2.7: Examples of Common MLA Source Citations
- Page ID
- 290208
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Properly formatting citations requires a lot of very specific requirements. This includes very specific places to use italics, quotation marks, and punctuation. It can often be helpful to use a website or book that provides example citations, so that you can be sure to not miss some of the specific formatting requirements. On this page, we provide example MLA 9th edition citations for some of the most common source types. Most of these example citations will include generic descriptions to show what the information is, in order; then an example showing the type of information you would include.
Many of the examples, web addresses, and DOI numbers included below are made up to serve as an example.
Books
An Ebook (or Electronic Book)
Author Last Name, First Name. Title of the Book. E-book, Publisher, Publication Date.
Williams, Costa. In the Age of Wonder. E-book, Penguin, 2002.
Print Book
Author Last Name, First Name. Title of the Book. Publisher, Publication Date.
Williams, Costa. In the Age of Wonder. Penguin, 2002.
Print Book with an Editor
You cite this as you would a normal print book, but add the editor after the title with "edited by" in front of their name.
Williams, Costa. In the Age of Wonder, edited by Jorge Collins, Penguin, 2002.
A Subsequent Edition of a Print Book
You cite this as you would a normal print book, but include the number of the edition after the title.
Williams, Costa. In the Age of Wonder. 4th ed., Penguin, 2002.
Journal Articles
For online journal articles, you should include the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) if one is available. Otherwise, you should include a URL or Permalink to the article. Permalinks are provided by most library database collections. If an online journal article has page numbers, include those in the citation. If it does not have page numbers, omit that section. For online journal articles, you may optionally include the date of access.
Journal Article from a Library Database
When citing an online journal article from a library database collection, you should include the database name in italics.
Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of the Article." Title of the Journal, volume number, issue number, date of publication, page range, DOI or web URL.
Carter, Alice, and Simmons A. Pollato. "An Evaluation of Active Learning Models in K-12 Classrooms." Journal of Education, vol. 10, no. 3, 12 Feb. 2012, pp. 50-57.
Academic Source Premiere, https://doi.org/10.1112/tor.20155.
Journal Article from an Internet Website
Although not required, it can be advisable to add a date of access when the article comes from a public internet website; in case there are changes to the website.
Collins, Samantha, et al. "Marketing Strategies for Generation Z Consumers." Marketing Issues, vol. 13, no. 1, 1 Mar. 2015, pp. 2-13.
https://www.marketingissuesjournal.org/2015/1. Accessed 12 Jan. 2024.
Print Journal Article
Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of the Article." Title of the Journal, Volume Number, Issue Number, Publication Year, page range.
Moorehouse, Gaston. "Trends in Extreme Nationalism: A Multi-National Review of Literature." Journal of International Government
Studies, vol. 10, no. 2, 2001, pp. 13-20.
Newspaper Articles
Newspaper Article from a Library Database
When citing a newspaper article from a library database collection, you should include the database name in italics.
Simpson, Charles. "New Initiatives in Housing Support." Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2010, International News Collections, p. 6.
Newspaper Article from an Internet Website
Although not required, it can be advisable to add a date of access when the article comes from a public internet website; in case there are changes to the website.
Simpson, Charles. "New Initiatives in Housing Support." Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2010, p. 6. https://www.latimes.com/2010/4/22.
Accessed 22 Oct. 2024.
Print Newspaper Article
Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of the Article." Newspaper Title, Publication Date, page number of the article.
Simpson, Charles. "New Initiatives in Housing Support." Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2010, p. 6.
Websites and Web Documents
When citing content on a website, you will normally need to include a date of access. This is the date that you most recently opened and viewed the material to get the notes or content you used in your work. The access date should be listed in the format of day month year. Example: Accessed 6 July 2015.
Website Article
Article Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of the Article." Title of the Website, Web Address URL. Accessed Date of Access.
Donaldson, Claire. "A Review of Social Media Trends from 2000-2010." Social Truths, https://www.socialtruths.com/claire/2015.
Accessed 6 July 2020.
Website Article with No Known Author
When information such as the author is not available, you skip that information in the citation.
"A review of Social Media Trends from 2000-2010." Social Truths, https://www.socialtruths.com/claire/2015. Accessed 6 July 2020.
Wikipedia Article
When citing Wikipedia, you'll want to include both the date of the last time the page was edited and the date you accessed the information. The date the page was last edited can be found towards the bottom of the page.
