MLA Guide: MLA Samples (References & Papers)

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.

Intext would be (Klee).

"Ideology." The American Heritage Dictionary. 3rd ed., 1997, pp 44-45.

To cite this source, page 44, for example: ("Ideology" 44)

Works Cited

The New Jerusalem Bible. Henry Wansbrough, general editor, Doubleday, 1985.

In-text citation

In one of the most vivid prophetic visions in the Bible, Ezekial saw "what seems to be four living creatures" (New Jerusalem Bible, Ezek. 1.5). John of Patmos echoes this passage when describing his vision (Rev. 4.6-8).

**If you are only using one Bible, then you don't have to refer to the Bible's name except in the first intext citation. The rest of the intext citations can be the (Book, verse). 

***MLA Handbook, 2021, p. 247

Choi, Susan. Trust Exercise. Holt, 2019.

To cite entire book: (Choi)

To cite page 25, for example: (Choi 25)

Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Allyn and Bacon, 2000. 

If citing the entire book (Gillespie and Lerner)

If citing pages 210-225 (Gillespie and Lerner 210-225)

Wysocki, Anne Frances, et al. Writing New Media: Theory and Applications for Expanding the Teaching of Composition. Utah State UP, 2004.

If citing page 167, for example: (Wysocki et al. 167)

Crowley, Sharon, and Debra Hawhee. Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students. 3rd ed., Pearson, 2004.

If citing entire book: (Crowley and Hawhee)

If citing page 202, for example (Crowley and Hawkee 202)

Harris, Muriel. "Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers." A Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers One to One, edited by Ben Rafoth, Henemann, 2000, pp. 24-34.

If citing page 34 for example: (Harris 34)

If the original publication date is important for the reader to understand the context of the source, include it.

Franklin, Benjamin. "Emigration to America." 1782. The Faber Book of America, edited by Christopher Ricks and William L. Vance, Faber and Faber, 1992, pp. 24-26.

Intext would be (Franklin 24-26). 

Dickinson, Emily. “Because I Could Not Stop for Death.” The Oxford Book of American Verse, edited by F. O. Matthiessen, Oxford UP, 1950, p. 439. Questia.

This reading is located in the Questia/Cengage compilation but was published in The Oxford Book of American Verse. The publishing information  is all located in the copyright box at the bottom of the reading.

The intext citation would still be 

(Dickinson 439)

Plott, Cassie. English 111. Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, April 2020, https://rccc.blackboard.com/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_51000_1&content_id=_4450030_1.

(Plott)

Washington, Durthy. CliffsNotes on Jacobs’ Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Cliffs Notes, 2000. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=67062&site=ehost-live.

In-text citation is (Washington)

or in-text citation for page 33 is

(Washington 33)

Author. Title of ebook. Publisher, date. Name of database where you found the book, URL.

Blade Runner. 1982. Directed by Ridley Scott, performance by Harrison Ford, director's cut, Warner Bros., 1992.

Scott, Ridley, director. Blade Runner. 1982. Performance by Harrison Ford, director's cut, Warner Bros., 1992.

For films, citations begin with the title unless you want to highlight some other aspect, such as the direction. In the first example, Ridley Scott and Harrison Ford are considered "Other contributors". The second example treats Ridley Scott as an "author" with Harrison Ford as another contributor. The Publisher is Warner Bros.

Highlights from the Competition Bureau’s Workshop on Emerging Competition Issues. Competition Bureau of Canada, 4 Mar. 2016, www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/vwapj/cb-Workshop-Summary-Report-e.pdf/$FILE/cb-Workshop-Summary-Report-e.pdf. Accessed 6 July 2016

In-text citation is (name of document, can be shortened)

(HIghlights from the Competition Bureau's Workshop)

In-text citation if a direct quote from page 2, for example

(Highlights from the Competition Bureau's Workshop 2)

Doest, Jasper. "Japanese macaques take a hot bath during winter in Jigokudani." National Geographic, 15 Sept. 2016, nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2016/09/snow-macaque-nice-shot. Accessed 17 Mar 2020.

Smith, Jane. Personal interview. 22 April 2020.

Intext citation is (Smith)

​Zumla, Alimuddin, et al. "Vaccine Against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus." The Lancet Infectious Diseases, vol. 19, no. 10, 2019, pp. 1054-1055. ProQuest, https://proxy154.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/2297096029?accountid=13601, doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(19)30477-3.

To cite this article, page 1054, for example: (Zumla et al. 1054)

Chevelle. Wonder What's Next. Epic, 2002.

Intext would be (Chevelle)

Nirvana. "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Nevermind, Geffen, 1991.

Intext is (Nirvana)

Tavernise, Sabrina. "Disparity of Life Spans of the Rich and the Poor is Growing." The New York Times, 12 Feb. 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/13/health/disparity-in-life-spans-of-the-rich-and-the-poor-is-growing.html. 

