Sample Citations in MLA Format for Undergraduates

For additional information and citation examples consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed. (LB 2369 G53 2003 Reference Desk). A new version of the MLA style will go into effect in the spring of 2009.

Documenting Within the Paper

When you refer to a publication in the text of your paper, give the author's last name and the number of the page or pages on which you found your information in parentheses, for example (Smith 15) or (Jones 20-25). Your reader can then look at your list of works cited to get complete information.

Organizing the List of Works Cited

Make sure that all publications you refer to in your paper are in the list, and list nothing that you don't actually cite. Alphabetize the list by authors' last names. If you list more than one work by an author, arrange the group alphabetically by title, and use three hyphens in place of the author's name in all references after the first. If an author is both a sole author and the first author listed of a joint publication, list the sole-author works first. The first line of each entry should be flush with the left margin, and subsequent lines should be indented a half inch (approximately five spaces). The entire list should be double-spaced. Use quotation marks around the titles of brief creative works such as short stories, poems, and songs.

Information in the List of Works Cited

For a Book

Pattern: Author's last name, first name. Title of Book. Place of publication: Publisher, year of publication.

Example: Viscomi, Joseph. Blake and the Idea of the Book. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1993.

For a Chapter or Essay in an Edited Collection

Pattern: Author's last name, first name. "Title of Article." Title of Collection. Ed. Editor's name(s). Place of publication: Publisher, year of publication. Pages.

Example: Dickerson, Vanessa. "The Naked Father in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye." Refiguring the Father: New Feminist Readings of Patriarchy. Ed. Patricia Yaeger and Beth Kowaleski-Wallace. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois UP, 1989. 108-27.

For a Journal Article

Pattern: Author's last name, first name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume (Year): pages.

Example: Westerholm, John. "In Defense of Verses: The Aesthetic Reputation Of Christina Rossetti's Late Poetry." Renascence 51 (1999): 191-203.

For a Journal Article Obtained Online

Pattern: Author's last name, first name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume (Year): pages. Database name. Date accessed. <URL (address) of main page of service (if known)>.

Example: Marcus, Joel. "Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: A Theological Reflection." Theology Today 46 (1989): 288-98. ProQuest General Reference. 28 Aug. 2002. <http://www.umi.com/pqdauto>.

For a Website

Omit information which cannot be determined.

Pattern: Name of author/editor. Title of web site. Date of latest update. Name of sponsoring institution. Date accessed. <URL (address) of source>.

Example: Cachey, Theodore J., Jr., Louis E. Jordan, and Christian Y. Dupont. Renaissance Dante in Print (1472-1629). William and Katherine Devers Program, U of Notre Dame, ARTLF Project, U of Chicago, and the Newberry Library. 29 Aug. 2002. <http://www.nd.edu/~italnet/Dante/> .

Additional Examples

Additional examples of MLA style citations can be found at Diana Hacker's excellent Research and Documentation Online.

Examples of citing government publications are available from the University of Nevada Reno Libraries.

These examples are not endorsed by the Modern Language Association. They are our BEST GUESSES based on the guidelines provided by the MLA Style Manual.
Created by Kathy Coleman, Librarian Emerita. Revisions and additional examples by Anne Turhollow.