MLA Formats for Different Sources

E-Mail Messages

Citation description:

Sender's Last name, First name. "Subject line of email." Received by (name of receiver), Email date.

Citation example:

Librot, Janet. "How to Cite Information." Received by Josh Stuyvesant, 24 Nov. 2009.

Blog:

Citation description:

Editor, screen name, author, or compiler name (if available). “Posting Title.” Name of Site, Version number (if available), Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), URL without http:// or https://. Date of access.

“SWC Teachers Suspended after Rally Participation.” Save Our Southwestern College, 23 Oct. 2009, 7:30 a.m., saveourswc.blogspot.com/2009/10/swc-teachers-suspended-after-rally.html. Accessed 17 Nov. 2009.

Podcast or Posting on a Social Media Site:

Citation description:

Cite as a short work from a Web site. Use the text of the post as the title in quotations; if no title, label it as Post.

Citation example:

"I Thought the Truth Would Be Enough." Only Human, from NPR, June 28 2016, www.npr.org/podcasts/449020426/only-human.

Tweet:

Citation description:

User's Twitter handle. "Text of the entire tweet; including any hashtags." Twitter, date, time, URL without http:// or https://.

Citation example:

@Steven_Hawking. "Run, jump, throw: The physics behind Olympic events explained." Twitter, 12 Aug. 2016, 5:30 a.m., twitter.com/Steven_Hawking/status/764076653727260672?lang=en.

Digital files are any documents, images or other media that exist in digital form, independent of a Web site.

Citation description:

Begin with information required for the source (such as a photograph, a report, a sound recording, or a radio program), following the guidelines for the specific source. Then for the medium, indicate the type of file: “JPEG file,” “PDF file,” “MP3 file,” and so on.

Citation examples:

Hine, Lewis W. Girl in Cherryville Mill. 1908. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. JPG file.

“Scenes from a Recession.” This American Life. Narrated by Ira Glass, NPR, 30 Mar. 2009. MP3 file.

National Institute of Mental Health. What Rescue Workers Can Do. US Department of Health and Human Services, 2006. PDF file.

Photograph viewed in person

List the author of the photograph, if known. Then provide a description of the photograph in place of a title. List the date the photograph was taken, if known.

Citation examples:

Adams, Ansel. Gottardo Piazzoni in His Studio. 1932.

To cite a photograph in a personal collection, in the optional-element slot at the end of the entry, indicate that the photograph is in a personal collection:

Smith, John. Photograph of the sculpture of Miguel Cervantes in San Francisco Golden Gate Park. 4 Sept. 2018. Author’s personal collection.

Photograph or image from a website:

"Alcatraz_island.jpg." PRBO Conservation Science, 2011, www.prbo.org/cms/images/marine/Alcatraz/Alcatraz_island.jpg. Accessed 5 Sept. 2016. (Note: citing the date you consulted the website is optional)

For more information, please refer to Skyline College Library's MLA 8th ed. Citation guide.

Citation description:

Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). "Title poem." Title of Book, edited by Editor's first and last name, Publisher, Year of publication, Page numbers for the poem.

Citation examples:

Collins, Billy. "More than a Woman." Poetry Magazine. Poetry Foundation. February 2002. www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?contentId=41394. Accessed 1 Sept 2016. (citing the date you consulted the website is optional)

Nesbit, Edith. "Marching Song." Ballads and Lyrics of Socialism. London, 1908. Victorian Women Writers Project. Ed. Perry Willett. Indiana University, May 2000, webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/vwwp/view?docId=VAB7021;chunk.id=d1e720;toc.depth=1;toc.id=;brand=vwwp;doc.view=0;query=. Accessed 22 Aug.2016.

Newspaper article from a newspaper website:

Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Name of Website, Sponsor/Publisher of Website, Date of last update, URL without http:// or https://. Date of Access (optional).

Lattin, Don. "Religions Have Complicated Role in Globalization." SF Gate. San Francisco Chronicle, 23 February 2003, www.sfgate.com/living/article/Religions-have-complicated-role-in-globalization-2668786.php. Accessed 9 May 2019.

Bilmes, Linda J. and Joseph E. Stiglitz. "The Iraq War will Cost Us $3 Trillion, and Much More." Washingtonpost.com, Washington Post, 9 March 2008, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030702846.html. Accessed 8 Sept. 2016.