"Title of the Article." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Day Month Year the page was last edited.
Web Address URL. Accessed Date of Access.
"Environmental Justice." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 November 2024.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_justice. Accessed 3 November 2024.
Government Document from a Website
Many government documents will not provide a person as the author. If a person is not listed, use the government agency/department that created the document as the author.
Author Last Name, First Name. Title of the Document: Subtitle if Given. Edition if given and it is not the first edition.
Name of the Primary Government Agency, Publication Date, Web Address URL. Accessed Date of Access.
Bureau of Justice Statistics. Human Trafficking Data Collection Activities, 2024. 29 October 2024.
https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publicat...ctivities-2024. PDF document.
Digital File (Word document, PowerPoint file, PDF document, etc.)
When citing a digital file such as a PDF document, you create a normal citation for that type of source and then add the file type at the end of the citation.
"A review of Social Media Trends from 2000-2010." Social Truths, https://www.socialtruths.com/claire/2015. Accessed 6 July 2020. PDF document.
Media
Image on a Website
Artist's Last Name, First Name. Title of the Image. Title of the Website it is Hosted On, Web Address URL. Accessed Date of Access.
Capatriman, Alice Ewelle. My Dog Sitting in a Bird Bath. Capatriman.com. https://www.capatriman.com/photographs/June.
Accessed 20 October 2022.
Video (YouTube, TikTok, etc.)
For videos from sites such as YouTube, you may need to include separate name entries for the author and for the uploader. If they are the same, you only need to include the name once and omit the 'uploaded by' section.
Triscol, Jessica. "How to Speak Confidently." YouTube, uploaded by PublicSpeak, 10 Sep. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sdf234WW34.
Podcast
For a podcast, you should begin with the title of the episode in quotation marks. This is followed by the name of the series.
"Title of the Episode." Name of the Podcast Series from Name of the Podcast Site or Organization, Date of Publication, Web Address URL.
"Venturing into the U.S. West." The Old Timey US from NPR, 10 Jan. 2015, https://www.npr.org/podcasts/30402521/west
Other Sources
Twitter Post
Begin with the user's Twitter username as the author's name, then include the entire tweet in quotations. Include the date and time of posting.
@twitterUser02. "Twitter has gained a lot more bots, posting different types of content and misinformation." Twitter, 20 Mar. 2020, 12:01 p.m.,
https://twitter.com/twitterUser02/st.../1002003040010.
Facebook Post
Author Last Name, First Name or Account Username. Short Description of the Post. Facebook, Date of Post, Time of Post,
Web Address URL. Accessed Date of Access.
TimTim11013. Description of the Wagyu Riot. Facebook, 15 Apr. 2020, 6:01 a.m., https://www.facebook.com/timtim11013/2130034.
Accessed 3 Mar. 2024.
Blog Post, Listserv Post, or Discussion Group Post
Author Last Name, First Name (if available, possibly including the poster's username). "Post Title." Name of the Web Site, Version number (if available),
Name of the Organization Affiliated with the Web Site (such as a sponsor or publisher), Web Address URL. Date of access.
Creator91 [Daniel Timms]. "The Total Cost of Current Policies." PoliticBlog, 29 Sept. 2010, https://www.politicblogusa.org. Accessed 10 Apr. 2015.
Personal Interview
You use this format for citing an interview that you conduct personally. List the interview with the name of the interviewee at the beginning.
Interviewee Last Name, First Name. Personal interview. Date of interview.
Williams, Donald. Personal interview. 20 April 2020.
Class Notes or Handouts
Instructor's Last Name, First Name. "Title of the Handout/Notes/Page." Name of the Course, Course Code/Number, Name of the Institution, Date of Publication (if available) or the Date Accessed.
Wilson, Dani. "Using AI Effectively and Creatively." Introduction to Information Literacy, LIB-1-28317, Moreno Valley College, Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.
Class Presentation Slides (PowerPoint, etc.)
Instructor's Last Name, First Name. "Title of the Presentation." Presentation slides, Name of the Course, Course Code/Number,
Name of the Institution, Date of Presentation or Publication (if available) or the Date Accessed.
Wilson, Dani. "Week 1 Presentation." Presentation slides, Introduction to Information Literacy, LIB-1-28317, Moreno Valley College,
Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.