MLA (7th ed.) Citations
Cheat Sheet
These are short examples. Refer to owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ for complete explanations.
In-Text Citations (print source)
ONE AUTHOR OR EDITOR
Ex. 1: Today’s surgery students are much more respectful of the cadavers upon whom they practice than they
might have been in the past (Roach 38).
Ex. 2 When the author is mentioned in the sentence only the page # is needed: Mary Roach found that today’s
surgery students are much more respectful of the cadavers upon whom they practice than they might have
been in the past (38).
Ex. 3 Editors: Many would never guess that Benjamin Franklin, who was a respected scientist and one of the United
States’ Founding Fathers, was also a comic who liked to cause trouble (Japikse ed. 80).
MULTIPLE AUTHORS OR EDITORS
Ex. 1: Many companies create advertising that intentionally “manipulate kids” in order to get them to buy the
companies’ products (Schlosser and Wilson 39).
Ex. 2 more than three authors: In 1969, the Cardinals lost to Montreal in the “first major league baseball game
played outside the United States” (Nemec et al. 395). Use first author’s name and the term “et al.” when
there are more than three authors.
Ex. 3 more than three authors mentioned in sentence: In the 29th Century Baseball Chronicle, Nemec et al. stated
that, in 1969, the Cardinals lost to Montreal in the “first major league baseball game played outside the
United States” (395).
Works Cited (print source)
FORMAT OF AN MLA CITATION: Author(s) or Editor(s) Name. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher,
Year of Publication. Type of publication.
SINGLE AUTHOR OR EDITOR
Japikse, Carl, ed. Fart Proudly: Writings of Benjamin Franklin You Never Read in School. Berkeley, CA: Frog, Ltd., 2003.
Print.
Roach, Mary. Stiff: the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2003. Print.
MULTIPLE AUTHORS OR EDITORS
Nemec, David, et al. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-Year History of Major League Baseball. Montreal:
Tormont Publications, Inc., 1992. Print.
Schlosser, Eric and Charles Wilson. Chew on This: Everything You Don’t Want to Know About Fast Food. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 2006. Print.
Kennedy High School Library/ J. Boyer
In-Text Citations (Electronic Sources)
In-text citations for authors and editors of electronic sources are the same as in-text citations for print sources.
ONE AUTHOR
Some people have argued that poetry that includes references to flatulence does not qualify as good writing, but
great writers, such Chaucer and Dante, have utilized farts in some of their most famous works (Nester). [When no
page numbers are available, you do not need to include them.]
MULTIPLE AUTHORS
In October, 2011, Shigeru Kondo used his super computer to calculate Pi to ten trillion digits (Yee and Kondo).
AUTHOR UNKNOWN (Hint: Use the title of the article.)
William Shakespeare “has had more theatrical works performed than any other playwright” (“William Shakespeare”).
Works Cited (Electronic Sources)
DATABASE FORMAT: Author(s) or editor(s) Name. “Article Title.” Title of Periodical volume or issue number (date): page
number(s). Database Name. Web. Date of Access. URL [if your teacher requires a URL]
WEBSITE FORMAT: Author(s) or editor(s) Name. “Article Title.” Title of Website. Name of Sponsoring Institution or
Owner, Date of Article. Web. Date of Access. URL [if your teacher requires a URL]
Note: If there is no date available for an article, use n.d. [no date].
SOURCES FROM A DATABASE (one author, two authors, and more than two authors)
Most databases will cite sources for you, but make sure the citation is in the correct format as the format for MLA citations changed in 2009.
Bromm, Volker, et al. "The formation of the first stars and galaxies." Nature 459.7243 (2009): 49+. General OneFile. Web.
31 Oct. 2011.
Dicklitch, Susan, and Aditi Malik. "Justice, Human Rights, and Reconciliation in Postconflict Cambodia." Human Rights
Review 11.4 (2010): 515-530. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Nov. 2011.
Nester, Daniel. "Fartspottings: Reflections on ‘High Seriousness’ and Poetic Passings of Wind." Humor: International
Journal Of Humor Research 22.3 (2009): 341-350. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Nov. 2011.
SOURCE FROM A DATABASE Author Unknown
"Starry Messages." Nature 457.7225 (2009): 7. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 31 Oct. 2011.
SOURCE FROM A WEBSITE (the format for authors is the same format as for databases and print sources)
Yee, Alexander, and Shigeru Kondu. “5 Trillion Digits of Pi—New World Record: Pushing the Limits of Personal
Computing… How Much Further Can We Go?” Numberworld, 18 Oct., 2011. Web. 11 Nov., 2011.
SOURCE FROM A WEBSITE Author Unknown
“William Shakespeare.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, LLC, n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2011.
Kennedy High School Library/ J. Boyer