Citation description:

Title of specific program. Author, Director or Narrator. Title of Series. Producing company. Network. Broadcasting station (if from local station rather than directly from a network). Date of broadcast.

Citation example:

"Cuba and Cocaine." Narrated by Bill Moyers. Frontline, Documentary Consortium, PBS, WTVS, 18 Jan. 2002.

Citation description:

Artist, performer, composer, or conductor depending on who is most responsible for the production. "Title of song" Title of the recording (or the titles of the works included), performance by name of artist or artists (when distinct from a first-listed person or group). Manufacturer, year of issue (if the year is unknown, leave it blank.).

Citation examples:

song from a CD:

Coltrane, John. "Giant Steps." The Last Giant: The John Coltrane Anthology, Rhino, 1993.

No composer shown:

Lewiston, David. Fiestas of Peru: Music of the High Andes, Nonesuch Records, 1972.

Composer and performer different:

Guthrie, Woody. Pete Seeger Sings Woody Guthrie. Performance by Pete Seeger, Folkways, 1968.

Citation description:

Artist’s Last Name, First Name. Title of the work, the date of composition, the institution's name, the city in which the work is located, but omit the city if it is part of the institution's name (MLA 49). The medium of publication and materials of composition (for instance, “Lithograph on paper,” “Photograph,” “Charcoal on paper,”) if important for your discussion, could be included at the end of the entry as optional elements.

Physical objects experienced firsthand:

Citation examples:

Constable, John. Dedham Vale. 1802, Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Oil on canvas.

Rodin, Auguste. The Thinker. Circa 1880, cast circa 1904, The Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California.

Physical objects found online:

According to MLA.org, include the name of the Web site (in italics) as the title of the container, followed by the publisher of the Web site and the URL (without http:// or https://) and the access date. Following page 42 of the handbook, omit the publisher’s name if it is essentially the same as the title of the Web site.

Citation examples:

Constable, John. Dedham Vale. 1802. National Galleries of Scotland, www.nationalgalleries.org/object/NG 2016. Accessed 25 Oct. 2016.

Rodin, Auguste. The Thinker. Circa 1880, cast circa 1904. The Legion of Honor, legionofhonor.famsf.org/about/thinker. Accessed 26 Oct. 2016.

Citation description:

Title of the advertisement or a description (name of the product or company being advertised). The source in which the advertisement appears, the date of the issue, the page number where the advertisement was found.

Citation examples:

Truth by Calvin Klein. Advertisement. Vogue, Dec. 2000, pp. 95-98.

If the advertisement is online, provide the URL.

What the Constitution Means to Me. The New York Times, 16 May 2018, www.berkeleyrep.org/season/1718/12037.asp?utm_source=Mogo&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=v1&utm_campaign=CM.

Important: Always begin your citation with the name of the person interviewed. The interviewer's name may be included if it is relevant.

Interviews (television or radio)

Citation examples:

Blackmun, Harry. Interview with Ted Koppel and Nina Totenberg. Nightline, ABC, WABC, 5 Apr. 1994.

Nader, Ralph. Interview with Ray Suarez. Talk of the Nation, KQED, San Francisco , 16 Apr. 1998.

Interviews (magazine or newspaper):

Citation examples:

Lansbury, Angela. "The Grand Woman of Mystery Reveals Her Own Mysteries." People, 15 June 2002, pp. 52-55.

Gordimer, Nadine. "Novelist Speaks of Life, Love, Travels." New York Times, 10 Oct. 1991, late ed., C25.

Interview (that you conducted):

1) Name of the person interviewed; 2) The kind of interview (personal interview, telephone interview); 3) Date you conducted the interview

Citation examples:

Smith, Will. Personal interview. 22 July 2003.

Spears, Britney. Telephone Interview. 10 Dec. 2002.

Citation description:

Speaker's Last Name, First Name. “Title” or description. Sponsoring event or course name. Location. Performance date. Type of performance (Address, Lecture, Keynote speech, Reading)

Citation example:

Westfall, Jeff. "Lecture on homelessness." English 100, 7 Mar. 2007, Skyline College. Lecture.

If the information is retrieved from a website, include website's information:

Speaker’s Last name, First name. “Title of the Article or Individual Page.” Title of the Website, Name of the publisher, Date the resource was published, URL (without http:// or https://). Assessed date.

