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MLA Citation Style, 8th edition

This the MLA citation guide for the new, 8th edition

How do I cite electronic sources

A note from OWL regarding electronic sources

"Include a URL or web address to help readers locate your sources. Because web addresses are not static (i.e., they change often) and because documents sometimes appear in multiple places on the web (e.g., on multiple databases), MLA encourages the use of citing containers such as Youtube, JSTOR, Spotify, or Netflix in order to easily access and verify sources. However, MLA only requires the www. address, so eliminate all https:// when citing URLs.

Many scholarly journal articles found in databases include a DOI (digital object identifier. If a DOI is available, cite the DOI number instead of the URL.

Online newspapers and magazines sometimes include a “permalink,” which is a shortened, stable version of a URL. Look for a “share” or “cite this” button to see if a source includes a permalink. If you can find a permalink, use that instead of a URL."

Basic Format

Author. Title. Title of container (self contained if book), Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs and/or URL, DOI or permalink). 2nd container’s title, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location, Date of Access (if applicable).

Works Cited

OWL, The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2016.

Remember that all lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation. All text is double-spaced. Sometimes the formatting on webpages like this do not show the correct format. 

Basic Format

Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number, Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available), URL, DOI or permalink. Date of access (if applicable).

Example 1

The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl. Accessed 23 Apr. 2008.

Example 2

Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory. Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003, www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/. Accessed 10 May 2006

 

*For other types of sources not listed here go to OWL@Purdue or the MLA Handbook.

*All examples are taken directly from the OWL, The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2016.

Remember that all lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation. All text is double-spaced. Sometimes the formatting on webpages like this do not show the correct format. 

Basic Format

Author. Title. Title of container (self contained if book), Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs and/or URL, DOI or permalink). 2nd container’s title, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location, Date of Access (if applicable).

Example 1

"Athlete's Foot - Topic Overview." WebMD, 25 Sept. 2014, www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tc/athletes-foot-topic-overview.

Example 2

Lundman, Susan. "How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow, www.ehow.com/how_10727_make-vegetarian-chili.html. Accessed 6 July 2015.

 

*For other types of sources not listed here go to OWL@Purdue or the MLA Handbook.

*All examples are taken directly from the OWL, The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2016.

Remember that all lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation. All text is double-spaced. Sometimes the formatting on webpages like this do not show the correct format. 

Basic Format

Author. Title. Title of container (self contained if book), Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs and/or URL, DOI or permalink). 2nd container’s title, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location, Date of Access (if applicable).

Image

Example 1

Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Museo Macional del Prado, www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/the-family-of-carlos-iv/f47898fc-aa1c-48f6-a779-71759e417e74. Accessed 22 May 2006.

Example 2

Klee, Paul. Twittering Machine. 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Artchive, www.artchive.com/artchive/K/klee/twittering_machine.jpg.html. Accessed May 2006.

If the work is cited on the web only, then provide the name of the artist, the title of the work, and then follow the citation format for a website. If the work is posted via a username, use that username for the author.

Example of image only on web

Adams, Clifton R. “People relax beside a swimming pool at a country estate near Phoenix, Arizona, 1928.” Found, National Geographic Creative, 2 Jun. 2016, natgeofound.tumblr.com/.

 

*For other types of sources not listed here go to OWL@Purdue or the MLA Handbook.

*All examples are taken directly from the OWL, The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2016.

 

 

Remember that all lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation. All text is double-spaced. Sometimes the formatting on webpages like this do not show the correct format.

Basic Format

Author. Title. Title of container (self contained if book), Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs and/or URL, DOI or permalink). 2nd container’s title, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location, Date of Access (if applicable).

Article in web magazine

Bernstein, Mark. "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web." A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites, 16 Aug. 2002, alistapart.com/article/writeliving. Accessed 4 May 2009.

 

*For other types of sources not listed here go to OWL@Purdue or the MLA Handbook.

*All examples are taken directly from the OWL, The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2016.

 

Remember that all lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation. All text is double-spaced. Sometimes the formatting on webpages like this do not show the correct format.

Basic Format

Author. Title. Title of container (self contained if book), Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs and/or URL, DOI or permalink). 2nd container’s title, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location, Date of Access (if applicable).

