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MLA Handbook (9th Ed.)
by
MLA Handbook (8th ed.)
by
The in-text citation is a brief reference within your text that indicates the source you consulted. It should properly attribute any ideas, paraphrases, or direct quotations to your source, and should direct readers to the entry in the list of works cited. For the most part, an in-text citation is the author’s name and page number (or just the page number, if the author is named in the sentence) in parentheses:
Imperialism is “the practice, the theory, and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan center ruling a distant territory” (Said 9).
or
According to Edward W. Said, imperialism is defined by “the practice, the theory, and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan center ruling a distant territory” (9).
Work Cited
Said, Edward W. Culture and Imperialism. Knopf, 1994.
When creating in-text citations for media that has a runtime, such as a movie or podcast, include the range of hours, minutes and seconds you plan to reference, like so (00:02:15–00:02:35).
Your goal is to attribute your source and provide your reader with a reference without interrupting your text. Your readers should be able to follow the flow of your argument without becoming distracted by extra information.
MLA is a style of documentation that is based on a general method that may be applied to every possible source.
In your citation, the core elements should be listed in the following order:
Each element should be followed by the punctuation mark shown here.
Begin the entry with the author’s last name, followed by a comma and the rest of the name, as presented in the work. End this element with a period.
Said, Edward W. Culture and Imperialism. Knopf, 1994.
The title of the source should follow the author’s name. Depending upon the type of source, it should be listed in italics or quotation marks.
A book should be in italics:
Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. MacMurray, 1999.
A website should be in italics:
Lundman, Susan. "How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow, www.ehow.com/how_10727_make-vegetarian-chili.html.
A periodical (journal, magazine, newspaper article) should be in quotation marks:
Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi's Bashai Tudu." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, vol. 15, no. 1, 1996, pp. 41-50.
A song or piece of music on an album should be in quotation marks:
Beyoncé. "Pray You Catch Me." Lemonade, Parkwood Entertainment, 2016, www.beyonce.com/album/lemonade-visual-album/.
Containers are the larger wholes in which the source is located. For example, if you want to cite a poem that is listed in a collection of poems, the individual poem is the source, while the larger collection is the container. The title of the container is usually italicized and followed by a comma, since the information that follows next describes the container.
Kincaid, Jamaica. "Girl." The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories, edited by Tobias Wolff, Vintage, 1994, pp. 306-07.
The container may also be a television series, which is made up of episodes.
"94 Meetings." Parks and Recreation, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, performance by Amy Poehler, season 2, episode 21, Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, 2010.
The container may also be a website, which contains articles, postings, and other works.
Zinkievich, Craig. Interview by Gareth Von Kallenbach. Skewed & Reviewed, 27 Apr. 2009, www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/1056940-skewed-%2526-reviewed-interviews-craig. Accessed 15 Mar. 2009.
In some cases, a container might be within a larger container. You might have read a book of short stories on Google Books, or watched a television series on Netflix. You might have found the electronic version of a journal on JSTOR. It is important to cite these containers within containers so that your readers can find the exact source that you used.
"94 Meetings." Parks and Recreation, season 2, episode 21, NBC, 29 Apr. 2010. Netflix, www.netflix.com/watch/70152031?trackId=200256157&tctx=0%2C20%2C0974d361-27cd-44de-9c2a-2d9d868b9f64-12120962.
Langhamer, Claire. "Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England." Historical Journal, vol. 50, no. 1, 2007, pp. 173-96. ProQuest, doi:10.1017/S0018246X06005966. Accessed 27 May 2009.
In addition to the author, there may be other contributors to the source who should be credited, such as editors, illustrators, translators, etc. If their contributions are relevant to your research, or necessary to identify the source, include their names in your documentation.
Foucault, Michel. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason. Translated by Richard Howard, Vintage-Random House, 1988.
Woolf, Virginia. Jacob’s Room. Annotated and with an introduction by Vara Neverow, Harcourt, Inc., 2008.