Citation description:

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Document." Date of document. Organization associated with document. Description of document (e.g., flyer, leaflet, memo or handout).

Note: If any of the above information is not given, leave the information out.

Citation example:

Jackson, Boris. "Security Policy." Brookfield State College, MN. Memo to college faculty.

Class handout quoting another source

Citation description:

Last Name of Author of quoted source, First Name. "Title of work from a published collection. (e.g. poem or article)." Title of Publication (book or periodical). "Title of Handout." Title of course, (Name of instructor,) Date of handout, Name of school. Handout.

Note: If any of the above information is not given, leave the information out.

Citation example:

Aldiss, Brian. "Flight 063." Icarus Poems: A Selective Arachniography. Composition, Literature and Critical Thinking: English 110, Professor Jeff Westfall, Feb. 2006, Skyline College. Handout.

Article in an online journal:

Citation description:

Author's Last name, First name Middle initial (if any). "Title of article." Journal title, Volume number, Issue number (if each issue number begins on page 1), date of publication, page numbers (if any), URL without http:// or https://. Accessed date.

Citation example:

Miller, Benjamin, et al. "The Roots of an Academic Genealogy: Composing the Writing Studies Tree." Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, vol. 20, no. 2, Spring 2016, kairos.technorhetoric.net/20.2/topoi/miller-et-al/index.html. Accessed 8 May 2019.

Article in an online magazine:

Stockler, Asher. "NEW RACE IN AMERICA SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS ‘RACIAL RESIDENTIAL SEGREGATION’." Newsweek, 8 May 2019, www.newsweek.com/race-america-survey-diversity-segregation-1419850. Accessed 8 May 2019.

Citation Format for eBooks

Citation description:

Begin the entry in the works-cited list like the entry for a comparable printed book. If you know the type of eBook you consulted (e.g., Kindle, EPUB), specify it instead of “e-book." If you cannot identify the file type, use Digital file.

Citation example:

Rowley, Hazel. Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage. Kindle ed. Farrar, 2010.

Online book:

An eBook may be the electronic text of part or all of a printed book, or a book-length document available only on the Internet.

Bird, Isabella L. A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1881. Victorian Women Writers Project, edited by Perry Willett, Indiana Univerity, www.indiana.edu/~letrs/vwwp/bird/rocky.htm.

Online book chapter:

Bryant, Peter J. "The Age of Mammals." Biodiversity and Conservation. University of California, 2002, darwin.bio.uci.edu/~sustain/bio65/lec02/b65lec02.htm.

General web page format:

Citation description:

• Author or editor's last name (if an author is given), first name, middle initial (if any).
• “Web Page or Article Title.”
• Titleof the Overall Website,
• Version or edition used,
• Publisher or sponsor of the site (if not given, leave blank),
• Date of publication (day, month, and year), (If not given, leave blank),
• doi:xxxxxxxxxx (DOI), URL (without "http://" or "https://) or permalink.
• Accessed date (optional)
• NOTE : If you cannot locate any of the above components, leave it out.
  NOTE : Other than author, article title, and the last section (either the URL or the accessed date), each of the above sections of your citation is followed by a comma.

Citation example:

Basic web page:

Toppo, Greg. “Do Video Games Inspire Violent Behavior?” Scientific American, Springer Nature, 1 July 2015, www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-video-games-inspire-violent-behavior/. Accessed 5 Sept. 2016.

Wikipedia page:

"Skyline College."Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyline_College. Accessed 6 May 2019.

Entire Website or Website homepage:

Citation description:

Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number, Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available), URL, DOI or permalink. Date of access (if applicable).

Citation examples:

MLA Style. Modern Language Association, 2016, www.mla.org/MLA-Style. Accessed 1 Sept. 2016.

U. S. Department of Education. US Dept. of Education, www.ed.gov/index.html. Accessed 6 Sept. 2016.

Personal web page

Moss, Cindy. Skyline College. Instructor Page. Fall 2016, accounts.smccd.edu/moss/. Accessed 6 Sept. 2016.

Citation Format for Articles from Encyclopedias or Other Reference Sources, including Online Reference Sources

Article from a Major Print Encyclopedia

Citation description:

Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). [If no author listed, begin with article title.] "Title of Article: Subtitle of Article (if any)." Title of Encyclopedia or Other Reference Source, Edition number, Year of Publication.

