The MLA style is used mainly by students in English and the Humanities. Documenting sources means telling your reader where you found the information you are borrowing, whether facts, opinions, or quotations. It consists of two parts: a list of works cited, and parenthetical references within the text of your essay.
For further explanation of these and other practices associated with writing research papers, consult:
List of Works Cited: This is a list of all the sources you have used to research your paper (books, journal articles, Internet sources, for example). It is sometimes referred to as a "bibliography."
- The list of works cited appears on a separate page at the end of the essay. It is titled (centred, no quotation marks, no underline):
Works Cited
- The list is arranged alphabetically by the author's last name, or, if there is no author, by the first word in the title (ignore, but do not omit, "The," "An," or "A" at the beginning of the title when arranging the list).
- Each entry is indented ½ inch or 5 spaces after the first line and presents information in a specific order: e.g. the author's name, the title, the publication information. Sections D and E, below, give examples of how different types of sources should appear in the Works Cited list.
- Double-space the entire list, both between and within entries.
- If a book does not give the publisher, or the place or date, then give what information you might know in square brackets [ ]. Use the abbreviation n.p. if the publisher or the place is not known. If the date is not obvious then use the abbreviation n.d.
These are references in the body of the paper that document quotations, paraphrases, and the direct use of information and ideas. They are used instead of footnotes or endnotes. References appear in parenthesis within the text of the essay.
The parenthetical references correspond to the list of works cited. In other words, the
information given in the parenthetical reference should make it absolutely clear to the reader which source is being referred to in your list of Works Cited.
If your Works Cited includes only one title by a particular author or editor, you only need to place the author's last name and the relevant page number(s) without any intervening punctuation in your parenthetical reference.
Keep the references in parentheses as brief as possible. If you mention the author's name or the title of the source in your text, then you do not include that information in the parenthetical reference.
e.g.
This point has been argued before (Pollack 32-34).
Pollack has argued this point (32-34).
Others, like Blocker and Plumer (52), hold an opposite point of view.
Stress and a poor diet can have a detrimental effect on proper liver functioning (American Medical Association 209).
If the work has more than three authors, give the first author's last name followed by "et al." then the page number(s).
e.g.
Some interesting interpretations of this concept have recently been suggested (Jones et al. 25-37).
If there are two or more titles by the same author in your Works Cited list, give the author's last name, the title, followed by page number(s). Abbreviate the title if it is longer than a few words. When abbreviating the title, begin with the first word.
e.g.
The idea was very popular in certain parts of Northern England (Pollack, Dickinson 32-33).
(In the example, 'Dickinson' is the shortened title of Pollack's Dickinson: The Anxiety of Gender).
If there is no author, use the title, abbreviated if necessary, followed by the page number(s).
e.g.
He was cut up and boiled in a cauldron by Titans sent by Hera (Classical Mythology 78).
Web documents usually do not have fixed page numbers or any kind of section numbering. If your online source does not have numbering, you have to omit numbers from your parenthetical references. For a document on the Web, the page numbers of a printout should normally not be cited because the pagination may vary in different printouts. If your document does provide pagination, such as PDF document files, include the page numbers.
e.g.
Cisneros argued that monastic idealism was of particular importance. Monastic idealism was of particular importance (Cisneros).
(The above example is for a web document without pagination.)
Sometimes electronic sources (e.g. some electronic journals) use paragraph numbers. When this occurs, give the relevant number or numbers preceded by the abbreviation par. or pars.
e.g.
Esler has incorporated the need for regular screening and medical testing in his model of critical care management (par. 20).
When citing a work discussed in an indirect or secondary source, give the indirect source in the list of works cited (i.e. You must cite the item that you used).
Within the text of your paper, include "qtd. in" before the indirect source's author and page number. You must do this whether you are paraphrasing or giving a direct quote.
e.g.
Robert Graves proposed that the sixteenth-century religious beliefs had an effect on the conflict (qtd. in Hopkins 179).
