Cite Your Sources: MLA

In-text citation

When the narrator claims that "[w]e live, as we dream — alone" (Conrad 82), he affirms the impossibility of understanding…

Works Cited

Last Name, First Name. Title of Work. Publisher, Date. 

Pennee, Donna Palmateer. Moral Metafiction: Counterdiscourse in the Novels of Timothy Findley. ECW Press, 1991. 

In-text citation

The situation could be contained "because the transfer was replicated within Canada's borders" (Toner and Doern 471).

Works Cited

• List the first author in "Last Name, First Name" order, but all other authors' names as "First Name Last Name" in the order they are given on the book's title page.
• Separate authors' names with commas and add "and" before the last author's name.

Fischlin, Daniel, and Martha Nandorfy. Eduardo Galeano: Through the Looking Glass. Black Rose Books, 2002. 

Donald, Robert B., James D. Moore, Betty Richmond Morrow, Lillian Griffith Wargetz, and Kathleen Werner. Writing Clear Paragraphs. 6th ed., Prentice Hall, 1999. 

In-text citation

• If there are more than three authors, you can choose to list only the first author, followed by et al., as long as you do the same in both the Works Cited list and the in-text citation.

… (Donald et al. 38-40).

Works Cited

• List the first author in "Last Name, First Name" order, but all other authors' names as "First Name Last Name" in the order they are given on the book's title page.
• Separate authors' names with commas and add "and" before the last author's name.

Donald, Robert B., et al. Writing Clear Paragraphs. 6th ed., Prentice Hall, 1999.

In-text citation

• Because numbering systems are different between electronic devices, avoid including numbering in in-text citations for e-books. However, if the work contains stable numbered sections like chapters, they can be included in the citation.

… (David, Chapter 50).

Works Cited

• Specify that you are using an e-book after providing the title of the work.
• Note that a URL is not required because it is understood that you read the e-book on a software.

Allende, Isabel. The House of the Spirits. E-book ed., Atria Paperback, 1982.

In-text citation

... (Pesciarelli 527).

Works Cited

Last Name, First Name. "Article Title." Journal Title, Volume, Issue, Year, Pages. 

Pesciarelli, Enzo. "Aspects of the Influence of Francis Hutcheson on Adam Smith." History of Political Economy, vol. 31, no. 3, fall 1999, pp. 525-45. 

In-text citation

... (Butler 22).

Works Cited

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Name of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, Pages. doi/URL.

Butler, Darrell L., and Martin Sellbom. "Barriers to Adopting Technology for Teaching and Learning." Educause Quarterly, vol. 254, no. 2, 2002, pp. 22-28. doi:10.1215/00183.

• No pages:

Smith, J. "Writing About Sports." Writing Matters, vol. 2, no. 2, 2006. doi:10.1214/1083.

In-text citation

• Provide the last name of the author of the review and the page number in your in-text citations.
• You do not need to include the name of the author who wrote the original work.

 ... (Updike 80).

Works Cited

• Begin with reviewer's name and title of the review article, followed by "Review of " and information about the source being reviewed.

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Review." Review of Title of Original Work, by Author Name. Title of Review Periodical, Date, Pages. 

Updike, John. "No Brakes." Review of Sinclair Lewis: Rebel from Main Street, by Richard Lingeman. New Yorker, 4 Feb. 2002, pp. 77-80. 

• If the review is of a performance or production, include the production information before the publication information.

Conlogue, Ray. "No Words Minced in Revised Hedda." Review of Hedda Gabler, by Henrik Ibsen, directed by Judith Thompson,  Shaw Festival. The Globe and Mail, 10 Aug. 1991, p. C10. 

In-text citation

If no personal author is named, consider the organization to be the primary author. If the name is long, incorporate it into the text itself.

... (United Nations Commission on Human Rights 14).
... presents specific information from the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (14).

Works Cited

Issuing Agency. Title, (edited by, compiled by, etc.) by Personal Author, Publisher, Year. 

