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MLA BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATIONS
The following are examples of bibliographic citations using the MLA (Modern Language Association) format. These examples can be used to construct bibliographies at the end of any piece of research. |
Book with one author:
Bird, Caroline. Enterprising Woman. New York: Norton, 1976.
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Author: Last name of the
author, first name.
Title: Title of book,
subtitle (if any) and a period. Title and subtitle are both underlined or italicized. Also,
main words in title and subtitle are capitalized.
Publication
information:
Place of publication (state usually not needed), publisher followed by date
of publication. Note that "University Press" is abbreviated UP and
"University of Oregon Press" would be "U of Oregon P."
Note
that all entries in a bibliography finish with a period.
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Book with two authors:
Berelson, Bernard, and Gary A. Steiner. Human Behavior: An Inventory of
Scientific Findings. New York: Harcourt, 1964.
Book with three authors:
Baum, Charlotte, Paula Hyman, and Sonya Michel. The Jewish Woman in America.
New York: Dial P., 1976.
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Format
Note:
Last name of the author, author's first name, followed by the word "and" then
the name of the second author. Note that the second author format is first
name followed by last name.
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Book with multiple authors:
Stewart, Marie M., et al. Business English and Communication. 5th ed. New
York: McGraw, 1978.
Book written by an organization:
Boston Women's Health Book Collective. Our Bodies, Ourselves: A Book by
and for Women. New York: Simon Schuster, 1971.
Book with an editor:
Silverberg, Robert, ed. Earth is the Strangest Planet: Ten Stories of
Science Fiction. Nashville: T. Nelson, 1977.
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Format
Note:
Last name, first name, then the abbreviation "ed." Sometimes the editor will
appear after the title, depending on the nature of the book.
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Section, chapter, or essay in a book or anthology:
Allende, Isabel. "Toad's Mouth." A Hammock Beneath the Mangoes: Stories
from Latin America. Ed. Thomas Colchie. New York: Plume, 1992. 83-88.
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Format
Note:
In this example, there is a story by Isabel Allende in an anthology edited by
Thomas Colchie. At the end of the citation, include the pages where the
article, story or essay appeared.
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Specific pages in a book:
Leggett, Glenn C., David Mead, and William Charvat. Prentice-Hall Handbook
for Writers. 8th ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1982. 69-76.
Book with more than one edition:
Baugh, Albert C. A History of the English Language. 2nd ed. New York:
Appleton, 1957.
Work published in several volumes:
Woolf, Virginia. The Diary of Virginia Woolf. Ed. Anne Olivier Bell.
Vol. 1. New York: Harcourt, 1977.
Article or entry in a popular general reference book:
Goris, Jan-Albert. "Belgian Literature." Collier's Encyclopedia. 1983 ed.
"Aging." The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia. 15th ed. 1983.
"Graham, Martha." Who's Who in American Women. 13th ed. 1983-84.
Article or entry in a subject reference book:
Freedom of Information. Encyclopedia of Human Rights. Ed. Edward Lawson.
New York: Taylor & Francis, 1991. 592-595.
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Format
Note:
In a popular reference book such as the Encyclopaedia Britannica, you don't
need to cite the full publication information; but in a more specific subject
encyclopedia, you need to include the full publication information.
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Article in a magazine:
Begley, Sharon. "A Healthy Dose of Laughter." Newsweek 4 Oct. 1982: 74.
Ellison, Nancy, and Diane Smith. "Basic Sharon." Premiere May 1993: 63.
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Format
Note:
Magazine article format
begins with the author, exactly the same way as a book. Then the title of the
article appears, in quote marks, followed by the name of the magazine,
underlined. For the date of the article, follow this format: day, month
(abbreviated), year (not abbreviated). Then insert a colon, a space, and
the page numbers. Finish with a period.
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Magazine article from a database:
Dineen, Shauna. "The Make-up Labyrinth." E Magazine: The Environmental
Magazine Nov./Dec. 2005: 40-. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost.