Short Quotations
- If a quotation runs no more than four lines, put it in double quotation marks and incorporate it into the text. Put single quotation marks around quotations that appear within those quotations.
- Punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and semicolons should appear after the parenthetical reference. Other punctuation such as question marks and exclamation marks should appear within the quotation marks if they are part of the quoted passage, but after the parentheses if they are part of your text
Examples:
Shelley thought poets "the unacknowledged legislators of the World" (794).
Dorothea responds to her sister, "What a wonderful little almanac you are, Celia!" (7).
Long Quotations
- If a quotation runs to more than four lines in your paper, set it off from your text by beginning a new line, indent one inch or 10 spaces from the left margin and type it double-spaced. For a single paragraph or part of a paragraph, do not indent the first line more than the rest of the quotation.
- Do not use opening and closing quotation marks.
- For long quotations, a period at the end of a quotation is placed before the parentheses.
Examples:At the conclusion of Lord of the Flies, Ralph and the other boys realize the horror of their actions:
The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body. His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. (186)
- Book by a Single Author:
Pollack, Vivian R. Dickinson: The Anxiety of Gender. Ithaca:
Cornell UP, 1984.
- Book by Two or Three Persons:
Blocker, Clyde E., Robert H. Plummer, and Richard C. Richardson. The
Two-Year College. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice, 1965.
- Book Edited by Two or Three Persons:
Hornyak, Lynne M., and Joseph P. Green, eds. Healing from Within:
The Use of Hypnosis in Women's Health Care. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2000.
- Book by More than Three Persons:
Edens, Walter, et al. Teaching Shakespeare. Princeton: Princeton UP,
1976.
- Book by a Corporate Author:
Canadian Medical Association. Bridging the Gap: Promoting Health
and Healing for Aboriginal Peoples in Canada. Ottawa: Canadian Medical Association, 1994.
- Book Without an Author:
Dictionary of Ancient Greek Civilization. London: Methuen, 1966.
- Book Published in a Second or Subsequent Edition:
Peckenpaugh, Nancy J., and Charlotte M. Poleman. Nutrition
Essentials and Diet Therapy. 8th ed. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders, 1999.
- Book in Translation:
Murasaki, Shikibu. The Tale of Genji. Trans. Edward G. Seidensticker.
New York: Knopf, 1976.
- Book in Translation with an Editor:
Dostoevsky, Feodor. Crime and Punishment. Trans. Jessie Coulson.
Ed. George Gibian. New York: Norton, 1964.
- A Work in an Anthology:
Use if you are citing an essay, a short story, a poem, or another work that appears within an anthology or some other book collection.
Tan, Amy. "A Pair of Tickets." The Oxford Book of Modern Women's
Stories. Ed. Patricia Craig. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1994. 468-484.
- Article in a Journal with Continuous Pagination:
Clark, Herbert H. "Hearers and Speech Acts." Language 58 (1982):
332-73.
- Article in a Journal that Pages Each Issue Separately:
Lyon, George Ella. "Contemporary Appalachian Poetry."
Kentucky Review 2.2 (1981): 3-22.
- Article in a Weekly or Bi-weekly Magazine:
Drogin, Bob. "The Vanishing." New Republic 21 July 2003: 20-23.
- Article in a Monthly or Bi-monthly Periodical:
Lawson, Willow. "Aging's Changing Face." Psychology Today
Aug. 2003: 26-30.
- Article in a Reference Book, Signed:
Van Andel, Tjeerd. "Plate Tectonics." Encyclopaedia Britannica:
Macropaedia. 1997 ed.
- Article in a Reference Book, Unsigned:
"Melodeon." The Encyclopedia Americana. 1989 ed.
"Random." The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989.
- Other Reference Books:
When citing less familiar reference books, especially those that have appeared in only one edition, give full publication information.
Allen, Anita L. "Privacy in Health Care." Encyclopedia of Bioethics.
Ed. Warren T. Reich. Rev. ed. 5 vols. New York: Macmillan-Simon, 1995.
