Skip to Main Content

Citation Help

Citation resources for all citations styles needed for your research.

MLA header: MLA example citations & Paper formatting tips

 

MLA Citation Style

Use this guide to learn more about MLA citations, and to view helpful citation examples on resources like books and articles. Here you will find information on the MLA Style Guide, and where you can go to find more helpful information. 

 

In-Text MLA Citations

For more guidelines and examples, check out the MLA Style Center In-Text Citations Overview.

Basic Format:

(Last Name Page #)

Or, introduce direct quotes with the author and title within the sentence or paragraph, then include the page number(s) at the end of the quote in parentheses.

I'm citing...

Work Cited Reference List Examples

Basic Format:
Author Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. Title of Longer Work or "Title of Shorter Work." Publisher, Year. URL or DOI.

I'm citing a...

 

*Note that all MLA citations need to be indented after the first line. This is called a hanging indent. Due to formatting issues, our examples below do not have hanging indents.

Need help with formatting hanging indents in Word? Scroll Down to the bottom of this page!

Journal Article

  1. Author(s). Note: Use the format Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. If there are multiple authors, use and before the last author's name.
  2. "Title of the Article." Note: Include the title of a shorter work like an article in a journal in quotation marks and use headline-style capitalization.
  3. Title of the Journal, Note: Use italics for the title of a longer work like a journal and use headline-style capitalization.
  4. vol. #,
  5. no. #, Note: If there is no additional number after the volume, only include the volume number.
  6. Publication date,
  7. pp. xxx-xxx.
If accessed online or in a library database...
  • Database, Note: Use italics for names of databases.
  • URL or permalink.

 

Mozie, Dante. “‘They Killin’’ Us for No Reason": Black Lives Matter, Police Brutality, and Hip-Hop Music—A Quantitative Content Analysis.” Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, vol. 99, no. 3, 2022, pp. 826–47. MLA International Bibliography, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=mlf&AN=202326673880&authtype=sso&custid=014-800&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=014-800

Online News/Magazine Article

  1. Author(s). Note: Use the format Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. If there are multiple authors, use and before the last author's name.
  2. "Title of the Article." Note: Include the title of a shorter work in quotation marks and use headline-style capitalization.
  3. Title of the Newspaper or Publisher, Note: Use italics for the title of a longer work like a newspaper or online publication and use headline-style capitalization.
  4. Publication date, Note: Use the formate Date Abbreviated Month Year.
  5. URL.

 

Robinson, Angela. "History Shows Why It's Time for a Black Woman to Sit on the Supreme Court ." The Washington Post, 1 Feb. 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/02/01/history-shows-why-its-time-black-woman-sit-supreme-court/.

Print Book or eBook

Print Book
  1. Author(s). Note: Use the format Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. If there are multiple authors, use and before the last author's name.
  2. Title of the Book. Note: Use italics for the title of a longer work like a book and use headline-style capitalization.
  3. Edition Note: If there are multiple editions, use the format 1st/2nd/3rd ed.,
  4. Publisher,
  5. Publication date.

 

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. 1st ed., J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1960.
eBook
  1. Author(s). Note: Use the format Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. If there are multiple authors, use and before the last author's name.
  2. Title of the Book, Note: Use italics for the title of a longer work like a book and use headline-style capitalization.
  3. Editors Note: If there is one editor, use the format edited by Last Name, First Name. If there are multiple editors, use and before the last author's name.
  4. Publisher,
  5. Publication date.
  6. Database, Note: Use italics for names of databases.
  7. URL or permalink.

 

Badke, William. Research Strategies: Finding Your Way Through the Information Fog. IUniverse, 2021. EBSCOhost Academic eBook Collection, http://0-search.ebscohost.com.arthur.searchmobius.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat02498a&AN=westm.b3044672&site=eds-live&scope=site;.

Book Chapter

  1. Author(s) of the Chapter. Note: Use the format Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial (if any). If there are multiple authors, use and before the last author's name.
  2. "Title of the Chapter." Note: Include the title of a shorter work like a chapter in quotation marks and use headline-style capitalization.
  3. Title of the Book, Note: Use italics for the title of a longer work like a book and use headline-style capitalization.
  4. Editors Note: If there is one editor, use the format edited by First Name Middle Name or Initial (if any) Last Name. If there are multiple editors, use and before the last author's name.
  5. Publisher,
  6. Publication date,
  7. pp. xxx-xxx.
  8. Database, Note: Use italics for names of databases.
  9. URL or permalink.

 

Ehlers, Sarah. "Photography and the Development of Radical Poetics" Left of Poetry : Depression America and the Formation of Modern Poetics, The Univeristy of North Carolina Press, 2019, pp. 27-65. EBSCOhost Academic eBook Collection, http://0-search.ebscohost.com.arthur.searchmobius.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=2102024&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Web Page

  1. Author. Note: If there is no individual author, begin the citation with "Title of the Page."
  2. "Title of Page, Section, or Document."
  3. Publisher,
  4. URL.

 

"Citation Guide." Westminster College Reeves Library, https://www.westminstermo.libguides.com/citation.

 

Formatting Your MLA Paper

 How do I make a hanging indent in Word?

1. Highlight the citation with your cursor. 

2. Right-click. 

3. Select Paragraph.

4. Under Indentation, select Special and Hanging.

 

Animated gif of creating a hanging indent in Word. Highlight the full citation. Right click. Go to Paragraph. To to the Special drop down menu, select Hanging. Select Okay.

Elements of this guide were borrowed and edited from a guide originally created by Tessa Withorn at CSUDH Library and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.