Health Canada. Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating, compiled by John Smith, Public Works and Government Services, 1997. 

In-text citation

... (Joyce 2388).

Works Cited

• If the part is a short poem, story, or chapter, place it in quotation marks.

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Part." Title of Anthology, edited by Name, Edition, Volume, Publisher, Year, Pages of the part. 

Joyce, James. "From Ulysses." The Norton Anthology of English Literature, edited by M. H. Abrams, 4th ed., vol. 2, W. W. Norton & Company, 1996, pp. 2374-413.

In-text citation

Use the title of the work in place of the author.

… (Beowulf 42).

Works Cited

• Start the entry with the title, ignoring articles (A, An, The) for alphabetizing.
• Your in-text citation would use a short version of the title (if necessary).

Beowulf. Translated by E. Talbot Donaldson, edited by Nicholas Howe, Norton, 2001. 

In-text citation

• If you are citing specific pages in more than one of the volumes of a multivolume work, specify the volume before the page number, separated by a colon. 

Hughes's work is written in "the rhythms, inflections, and slang of African-American speech" (Scrimgeour 2: 237).

To refer to the whole work:
... (Scrimgeour, vol. 2)

Works Cited

• If you are citing from only one volume, provide only the publication information for that volume.

Scrimgeour, J. D. "Langston Hughes." The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature, edited by Jay Parini, vol. 2, Oxford UP, 2004. 

• If you cite from multiple volumes, provide the total number of volumes at the end of the publication information. Make sure your in-text citation specifies the correct volume.

Nairn, Bede, Geoffrey Serle, and Russel Ward, editors. Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne UP, 1972. 13 vols.

• If you reference an individual volume with a different editor from the other volumes in the series, provide the name of the editor after the title of the individual volume.

Cornish, William. The Oxford History of the Laws of England: Volume XI. Edited by John H. Baker, 2010. A Selected Edition of William Cornish, general editor, vol. 21, Oxford UP, 2004-2010.

In-text citation

... (Austen 45).

Works Cited

• For classics or works that appear in multiple editions, include the edition number and/or editor's name after the title of the work.

Last Name, First Name. Title of Work. Edition Information, Publisher, Date. 

Rae, Douglas W. The Political Consequences of Electoral Laws. Revised ed., Yale UP, 1971. 

Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. Edited by Claudia Johnson, Norton, 2001. 

In-text citation

... (Nietzsche 13).

• NOTE: If you're analyzing the comments and choices made by the translator, start with the translator's name.

... (Cowan 13).

Works Cited

• If you're primarily referencing the work itself, start with the original author's name.

Author Last Name, First Name. Translated Title. Translated by Name of Translator(s), Publisher, Date. 

Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm. Beyond Good and Evil. Translated by Marianne Cowan, H. Regnery Co., 1955. 

• NOTE: If you're analyzing the comments and choices made by the translator, start with the translator's name.

Translator Last, First, translator. Translated Title. By Name of Author(s), Publisher, Date. 

Cowan, Marianne, translator. Beyond Good and Evil. By Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, H. Regnery Co., 1955. 

In-text citation

• If you are citing a reference book with an author, include the author’s last name in your in-text citations.
• If your reference book does not include an author, put quotation marks around your term and include a definition number.

 ... (Hintzen 78).

... (“Noon,” def. 1.A.).

Works Cited

• If the article is credited, start with the author's name; otherwise, start with the entry title. When you are citing familiar reference books, you need to provide only the edition and year of publication.

Ehrlich, Blake, and Eugene Vanderpool. "Athens." The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropedia, 15th ed., 1995.

"Noon." The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989. 

• When the reference book is less familiar, provide the full publication information:

Hintzen, Percy C. "Dessalines, Jean-Jacques." Biographical Dictionary of Latin American and Caribbean Political Leaders, edited by Robert J. Alexander, Greenwood Press, 1988. 

