MLA – Modern Language Association

For complete rules and guidelines see the 6^th edition of: Gibaldi , Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York: MLA, 2003.

For the internet navigator you will NOT be writing a research paper, but you will be completing an annotated bibliography which documents your sources of information. The bibliography itself is titled Works Cited, and entries should be alphabetical by author. If there is no author, then use title.

In the future, you will be writing research papers for other classes. As you write your research paper, you need to give authors credit every time you use their ideas. References are identified by placing the author's last name and page number in parenthesis at the end of the sentence where you need to credit the author.

Apple, Will. The Plight of Johnny Appleseed. 
      New York: Cider Publishing, 1999.
 Keirsey Temperament and Character Web Site.

     Ed. Keirsey, David Mark. 3 May 2002.

     31 May 2002 <http://www.keirsey.com/>. 

Smith, Jason. "Lizards of the Southwest."
      Nature 56 (1998): 893-896.

... Lizards of the southwest are exciting.(Smith 893).
  You won't believe this, but
 lizards love to eat apples and chocolate.
 There are many different varieties ...

MLA SAMPLE REFERENCES

Reference Tools

1. Article from a well known reference tool

"Mandarin." The Encyclopedia Americana. 1994 ed.

Note: When citing familiar reference works, do not give full publication information.
The title of the article should be stated and enclosed in quotes.

2. Article from an edited, less familiar reference tool

Le Patourel, John. "Normans and Normandy." Dictionary of the Middle Ages.

Ed. Joseph R. Strayer. 13 vols.  New York: Scribner’s, 1987.

Note: The article’s author's name is inverted but the editor of the larger work's name is stated normally.
Also, when citing less familiar works, the full publication information is given. In MLA, only the first line comes all the way to the left margin. All subsequent lines are indented 4-6 spaces.

3. Online version of a reference tool

"Fresco Painting". Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 2002.

Encyclopedia Britannica. 8 May 2002 <http:// search.eb.com>.

Note: For online versions of print works, the URL replaces the name of the city of publication.

Books

4. An edited book, multiple editors

Carter, Pam, Mark K. Smith, and Jo Campling, eds.  Social Working. London:

Macmillan, 1995.

Note: If there is more than one editor, only the first one’s name is inverted. The same goes for authors.
Editors are indicated by placing "ed." after their name. Translators (tran.) and compilers (comp.) are indicated in like manner. Do not include personal or academic titles such as Rev. or Ph.D with author names. If there are more than three editors or authors, name only the first along with "et al." (and others) after the name. In MLA, the complete given name of the author is stated, if known.

5. Chapter or section from an edited book

Little, Paul. "Records and Record Keeping." Social Working.  Eds. Pam Carter,

Mark K. Smith, and Jo Campling.  London: Macmillan, 1995. 32-48.

Note: In this case, the name of the article’s author is inverted but the names of the editors of the larger work are stated in normal form, and "Eds." precedes their names instead of following. Also note the chapter page numbers at the end of the citation.

6. Online version of an edited book previously published in print

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Twice-Told Tales. Ed. George Parsons Lathrop.

Boston: Houghton, 1883.   16 May 2002

<http://209.11.144.65/eldritchpress/nh/ttt.html>.

Note: Publication information of the print version is included. Online version is located by the URL.

Scholarly Journal Articles

7. Two authors, continuous pagination

White, Sabina, and Andrew Winzelberg. "Laughter and Stress."  Humor

5 (1992): 343-55.

Note: Where paging is continuous across the separate journal issues, the volume number (5) is given but the issue number is not. This number is stated ahead of the year. It is necessary that the year be enclosed in parentheses since this, along with the volume number, distinguish this as a scholarly article. Note that there is a period after the article title but none after the periodical title.

8. Each issue separately paged

White, Daniel C. "Sound Bite News." Journal of Communication

 42.2 (1992): 5-18.