- Newspaper Article:
Take the name of the newspaper from the masthead, omitting any introductory article (a, an, the) e.g. Province, not The Province. If the city of the publication is not part of the newspaper's name, add it in square brackets after the name, without underlining it, e.g. Province [Vancouver]. For nationally published newspapers, the city of publication is not needed. Specify the edition if one is given on the masthead. If the article is on consecutive pages, specify e.g. 4-6. if not, follow the first page number by a plus sign e.g. 27+.
Murphy, Dan. "Let the Mascot Lobbying Begin." Province [Vancouver]
6 July 2003: A28.
- A Review:
With no author or article title, alphabetize it under the title of the work:
Rev. of Who Killed Canadian History, by J.L. Granatstein.
Globe & Mail 25 Apr. 1998, metro ed.: D13.
With an author given for the review:
Aniskowicz, B.T. Rev. of An Acre of Time, by Phil Jenkins.
Nature Canada Spring 1997: 52.
- Pamphlet:
Treat a pamphlet as you would a book.
McPherson, Cathy. Responding to the Abuse of People With Disabilities.
Toronto, Ont.: Advocacy Resource Centre for the Handicapped, 1990.
- Interviews:
Published Interviews:
Gordimer, Nadine. Interview. New York Times 10 Oct. 1991, late ed.:
C25.
To cite an interview that you conducted, give the name of the person interviewed, the kind of interview (Personal interview, Telephone interview), and the date.
O'Keane, Roger F. Personal interview. 11 May 2003.
- Advertisement:
The Fitness Fragrance by Ralph Lauren. Advertisement. GQ
Apr. 1997: 111-12.
- Video:
Creation vs. Evolution: Battle of the Classroom. Dir. R. Wilson.
Videocassette. PBS Video, 1982
Government publications vary considerably and as such, often present problems in bibliographic citation. With regard to books, in general, first, give the name of the government, then the name of the agency, using an abbreviation if the context is clear. When the writer is known, the entry may begin with the author's name. If the document is a periodical, follow the established MLA guidelines for citing periodicals, as outlined in this style sheet.
Books
Brown, Jacqueline and Pat Mirenda.
Making a difference: Preventing and
Responding to Abuse of People with Developmental Disabilities: a Learning Guide. [Victoria, B.C.]: Ministry for Children and Families, 1997.
Canada. Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.
Aboriginal Self-Government:
Legal and Constitutional Issues. [Ottawa]: Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. 1995.
Canada. Statistics Canada.
Market Research Handbook. 1998 ed.
(Cat. No. 63-224-XPB). Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 1998.
United Nations.
Consequences of Rapid Population Growth in Developing
Countries. New York: Taylor, 1991.
Periodicals
Author known:
Frenken, Hubert. "RRSP Withdrawals Revisited."
Canadian Economic
Observer. Statistics Canada (Cat. No. 11-010-XPB). Jan. 1997: 3.1-3.8.
Author unknown:
Statistics Canada. "Current Economic Conditions."
Canadian Economic
Observer (Cat. No. 11-010-XPB). Jan. 1997: 1.1-1.12.
Often electronic sources are not as stable as their print counterparts so it is important to give as much information as possible. Because documents may change often, the dates given are those associated with the document as well as the date the researcher accessed the document. It is a good idea to download or print any online material you plan to use, in case it becomes inaccessible online later. When required information is not given, cite what is available. The most direct way to locate an online publication is through its
Uniform Resource Locator (URL) which is the network address. It is crucial to be accurate in citing this address so the document can be located again. Enclose URLs in angle brackets and, when it is necessary to divide the URL between two lines, do so only after a slash.
1. A Document from an Internet Site:
Start the entry with the title of the project or database (underlined), then an editor, if one is given. Follow with the date of electronic publication or the latest update, and the name of any sponsoring institution or organization. Lastly, put the date of access and the URL.
Examples: When Referring to the Site as a Whole:The Amazing Time Machine. 1998. British Columbia Archives. 15 Aug. 2003
<http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/exhibits/timemach/index.htm>.
