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MLA Style

MLA Style (8th edition)

The MLA or Modern Language Association style of citation is broadly used in the language arts and humanities. Please note that this style guide will be updated shortly to reflect changes made in the style's 9th edition.

Purdue OWL MLA Style and Format Guide

MLA OWL

This resource, created based off of the MLA Handbook (8th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page. 

  Citing Resources


Why do we need to cite resources that we get information from?

    To acknowledge that the information is from another source and is not our own.
     To give the reader necessary information to find the resource and do further research.
     To avoid plagiarism, or passing off the information as your own.

 

Icons are from the Noun Project and under Creative Commons licence (CCBY): books by sandra, article by Arfan Khan Kamol, website by Julynn B.

This page is from Oxford College's guide to citation. Check it out here

Books

BookMLA Style is designed to be flexible and adaptable to many kinds of sources - the citation format centers on the idea of "objects" and the "containers" they live in. Since books are self-contained, they don't usually have a "container" element - this makes them one of the easiest things to cite in MLA.

 

Some example citations are below, from the Purdue OWL MLA Guide. Follow the link for more examples!

How To Cite...

Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. MacMurray, 1999.

Noble, Safiya U. Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. New York University Press, 2018.

Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Allyn and Bacon, 2000.

Pratchett, Terry, and Neil Gaiman. Good Omens. Workman, 1990.

List only the first author followed by the phrase et al. (Latin for "and others") in place of the subsequent authors' names.

Wysocki, Anne Frances, et al. Writing New Media: Theory and Applications for Expanding the Teaching of Composition. Utah State UP, 2004.

Harris, Muriel. "Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers." A Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers One to One, edited by Ben Rafoth, Heinemann, 2000, pp. 24-34.

Smale, Maura A. "Always a Novice: Feminist Learning and Leadership Practice." Feminists Among Us: Resistance and Advocacy in Library Leadership, edited by Shirley Lew and Baharak Yousefi, Library Juice Press, 2017, pp. 7-27.

Articles

 

MLA Style is designed to be flexible and adaptable to many kinds of sources - the citation format centers on the idea of "objects" and the "containers" they live in. The container of an article is usually the journal, magazine, etc it was published in.

 

 

 

Some example citations are below, from the Purdue OWL MLA Guide. Follow the link for more examples!

How To Cite...

McAninch, David. "Seeing France’s Wild Mountains Through a Clouded, Classic Windshield." New York Times, 15 July 2019. nyti.ms/2GgMdkK. Accessed 16 Jul 2019.

Brubaker, Bill. "New Health Center Targets County's Uninsured Patients." Washington Post, 24 May 2007, p. LZ01.

In Print

Duvall, John N. "The (Super)Marketplace of Images: Television as Unmediated Mediation in DeLillo's White Noise." Arizona Quarterly, vol. 50, no. 3, 1994, pp. 127-53.

From an Online Database

Budd, John M. “Public Libraries, Political Speech, and the Possibility of a Commons.” Public Library Quarterly, vol. 38, no. 2, Apr. 2019, pp. 147–159. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/01616846.2018.1556232.

Krasikov, Sana. "What Children Remember From the War." Review of Last Witnesses: An Oral History of the Children of World War II, by Svetlana Alexievich. New York Times, 13 July 2019, nyti.ms/2JyKt8y. Accessed 15 July 2019.

Weiller, K. H. Review of Sport, Rhetoric, and Gender: Historical Perspectives and Media Representations, edited by Linda K. Fuller. Choice, Apr. 2007, p. 1377.

Websites

Website IconMLA Style is designed to be flexible and adaptable to many kinds of sources - the citation format centers on the idea of "objects" and the "containers" they live in. A website itself is a container, so think of pages on a website like chapters of a book.

 

Citing a web-based resource? MLA style recommends that you include your date of access, as the content may change over time.

 

Some example citations are below, from the Purdue OWL MLA Guide. Follow the link for more examples!

How To Cite...

Mission and Vision - Oxford College Library - Emory University. Oxford College Library, www.oxford.library.emory.edu/about/About-Oxford/mission-vision.html. Accessed 15 July 2019.

Manila, Ashley. “Coconut Cream Pie Smoothie Recipe.” eHow, www.ehow.com/how_12343061_coconut-cream-pie-smoothie.html. Accessed 15 July 2019.

"Libraries = Strong Communities: Celebrating National Library Week." Oxford Library Blog, Oxford College Library, 9 Apr. 2019, www.scholarblogs.emory.edu/oxford/events/libraries-strong-communities-celebrating-national-library-week/. Accessed 15 July 2019.

Images & Video


 

 

*Figures cited in-text must be both captioned and cited in the bibliography.

In-text citation:

(see fig. X)

(see fig. 3)

Caption:

*Include the bibliographic information, while replacing periods with commas.

Fig. X. Artist; Title; Creation Year; Institution, URL.

Fig. 3. Cézanne, Paul; Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses; 1890; The Metropolitan Museum
          of 
Art, metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435882.

Fig. 5. Holley, LaurenAtlanta Streetcar; 2014; Flickr, flickr.com/photos/atlantadowntown/16106577510/.
       

Bibliography:

Last name, First name. Title of the work. YearWebsite publisher, URL.

Cézanne, Paul. 
Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses. 1890The Metropolitan Museum of

Art, metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435882.


Frequently asked questions

Image has no known author?

