Common Works Cited Formulas in MLA Style
CITING WORKS FROM THE GALE DATABASES
(such as Short Stories for Students, Drama for Students, Drama Criticism, and Short Story Criticism)
These guidelines apply to just the e-books, not print books from the reference section.
The entries in the Gale series can be difficult to cite because each article is really a compilation
of different sources. For each Gale article you use, you may have several entries on your Works Cited
page. The beginning part of the article, in the sections labeled “Biography,” “Characters,” “Themes,”
etc., will all be considered one source, and that source does not have a particular author. Cite this section
using the first formula below. In the section titled “Criticism,” there will typically be anywhere from two
to six excerpts from various critical essays. Some of them are written for Gale, some originally appeared
in books, and some originally appeared in periodicals. Each of these different types of sources will be
cited separately using a different formula below.
If you have the option of printing the source as a *.PDF document, do so, as then you will have
page numbers. However, on your search results, you will also want to take note of the name of the
eBook, the editor, the volume, and the date, as you will need that information to cite.
Citing the first part of the article, the biography through the critical overview
“Title of the Entry.” Name of the Gale eBook. Ed. Name. Vol. Number. Detroit: Gale, Year. Page range.
Database. Medium of Publication. Date of Access.
“The Handmaid’s Tale.” Novels for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale, 1998.
114-136. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 18 Nov. 2009.
Citing the essay excerpts from the “Criticism” section
In general, for articles from this section, you will first cite any original publication information
and then information about the eBook you got it from. Each article from this section will be documented
separately, so you may have multiple entries from the same eBook.
An article written for Gale
Use italics or quotation
marks as appropriate
Last name, First name. Essay on “Title of Work.” Name of the Gale eBook. Ed. Name. Vol. Number.
Detroit: Gale, Year. Page range of article. Database. Medium of Publication. Date of Access.
Perkins, Wendy. Essay on The Handmaid’s Tale. Novels for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski.
Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale, 1998. 127-130. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 18 Nov. 2009.
An article that originally appeared in a book
Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Original Book Title. Ed. Name, if given. Place of Publication:
Publisher, Year. Page range of original publication, if given. Rpt. in Name of the Gale eBook.
Ed. Name. Vol. Number. Detroit: Gale, Year. Page range of that article in the eBook. Database.
Medium of Publication. Date of Access.
Wood, Diane S. "Bradbury and Atwood: Exile as Rational Decision." The Literature of Emigration and
Exile. Ed. James Whitlark and Wendall Aycock. n.p.: Texas Tech University Press, 1992. 131–
42. Rpt. in Novels for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale, 1998. 130133. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 18 Nov. 2009.
An article that originally appeared in a periodical, such as a journal.
Often, in Gale, the place of publication is not
listed. Use n.p. to abbreviate “no place.”
Just write the numerals, as in 33.4
Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Journal Title. Volume.Issue (Date): page range of original
publication. Rpt. in Name of the Gale eBook. Ed. Name. Vol. Number. Detroit: Gale, Year. Page
range of that article in the eBook. Database. Medium of Publication. Date of Access.
Malak, Amin. "Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale' and the Dystopian Tradition." Canadian
In this case,
the journal
had a volume
number only.
Literature 112 (Spring 1987): 9-16. Rpt. in Novels for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski.
Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale, 1998. 133-136. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 18 Nov. 2009.
Citing from Gale Resources in the Text
If you are using a quotation or paraphrase from the first part of the article, the biography through the
critical overview, you will not have an author, so you will cite by the first important words of the title
plus the page number. For the source cited on the previous page, the citation would be (“Handmaid’s
Tale” 115). All excerpts from the Criticism section will have authors, so they will be cited with the
author’s last name and the page numbers, as in (Perkins 128).
Citing Gale Resources with Noodlebib
Jacobs Library has prepared several handouts about citing the Gale Resources with Noodlebib. Go to the
Jacobs Library home page (www.ivcc.edu/library) and then to the “For Students” section. Scroll down
to “Citing Your Sources” and you will find many guides to citing with Noodlebib.