Early Modern English Dictionaries Database (EMEDD). Ed. Ian
Lancashire. Apr. 1996. U of Toronto. 15 Aug. 2003 <http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/english/emed/emedd.html>.
Examples: When Referring to a Single Document or Article at a Site:
Suzuki, David. "Olympics Should Showcase Our Natural Heritage."
Science Matters. 11 July 2003. David Suzuki Foundation. 15 Aug.
2003 <http://www.davidsuzuki.org/about_us/Dr_David_
Suzuki/Article_Archives/weekly07110301.asp>.
"BC and Canada Immigrant Landings by Class - 1984-2001".
Migration and Immigration. Feb. 2001. BC Stats. 15 Aug. 2003
<http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/data/pop/mig/immLandC.pdf>.
"Alcohol Consumption, by Sex, Age Group and Level of Education."
Canadian Statistics. 29 July 2003. Statistics Canada. 15 Aug. 2003 <http://www.statcan.ca/english/Pgdb/health05a.htm>.
"Domestic Sales of Refined Petroleum Products."
The Daily. 5 May
2003. Statistics Canada. 15 Aug. 2003 <http://www.statcan.ca/
Daily/English/030505/d030505a.htm>.
"The Gap, Inc."
Hoover's Online. 2003. Hoover's, Inc. 15 Aug. 2003
<http://www.hoovers.com/free/co/factsheet.xhtml?ID=11469>.
"Yoga."
Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th ed. 2001. Columbia University
Press. 15 Aug. 2003 <http://www.bartleby.com/65/yo/yoga.html>.
2. A Online Periodicals (Original in Electronic Format):
Online articles can be from newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals so use the same format as given for the printed periodical. Modify this as appropriate to the electronic source. If given, cite the number of pages or paragraphs (pars) along with the date of access and the electronic address (URL).
Scholarly JournalLancashire, Ian. "The Common Reader's Shakespeare."
Early Modern
Literary Studies 3.3 (1998): 12 pars. 15 Aug. 2003 <http://www.humanities.ualberta.ca/emls/03-3/lancshak.html>.
Hershock, Peter D. "From Vulnerability to Virtuosity: Buddhist Reflections
on Responding to Terrorism and Tragedy." Journal of Buddhist Ethics 10 (2003). 15 Aug. 2003 <http://jbe.gold.ac.uk/
10/hersh031.html>.
MagazineBeatty, Jack. "Fatal Vision."
Atlantic Online May 2003. 15 Aug. 2003
<http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/polipro/pp2003-05-01.htm>.
Newspaper or NewswireEssick, Kristi. "Working Women Worldwide Want Access to Technology."
CNN Interactive 28 Sept. 1998. 15 Aug. 2003 <http://www.cnn.com/
TECH/computing/9809/28/womenwantit.idg/>.
3. Online Books:
An online book may be the electronic text of part or all of a printed book, or a book-length document that is only available on the Internet. Some printed books are available online independently and some are part of Internet sites. Cite as you would a print book, modifying as appropriate to the electronic source.
Entire Online BookAusten, Jane.
Pride and Prejudice. Ed. Henry Churchyard. 1996.
Jane Austen Information Page. 15 Aug. 2003 <http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/pridprej.html>.
NetLibrary CitationsMegone, C., and Simon Robinson.
Case Histories in Business Ethics.
London, Eng.: Taylor & Francis, 2003. NetLibrary. OCLC. Douglas Coll. Lib., New Westminster. 10 Mar. 2005 <http://www.netlibrary.com/>.
Part of an Online BookBryant, Peter J. "Endangered Aquatic Habitats."
Biodiversity and
Conservation. 2002. 15 Aug. 2003 <http://darwin.bio.uci.edu/
~sustain/bio65/lec11/b65lec11.htm>.
4. Periodical Databases and Reference Works:
Many journals, magazines, newspapers and reference works are published both in paper and in electronic format. To cite these works begin with the publication data for the printed source and use the same format as you would for the printed material. If the service provides only the starting page number of an article's original print publication (e.g. "p128"), give the number followed by a hyphen, a space, and a period: "128- ." After this, include the title of the database followed by the name of the service. Then put the library, campus and the date of access. Provide the URL of the service's home page (see the following examples for your database) in angle brackets, immediately after the date of access.