Lane Community College Lib., Eugene, OR. 7 Feb. 2007 <http://search.
epnet.com>.
Format Note: Include:
- the author's name (if known)
- the full title of the article in quotation marks
- the title of the magazine
- the date of the article
- the name of the database
- the name of the service
- the library or other place where you visited the site
- the date that you visited the site
- the full http address in angle brackets
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Magazine article from a website:
McCulley, Russell. "Law vs. Order in New Orleans." Time Magazine Online 14
Feb. 2007. 15 Feb. 2007 <http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,
1590089,00.html>.
Article in a scholarly journal:
Slack, Warner V., and Douglas Porter. "The Scholastic Aptitude Test:
A Critical Appraisal." Harvard Educational Review 50 (1980): 154-75.
Maimon, Elaine P. "Cinderella to Hercules: Demythologizing Writing Across
the Curriculum." Journal of Basic Writing 2.4 (1980): 3-11.
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Format
Note:
In the MLA format, scholarly journals are cited differently than magazines
and newspapers. It is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between a
magazine and a journal - if you are in doubt, talk to one of your teachers.
The
format is the same for the author and title of the article, and the title of
the journal. The difference is that the scholarly journal includes the volume
and issue numbers of the journal, rather than the day and date. The format is
the volume number, a period, and the issue number (if any). Next is the year
in parentheses, followed by a colon, a space, and the page numbers. |
Scholarly journal article from a database:
Vassy, Zoltan. "A Study of Telepathy by Classical Conditioning." Journal
of Parapsychology 68.2 (2004): 323-350. Academic Search Premier.
EBSCOhost. Lane Community College Lib., Eugene, OR. 8 Feb. 2007
<http://search.ebscohost.com>.
Scholarly journal article from a website:
Lyu, Siwei, Daniel Rockmore, and Hany Farid. "A digital technique for art
authentication." PNAS Online 101.49 (2004). 15 Feb. 2007 <http://www.
pnas.org/cgi/content/full/101/49/17006>.
Article in a newspaper:
Griffith, John. "Coquille Indians Open Panel-Building Plant." Oregonian 27
Sept. 1995: DO2.
Anonymous article in a newspaper:
"Single-Father Survey Finds Adjustment a Problem." New York Times 21 Nov.
1983: B17.
"Show of Titanic Items is Attacked." New York Times 11 May 1997, sec. 1: 16.
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Format
Note:
Newspapers are cited the same as magazines, except you may need to include
section information; also, the page numbers sometimes include sections, e.g.
B3.
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Newspaper article from a database:
Russo, Edward. "City Council Sets Public Hearing on Gas Tax." The Register
-Guard 23 Jan. 2007: E1. The Register-Guard. Proquest. Lane Community
College Lib., Eugene, OR. 8 Feb. 2007 <http://0-proquest.umi.com.
library.lanecc.edu>.
Newspaper article from a website:
Lewin, Tamar. "Oregon's Gay Workers Given Benefits for Domestic Partners."
New York Times on the Web 10 Dec. 1998. 24 Feb. 2001 <http://www.
nytimes.com/>.
Editorial in a newspaper:
Newcomb, Steven. "The Legacy of Religious Racism in US Indian Law."
Editorial. Indian Country Today 24 Apr. 2002: A5.
Government publication:
United States. Dept. of Education. National Commission on Excellence in
Education. A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform.
Washington: GPO, 1983.
Television or radio program:
"Death and Society." Narr. Joanne Silberner. Weekend Edition Sunday. Natl.
Public Radio. KLCC, Eugene. 25 Jan. 1998.
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Format
Note:
TV or radio programs include
- the title of the piece
- the name of the narrator
- the name of the program (underlined or italicized like a book title)
- the network
- the station and town of broadcast origin
- the broadcast date
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Video recording:
Myths and the Mound Builders. Dir. Graham Shedd. Videocassette. PBS Home
Video, 1990.