Note: Where each issue of the journal is separately paged, the issue number is shown after the volume number, the numbers being separated by a decimal point (42.2).   In MLA, article titles are enclosed in quotes with words capitalized.  The title of the periodical is italicized. Underlining is always an option to italicizing.

9. Article available independently online

Dane, Gabrielle. "Reading Ophelia's Madness." Exemplaria 10.2 (1998).

22 June 2002 <http:// web.english.ufl.edu/english/exemplaria/danefram.htm>.

Note: The first part of the citation follows the format appropriate to the work. The access date and URL are added. Most online articles do not have a page number.

Popular Magazine and Newspaper Articles

10. Magazine, print version

Fox, Justin. "Who Wants to Be an Internet Billionaire?" Fortune  8 Nov. 1999: 40.

Note: In non-scholarly article references, the full date is given in day, month, year order (month may be abbreviated).   Note that there are no parentheses around the date. This distinguishes this as a non-scholarly popular article. Note the colon (:) between the year and the page number.

11. Found on the Web from a library's article database

Fox, Justin. "Who Wants to Be an Internet Billionaire?" Fortune  8 Nov. 1999: 40.

Business Source Premier.  EBSCO.  Weber State U. Stewart Lib.,

Ogden, UT. 15 Nov. 1999.

Note: The name of the article database (Business Source Premier)is given from which the article was located.
The name of the database is underlined. The name of the database vendor (supplier) must be included if known (EBSCO). The name and location of the university is also given along with the date on which the article was retrieved. All dates are given in day, month, year order. Giving the URL (which would be for the database access) is optional.

12. Newspaper, print version

Humphrey, Brett.  "Build West-East TRAX Line."   Deseret News [Salt Lake City]

14 Dec.1999: A20.

Note: If the name of the place where the paper is published is not well known or is not part of the newspaper’s title, the name of the city should be placed in square brackets immediately after the name of the newspaper.   If known, the section letter (in this case "A") should be given along with the page number.

13. Newspaper, Web version

Humphrey, Brett.  "Build West-East TRAX Line."  Deseret News [Salt Lake City]

14 Dec. 1999: n.pag.  Online edition.  2 April 2001 <http://www.desnews.com>.

Note: Electronic versions often lack the page number. When the date is unknown, use n.d. (no date) in its place. For no publisher or place of publication, use n.p. For no pages, use n.pag. "Online edition" indicates that the electronic version was used. The URL for the newspaper’s home page is usually sufficient.

Web sites

14. No author, no sponsor

Keirsey Temperament and Character Web Site.  27 Sep. 2000.  2 Jan. 2001

<http://www.keirsey.com>.

Note: As with any citation where there is no author, begin with the title. In MLA, titles of Internet sites are underlined. If the site sponsor or supplier is unknown, the access date immediately follows the Web site date. Note that there is no period preceding the URL.

15. With corporate author and sponsor

Fox Chase Cancer Center. Fighting Cancer is All We Do. May 2003. Fox Chase

Network. 15 Aug. 2003 <http://www.fccc.edu >.

Note: Authors may be organizations (corporate authors) as well as individuals. The name of the sponsor is placed between the Web site date and the access date.

16. Web document on a Web site, no author

"City Profile: San Francisco." CNN.com. 2002. Cable News Network.

14 May 2002 <http:// www.cnn.com/TRAVEL/atevo/city/

SanFrancisco/intro.html>.

Note: Web site names are underlined whereas document titles are placed in quotes.

Additional Documentation Tips:

• If the place of publication is not well known, include the name of the state or country. Two-letter state mail codes may be used (for example: Springdale, OR).
• If several cities are listed, cite only the first.
• If you cannot find an example of a citation that fits your case exactly, you may have to build your own citation from parts and ideas taken from other examples.

• MLA Web Site from Modern Language Association
• MLA Citation Style from Cornell University Library Documentation Committee

MODULE 3 ASSIGNMENT: When preparing citations for this assignment, the assignment form will alter the indentation, italics, and underlining. Your instructor is aware of this, and you will not be marked down if the rest of the citation is complete and accurate.