If a source is listed as an edition or version of a work, include it in your citation.
The Bible. Authorized King James Version, Oxford UP, 1998.
Crowley, Sharon, and Debra Hawhee. Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students. 3rd ed., Pearson, 2004.
EBooks require their own types of version format. To view example citations for eBooks with a singular or multiple authors, or eBooks from a website or eReader platform, please visit Columbia College's MLA 9th Edition Citation Guide.
If a source is part of a numbered sequence, such as a multi-volume book, a journal with both volume and issue numbers, a podcast, or a show, those numbers must be listed in your citation.
Dolby, Nadine. "Research in Youth Culture and Policy: Current Conditions and Future Directions." Social Work and Society: The International Online-Only Journal, vol. 6, no. 2, 2008, www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/60/362. Accessed 20 May 2009.
"94 Meetings." Parks and Recreation, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, performance by Amy Poehler, season 2, episode 21, Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, 2010.
Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria. Translated by H. E. Butler, vol. 2, Loeb-Harvard UP, 1980.
The publisher produces or distributes the source to the public. If there is more than one publisher, and they are all relevant to your research, list them in your citation, separated by a forward slash (/).
Klee, Paul. Twittering Machine. 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Artchive, www.artchive.com/artchive/K/klee/twittering_machine.jpg.html. Accessed May 2006.
Women's Health: Problems of the Digestive System. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2006.
Daniels, Greg and Michael Schur, creators. Parks and Recreation. Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, 2015.
Note: The publisher’s name need not be included in the following sources: periodicals, works published by their author or editor, a website whose title is the same as its publisher, or a website that makes works available but does not actually publish them (such as YouTube, WordPress, or JSTOR).
The same source may have been published on more than one date, such as an online version of an original source. For example, a television series might have aired on a broadcast network on one date, but released on Netflix on a different date. When the source has more than one date, it is sufficient to use the date that is most relevant to your use of it. If you’re unsure about which date to use, go with the date of the source’s original publication.
In the following example, Mutant Enemy is the primary production company, and “Hush” was released in 1999. This is the way to create a general citation for a television episode.
“Hush.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon, performance by Sarah Michelle Gellar, season 4, Mutant Enemy, 1999.
However, if you are discussing, for example, the historical context in which the episode originally aired, you should cite the full date. Because you are specifying the date of airing, you would then use WB Television Network (rather than Mutant Enemy), because it was the network (rather than the production company) that aired the episode on the date you’re citing.
“Hush.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon, performance by Sarah Michelle Gellar, season 4, episode 10, WB Television Network, 14 Dec. 1999.
You should be as specific as possible in identifying a work’s location.
An essay in a book, or an article in a journal should include page numbers.
Adiche, Chimamanda Ngozi. “On Monday of Last Week.” The Thing around Your Neck, Alfred A. Knopf, 2009, pp. 74–94.
The location of an online work should include a URL.
Wheelis, Mark. "Investigating Disease Outbreaks Under a Protocol to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention." Emerging Infectious Diseases, vol. 6, no. 6, 2000, pp. 595–600, wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/6/6/00-0607_article. Accessed 8 Feb. 2009.
A physical object that you experienced firsthand should identify the place of location.
Matisse, Henri. The Swimming Pool. 1952, Museum of Modern Art, New York.
If a source has been published on more than one date, the writer may want to include both dates if it will provide the reader with necessary or helpful information.
Erdrich, Louise. Love Medicine. 1984. Perennial-Harper, 1993.
The city in which a publisher is located is only necessary in particular instances, such as in a work published before 1900. Since pre-1900 works were usually associated with the city in which they were published, your documentation may substitute the city name for the publisher’s name.
Thoreau, Henry David. Excursions. Boston, 1863.
When you cite an online source, the MLA Handbook recommends including a date of access on which you accessed the material, since an online work may change or move at any time.