Note: if the articles are organized alphabetically, do not list volume number or page number of the article.

Citation example:

Naisbitt, John, et al. "United States: Immigration." Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia, 1998 ed.

Article from a Non-Major Print Encyclopedia or Other Reference Source

Citation description:

Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). [If no author listed, begin with article title.] "Title of Article: Subtitle of Article (if any)." Title of Encyclopedia or Other Reference Source, edited by Editor's name (if any), Edition (if not first edition), Publisher, Year of publication, Page range of entry.

Citation example:

Helweg, Arthur W. "Immigration." Encyclopedia of Social Issues, edited by John K. Roth, Marshall Cavendish, 1997.

Article from an Online Encyclopedia or Other Online Reference Database

Citation description:

Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). [If no author listed, begin with article title.] "Title of Article: Subtitle of Article (if any)." Title of Encyclopedia or Other Reference Source, Date of Publication or Latest Update. Publisher, Sponsoring Organization or Website name, URL (web address without http:// or https://) of the page. Accessed Day Month Year of researcher's visit.

Citation example:

Berthoff, Roland. "United States of America: The People: Colonial and National Immigration." Encyclopedia Americana, Grolier Online, 2004, go.grolier.com/gol. Accessed 29 Mar. 2007.

"Charles Dickens." Authors and Artists for Young Adults. Gale Research, 1998. Biography Resource Center, Gale, 2004, galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC. Accessed 26 Mar. 2007.

Newspaper article:(the following information is for paper copies of articles):

Citation description:

Author's last name, First name. "Article Title." Title of Newspapepr, Day Month (abbreviated except May, June, and July) Year, section and page number(s) (if the article is not printed on consecutive pages, just give the first page followed by +).

Citation example:

MacKenzie, Bill. "Packin' the Heat." San Francisco Chronicle, 4 Nov. 1993, pp. A16+

Book review article (the following information is for paper copies of articles):

Citation description:

Reviewer's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). "Article Title." (if more than "Book Review" and/or title of the book) Review of Title of Book, by Book author's first name Middle initial (if any) Last name. Title of the Periodical, volume, issue number, and/or date and page information for the appropriate type of periodical as shown above (MLA 29). If the full text of the article is accessed from an electronic database, include database information.

Citation examples:

Hendrickson, Donald. Review of The Case Against Immigration: The Moral, Economic Social and Environmental Reasons for Reducing United States Immigration Back to Traditional Levels, by Roy Howard Beck. Foreign Affairs, vol. 75, no. 4, Jul-Aug. 1996, p. 146.

Fukuyama, Francis. "No Vacancy." Review of The Case Against Immigration: The Moral, Economic Social and Environmental Reasons for Reducing United States Immigration Back to Traditional Levels, by Roy Howard Beck. The New York Times Book Review, 1 Sept. 1996, p. 18.

Print Magazine article (the following information is for paper copies of articles):

Citation description:

Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). "Title of Article." Title of Magazine, Day (if given) Month (abbreviated except May, June, and July), Year, Page numbers of article (if the article is not printed on consecutive pages, give the first page followed by a +).

Citation examples:

Bazell, Robert. "Science and Society: Growth Industry." New Republic, 15 Mar. 1993, pp. 13-14.

Frank, Michael. "The Wild, Wild West." Architectural Digest, June 1993, pp. 180+.

Print journal article (the following information is for paper copies of articles):

Citation description:

Author's Last name, First name Middle initial (if any). "Title of article." Journal title, Volume number, Issue number (if each issue number begins on page 1), Date of publication, page numbers.

Citation example:

Babrow, Austin S. "Student Motives for Watching Soap Operas." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, vol. 31, no. 3, Summer 1997, pp. 309-321.

Citation Format for Books

Books with a single author:

Citation description:

Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). Title. Publisher, Year of publication.

Citation example:

Gamson, Joshua. R. Claims to Fame: Celebrity in Contemporary America. University of California Press, 1994.

Books with more than one authors

Books with two authors:

Citation description:

First author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any), and Second author's First name Middle initial (if any) Last name. Title. Publisher, Year of publication.

Citation examples:

Stewart, David W., and David H. Furse. Effective Television Advertising: A Study of 1000 Commercials. Lexington Books, 1986.