 

Article on an Online Scholarly Journal

Example

Dolby, Nadine. “Research in Youth Culture and Policy: Current Conditions and Future Directions.” Social Work and Society: The International Online-Only Journal, vol. 6, no. 2, 2008, www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/60/362. Accessed 20 May 2009.

*For other types of sources not listed here go to OWL@Purdue or the MLA Handbook.

*All examples are taken directly from the OWL, The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2016.

 

 

 

Remember that all lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation. All text is double-spaced. Sometimes the formatting on webpages like this do not show the correct format.

Use the title of the subscription database as the 2nd container and place it before DOI or url and italicize the database name. The name of the journal is the first container

Basic Format

Author. Title. Title of container (self contained if book), Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs and/or URL, DOI or permalink). 2nd container’s title, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location, Date of Access (if applicable).

Article in online database

Example 1

Alonso, Alvaro, and Julio A. Camargo. "Toxicity of Nitrite to Three Species of Freshwater Invertebrates." Environmental Toxicology, vol. 21, no. 1, 3 Feb. 2006, pp. 90-94. Wiley Online Library, doi: 10.1002/tox.20155.

Example 2

Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England.” Historical Journal, vol. 50, no. 1, 2007, pp. 173-96. ProQuest, doi:10.1017/S0018246X06005966. Accessed 27 May 2009.

Author. Title of source. Title of container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.

 

*For other types of sources not listed here go to OWL@Purdue or the MLA Handbook.

*All examples are taken directly from the OWL, The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2016.

Remember that all lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation. All text is double-spaced. Sometimes the formatting on webpages like this do not show the correct format.

Give author of the message first, then the subject line of the email, then the person who received the email, then the date.

Example 1

Kunka, Andrew. "Re: Modernist Literature." Received by John Watts, 15 Nov. 2000.

Example 2

Neyhart, David. "Re: Online Tutoring." Received by Joe Barbato, 1 Dec. 2016.

 

*For other types of sources not listed here go to OWL@Purdue or the MLA Handbook.

*All examples are taken directly from the OWL, The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2016.

Remember that all lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation. All text is double-spaced. Sometimes the formatting on webpages like this do not show the correct format. 

Basic Format

Editor, screen name, author, or compiler name (if available). “Posting Title.” Name of Site, Version number (if available), Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), URL. Date of access.

Example

Salmar1515 [Sal Hernandez]. “Re: Best Strategy: Fenced Pastures vs. Max Number of Rooms?” BoardGameGeek, 29 Sept. 2008, boardgamegeek.com/thread/343929/best-strategy-fenced-pastures-vs-max-number-rooms. Accessed 5 Apr. 2009.

 

*For other types of sources not listed here go to OWL@Purdue or the MLA Handbook.

*All examples are taken directly from the OWL, The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2016.

Remember that all lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation. All text is double-spaced. Sometimes the formatting on webpages like this do not show the correct format. 

In place of the author, use the Twitter handle. Then, in quotations, enter the entire tweet.

Example 1

@tombrokaw. "SC demonstrated why all the debates are the engines of this campaign." Twitter, 22 Jan. 2012, 3:06 a.m., twitter.com/tombrokaw/status/160996868971704320.

Example 2

@PurdueWLab. "Spring break is around the corner, and all our locations will be open next week." Twitter, 5 Mar. 2012, 12:58 p.m., twitter.com/PurdueWLab/status/176728308736737282.

 

*For other types of sources not listed here go to OWL@Purdue or the MLA Handbook.

*All examples are taken directly from the OWL, The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2016.

Remember that all lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation. All text is double-spaced. Sometimes the formatting on webpages like this do not show the correct format. 

Example 1

“8 Hot Dog Gadgets put to the Test.” YouTube, uploaded by Crazy Russian Hacker, 6 Jun. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBlpjSEtELs.

Example 2

McGonigal, Jane. “Gaming and Productivity.” YouTube, uploaded by Big Think, 3 July 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkdzy9bWW3E.

 

*For other types of sources not listed here go to OWL@Purdue or the MLA Handbook.

*All examples are taken directly from the OWL, The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2016.