Omit the author's name, and start with the title:

Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses. 1890The Metropolitan Museum

         of Art, metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435882.

No creation date?

Include an access date instead:

Cézanne, Paul. Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses. The Metropolitan Museum of

Art, metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435882. Accessed 5 Nov. 2019.

Are you citing an image reproduced in a website article?

Read this post from the MLA Style Center for formatting guidelines.

Have you modified the image?

Fig. 3. Adapted from Artist; Title; Creation Year; Institution, URL.

Fig. 3. Adapted from Paul Cézanne; Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses; 1890; The Metropolitan
          Museum of 
Art, metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435882.

Read this post from the MLA Style Center for more information.

Are you using a video screenshot?

Fig. X. Still from Creator, Title of Video (minute:seconds).

Fig. 4. Still from Toledo Museum of Art, What is Visual Literacy? (4:31).

Read this post from the MLA Style Center for more information.

  MLA Video Citation Examples

 

YouTube & Streaming Video:

TitlePlatform, uploaded by Screen name, Day Month (abbreviated). Year, URL.

What is Information Literacy?.YouTube, uploaded by Modern Librarian Memoirs, 2 Nov. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbe6xBibOL4.

 

 

 


 

Digital Resources in MLA Style: How Do I Cite...

In MLA style, any links you include should not have the http:// portion of the URL.

If the author’s name is the same as the uploader, only cite the author once. If the author is different from the uploader, cite the author’s name before the title.Play Button Icon

Garofalo, Vanessa. "How to Avoid Plagiarism in 5 Easy Steps." YouTube, uploaded by Modern Librarian Memoirs, 5 April 2018, www.youtu.be/WV2-cmi19sg.

“8 Hot Dog Gadgets put to the Test.” YouTube, uploaded by Crazy Russian Hacker, 6 June 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBlpjSEtELs.

Make sure to list as much information as possible to help your user find the file - if information such as record label or producer are unavailable from your source, do not list them.Speaker Icon

Song

Zuckerman, Jeremy. "To Heal." 22 July 2015. SoundCloud, www.soundcloud.com/jeremy-zuckerman/to-heal.

Personal Interview

A personal interview is one that you have conducted yourself - the "author" is the interviewee. For other interviews, see the Purdue OWL Guide.

Crowl, Paige. Personal interview. 12 July 2019.

Podcast

"3 - Station Management." Welcome to Night Vale from NightValeRadio, 15 July 2012, www.radiopublic.com/welcome-to-night-vale-3GZp96/ep/s1!0c606.

Personal PhotoPhoto Icon

Remember to get the permission of all the people in the photo (or their guardians, if minors) before you use it in your work!

Crowl, Paige. "Happy Spinach." 28 Feb. 2017. Personal collection.

Garofalo, Christopher. "CSCE Contributor Gift Table." SmugMug, 12 April 2019, www.christophervisuals.com/OxfordCollege/CSCE/i-wP8vMbB/A.

Online Photo or Image

If the image is on the web only, then provide the name of the artist, the title of the work, and then follow the citation format for a website. If the work is posted via a username, use that username for the author. If the image has no title, put a description instead, and don't use quotation marks or italics.

Williams, Maynard O. “An Ouled Nail woman in Algeria wears a tattoo that is customary for dancers, 1949.” Found, National Geographic Creative, 10 March 2016, www.natgeofound.tumblr.com/post/140802561912/an-ouled-nail-woman-in-algeria-wears-a-tattoo-that.

Cash, Ivan. "Infographic of Infographics." Imgur, 5 April 2011, www.imgur.com/DNxvj.

FacebookHashtag Icon

Oxford College Library. "Stop by the library until 2 pm today for some much-needed stress relief with our therapy dogs! @emoryoxford #stressrelief #therapydogs #oxlibrary #oxlib #oxfordcollegelibrary #oxfamily." Facebook, 2 May 2019, 7:47 a.m., www.facebook.com/OxLibrary/photos/a.146203117813/10158053777397814/.

Twitter

@OxLibrary. "Stop by the library THIS THURSDAY to get some much-needed stress relief with one of our therapy dogs in Room 230! FREE healthy snacks will be available in the Info. Commons! @EmoryOxford #oxlibrary #oxlib #oxfordcollegelibrary #oxfamily #destress #studybreak #therapydogs." Twitter, 30 Apr. 2019, 10:41 a.m., www.twitter.com/OxLibrary/status/1123281357071843328.

Instagram

@oxfordcollegelibrary. "Stop by the library until 2pm today for some much needed stress relief with our therapy dogs! @emoryoxford #stressrelief #therapydogs #oxlibrary #oxlib #oxfordcollegelibrary #oxfamily." Instagram, 2 May 2019, www.instagram.com/p/Bw9srvdFLzl.

MLA In-Text Citations 

If you are using MLA for your project use parenthetical citations. only include the author's last name and the page number in parenthesis. Typically you put this at the end at the end of the sentence just before the period.  

Format:

(author's last name, page number) 

Example: 

According to one scholar, Superman while having many impressive superpowers, is bad at the investigative parts of crime fighting (Wayne, 5). 

To cite more than one source put a semicolon between the two sources citations 

Format: 

(author's last name, page number; author's last name, page number)

Example:

While these two scholars disagree about many things, both think the Justice League of America is the superior crime fighting organization (Wayne, 5; Kent, 8).  

For more information on MLA in-text citations see the Purdue OWL page about this here.