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MLA Style
How to Cite Sources in Your Paper

A beginning writer can find citing sources in a research paper to be even more intimidating than the paper itself. The following notes and examples will show you how to use the MLA style for books, journals/magazines, and electronic sources, both in a bibliography (or list of works cited) at the end of your paper and within the paper.

At the end of the paper:
    Books
    Journals/Magazines
    Newspapers

Web pages
Articles from a database
E-mail

Within the text:
    Author's name stated
    Author's name unstated
    Unsigned work

The "Works Cited" List

Books
	Author. Title of Book. Place of publication: Publisher, date.

		One author:	Castro, Elizabeth. XML for the World Wide Web. Berkeley: Peachpit Press, 2001.
		Two authors:	Schneider, Gary P., and James T. Perry. Electronic Commerce. Cambridge, MA: Course Technology, 2000.
		Article in a book:	Angelou, Maya. "My Name Is Margaret." The Riverside Reader. Eds. Joseph F. Trimmer and Maxine Hairston. 6th ed. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. 31-38.
		Signed article in a reference book:	Liedtke, Walter. "The Picture: Dutch and Flemish." The Oxford History of Western Art. Ed. Martin Kemp. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2000.
			Note: for an unsigned article, begin with the entry's title in quotes.

Journals, Magazines, or Newspapers
	Author. "Article Title." Title of Journal Volume.number (Year): pages. Author. "Article Title." Title of Magazine or Newspaper Date: pages.


		Article in journal w/continuous pagination:	Warnek, Peter. "Saving the Last Word: Heidegger and the Concluding Myth of Plato's Republic." Philosophy Today 46 (2002): 255-273.
		Article in journal paging issues separately:	McKenna, James. "Alternatives to airliners." Professional Pilot 35.12 (2001): 86-88.
		Article in monthly magazine:	Donelan, Jenny. "Roamin' Ruins." Computer Graphics World Aug. 2002: 33-34.
			Note: do not give volume and issue numbers
		Article in weekly or bi-weekly magazine:	Sparaco, Pierre. "Airbus Scores Low-Cost Market Coup." Aviation Week & Space Technology 21 Oct. 2002: 50-51.
		Article in newspaper:	Cooper, Helene. "Sacred Cows and Stradivarii: Memories of Daniel Pearl Show He Truly Was 'At Home in the World'." The Wall Street Journal 24 June 2002: B1.

Electronic Sources
The following basic citation format is meant to be as comprehensive as possible. If your source does not have an element listed, skip it and use the next element you have. For example, if you start your citation with the author and document title, but you have no information on a compiler or a print version (or you know there isn't one), continue the citation with the database title.

	Author or editor. "Title (document)." Title (book). Compiler, project editor, or translator. Publication info for print version. Title (database or site). Editor of database or site. Version number (if not in title) or volume and issue number. Date of publication, update, or posting. Name of subscription service and name of subscribing library. Name of discussion list. Pages, if numbered. Name of sponsoring or associated organization for the site. Access date. Address or URL.

		Personal or professional Web site:	DeRemer, Dale. "Seawings and Safety Things." Water Flying Annual, 1996. Archived article. 2000. Seaplane Pilots Association. 16 Oct. 2002. <http://www.seaplanes.org/library/articles/seawings.htm>.
			Gruber, Diana. "Become a Computer Game Developer: Glossary." 2000. Ted Gruber Software, Inc. 04 July 2002 <http://www.makegames.com/glossary.html>
		Work from a subscription service (online database):	Shermer, Michael. "Why Smart People Believe Weird Things." Skeptic 10.2 (2003): 62-73. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. Academy College Library, Bloomington. 02 Aug. 2004. <http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=10849331&db=aph>.
			Reiman, Cornelius. "A sound academic experience is about more than books." Financial Times 20 Jul. 2004: 12. ProQuest Newpapers. ProQuest Newsstand Complete. Academy College Library, Bloomington. 23 Jul. 2004. <http://www.il.proquest.com/pqdauto>.
		Article in an online scholarly journal:	Levin, Sandrea R., Gregory L. Waddoups, James Levin, and James Buell. "Highly Interactive and Effective Online Learning Environments for Teacher Professional Development." International Journal of Educational Technology. 27 Jan. 2001. 14 Nov. 2001. <http://www.outreach.uiuc.edu/ijet/v2n2/slevin/index.html>.
		Article in an online magazine or e-zine:	Gross, Daniel. "Should you believe those dismal consumer confidence figures?" Slate 31 Oct. 2002. 06 Nov 2002. <http://slate.msn.com>.
		E-mail:	Johnson, Carol. "Reviewers wanted." E-mail to the author. 7 July 2002.
			Katt, Bucky. "Re: What were you thinking?" E-mail to Rob Wilco. 20 Feb. 2001.
		Listserv posting:	Langley, Richard. "Position Location and Navigation Symposium (PLANS 2002)." Online posting. 8 Apr. 2002. GPS-AERO. 3 May 2002. <http:// listserv.unb.ca/archives/gps-aero.html>.

Within Your Paper

Basic rules for all source types:
	Author's name in the text
		Rule: your text with name (page number).
		examples:	From Franklin's point of view, the design "is vastly improved" (220).
			The argument has been made by Franklin that the the new design improves over the previous one greatly (220).
	Author's name not in the text
		Rule: your text (author page number).
		examples:	In the newest version, the design has been "vastly improved" (Franklin 220).
			One analyst claims a vast improvement over previous designs (Franklin 220).
	Unsigned article or work
		Rule: your text (title page number).
		examples:	According to "It Had to Be an Improvement," the new design "is vastly improved. However, that could be said of any design, as the old one was so poor" (220).
			One study felt there was little backsliding possible ("It Had to Be an Improvement" 220).

In general, you should try to use the in-text references to point as clearly and briefly as possible to the source on your list of works cited. It is also important to identify the location of the quote or borrowed idea as specifically as possible with relevant paragraph or page numbers.