.

ENTIRE WEBSITE

Last Name, First Name. Title of the Website. Publishing Organization, Date Published, URL.

**If an individual author is not listed on the website, omit this information from your citation.

PAGE OR ARTICLE ON A WEBSITE

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Page." Title of Website, Date Published, URL.

Bradford, Alina. “Wolf Facts: Gray Wolves, Timber Wolves & Red Wolves.” Livescience, 9 June 2014, www.livescience.com/27909-wolves.html.

Other Sources

JOURNAL ARTICLE, PRINT

Baron, Naomi S. “Redefining Reading: The Impact of Digital Communication Media.” PMLA, vol. 128, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 193-200.

MAGAZINE ARTICLE, PRINT

Hiatt, Brian. “The Final Years.” Rolling Stone, no. 1254, 11 Feb. 2016, pp. 46-49.

MAGAZINE ARTICLE, ONLINE DATABASE

Hiatt, Brian. “The Final Years.” Rolling Stone, no. 1254, 11 Feb. 2016, pp. 46-49. Expanded Academic ASAP, ezproxy.western.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgea&AN=edsgcl.449902544&site=eds-live.

NEWSPAPER, PRINT

Campoy, Ana. “Cultural Rift Spurs Secession Drive in Colorado.” Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition, vol. 262, no. 50, 28 Aug. 2013, p. A4.

NEWSPAPER, ONLINE

Angier, Natalie. “Eugenia Cheng Makes Math a Piece of Cake.” The New York Times, 2 May 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/05/03/science/eugenia-cheng-math-how-to-bake-pi.html.

CITING LEGAL CASES

The MLA handbook doesn’t specifically address legal cases. Taking into account the rules of MLA 8^th, we recommend this citation format for a court case:

Format:

Corporate Author Name. Name of Plaintiff v. Name of Defendant. Year of Court Decision. Title of Website or Database, URL.

Example:

United States, Supreme Court. Agostini v. Felton. 1997. LexisNexis Academic, http://www.lexisnexis.com/lnacui2api/api/version1/getDocCui?lni=3S65-HXX0-003B-R16K&csi=6443&hl=t&hv=t&hnsd=f&hns=t&hgn=t&oc=00240&perma=true.

In-Text:

(United States, Supreme Court)

If you have more than one court case from the same court system in your Works Cited, you’ll need to specify between them in the body of your paper. We recommend adding the plaintiff name in italics, like below:

In-Text:

(United States, Supreme Court. Agostini)

The Core Elements

AUTHORS

One Author:

Baron, Naomi S. “Redefining Reading: The Impact of Digital Communication Media.” PMLA, vol. 128, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 193-200.

Two Authors:

Dorris, Michael, and Louise Erdrich. The Crown of Columbus. HarperCollins Publishers, 1999.

Three or More Authors:

Jaimangal-Jones, Dewi, et al. “Exploring Dress, Identity and Performance in Contemporary Dance Music Culture.” Leisure Studies, vol. 34, no. 5, 2015, pp. 603-20. Taylor & Francis Journals, doi: 10.1080/02614367.2014.962580.

Corporate Author:

American Allergy Association. Allergies in Children. Random, 1998.

Corporate Author that is also the Publisher:

United Nations International Study on Firearm Regulation. United Nations, 1998.

Other:

Gellar, Sarah Michelle, and Alyson Hannigan, performers. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mutant Enemy, 1997-2003.

Nunberg, Geoffrey, editor. The Future of the Book. U of California P, 1996.

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. Edited by Claudia Johnson. Norton, 2001.

Chartier, Roger. The Order of Books: Readers, Authors, and Libraries in Europe between the Fourteenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Translated by Lydia G. Cochrane, Stanford UP, 1994.

VERSIONS

The Bible. Authorized King James Version, Oxford UP, 1998.

Newcomb, Horace, editor. Television: The Critical View. 7th ed., Oxford UP, 2007.

NUMBERS

Rampersad, Arnold. The Life of Langston Hughes. 2nd ed., vol. 2, Oxford UP, 2002.

Clowes, Daniel. David Borning. Eightball, no. 19, Fantagraphics, 1998.

PUBLICATION DATES

Months: Use 3-letter abbreviations for months longer than 4 letters. Always include a period after the abbreviation:

Jan.,Feb., Mar., Apr., May, June, July, Aug., Sep., Oct., Nov., Dec.

Days are listed before months:

28 Dec. 2015

9 July 2012

LOCATIONS

Page Numbers: Use pp. for multiple pages and p. for a single page.

Melville, Herman. “The Lamp.” Moby Dick or The Whale, illustrated by Rockwell Kent, Modern Library, 1982, p. 613.

ONLINE WORKS

Include a permanent or stable URL, if available. (website or online database)
Some journal articles are assigned a DOI number. If it is provided, use it instead of the URL. For online databases, include the name of the database.

Bradford, Alina. “Wolf Facts: Gray Wolves, Timber Wolves & Red Wolves.” Livescience, 9 June 2014, www.livescience.com/27909-wolves.html.

Chan, Evans. “Postmodernism and Hong Kong Cinema.” Postmodern Culture, vol. 10, no. 3, May 2000. Project Muse, doi:10.1353/pmc.2000.0021.

Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England.” Historical Journal, vol. 50, no. 1, 2007, pp. 173-96. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4140170.

More MLA Resources

MLA - OWL at Purdue
A collection of examples and tips for MLA style from the Online Writing Lab at Purdue. Click on "Research and Citation" on the left side.
MLA Style Center
Writing Resources from the Modern Language Association.
MLA 9th Edition - Formatting the Paper
From style.mla.org

MLA Handbook by The Modern Language Association of America
Call Number: LB2369 .G53 2016 c.1
ISBN: 9781603293518
Publication Date: 2021-04-22
Located on the "Permanent Reserves" shelves behind the main desk.