MLA Style Guide
The documentation style of the Modern Language Association (MLA) is widely used in the language arts and other humanities.
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The 9th edition of the Modern Language Association Handbook is available in print.
For additional help with MLA style, see the MLA Style Center.
Works Cited
Include the list of references to all sources you have cited at the bottom of the document under the heading “Works Cited”.
Works that you consult but do not borrow from do not need to be included as works cited. If you wish to document consulted sources, create a separate section under a heading such as “Works Consulted” at the approval of your instructor.
Articles
- Print Journal Articles
- Format:
Author Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal, vol. volume number, no. issue number, Year of Publication, Page range. - Example:
Duckworth, Angela. “Self-Reports Spur Self-Reflection.” MIT Sloan Management Review, vol. 60, no. 3, 2019, pp. 14-16. - Online Journal Articles
- Format:
Author Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal, vol. volume number, no. issue number, Year of Publication, Page range. URL. - Example:
Xerri, Daniel. “Finding a language that works for them: Gerald Dawe on young people’s engagement with poetry.” Irish Studies Review, vol. 32, no. 4, 2024, 603-613. doi: 10.1080/09670882.2024.2413434.
Books
- Print Book
- Format:
Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication. - Example:
Brown, Brené. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way we Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. Gotham Books, 2012.
- E-book
- Format:
Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication, Website Name, DOI or Permalink or URL. Accessed Day Month Year. - Example:
Cadieu, Morgane. On Both Sides of the Tracks : Social Mobility in Contemporary French Literature. University of Chicago Press, 2024, Proquest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uneedu/detail.action?docID=30876365. Accessed 3 January 2025. - Chapter in Edited Book
- Format:
Author Last Name, First Name. “Title of Work.” Title of Book, edited by Editor’s Name(s), Publisher, Edition, Version, Year of Publication, Page range of entry. - Example:
Marlowe, Christopher. “Hero and Leander.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, 8th edition, vol. 1, W. W. Norton & Company, 2006, 1004-1022.
Web Sources
<dl>
<dt>Website</dt>
<dd><strong>Format:</strong>
Author’s Last Name, First Name (if available). <em>Title of Website</em>, Name of Organization Affiliated with the Website, date of copyright or date last modified/updated (if available), URL. Accessed Day Month Year site was visited.</dd>
<dd><strong>Example:</strong>
Harris, Beth, and Zucker, Steven. <em>Smarthistory</em>, 2025, https://smarthistory.org. Accessed 3 January 2025.</dd>
<dt>Webpage</dt>
<dd><strong>Format:</strong>
Author’s Last Name, First Name (if available). “Title of page.” <em>Title of site</em>, date of publication, URL. Date accessed.</dd>
<dd><strong>Note:</strong>
If the site provides no date, specify when it was produced or published.</dd>
<dd><strong>Example:</strong>
“Paul Robeson as Othello.” <em>Folger Shakespeare Library</em>, 2025, https://www.folger.edu/explore/collection-highlights/paul-robeson-as-othello-costume-sketch-and-promptbook/. Accessed 3 January 2025.</dd>
</dl>
Images
Format:
Creator(s) Last Name, First Name. Title of image. Date of composition. Location of the image, URL.
Example:
Courbet, Gustave. The Calm Sea. 1869. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436005?deptids=11&ao=on&ft=*&offset=0&rpp=40&pos=24.
Videos
<strong>Format:</strong>
Author’s Last Name, First Name (if available). <em>Title of video.</em> Website, uploaded by Username, date of upload, URL.
<strong>Example: </strong>
<em>Art History: What Makes a Caravaggio?</em> YouTube, uploaded by Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, January 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9nhI9704cI.
AI-Generated Content
Format:
“Text of prompt” prompt. Name of AI Tool, version number if known, Name of company that made the tool, Day Month Year content was generated, General URL of Tool.
Example:
“Analyze the causes and consequences of the War of 1812 in the context of U.S. foreign policy” prompt. ChatGPT, 4o mini, OpenAI, 3 January 2025, http://chatgpt.com.
In-Text Citations
An in-text citation is a brief reference within your text that indicates the source you consulted. It should properly attribute any ideas, paraphrases, or quotations and directs readers to the full reference in the Works Cited section.
Two or more Authors
Two Authors
For sources with two authors, provide an in-text citation that consists of both last names and page number in parentheses.
Example:
The authors argue that Heaney’s Bogland “indicates the literary beginning of the entangled relationship between the poet, the bog and the archaeological record” (Everett and Greary, 16).
Three or More Authors
For sources with three or more authors, provide an in-text citation that consists of both first author’s last names following by et al. and page number in parentheses.
Example:
The authors argue that Heaney’s Bogland “indicates the literary beginning of the entangled relationship between the poet, the bog and the archaeological record” (Everett and Greary, 16).
Author’s Name in the sentence
Include only the page number in parentheses if using the author’s name in the sentence.
Example:
According to Said (9) the origins of imperialism…
Summarizing
Include an in-text citation whenever you summarize the ideas of another author. An in-text citation consists of the author’s name and page number in parentheses.
Example:
Imperialism is “the practice, the theory, and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan center ruling a distant territory” (Said 9).
Direct Quote
When directly quoting include the page number in parentheses after the quotation.
Example:
According to Edward W. Said, imperialism is defined by “the practice, the theory, and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan center ruling a distant territory” (9).
Questions & Help
If you have questions on this, or another topic, contact a librarian for help!