Citing Paper/Traditional Sources in MLA Format
The Uni High Version
Get a Word version of this page § Get a PDF version of this page
Citing ELECTRONIC materials in MLA
DISCLAIMER
TIPS ON FORMATTING YOUR CITATIONS
Paper and other "traditional" sources covered here:
Book by a single author
Book with two authors
Book by a corporate author (a company, school, nonprofit group, etc.)
Book with an editor
Pamphlet or booklet
Work in an anthology or collection
Signed article in an encyclopedia
Unsigned article in an encyclopedia
Government document
Article from a magazine
Article from a journal with continuous paging
Article from a journal that pages each issue separately
Signed article from a daily newspaper
Unsigned article from a daily newspaper
Unpublished manuscript, typescript, or letter
Interview
Book by a single author § Back to Top
Lastname, Firstname Middlename. Title of Book: Subtitle. City of Publication: Publisher, YYYY.
Mittenthal, Robin Eric. How to Be a Professional Student. Cambridge: Harvard UP,
2003.
Book by two authors § Back to Top
Lastname, Firstname Middlename, and Firstname Middlename Lastname.
Title of Book: Subtitle. City of Publication: Publisher, YYYY.
Harris, Frances Jacobson, and Jenny Yi. Can You Speak Up Please?:
Subbie Oral History Projects. Urbana: Uni High, 2002.
Book by a corporate author (a company, nonprofit, etc.) § Back to Top
Corporate Author. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, YYYY.
Uni High Alumni Association. Uni through the Years. Urbana: Uni High,
1999.
Book with an editor § Back to Top
Title of Book. Lastname, Firstname, ed. City of Publication: Publisher, YYYY.
The Adventures of Bridge Building. Morris, Pat, ed. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1990.
Pamphlet or booklet § Back to Top
Lastname, Firstname Middlename (if found). Title of Pamphlet: Subtitle. City of Publication: Publisher, YYYY.
Brown, Farmer. Farm Fresh Eggs: More Than You Ever Wanted to Know. Arthur: Brown's Egg Ranch, 1998.
Community Gardening with Children Ages 6-12. Boston: Boston Urban Gardeners, 1997.
Wright, Frank Lloyd. A Guide to Buildings in Chicago that I Designed. Chicago:
Wright, 1950.
Work in an anthology § Back to Top
Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Article." Title of Book. Ed. Editor’s Firstname
Lastname. City of Publication: Publisher, YYYY. pp-pp.
Khan, Ghengis. "Feedback Cycles Changed My Life." History through Flowcharts.
Ed. Chris Butler. Boston: HarperCollins, 1996. 127-34.
Signed article in an encyclopedia § Back to Top
Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Article." Title of Encyclopedia. YYYY ed. (or
Ordinal Number ed. YYYY.)
Steen, Liz Arthur. "Applied Finite Math." Encyclopedia Mathematica. 1995 ed.
Unsigned article in an encyclopedia § Back to Top
"Title of Article." Title of Encyclopedia. YYYY ed. (or Ordinal Number ed.
YYYY.)
"Library Goddesses." Encyclopedia of Library Science. 2nd ed. 1998.
Government document § Back to Top
Country or State. Agency. Subagency. Title. Ordinal number ed.or session and
document number. City of Publication: Publisher,YYYY.
United States. Cong. House. Committee on the Judiciary. The Adverse Effects of
Homework on Gifted Students. 91st Cong., 2nd sess. H. Res. 61.
Washington: GPO, 1998.
United Nations. Literary Aid Committee. Fatigue Relief for Overworked Fantasy
Characters in the Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles. New York: Taylor, 2000.
Article from a magazine § Back to Top
Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine DD MONTH
[abbreviate except for May, June, and July] YYYY: Pages.
Stone, David M. "Secrets of Exploravision Winners." Science Teacher News 15 Oct.
1998: 120-22.
Article from a journal with continuous paging § Back to Top
Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Article." Title of Journal Vol (YYYY): Pages.
Laughlin, Rosemary. "Teaching the Charleston and the Coffee Grinder to High School
Students." Journal of Dance Fever 12 (1997): 323-30.
Article from a journal that pages each issue separately § Back to Top
Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine Vol.Issue# (YYYY):
Pages.
York, Maurice. "Trapped in Graduate School." Low Down Review 16.4
(2000): 6-17.
Signed article from a daily newspaper § Back to Top
Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Article." Title of Newspaper DD Mon. YYYY:
SectionPage.
Perez-Pena, Richard. "CUNY and California Curbs: Parallels in Approach."
New York Times 13 May 1998: B8.
Unsigned article from a daily newspaper § Back to Top
"Title of Article." Title of Newspaper DD Mon. YYYY: SectionPage.
"I’m Leaving My Money to the Uni High Library." News-Gazette 15 Sept.
1998: A1.
Unpublished manuscript, typescript, or letter § Back to Top
Lastname, Firstname (or name of group/institution). Title or description of the material (for example, Notebook). Form of the material (for example, ms.
for something written by hand, or ts. for something typed). Any identifying number or date assigned to the document (if applicable). Name and location of the library or other institution holding the material.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Harley ms. 7334. British Lib., London.
Robin, Mittenthal. "My Super-Secret Don't Anybody Read this Ever Ever Ever or
Else Diary and that Means You." Unpublished diary. Special Collection of
Important Personal Papers of Former Graduate Student Assistants. Uni High
Lib., Urbana.
Interview § Back to Top
To cite an interview that you conducted, use the following format, putting in either "Personal interview" or "Telephone interview" for 'kind of interview.' To cite an interview conducted by someone else, please check the MLA Handbook in print, as this format is highly variable.
Lastname, Firstname (of person interviewed). Kind of interview. DD Mon.
YYYY.
Suslick, Adele. Personal interview. 16 Jan. 2001.
Kroc, Ray. Telephone interview. 20 May 1974.
Disclaimer: This handout is only meant as a guide. If we tried to cover all citations you might make, we’d have a book—which is exactly what the Modern Language Association (MLA) publishes every couple of years. You should check the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th edition, if you have a question that this guide doesn’t answer. See the library for a copy (call number R 808.02 M72m in the reference section).
Formatting your citations: In making your list of works cited, begin each entry flush with the left margin; if the entry runs more than a line long, the next lines should be indented five spaces, or one default TAB setting if you are using a word processor. On many word processors you can accomplish this by paragraph formatting for a "hanging indent." (Whichever you choose, be consistent throughout.) Also use double spacing for your entire list, both between and within entries.
This citation guide was last revised 9/2007.