It's a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. 1946. DVD. Republic, 2001.
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Format Note: A video or DVD includes
- the name of the item (underlined like a book title)
- the director (if known)
- the original year of issue (if known)
- the word "Videocassette" or "DVD"
- the studio
- the date of the current release
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Sound recording:
Burnett, Frances Hodgson. The Secret Garden. 1911. Read by Helena Bonham
Carter. Audiocassette. Penguin, 1993.
Holiday, Billie. The Essence of Billie Holiday. Columbia, 1991.
Kronos Quartet. Nuevo. Nonesuch, 2002.
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Format Note: Include
- the name of the performer
- the title of the CD (underlined like a book title)
- the record label
- the date of the current release
- For an audiocassette, add the word "Audiocassette" just before the
name of the label
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Dissertation:
Hadja, Yvonne P. "Mary's River Kalapuyan: A Descriptive Phonology." Diss.
Portland State U, 1976.
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Format
Note:
An unpublished dissertation is treated differently than a book in the MLA
format. The title is in quote marks, followed by the abbreviation "Diss.",
the name of the university, and the year. Remember that University is
abbreviated to "U".
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Web sites:
Futcher, David. "Name That Flag!" David Futcher's Home Page. 1998. 23 Oct.
2002 <http://www.aone.com/~dave8/nameflag.html>.
"Learning Technologies." Apple Community College Alliance (ACCA). Mar.
2002. 11 Jan. 2004 <http://hed.info.apple.com/learning.html>.
"City Profile: San Francisco." CNN.com. 2002. Cable News Network. Jan.
1999. 14 May 2002 <http://www.cnn.com/TRAVEL/atevo/city/SanFrancisco/
intro.html>.
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Format
Note:
Include
- the author's name (if known)
- the full title
of the work in quotation marks
- the title of the complete work or the website (if applicable)
underlined
- the date of the site (if known)
- the date that you visited the site
- the full http address in angle brackets
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An entire site:
Victorian Women Writers Project. Ed. Perry Willett. May 2000. Indiana U.
26 June 2002 <http://www.indiana.edu/~letrs/vwwp/>.
Online review:
Ebert, Roger. Rev. of Memento, dir. Christopher Nolan. Chicago Sun-Times
Online 13 Apr. 2001. 18 May 2002 <http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_
reviews/2001/04/ 041302.html>.
Online radio or tv program:
Keillor, Garrison. Prairie Home Companion. With Ledward Ka'apana and Owana
Salazar. 12 Oct. 2002. Minnesota Public Radio. 18 Oct. 2002 <http://phc.
mpr.org/ri/smil/021012.ram>.
Online interview:
Ackroyd, Peter. Interview. Bold Type. Nov. 2001. 25 June 2002 <http://www.
randomhouse.com/boldtype/1101/ackroyd/interview.html>.
Published interview:
Fellini, Federico. "The Long Interview." Juliet of the Spirits. Ed. Tullio
Kezich. Trans. Howard Greenfield. New York: Ballantine, 1966. 17-64.
Gordimer, Nadine. Interview. New York Times 10 Oct. 1991, late ed.: C25.
TV interview:
Wiesel, Elie. Interview with Ted Koppel. Nightline. ABC. WABC, New York. 18
Apr. 2002.
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Format Note: Include
- the name of the person interviewed
- the name of the publication
- the bibliographic information
- If the interview is untitled, use the descriptive label Interview
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Personal interview:
Jones, Theo. Personal interview. 18 Apr. 2004.
Smith, Alex. Telephone interview. 10 Dec. 2003.
O'Brien, Siobahn. E-mail interview. 8-12 May 2002.
Format Note: Include
- the name of the person interviewed
- the type of interview
- the date or dates
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For examples not included here, see Chapter 5 of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, LB2369 .G53, located in Reference.
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