Note: For a book with more than two authors, list only the first author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any) followed by a comma and the words et al.

Jonson, Albert, et al. Information Access. University of Chicago P, 1992.

Baker, Nellie, et al. Book Publishing. University of Chicago P, 1992.

Books with editor(s) rather than author(s):

Citation description:

Editor's last name, First name Middle initial (if any), editor. Title. Publisher, Year of publication.

Citation example:

Baughman, Cynthia, editor. Women on Ice: Feminist Essays on the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan Spectacle. Routledge, 1995.

Essay, article, story, poem or chapter in a book with an editor (if the book is an anthology of works by multiple writers):

Citation description:

Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). "Title of Chapter or Essay." Title of Book. Edited by Editor's first and last name, Publisher, Year of publication, Page numbers for the chapter.

Citation example:

Fox, Aaron A. "Split Subjectivity in Country Music and Honky-Tonk Discourse." All That Glitters: Country Music in America, edited by George H. Lewis, Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1993. pp. 131-139.

Essay, article, story, or poem in a book that is an anthology of works by a single author (If the specific literary work is part of an author's own collection, i.e. all of the works have the same author, then there will be no editor to reference):

Citation description:

Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). "Title of Essay, Article, Story, or Poem." Title of Book, Publisher, year of publication, page numbers for the essay, article, story, or poem.

Citation examples:

Whitman, Walt. "I Sing the Body Electric." Selected Poems, Dover, 1991, pp. 12-19.

Carter, Angela. "The Tiger's Bride." Burning Your Boats: The Collected Stories, Penguin, 1995, pp. 154-69.

Citation description:

Article information as shown above for magazine, journal or newspaper; then add information of the second container such as: Title of Database, Name of database service or publisher, DOI (digital object identifier). If a DOI is not available, cite the URL (electronic address without http:// or https://). Accessed Date of researcher's access.

Citation example:

Article accessed from an online library periodical database (such as Gale, or EBSCO web-based databases):

Citation examples:

a. Popular magazine article from PowerSearch databases:

Adler, Jonathan H. "A Child's Garden of Misinformation." Consumers' Research Magazine, Sept. 1993, pp. 11+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/infomark.do?. Accessed 8 May 2008.

b1. Academic journal article from MEDLINE database

Johansson, Michael A., et al. "Zika and the Risk of Microcephaly." New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 375, no. 1, 2016, pp. 1-4. MEDLINE [EBSCO], doi:10.1056/NEJMp1605367. Accessed 4 Oct. 2016.

b2. Academic journal article from History In Context database

Hoganson, Kristin. " ‘As Badly Off As The Filipinos’: U.S. Women's Suffragists and the Imperial Issue at the Turn of the Twentieth Century." Journal of Women's History, vol. 13, no.2, 2001, pp. 9+. U.S. History in Context, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=UHIC&u=plan_skyline&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA79027487&asid=1557374400000~771e21a8.

c. A complete academic journal article reprinted in a collected volume from Literature Resource Center database

McFarland, Ron. "Sherman Alexie's Polemical Stories." Studies in American Indian Literatures: The Journal of the Association for the Study of American Indian Literatures, vol. 9, no.4, Winter 1997, pp. 27-38. Reprinted in Short Story Criticism, vol. 107, Gale. Literature Resource Center, Gale, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1420080464&v=2.1&u=plan_skyline&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w. Accessed 1 Dec. 2018.

d. An excerpt from an academic journal article reprinted in a collected volume from Literature Resource Center database

Ullman, Leslie. "Betrayals and Boundaries: A Question of Balance." Kenyon Review, vol. 15, no. 3, Summer 1993, p. 186. Excerpt in Contemporary Literary Criticism Select, Gale. Literature Resource Center, Gale, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1100040016&v=2.1&u=plan_skyline&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w. Accessed 5 May 2019.

e. Book review article from an academic journal from PowerSearch databases

Forman, James, Jr. Review of "Let's Get Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice", by Paul Butler. Michigan Law Review, vol. 108, no.6, Apr. 2010, pp. 993+. General OneFile, Gale, go.galegroup.com/ps/infomark.do?source=gale&docType=IAC&tabID=T002&userGroupName=plan_skyline&prodId=GPS&action=interpret&docId=A223372129.