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Citation Style Guides: MLA Citation Style

MLA Handbook in Print

RefWorks for MLA Works Cited Lists

Refworks is a citation manager that allows you to create or import your references for your classes, create reference lists, cite your sources in-text, and organize and store them for as long as you are a student at Woodbury.

If you would like to learn more about Refworks, or forgot what we covered in class, check out these tutorials.

Guide to MLA Style Bibliographic Citations

General Guidelines

  • Your list of references should begin on a separate page, with the title "Works Cited".
  • Arrange entries alphabetically, using the last name of the author. If no author is given, alphabetize by the title, eliminating any initial A, An, or The.
  • Begin each entry at the left margin. If the information requires more than one line, indent the following lines one-half inch from the left margin.
  • Double-space within each entry, and between each entry.
  • Follow carefully the punctuation, italicizing, and capitalization in the examples.
  • Shorten the name of the publishing company by eliminating articles (A, An, or The), business abbreviations (Co., Inc., Ltd.), and descriptive words (Books, House, Press). However, when citing a university press, add the abbreviation "P" (Ohio State UP). If the publisher’s name is the name of one or more persons, cite the first surname only (Abrams).

 

 

Book with One Author

Format

Author’s last name, First name and Middle initial. Italicize Title. Publication Location:

Publishing Company, Year. Print. 

Example:

Koenig, Gloria. Iconic LA: Stories of LA’s Most Memorable Buildings. Glendale:

Balcony, 2000. Print.

 

Book with Two or Three Authors

Format

First author’s last name, First name and Middle initial, Second author's First name

and Last name, and Third author's First name and Last name. Italicize Title.

Publication Location: Publishing Company, Year. Print.

Example:

Landau, Robert, and John Pashdag. Outrageous L.A. San Francisco:

Chronicle, 1984. Print.

 

Book with More Than Three Authors

Format

First author’s last name, First name and Middle initial, et al. Italicize Title. Publication

Location: Publishing Company, Year. Print.

Example:

Gebhard, David, et al. A Guide to Architecture in San Francisco & Northern California. Santa

Barbara: Peregrine, 1973. Print.

 

Book with an Editor

Format

First author’s last name, First name and Middle initial, et al. Italicize Title. Publication

Location: Publishing Company, Year. Print.

Example:

Newland, Joseph N., ed. Johnson, Kaufmann, Coate: Partners in the California

style. Claremont: Scripps College, 1992. Print.

 

Work in an Anthology or Collection

Format

Author's last name, First name and Middle initial (if given). "Title or Description of the

Essay/Short Story/Poem." Editor or Compiler (write Trans., Ed., or Comp.).

First name Last name. Italicize Title of Book. Publication Location: Publishing

Company, Year. Print.

Example:

Orwell, George. "Such, Such Were the Joys." Ed. Philip Lopate. The Art of the Personal

Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present. New York:

Anchor-Doubleday, 1994. Print.

 

Article from a Reference Book, Encyclopedia, or Dictionary -- Not Signed

Format

"Title of Article or Entry." Italicize Title of Reference Work. Edition. Year. Format.

Example:

"Los Angeles." The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia. 15th ed. 1998. Print.

 

Article from a Reference Book, Encyclopedia, or Dictionary -- Signed

Format

Author's last name, First name and Middle initial. "Title of Article or Entry." Italicize Title of

Reference Work. Editor's First name and Last name. Edition. Number of volumes in

set. Publication Location: Publishing Company, Year. Format.

Example:

Turner, Thornton F. "Mission." A Dictionary of Architecture and Building. Ed. Russell

Sturgis. 1st ed. 3 Vols. New York: Macmillan, 1902. Print.

 

Article from a Newspaper

Format

Author's last name, First name and Middle initial. "Title of Article." Italicize Title of Newspaper

Day Month Year, edition: page number(s). Format.

Example:

Ouroussoff, Nicolai. "Enduring Legacy: How the Spanish Missions Still Shape Modern

California." Los Angeles Times 7 Sept. 1997, home ed.: B2+. Print.

 

Article from a Scholarly Journal with Continuous Pagination

Format

Author's last name, First name and Middle initial. "Title of Article." Italicize Title of Journal.

volume.issue (if available) (year): page number(s). Format.

Example:

Faragher, John Mack. "Bungalow and Ranch House: The Architectural Backwash of California."

Western Historical Quarterly. 32.2 (2001): 149-173. Print.

 

Article from a Popular Magazine

Format

Author's last name, First name and Middle initial. "Title of Article." Italicize Title of Magazine

Day Month Year of publication: page numbers. Format.

Example:

Mezrich, Ben. "To Live and Die in L.A." Wired May 2003: 131-135. Print.

 

Article from an Online Full-Text Database

Format

Author's last name, First name and Middle initial. "Title of Article." Italicize Title of Journal

Volume number.Issue [when issue number is available] (year): page range. Italicize Title

of Database. Format. Date Month Year [when accessed].

Example:

Kellogg, Craig. "Looks count." Interior Design 74.3 (2003): 208-213. ProQuest.

Web. 24 Dec 2009.

 

Webpage

Format

Author's last name, First name and Middle initial. "Title of the Web Page." Italicize Title of

Web Site. Name of Sponsoring or Publisher, Day Month Year of page. Format.

Day Month Year [viewed].

Example:

Matthews, Kevin. "W. E. Oliver House." Greatbuildings.com. Architecture Week Great Buildings

Collection, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010.
 

Note: Use n.p. if no publisher or sponsor name is available and n.d. if no publishing date is given.

 

Online Book

Format

Author's last name, First name and Middle initial. Italicize Title of Online Book.

Publication location: Publishing company, year. Italicize Vender Name. Format.

Day Month Year [viewed].

Example:

Upton, Dell. Architecture in the United States. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998. Netlibrary.

Web. 1 Jan. 2010.