MLA Style
Ask a Librarian Writing Center
reference@uwstout.edu www.uwstout.edu/writingcenter
715/232-1353 715/232-5284
Examples of frequently used entries are included. For more examples, consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th
edition (2009) or http://libguides.uwstout.edu/citing.
Type of Entry
Book - Single Author
Example of Reference
Berlage, Gai Ingham. Women in Baseball: The Forgotten Story. Westport: Greenwood, 1994.
Print.
- Two or More
Authors
Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research. 2nd ed.
Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2003. Print.
- Edited
Rabkin, Eric S., Martin H. Greenberg, and Joseph D. Olander, eds. No Place Else: Exploration in
Utopian and Dystopian Fiction. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1983. Print.
- Corporate Author
National Research Council. China and Global Change: Opportunities for Collaboration. Washington: Natl. Acad., 1992. National Academies Press. Web. 15 Mar. 2007.
- Translated
Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Viking, 1996. Print.
- Electronic
Child, L. Maria, ed. The Freedmen’s Book. Boston: Tricknor and Fields, 1865. Project Gutenberg.
Web. 2 Sept. 2009.
- One Chapter/Work
in Anthology
- Illustrated
More, Hannah. “The Black Slave Trade: A Poem.” British Women Poets fo the Romantic Era. Ed.
Paula R. Feldman. Baltimore: John Hopkins UP, 1997. 472 - 82. Print.
If referring mainly to content:
Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Illus. Arthur Rackham. Poem by Austin Dobson. New York: Sea Star Books, 2002.
If referring mainly to illustrator/illustrations:
Tenniel, John, illus. Alice Through the Looking-Glass. By Lewis Carroll. Academy Editions:
London, 1977. Print.
Article - Scholarly
Journal in Print
Brueggemann, Brenda Jo, and Debra A. Moddelmog. “Coming-Out Pedagogy: Risking Identity
in Language and Literature Classrooms.” Pedagogy 2.3 (2002): 311 - 35. Print.
Article - Scholarly
Journal from Database
Tambling, Jeremy. “Law and Will in Measure for Measure.” Essays in Criticism 59.3 (2009): 189
- 210. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Sep. 2009.
Article - Magazine
Printed Weekly or BiWeekly
McEvoy, Dermot. “Little Books, Big Success.” Publishers Weekly 30 Oct. 2006: 26 - 28. Print.
Article - Magazine
Printed Monthly
Wood, Jason. “Spellbound.” Sight and Sound Dec. 2005: 28 - 30. Print
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MLA Style
Type of Entry
Ask a Librarian Writing Center
reference@uwstout.edu www.uwstout.edu/writingcenter
715/232-1353 715/232-5284
Example of Reference
Article - Newspaper
McKay, Peter A. “Stocks Feel the Dollar’s Weight.” Wall Street Journal 4 Dec. 2006: C1+. Print.
Article - Online
Magazine or Newspaper
Michaels, Clay. “Can’t We All Get Along?” Tacoma Times. Tacoma Times. 18 Mar. 2001. Web. 19
Apr. 2001.
Organization Report
Coachmen Industries, Inc. Annual Report. Elkhart, IN: Coachmen Industries, Inc., 1998. Print.
Thesis/Dissertation
Fullerton, Matilda. Women’s Leadership in the Public Schools: Towards a Feminist Educational
Leadership Model. Diss. Washington State U, 2001. Ann Arbor: UMI, 2001. Print.
*To cite master’s thesis, use abbreviations MA thesis or MS thesis in place of Diss.
Personal
Communication (e.g.
interview, e-mail)
Carson, Michelle. Personal Interview. 10 June 2001.
Map
“Allied Occupation Zones.” Map. Atlas of American History. By Robert H. Ferrell and Richard
Natkiel. New York: Facts on File, 1993. 152. Print.
Lecture/Conference
Presentation
Menefee, Joan. Lecture. English 101. University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI. 23 Mar.
2005. Lecture.
Kleppinger, Eugene. “How to Cite Information from the Web.” Message to the author. 10 Jan. 2008.
E-mail.
Smith, Jane. “Emily Dickinson.” Poetry Convention. Hilton Hotel, Charlottesville, VA. 12 Apr.
2013. Keynote address.
Music Recording
Holiday, Bilie. “God Bless the Child.” Rec. 9 May 1941. The Essence of Billie Holiday. Columbia,
1991. CD.
Motion Picture/DVD
It’s a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. 1946. Republic, 2001. DVD.