(Tavernise)

Note that the URL is linked. This is an option in MLA 8th Edition. Your teacher may choose to allow this or not.

This format should be used for pdfs that you receive electronically but not via accessing a website. Even though you may have received this independently, you still need to find the URL that will lead your reader to the source.

Social, Humanitarian, & Cultural Committee (SOCHUM) Background Guide, 31st Annual Carolinas Conference, 2020, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58d5280103596edcfc032057/t/5f5937c0642457206e8c3057/1599682499567/SOCHUM+Background+Guide.pdf.

In-text citation is

(Social, Humanitarian, & Cultural Committee)

If a direct quote or statistic is used, from page 3 for example

(Social, Humanitarian, & Cultural Committee 3)

To cite a pdf from a website, you first cite the pdf with author, title, publisher and date and then cite the website with the URL.

For example, the following report doesn't have an author so you start with title, the publisher and date. Then you cite the website Duke Energy and that site's date.End with the URL.

Duke Energy 2019 Annual Report and Form 10-K, Duke Energy, 2019. Duke Energy, 2020, https://www.duke-energy.com/annual-report/_/media/pdfs/our-company/investors/de-annual-reports/2019/2019-duke-energy-annual-report.pdf?la=en.

In-text citation is

(Duke Energy 2019 Annual Report)

If direct quote or statistic used, for example from page 4

(Duke Energy 2019 Annual Report 4)

Adams, John. "John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, 3 February 1812." 1812. Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-04-02-036. Accessed 1 February 2023

___________

*This website didn't have a publication date. Accessed dates are recommended for websites especially when there is no publication date.

Recomended formatting for primary sources on webpages.

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Primary Source Document: Subtitle." Year of creation.Title of Website, Publisher of Website, Publication Date, URL. Accessed Day Month Year site was visited.

Jackson, Andrew. "First Inaugural Address." 1829. Out of Many: A History of the American People. John Faragher et al., Pearson, 2020, p. 56. 

Intext is (author's last name page#)

(Jackson 56)

The Bible. Authorized King James Version, Oxford UP, 1998.

Intext citation is (The Bible, John 3:16)

Kincaid, Jamaica. "Girl." The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories, edited by Tobias Wolff, Vintage, 1994, pp. 306-07.

(Kincaid 306)

If all poems or stories are by the same author, there is typically not an editor-

Carter, Angela. "The Tiger's Bride." Burning Your Boats: The Collected Stories, Penguin, 1995, pp. 154-69.

(Carter 157)

"Hush." 1999. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Fourth Season, created by Joss Whedon, performance by Sarah Michelle Gellar, episode 10, Twentieth Century Fox, 2003, disc 3. 

"Chapter Six: The Monster." Stranger Things, season 1, episode 6, Netflix, 15 July 2016. Netflix, netflix.com/watch/80077373?trackld=13752289@tctx=0%2C%2Ca7112b65-16b2-46a38b1c-310fcb259da1-8921805

Chappelow, James. "Conflict Theory." Investopedia, 19 May 2019, www.investopedia.com/terms/c/conflict-theory.asp

(Chappelow) is the intext citation

Webpage with Access date

Wise, DeWanda. "Why TV Shows Make me Feel less Alone." NAMI, 31 May 2019, https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/May-2019/How-TV-Shows-Make-Me-Feel-Less-Alone. Accessed 10 June 2020. 

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

("Athlete's")

September 25, 2014 is the publication date. There are no page numbers. The access date is optional. It is ok to shorten the title of the website; keep it in quotation marks.

"The Impact of Global Warming in North America." Global Warming: Early Signs. 1999. www.climatehotmap.org/. Accessed 23 Mar. 2009.

Intext citation is ("Impact of Global Warming")

*The access date is optional. You can shorten the title of long sources. Keep the webpage title in quotation marks.

"Majors and Concentrations." UNC Greensboro, https://admissions.uncg.edu/academics/majors-concentrations/. Accessed 22 April 2020.

* Access date is recommended for sites with no publication date.

("Majors and Concentrations")

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

To cite the webpage (Lundman)

There are no page numbers. Access date is optional but recommended if the webpage is one that updates regularly.

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Statistics. "Librarians." Occupational Outlook Handbook, 20 Dec 2019, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/librarians.htm. Accessed 10 June 2020. 

To intext cite

(U.S. Dept of Labor)

*Group authors can be abbreviated. The access date is recommended for webpages that update regularly.

If author is different from uploader

McGonigal, Jane. "Gaming and Productivity." YouTube, uploaded by Big Think, 3 July 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKdzy9bWW3E.

Intext is (McGonigal)

If uploader is same as author

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

Intext is ("8 Hot Dog Gadgets")