Bernstein, Mark. "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web." A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites, 16 Aug. 2002, alistapart.com/article/writeliving. Accessed 4 May 2009.
eBooks require their own types of version format. To view example citations for eBooks with a singular or multiple authors, or eBooks from a website or eReader Platform, please visit Columbia College's MLA 9th Edition Citation Guide.
While the eighth edition recommends including URLs when you cite online sources, you should always check with your instructor or editor and include URLs at their discretion.
A DOI, or digital object identifier, is a series of digits and letters that leads to the location of an online source. Articles in journals are often assigned DOIs to ensure that the source is locatable, even if the URL changes. If your source is listed with a DOI, use that instead of a URL.
Alonso, Alvaro, and Julio A. Camargo. "Toxicity of Nitrite to Three Species of Freshwater Invertebrates." Environmental Toxicology, vol. 21, no. 1, 3 Feb. 2006, pp. 90–94. Wiley Online Library, doi: 10.1002/tox.20155.
Format: Author Surname, First Name, and Second Author First Name Surname. → Follow the rest of the citation format as usual.
Example: Shaffer, Mary Ann, and Annie Barrows. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Dial Press, 2008.
Format: Author Surname, First Name, et al. → Follow the rest of the citation format as usual.
Example: Driscoll, Carlos A., et al. “The Taming of the Cat.” Scientific American, vol. 300, no. 6, 2009, pp. 68–75. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26001382.
Format: Author Surname, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, publication year.
Example: O'Neal, Cathy. Weapons of Math Destruction. Crown, 2016.
Format: Author Surname, First Name. "Title of article." Journal, volume, date of publication, page number(s). Name of Database, URL webpage link.
Example: Greaney, Michael. “‘So Many Friends!’: Gregariousness and Its Discontents in Jane Austen.” Studies in English Literature, 1500–1900, vol. 62, no. 4, 2024, pp. 641–61. Project MUSE, https://doi.org/10.1353/sel.2024.a941804
Format: Author Surname, First Name. "Title of Webpage." Publisher, Publication Day Month Year, URL link to webpage.
Example: Lundman, Susan. “How to Make Vegetarian Chili.” eHow, 25 Sept. 2014, www.ehow.com/how_10727_make-vegetarian-chili.html.
Format: Game Title. Director(s) Full Name and Full Name, Developer / Publisher, year of release. Platform.
Example: Alan Wake II. Directed by Sam Lake and Kyle Rowley, Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games, 2023. Sony PlayStation 5.
Format: Image Creator's Surname, First Name. “Image Title.” Website Name, Day Month Year Published, URL.
Example: Quinn, Pete. “European Grey Wolf Portrait.” Flickr, 21 Dec. 2019, flic.kr/p/2k6vq7V.
Format: Author Surname, First Name. "Title of Media." (Or a brief description of post.) Media Platform, Publication Day Month Year, URL link to social media post.
Example: Ng, Celeste [@pronounced_ing]. Photo of letter from Shirley Jackson. Twitter, 22 Jan. 2018, twitter.com/pronounced_ing/status/955528799357231104.
Format: Movie Title. Directed by First Name Surname, name any significant actors if relevant to your topic, Production Company, year of release.
Example: Before Sunrise. Directed by Richard Linklater, performances by Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke, Castle Rock Entertainment, 1995.
To emphasize specific performers or directors, begin the citation with the name of the desired performer or director, followed by the appropriate title for that person.
Example: Gerwig, Greta, director. Barbie. Heyday Films, LuckyChap Entertainment, NB/GG Pictures, and Mattel Films, 2023.
You do not need to create a works-cited-list entry for software programs that you use (i.e. CAD). Italicize the software name in your work.
Format: "File name." Name of Software or Package, version, Publisher, Publication Day Month Year. Website Name (if applicable), URL link to website.
Example: “Buffer.java.” Apache Hadoop, commit ef9946cd52d54200c658987c1dbc3e6fce133f77, Apache Software Foundation, 2015. GitHub, github.com/apache/hadoop/blob/release-3.1.0-RC1/hadoop-tools/hadoop-streaming/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/record/Buffer.java.