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Citation Styles: MLA Style

MLA Style changed in 2016!

The new edition of the MLA Handbook (the 8th) was published in 2016. The rules for citing your sources have changed. Buy yourself a copy of the new handbook, look at the examples on this web page, and use the MLA Style Center website. Instructions based on the 7th edition are out of date.

MLA Style Manual (8th edition)

References: BOOK

Ellis, Joseph J. The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-

          1789, Alfred A. Knopf, 2016.

References: ONE SELECTION FROM AN ANTHOLOGY

Gray, Barbara Bronson. "Fast Food Options Have Not Actually Gotten

          Healthier." Fast Food, Edited by Tamara Thompson. Gale Cengage

          Learning, 2015, pp. 30-33.

 

If you use two or more works from the same anthology in your paper, provide an entry for the anthology and for each work. Alphabetize the entries in the list of works cited by the authors’ last names. 

 

References: WEBSITE

Perry, Douglas. "Teaching with Documents: The Lewis and Clark Expedition." National Archives.     

U. S. National Archives and Records Administration. www.archives.gov/education/

lessons/lewis-clark/. Accessed 13 Aug. 2016.

 

References: SHORT WORK FROM A WEBSITE

Reusche, Sara. "Dog-Dog Socialization: Beyond the Dog Park." Paws Abilities Dog Training,

9 Apr. 2012, paws4udogs.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/dog-dog-socialization-

beyond-the-dog-park/. Accessed 17 Aug. 2016.

References: MAGAZINE ARTICLE FROM A DATABASE

Ross, Tracy. "Exploring Unexplored Territory by Kayak." Alaska, Feb. 2015, p. 32.

MasterFILE Premier, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=

100566706&site=ehost-live. Accessed 19 Aug. 2016.

 

If the article is from an EBSCOhost database, copy and paste the Permalink instead of the the URL at the top of your browser screen.

References: SCHOLARLY ARTICLE FROM A DATABASE

Cho, Kit W., et al. "Mental Juggling: When Does Multitasking Impair Reading Comprehension?" 

Journal of General Psychology, vol.142, no.2, 2015, pp. 90-105. Psychology and Behavioral

Sciences Collection, doi:10.1080/00221309.2014.1003029. Accessed 19 Aug. 2016.

 

If the article has a DOI, type it in place of the URL.

Citing articles that you find online: MLA Style (August 2016)

Students are often confused about what information needs to be included in a citation of an article from a magazine or journal.  Here is a quick review of the rules in MLA Style.

If you have the paper copy of a magazine in your hand, and want to cite one of the articles inside, all you have to type are:

  • Author
  • Article title
  • Magazine title (if you have a scholarly journal article, you’ll also need to include the volume and issue numbers)
  • Publication date
  • Page numbers

If you found the article in one of CSI's online databases, add:

  • Database name
  • URL (for EBSCO databases, copy the Permalink, instead of the URL at the top of the browser screen. It’s shorter.) (If you are citing a journal article that has a DOI, type it in place of the URL.)
  • Time the date you looked up the article, like this: Accessed 19 Aug. 2016

It does not matter if the article is available both in print and online; what matters is to show where you found it.

Here are two examples for an article from the magazine Art in America:

1) If I found the paper copy in the CSI Library, I'd cite it this way:

              Wiley, William T.  "Sound and Vision." Art in America, Feb. 2012, pp. 55-57.

2) If I looked it up in MasterFILE Premier, I'd cite it this way:

Wiley, William T. "Sound and Vision." Art in America, Feb. 2012, pp. 55-57. MasterFILE Premier,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN= 71097710&site=ehost-live.

Accessed 19 Aug. 2016.

MLA Works Cited example

Works Cited

Broyles, Michael. "Charles Ives and the American Democratic Tradition." Charles Ives and His World. 

Edited by J. Peter Burkholder, Princeton UP, 1996, pp.118-60.

Campbell, Gavin James. "Mavericks and Other Traditions in American Music." Journal of American History,

vol. 92, no. 2, 2005, p. 684. Academic Search Premier, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=19324454&site=ehost-live. Accessed 19 Aug. 2016.

"Charles Ives's 'Holidays Symphony': Music Made from Memories." Keeping Score. San Francisco Symphony,

2011. www.keepingscore.org/interactive/ives-holidays-symphony. Accessed 19 Aug. 2016.

Charles Ives. Charles Ives Society. www.charlesives.org. Accessed 19 Aug. 2016.

Schiff, David. "The Many Faces of Ives." Atlantic Monthly, Jan. 1997, pp. 84-87. MasterFILE Premier,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=9710141080 &site=ehost-live. Accessed 19 Aug. 2016.

Swafford, Jan. Charles Ives: A Life with Music. W. W. Norton, 1996.