In-text citation

• Use the author’s last name and the page number in your in-text citations.
• Use the same style of numerals used in the newspaper.

 ... (Coyle A23).

Works Cited

Last Name, First Name. "Article Title." Newspaper Title, Date, Pages. 

Coyle, Jim. "50 Years Underground: 12 Stops. 16 Minutes. All of Humanity." Toronto Star, 27 Mar. 2004, p. A23. 

• If the article threads through several non-continuous pages (e.g. an article that begins on the front page of the newspaper and continues on page 7), you can use a "+" instead of listing all the pages.

Hennenberger, Melinda. "The Leonardo Cover- Up." New York Times, 21 Apr. 2002, pp.42+. 

In-text citation

... (Human Resources and Social Development Canada 6).
... information from Human Resources and Social Development Canada (6).

Works Cited

Government. Agency name. Title of Document. Date published. URL. Date accessed (optional).

Human Resources and Social Development Canada. Service Canada Government On-Line 2005 Public Report. Dec. 2006. http://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/P4-1-2006E.pdf. Accessed 29 Jul. 2011.

In-text citation

Use the author's name and the material's page reference or title in brackets.

... (Montgomery, Seated with Stuart).

Works Cited

Author Last Name, Author First Name. Title or “Title” for non-print material. Description of material. Date. Call number, Box number, File number. Collection name. Name of Repository, Location.

Montgomery, L.M. L.M. Montgomery seated and holding Stuart. Photograph. ca. 1916. XZ1 MS A097113. L.M. Montgomery Collection. University of Guelph Archival and Special Collections, Guelph, Canada.

In-text citation

• Use the last name of the creator in your in-text citations.  
• If the source of the print reproduction has page numbers, include the page number of the material that you wish to reference. 

 ... (Evans).
 
... (Cassatt, slide 22).

Works Cited

• To reference a print reproduction of a work, use the following format.

Last Name, First Name. Title of Work. Year of Composition (if not known, use "N.d."), Institution where original is housed or name of private owner, City. Title of Book, by Author, Publisher, Date, Page or location description. 

Cassatt, Mary. Mother and Child. 1890, Wichita Art Museum. American Painting: 1560-1913, by John Pearce, McGraw, 1964, Slide 22. 

• To reference a web-based reproduction of a work.

Evans, Walker. Penny Picture Display. 1936, Museum of Modern Art, www.moma.org/collection. 

In-text citation

• Use the title of the work in your in-text citations.
• If, however, you wish to focus on the contribution of a particular person like a director or performer, use that person’s last name instead of the title.
• Make sure that your in-text citations and your works cited entry are consistent.
  • If you choose to include the title of the work in your in-text citations, your works cited entry should begin with the title.
  • If you choose to include a person’s last name in your in-text citations, your works cited entry should begin with the person’s last name. 
• If you are referencing a specific point within the source, provide the time in hours, minutes, and seconds. 

 
... (Possession 00:04:16-22).
 
... (Jhabvala).

 

Works Cited

• In a general discussion of a film:

Title of Film. Directed by Name of Director, Distributor, Year of Release.

Bubba Ho-Tep. Directed by Don Coscarelli, Silver Sphere Corp., 2003. 

• To include additional pertinent information, insert it between the title and distributor.

Like Water for Chocolate [Como agua par chocolate]. Screenplay by Laura Esquivel, directed by Alfonso Arau, performances by Lumi Cavazos, Marco Lombardi, and Regina Torne, Miramax, 1993. 

Possession. Adapted by Laura Jones and Neil LaBute, directed by Neil LaBute, performances by Gwyneth Paltrow, Aaron Eckhart, Jennifer Ehle, and Jeremy Northam, Focus/Warner Bros., 2002.

• When you're focusing on the contribution of a particular person, start with that person's name.

Jhabvala, Ruth Prawer, adaptor. A Room with a View. By E. M. Forster, directed by James Ivory, produced by Ismail Merchant, performances by Maggie Smith, Denholm Eliot, Helena Bonham Carter, and Daniel Day-Lewis, Cinecom Intl. Films, 1985.

