MLA Format

Books | Internet Sites | Magazine or Journal Articles | Encyclopedia Articles

Books

The basic entry for a book by a single author is ordered and punctuated as follows:

1. Author’s Name. [last name comma first name period
   (Note: If there is more than one author, see the special case below.)
2. Title of the Book. [italicized and followed by a period
   (Note: Do not underline the period.)
3. The city of publication: [followed by a colon : ]
   (Note: If multiple cities are listed, then cite only the first city.)
4. The publisher’s name, [followed by a comma
5. Year of publication. [followed by a period

Special case: A book by two or more authors
To cite a book by two or three authors, give their names in the same order as on the title page—not necessarily in alphabetical order. Reverse only the name of the first author, add a comma, and give the other names in normal form.

Internet Sites

The basic entry for an Internet site is ordered and punctuated as follows:

1. Author’s Name. [last name comma first name period]
2. “Title of the Document.” [ending with a period and enclosed in quotation marks (Note that the period always goes inside the quotation marks.)]
3. Title of the Site. [italicized and followed by a period]
4. The date of electronic publication or the latest update. [followed by period (look for copyright date)]
5. The name of any institution or organization that publishes the site. [followed by period]
   (Note: Look for contact information, or check the About Us page.)
6. Date that you viewed the site [date month year with no comma between date and month; no period between date viewed and URL address]
7. URL address. [Enclosed in and ending with a period]

If one of the above items can’t be found, such as the author, then leave that item out and include the rest in the proper order.

Note: Word processing programs will often underline and change the font color of URL addresses automatically. Figure out how to turn this feature off.

Magazine or Journal Articles

The basic entry for a magazine or journal article is ordered and punctuated as follows:

1. Author’s Name. [last name comma first name period]
   (Note: If there is more than one author, follow the format as detailed above for books.)
2. “Title of the Article.” [ending with a period and enclosed in quotation marks (Note that the period always goes inside the quotation marks.)]
3. Title of the Journal or Magazine [underlined]
4. The date published: [month year (or date month year if the magazine is published more often than once per month), followed by a colon : ]
5. The page numbers of the article. [followed by period]

Encyclopedia or Reference Book Articles

In general, encyclopedias and reference books do not credit authors for individual articles, so the entry begins with the article title. Of course, if an author is cited, then you should cite it too. The basic entry for an encyclopedia article is ordered and punctuated as follows:

1. Author’s Name. [last name comma first name period]
   Most encyclopedias don’t cite authors, so you would skip this.)
2. “Title of the Encyclopedia or Reference Article.” [ending with a period and enclosed in quotation marks (Note that the period always goes inside the quotation marks.)]
3. Title of the Encyclopedia or Reference Book. [italicized and followed by a period]
4. The number of the edition. [abbreviate edition with ed.]
5. The year of publication. [followed by period]

Putting the Works Cited List Together

1. The bibliography should begin on a separate page at the end of your paper.
2. The page should be titled Works Cited, in bold and centered.
3. Unlike your working bibliography, the listings should not be numbered; rather, they should be arranged alphabetically by author’s last name. Entries without an author should be integrated using the first word of the title.
4. If you have more than one source by the same author, give the author’s name in the first entry only. Thereafter, in place of the name, type three hyphens (---.), followed by a period and the title. The three hyphens stand for exactly the same name as in the preceding entry. You will see an example below.
5. The entry should be formatted with what is known as a “hanging indent”: the first line is flush with the margin, and ensuing lines are indented.
6. As in your paper, everything should be double-spaced.
7. Don’t forget: Every entry must also include a few sentences describing how you found the source and how it helped you.

Here is an example putting it all together:

Posted by Justin Wells : 10/02/2007