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Writing Guide: MLA Format, 7th Edition

Quick tips on organizing & formatting an essay or research paper

Introduction

When you reference another’s work in your own papers or essays, you need to cite that author’s work.  MLA Citation Style is typically used to cite work in English and humanities disciplines. When creating a citation, you will need two things:

  • In-text or parenthetical citations – located within the body of your paper
  • Works Cited or Bibliography – reference list that appears at the end of your paper.

MLA Style Resources

Still have questions? Click here.

MLA Citation Reference List

Articles 

Article (from a database) with one author:

Lastname, First M.  "Title of Article." Title of Publication volume.issue (year): pages. Database Name. Web. Date

accessed.

Geuss, Raymond. "Happiness and Politics." Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics 10.1 (2002): 15-33JSTOR

Arts and Sciences V Collection. Web. 25 Nov. 2009.

 In-Text Citations

(Last name page number)

(Geuss 20)

Article (print) with one author:

Lastname, First M.  "Title of Article." Title of Publication volume.issue (year): pages. Print.

Neve, Christopher. "Happiness is a Warm Hedgehog: Beatrix Potter's Natural History." Country Life 152 (1972): 1728-9.

Print.

 In-Text Citations

(Last name page number)

(Neve 1728)

 Article (found using Google) with one author:

Lastname, First M.  "Title of Article." Title of Publication or Overall Website. Publisher or Sponsors of the Site, Publication

Date. Web.  Date accessed.

Cohen, Patricia. "Author's Personal Forecast: Not Always Sunny But Pleasantly Skeptical." New York Times. New York

Times, 9 Oct. 2009. Web. 25 Nov. 2009.

 In-Text Citations

(Last name)

(Cohen)

Article (from a database) with two authors:

Lastname, First M., and Firstname M. Surname. "Title of Article." Title of Publication volume.issue (year): pages.

Database Name. Web. Date accessed.

Lykken, David and Auke Tellegen. "Happiness is a Stochastic Phenomenon." Psychological Science 7.3 (1996): 186-189.

JSTOR Life Sciences Collection. Web. 30 Nov. 2009.

 In-Text Citations

(Last name and Last Name page number)

(Lykken and Tellegen 187)

Article (from a database) with three authors:

Lastname, First M., Annie B. Surname, and Anon Y. Mous"Title of Article." Title of Publication volume.issue (year):

pages. Database Name. Web. Date accessed.

 In-Text Citations

(Last name, Surname, and Mous page number)

More than three authors? List all authors or use the format below:

Authorone, First M. et. al. "Title of Article." Title of Publication volume.issue (year): pages.

 In-Text Citations

(Authrone et al. page number)

Books

Book with one author:

Lastname, First M.  Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Publication Location: Publisher, Date. Print. 

Munro, Alice. Too Much Happiness: Stories . New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 2009. Print.

 In-Text Citations

(Last name page number)

(Munro 224)

Books with multiple authors:

The format follows the author format as listed under articles.

An edited book:

Editor, First M., ed.  Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Publication Location: Publisher, Date. Print. 

Cahn, Steven M., and Christine Vitrano, eds. Happiness: Classic and Contemporary Readings in Philosophy. Oxford; New

York: Oxford UP, 2007. Print.

 In-Text Citations

(Last name and Last name page number)

(Cahn and Vitrano 48)

An online book:

Lastname, First MTitle of Book: Subtitle of Book. Publication Location: Publisher, Date. Site Sponsor. Web. Date

accessed.

Wainewright, William. On the Elements of Human Happiness. London: William Skeffington, 1857. Google Book Search.

Web. 30 Nov. 2009.

In-Text Citations

(Last name) OR (Last name page number) if a page/paragraph number is provided

(Wainewright)

Web Sites

Web site with one author:

Author, Firstname M. Title of Site. Sponsor of Site, Date Published. Web. Date accessed.

Veenhoven, Ruut. World Database of Happiness. Erasmus University Rotterdam, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2009.

In-Text Citations

(Last name)

(Veenhoven)

Web site with a corporate or organizational author:

Corporation or Organization Name. Title of Site. Sponsor of Site, Date Published. Web. Date accessed. 

The Young Foundation. Summary of Literature Sources for Happiness and Wellbeing. The Young Foundation, Oct. 2006.

Web. 30 Nov. 2009.

In-Text Citations

(Abbreviated Corporation or Organization Name)

(Young Foundation)

Images

Image from an online source with a creator listed:

Creator, First M. Title of Image. Date created. Description. Web. Date accessed. 

Swanbrow, D. A happiness ranking of 97 nations. 23 Jul. 2008. Chart. Web. 21 Jan. 2010.

In-Text Citations

(Creator)

(Swanbrow)

Image from an online source with no creator listed:

Title of image. Date created. Description of image. Web. Date accessed.

In-Text Citations

(“Title of Image”)

Image from a print source with a creator listed:

Creator, F. M. Date created. Title of image. [Continue the remainder of the citation with title of book or article as

appropriate.]

In-Text Citations

(Creator page number)

Sources

The information on this page was borrowed from URI LibGuides.

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