• Cite a video or DVD release like the original film, but add the original release date after the title.

Laura Jones and Neil LaBute, adaptors. Possession. Directed by Neil LaBute, performances by Gwyneth Paltrow, Aaron Eckhart, Jennifer Ehle, and Jeremy Northam, 2002, Universal Studios, 2003.

• To reference a film viewed through an app, provide the name of the app after the release date.

The Great Gatsby. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2013. Netflix app.

• To reference a film uploaded to a sharing site, provide the title of the film or video in quotation marks, followed by the name of the site, name of the personauthor or organization responsible for uploading the material, the date it was uploaded, and the URL.

“Dissertation Boot Camp – Online and In-Person” YouTube, uploaded by U of G Library, 25 Jan. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC0rG-CLYtA

• To reference a television broadcast, provide the title of the episode in quotation marks, followed by the name of the series creator, season #, episode #, television network, and the date the episode aired.

“Chapter Ninety-Nine.” Jane the Virgin, created by Jennie Snyder Urman, season 5, episode 18, The CW, 21 July 2019.

• To reference a television series viewed on a website, provide the website’s name and URL. 

“Chapter Ninety-Nine.” Jane the Virgin, season 5, episode 18, The CW, 2019. Netflix, www.netflix.com.

• To reference a television show viewed through an app, provide the name of the app after the release date.

“The World is Purple.” Directed by Dan Attias. Yellowstone, season 3, episode 10, Paramount Network, 20 Aug. 2020. Amazon Prime Video app.

In-text citation

• Use the author’s last name in your in-text citations.
• If the paragraphs are numbered in the document, include the paragraph number as well.
• If the paragraphs are not numbered, do not assign numbers to them; instead, provide only the author’s last name. 

... (Scott, para. 8).

... (Windsor).

Works Cited

• Use this template for a basic format guide.

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Document." Name of Website. Name of Website Publisher/organization, date published, URL.

Danielson, Stentor, and David Braun. "Shark 'Photo of the Year' Is E-Mail Hoax." National Geographic News, National Geographic Society, 8 Mar. 2005, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0815_020815_photooftheyear.html

• If the URL has to break over a line, break it after a slash (/). Do not allow a hyphen to be inserted at the break.

In-text citation

• Provide the title of the work in your in-text citations.

 ... (“Seniors Care Highlights Health Spending”)

Works Cited

"Title of Document." Name of Website. Name of Website Publisher/organization, date published. URL. Date accessed (optional).

"Seniors Care Highlights Health Spending." CBC.ca. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 24 Apr. 2008. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/seniors-care-highlights-health-spending-1.728695. Accessed 10 Jul. 2016.

In-text citation

• If you are citing an article or short piece from the reader, cite the article author's name, but use the page numbers of the reader (even if the article's original page numbers are visible in the reader).
• If you are citing the whole reader, cite the instructor's name as the compiler.

...(Boyd 23).

Works Cited

• Treat articles in a course reader as reprints in a collection compiled by the instructor (unless another compiler is indicated).

Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Part." Title of Original Book/Periodical. Original Publication Information. Reprinted in Title of Course Reader, compiled by Instructor's Name, Publication Information of Reader, Pages in Reader.

Boyd, C. G. "Making Peace with the Guilty: The Truth About Bosnia." Foreign Affairs, vol. 74, no. 5, 1995, pp. 22-38. Reprinted in POLS*4920 Selected Topics in International Relations Course Reader, Compiled by Ian Spears, University of Guelph Bookstore, 2004, pp. 255-64.

In-text citation

• Treat these as books with the instructor as author (unless another author is indicated).

Works Cited

• Treat these as books, with the instructor as author (unless another author is indicated).

Stengos, T. ECON*4640 Applied Econometrics Course Manual. University of Guelph, 2003. 