*If pertinent, also include screenwriter (writ.), performers (Perfs.), producer (Prod.) and distributor (distr). If
you emphasize the contribution of an individual, begin reference with that person’s name.
Government
Publications -Tips
*Government publications are cited just as other print and web sources are, with a few differences:
• Author is typically the government followed by the agency: e.g. United States. Cong. House.
• If in Print, the publisher is typically the GPO (Government Publishing Office)
• Use known abbreviations: e.g. Senate (S) or House of Representatives (HR)
General Government
Publications - Print
United States. Dept. of Labor. Child Care: A Workforce Issue. Washington: GPO, 1988. Print.
Congressional
Documents
United States. Cong. House. Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Great Lakes Icebreaker Replacement Act. 111th Cong., 1st Sess. H. Rept. 81. Washington: GPO, 2009. Print.
*See more examples at http://libguides.uwstout.edu/citing . For publications on the web, replace print information with web information (see example for “Website - Corporate Author” below). For other types of legal
citations, use the Bluebook Uniform System of Citation style.
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MLA Style
Type of Entry
Ask a Librarian Writing Center
reference@uwstout.edu www.uwstout.edu/writingcenter
715/232-1353 715/232-5284
Example of Reference
Work Discussed in
Other Work (didn’t
read original source)
*Use a signal phrase to indicate original source. In-text citation should indicate that this information was
quoted in the source that you read. For example:
Website - General
Author (if available). Title of Website. Sponsor, Date of publication. Medium. Date of Access.
“Ravitch argues that high schools are pressured to act as “social service centers, and they don’t do that
well” (qtd. in Weisman 259).
- Author
Johnson, Laura. The Rise of the Middle-Class. University of Maryland, 2006. Web. 22 Jan. 2008
- Corporate Author
Democratic National Committee. The Democratic Party: Take Back America! DNC, 6 Oct.
2004. Web. 25 Feb. 2008.
- No Author
Bronson Alcott’s Legacy. N.p. 5 May 2006. Web. 27 Aug. 2007.
Work/Page from
Website
e.g. podcast, video, pdf
Author. “Title of Work.” Name of Larger Website. Sponsor, Date of publication. Medium.
Date of Access.
Blog - entire blog
Silver, Nate. FiveThirtyEight. The New York Times Company. Web. 30 Mar. 2013.
Sherman, Chris. “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About URL.” SearchEngineWatch.com.
Incisive Interactive Marketing LLC, 23 Aug. 2004. Web. 25 Feb. 2008.
- entry in blog
Cohen, Micah. “Retirements Contributing to Largest Senate Turnover in Decades.” FiveThirtyEight. Ed. Nate Silver. The New York Times Company, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2013.
- comment on
blog/forum/
discussion board
Buck, Daniel. “Retirements Contributing to Largest Senate Turnover in Decades.” FiveThirtyEight. The New York Times Company, 1 April 2013. Web. 30 Mar. 2013.
Video/Audio - Online
*Use “Work/Page from Website” example (above)
Johnson, Bill. “Navigating the New Currency.” All Things Considered. National Public Radio,
14 Jun. 2009. MP3 file. 24 June. 2009.
Facebook/Google+
Post
*Use “Work/Page from a Website” example (above). If there is no title on the post, use a few words of the
post itself, in quotation marks.
Twitter Post
Brokaw, Tom (tombrokaw). “SC demonstrated why all the debates are the engines of this campaign.” 22 Jan. 2012, 3:06 a.m. Tweet.
*Include both real name and Twitter handle - e.g. author name (handle)
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MLA Style
Ask a Librarian Writing Center
reference@uwstout.edu www.uwstout.edu/writingcenter
715/232-1353 715/232-5284
*References Tips
Citations in Text
(Parenthetical Citations)
Single Author
(author last name pg.#)
Two - Three Authors (all authors last names pg.#)
(Berlage 10)
(Booth, Colomb, and Williams vii)
+ Three Authors
Corporate Author
(Lauter et al. 2601 - 09)
(Natl. Research Council 15)
No Author
Abbreviations
(first author last name et al. pg.#)
(Author whole name or common abbreviation pg.#)
(“include whole title if brief/first word(s)
if long” pg.#)
(“Impact of Global Warming” 6)
Use common MLA abbreviations to shorten citations, including:
edition
Editor(s)
no date
no publisher/sponsor
no pagination
ed.
ed. or eds.
n.d.
n.p.
N. pag.
More common abbreviations can be found in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research
Papers, 7th edition (2009).
Formatting Tips
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