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7th Edition MLA Citation Style Guide: MLA Examples - Print

This guide highlights the formatting features for citations using the 7th edition of the MLA Handbook.

Books

Book by One Author

Author's name. Title of book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.

Example:

Franke, Damon. Modernist Heresies: British Literary History, 1883-1924. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 2008. Print.

Book by Two or More Authors

The first author name given follows the last name, first name format; remaining author names appear in first name last name format. If there are more than three authors, you may include all the the author names in full or list only the first author and then add et al.

Example:

Plag, Ingo, Maria Braun, Sabine Lappe, and Mareile Schramm. Introduction to English Linguistics. Berlin: Mouton, 2007. Print.

or

Plag, Ingo, et al. Introduction to English Linguistics. Berlin: Mouton, 2007. Print.

MLA Handbook, pg. 148-157, Sections 5.5.2, 5.5.4

Work in an Anthology or a Compilation

Author(s). "Title of Essay." Title of Collection. Ed. Editor's Name(s). Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page range of entry. Medium of Publication.

Example:

More, Hannah. "The Black Slave Trade: A Poem." British Women Poets of the Romantic Era. Ed. Paula R. Feldman. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1997. 472-82. Print.

Sometimes you may need to cite an entire anthology or collection. To do so, list by editor(s) or compiler(s) name followed by a comma and ed., eds., or comp.

Editor, ed. Title of Collection. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page range of entry. Medium of Publication.

MLA Handbook pg. 153-154, 157-160, Sections 5.5.3, 5.5.6

Articles in Scholarly Journals

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages. Medium of publication.

Example:

Williams, Linda. “Of Kisses and Ellipses: The Long Adolescence of American Movies.” Critical Inquiry 32.2 (2006): 288-340. Print.

MLA Handbook pg. 137-140, Section 5.4.2

Articles in Popular Magazines

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Medium of publication.

Examples:

Weekly:

McEvoy, Dermot. “Little Books, Big Success.” Publishers Weekly 30 Oct. 2006: 26-28. Print.

Monthly:

Kates, Robert W. “Population and Consumption: What We Know, What We Need to Know.” Environment Apr. 2000: 10-19. Print.

MLA Handbook pg. 142-143, Section 5.4.6

Newspaper Articles

For a newspaper article, the page range may include letters which signify the section of the newspaper: A1, B3, C5, etc. If the pages of the article are not in consecutive order, use a + after the first page number. Also, if there is more than one edition available for that date, such as an early and late edition of a newspaper, you should include the edition information after the date: 28 June 2011, late ed. For local publications, if the city name is not part of the newspaper title, include the name in brackets after the title of the newspaper: Globe and Mail [Toronto]. 

7th Edition:

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Newspaper Day Month Year, edition: pages. Medium of publication.

Example:

Jeromack, Paul. "This Once, a David of the Art World Does Goliath a Favor." New York Times 13 July 2002, late ed.:B7+. Print

MLA Handbook pg. 141-142, Section 5.4.5

Encyclopedia Entries

For entries in encyclopedias and dictionaries, you may cite the source as you would any other work in a collection, however, when citing a widely used reference source, you would not include the publisher information. Also, page range is not required if the encyclopedia is arranged alphabetically. If an author exists, list them at the beginning of the citation, if not, start with the title of the entry.

7th Edition:

"Title of Entry." Title of Reference Source. Edtition number. Year. Medium of Publication.

or

Author(s). "Title of Entry." Title of Reference Source. Ed. Editor's Name(s). Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page range of entry. Medium of Publication.

Examples:

"Japan." The Encyclopedia Americana. 2004 ed. Print.

or

Allen, Anita L. "Privacy in Health Care." Encyclopedia of Bioethics. Ed. Stephen G. Post. 3rd ed. Vol. 4. New York: Macmillan-Thomson, 2004. Print.

MLA Handbook pg. 160-161, Section 5.5.7

Government Documents

If author is unknown, cite the government agency that issued the document, with the name of the government follwed by the name of the agency.  For example, California. Dept. of Industrial Relations.

Author(s) or Government Agency. Title of Publication.  Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.

Example:

United States. Dept. of Labor. Child Care: A Workforce Issue. Washington: GPO, 1988. Print

MLA Handbook pg.174-177, Section 5.5.20

Creating a Works Cited Page

In MLA style your bibliography should be called Works Cited.

A hanging indent should be used for each citation.

Within your Works Cited list, your references should be in alphabetical order based on the author's last name.  If there is no author listed, use the title of the source.