• To reference course material from a learning system, provide a description of the course material, the title of the course, name of the instructor, online, system, university, date the source was posted, and the URL. 

“Slides.” Introduction to Biochemistry, taught by Lorelai Gilmore. D2L, UConnecticut State U, Apr. 2020, d2l.csu.edu/d2l/le/content/111110/viewContent/7620/View 

In-text citations

• Treat these as books with the instructor as author if they are published. Course or lecture notes may be considered "published" if they have been copied and distributed in print or on the web with the instructor's permission.
• If they are unpublished, cite them using the instructor's name and the date of the lecture.

… (Brown 22 Jan. 2004).

Works Cited

• Treat these as books if they are published. Lecture notes are considered published if they have been copied and distributed in print or on the web with the instructor's permission.

Stengos, T. ECON*4640 Applied Econometrics Course Notes. University of Guelph, Mar. 2003.

• If they are unpublished (e.g., your own notes from a lecture), cite the lecturer, course information and date of the lecture.

Stengos, T. "ECON*4640 Applied Econometrics." University of Guelph. 23 Nov. 2003. Lecture notes.

In-text citation

• Use the sender’s last name in your in-text citations.

... (Stevens).

Works Cited

• Author of Message. Email to Recipient's Name. Date Sent.

Gerard, Michel. E-mail to Standards Committee. 5 Jan. 2011.

Kim, Lane. Text message to the author. 10 June 2010.

In-text citation

• Use the last name of the author of the message in your in-text citations.
• If only a screen name is provided, use it as the author’s last name.

 ... (Merrian).

Works Cited

• If only a screen name is provided, include it as the author's name.

Author of Message. Comment on "Title of Document on Subject Line." Website, Date of Posting, Time of Posting. URL.

Mariano, Jess. Comment on "The Tale of Two Poes." The Edgar Alan Poe Society Conf, 30 Mar. 2001, 10:33 pm, http://www.poesoc.net/archives/files/monsterp.html.

In-text citation

• If available, use last name of the author or creator of the material.
• If the name of the author is unknown, provide the username.

(Medieval Rats)

Work Cited

• If the author’s online handle differs from the authors name, include the account handle in square brackets.

Medieval Rats [@archaeoRattus]. “Rats, you say? The best kind of assemblage then.” Twitter, 12 Aug. 2021, https://twitter.com/archaeoRattus/status/1425873799715688454

• If the author’s online handle matches their name, you can omit the handle if you include the URL within the entry. 

Romtoronto. Photo of Superman and Supergirl masks. Instagram, 20 Jan. 2022, https://www.instagram.com/p/CY9Nqb6KlRw/.

In-text citation

• Use the first name of each author with their last name in the prose even after the first reference to the author in your paper to eliminate ambiguity.

Naomi Baron’s argument suggests that reading is never complete without writing (194). However, Sarah Baron criticizes this perspective for its oversight of how different individuals process thought (10).

Work Cited

• Alphabetize your sources by first name. 

 
Butler, Jeremy. Making Soda at Home: Mastering the Craft of Carbonation. Quarry Books, 2014.
 
Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge, 1990. 

When there are no page numbers, as in an electronic source, for example, you may describe the location of a reference using section titles and/or paragraph numbers ONLY if these are labelled in the source. Otherwise, cite the source in its entirety. Note punctuation in examples below.

Hypertext, as one theorist puts it, is "all about connection, linkage, and affiliation" (Moulthrop, par. 19).

Several examples of superstition have been traced back as far as primitive men (Washburn, sec. 9).

A recent blog notes that semicolons are on the decline ("Punctuation Paranoia").

In-text citation

• Add a short form of the title to distinguish between works, e.g., for Frye's Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays, and The Double Vision: Language and Meaning in Religion.
• Italicize the shortened title.

… (Frye, Anatomy 71).
… (Frye, Double Vision 85).