ExamplesShek, Daniel T. L. "Economic Stress, Psychological Well-being and Problem
Behavior in Chinese Adolescents with Economic Disadvantage." Journal of Youth and Adolescence 32.4 (2003): 259-266. Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale Group. Douglas Coll. Lib., Coquitlam. 15 Aug. 2003 <http://www.galegroup.com>.
Choudhury, Naseem and April Ann Benasich. "A Family Aggregation
Study: The Influence of Family History and Other Risk Factors on Language Development." Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research 46.2 (2003): 261-272. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Douglas Coll. Lib., Coquitlam. 15 Aug. 2003 <http://www.epnet.com>.
Taylor, Drew H. "What Makes an Aboriginal an Aboriginal?"
Windspeaker
20.9 (2003): 10. CBCA. ProQuest Information and Learning. Douglas Coll. Lib., New Westminster. 15 Aug. 2003 <http://www.il.proquest.com>.
Murphy, Victoria. "Swimming With Tadpoles."
Forbes 21 July 2003: 96.
ABI/INFORM Complete. ProQuest Information and Learning. Douglas Coll. Lib., New Westminster. 15 Aug. 2003 <http://www.il.proquest.com>.
Ten Eyck, Clare. Shame and the Adolescent."
Corrections Today 65.4
(2003): 98. Criminal Justice Periodicals. ProQuest Information and Learning. Douglas Coll. Lib., Coquitlam. 15 Aug. 2003 <http://www.il.proquest.com>.
Wallace, Bruce. "Chretien Pushes Plan to Prevent Rights Abuses."
Vancouver Sun 14 July 2003, final ed.: A3. Canadian Newsstand. ProQuest Information and Learning. Douglas Coll. Lib., Coquitlam. 15 Aug. 2003 <http://www.il.proquest.com>.
Rami, Khouri. "Getting It Right in Iraq: Young Arabs Want Democratic
Governments of Their Own Making." Maclean's 19 May 2003: 30. CPI.Q. Gale Group. Douglas Coll. Lib., New Westminster. 15 Aug. 2003 <http://www.galegroup.com>.
Hill, Deborah. "Blood Yields Clues to Arteries Health."
Science Now
27 Nov. 2002: 3. Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition. EBSCO. Douglas Coll. Lib., Coquitlam. 15 Aug. 2003 <http://www.epnet.com>.
Erdman, David V. "Byron's Stage Fright: The History of His Ambition
and Fear of Writing for the Stage." ELH 6.3 (1939): 219-243. JSTOR. Douglas Coll. Lib., New Westminster. 3 Oct. 2005 <http://www.jstor.org/>.
CD-ROM"Albatross."
The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. CD-ROM. Oxford:
Oxford UP, 1992.
Braunmuller, A.R., ed.
Macbeth. By William Shakespeare. CD-ROM.
New York: Voyager, 1994.
5. Other Electronic Sources:
A Painting, Sculpture or PhotographGauguin, Paul.
The Moon and the Earth. 1893. Museum of Mod. Art,
New York. 15 Aug. 2003 <http://www.moma.org/collection/
provenance/items/50.34.html>.
A Map"Melbourne, Australia." Map.
Around Melbourne. Lonely Planet.
15 Aug. 2003 <http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mapshells/
australasia/melbourne/melbourne.htm>.
An AdvertisementColombian Coffee. Advertisement. 15 Aug. 2003
<http://www.juanvaldez.com/menu/advertising/ads/
uplifting.html>.
Email CommunicationTo cite an e-mail, give the name of the writer; the title of the message taken from the subject line (if any) enclosed in quotation marks; a description of the message that includes the recipient (e.g. Email to the author); and the date of the message.
Chadwick, Dean. "Japanese Style Proposal." Email to the author.
18 June 2003.