Works Cited

• Alphabetize your sources by title.
  • Include the author’s last name for the first source in your list.
  • For each work that follows, include three hyphens in place of the author’s name.
•  If the author is the main creator of the content, place a period after the hyphens.
  • If the author is not the main creator, place a comma after the hyphen instead and note their role as director, editor, or translator.

 
King, Thomas. Medicine River. Viking, 1990.
 
---. The Back of the Turtle. Doubleday, 2014.
 
Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. Death of a Discipline. Columbia UP, 2003.
 
---, translator. Of Grammatology. John Hopkins UP, 1976.

Use division (act, scene, canto, book, part) and line numbers instead of page numbers when citing commonly studied verse plays or poems. Unless your instructor specifies otherwise, use Arabic numerals separated by periods for these references.

• Citing a play (act 5, scene 1, line 6):
  • … Sebastian calls the ending "A most high miracle!" (Shakespeare, The Tempest 5.1.6).
• Citing an epic poem (book 11, line 1):
  • … "Now to the shores we bend, a mournful train," Odysseus urges his men (Homer, The Odyssey 11.1).
• Citing a short poem:
  • … Browning's poem begins, "That's my last Duchess painted on the wall, / Looking as if she were alive . . ." ("My Last Duchess" lines 1-2).
  • Use the slash (/) to separate lines of the poem. Use the words "line" or "lines" the first time, then write only the numbers (don't use abbreviations "l." or "ll." because they could be confused with the number "1").
• Citing from the Bible (name of the version in italics, abbreviated name of the book of the Bible, plus chapter number and verse number separated by a period):
  • As described in the Bible, Ezekiel saw "what seemed to be four living creatures" (New Jerusalem Bible, Ezek. 1.5).

Note that the word Bible (or Talmud or Koran) does not have to be italicized, but full and shortened titles of specific editions do (e.g., New Jerusalem Bible).

Works Cited

Hesiod. Theogony and Works and Days. Translated by M.L. West, Oxford World’s Classics, 2009.

Use the full title or a shortened version (in italics), beginning with the word by which the full title is alphabetized in the Works Cited, e.g.,Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry would be cited as

... (Glossary 3).

NOT

... (Heraldry 3).

... (Fukuyama 42; McRae 101-33).

Multiple sources can also be cited in a note (footnote or endnote) so they don't interrupt the text as much (see Footnotes and Endnotes, below).

See the MLA Handbook website for a list of widely used and accepted abbreviations for titles of the books of the Bible and of famous literary works (e.g., Ezek., used above for Ezekiel).

Limit your use of this method by obtaining the original source (e.g., Johnson) whenever possible. If not possible:

...Johnson considered the event an "extraordinary success (qtd. in Thomson 5: 450).

Include only Thomson in your Works Cited list.

In-Text Citations

For commonly studied prose (e.g., novels or plays) available in many editions, provide more information than just the page number so the reader can find the quote in any edition. Provide the page number separated by a semi-colon from the other information. If there is no pagination, cite only the chapter number or other location information.

… (130; ch. 9).
… (271; bk. 4, ch. 2).
… (ch. 12).

• When referencing scripture, provide the title of the work, chapter, and verses.
• When using the full title of the book identifying its edition, italicize the title.

(Qur’an, 56.17-18)
(The New Jerusalem Bible, Cor. 1.13).

Works Cited

The New Jerusalem Bible. Henry Wansbrough, general editor, Doubleday, 1985.
 

In-text Citations

In general, follow MLA's guidelines on citing one or multiple sources by the same author. Instead of a page, include a time or time range. Indicate the hour, minute, and second, separated by colons.

Works Cited

• If referencing a song from an album, provide the name of the album in italics.

Beyoncé. “Formation.” Lemonade, Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records, 2016, https://beyonce.com/album/lemonade-visual-album/songs/

• If referencing an entire album, provide the name of the album in quotation marks.

Bisbal, David. “12 Favoritas.” Universal Music Latino, 2014. Spotify app.