MLA Style

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MLA Style
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What Is MLA Style?

• The style recommended by the Modern Language
  Association for preparing scholarly manuscripts
  and student research papers
• It is concerned with the mechanics of writing,
  such as punctuation, quotation, and documentation
  of sources.

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Books Single Author

• Kasson, John F. Civilizing the Machine
  Technology and Republican Values in America
  1776-1900. New York Penguin, 1976.

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Multiple Authors

• Two or three authors.
• Adler, Ronald B., and Neil Towne. Looking Out,
  Looking In. 9th ed. Fort Worth, TX Harcourt
  Brace, 1999.

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• More than three authors.
• Santos, Ruth J., et al. Environmental Crises in
  Developing Countries. New York Harper, 1994.

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Corporate Authorship of Reports

• Alan Guttmacher Institute. State Legislative
  Record 1988 Fertility-Related Bills and Laws as
  of December 31. Washington, D.C. Alan
  Guttmacher Institute, 1988.

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Edited Books

• Citing volume.
• Fee, Elizabeth, and Daniel M. Fox, eds. AIDS The
  Burdens of History. Berkeley U of California P,
  1988.

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Edited Books

• Citing chapter/essay in volume.
• Zola, Irving Kenneth. "Medicine as an Institution
  of Social Control." The American Health
  EmpirePower, Profits, and Politics. Eds. Barbara
  Ehrenreich and John Ehrenreich. New York
  Vintage,1971. 80-100.

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Second Work by Same Author

• Jhabvala, Ruth Prawer. East into Upper East
  Plain Tales from New York and New Delhi.
  Washington, D.C. Counterpoint Press, 2000
• ---. Heat and Dust. New York Simon and
  Schuster, 1987.
• The second work is introduce by three space
  hyphens, not the authors name (alphabetical
  order on works).

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Books Republished or Later Editions

• Gibbon, Lewis Grassic. Sunset Song. 1932. Intro.
  Tom Crawford. Edinburgh Canongate Classics,
  1988.
• Newbold, Paul. Statistics for Business and
  Economics. 3rd ed. New Jersey Prentice Hall,
  1990.

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Multi-Volume Works

• Citing entire series.
• Lucas, Robert E., Jr., and Thomas J. Sargent,
  eds. Rational Expectations and Econometric
  Practice. 2 vols. Minneapolis U of Minnesota P,
  1981.
• Citing single volume.
• Lucas, Robert E., Jr., and Thomas J. Sargent,
  eds. Rational Expectations and Econometric
  Practice. Vol. 1. Minneapolis U of Minnesota P,
  1981.

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Encyclopedia ArticlesSupplemental Sources Only

• No author given.
• "Mealworm." Encyclopedia Britannica. 1987 ed.
• Author given.
• Garvey, Lawrence. "El Paso, Illinois."
  Encyclopedia Americana. 1982 ed.

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Periodicals Magazines

• Monthly magazine/journal.
• Hall, Stuart. "Cold, Comfort, Farm." New
  Socialist Nov. 1985 10-12.
• Weekly.
• Whitaker, Mark. "Getting Tough at Last." Newsweek
  10 May 1993 22.

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Scholarly Journals

• Continuous Pagination
• Schuetz, A. The Stranger. Journal of American
  Sociology 49 (1944) 499-507.
• Non-Continuous Pagination
• Magistrale, Tony. "Wild Child Jim Morrison's
  Poetic Journeys." Journal of Popular Culture
  26.3(Winter 1992) 133-44.

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Subscription Services and Data Bases

• Cite just like original article would be cited.
• Name the subscription service following the
  entry.
• Give any additional info the service offers, such
  as
• Article number, data base number, etc.
• Dont put date or access or url.

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Periodicals No Author(From Periodical/Journal
Database)

• Cooling Trend In Antarctica. Futurist May-June
  2002 15. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. New
  York Institute of Technology Manhattan Lib. 22
  May 2002 lthttp//www.epnet.com/gt.
• Maaike van Rijn. Darfur arrival. Canadian
  Medical Association. Journal  179.2 (2008) 134. P
  roQuest Health Management. ProQuest. New York
  Institute Of Technology Manhattan Lib., New York,
  NY. 14 Jul. 2008 
• lthttp//www.proquest.com/gt

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Interview or Private Correspondence

• Goodkind, Mary. Personal interview. 4 Sept. 1996.
  
• Smith, Jaclyn. Telephone interview. 5 Oct.
  1999.
• Morris, Ralph. Letter to author. 26 June 1994.
• Maran, Meredith. E-mail to the author. 20 Aug.
  2002.
• Maran, Meredith. Re Dirty-Fascinating! E-mail
  to Ed Jessup. 3 Mar. 2008.

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Electronic Resources

• All web based sources (not from data bases or
  paid subscription services) must have
• Title of Page
• In quotes for minor page
• Underlined for major site
• Date of Access
• Url in lt gt
• Period at the end.
• Title. Date of Access lturlgt.

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• If more info exists, you need to use it.
• Author
• Web Site that the page is a part of
• Original publication information
• Date of site

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Electronic Resources--Examples

• Scholarly Project
• Willett, Perry, ed. Victorian Women Writers
  Project. Apr. 1997. Indiana U. 30 Jan 2001
  lthttp//www.indiana.edu/ letrs/vwwp/gt.
• Professional Site
• Portuguese Language Page. U of Chicago. 30 Jan.
  2001 lthttp//humanities. uchicago.edu/romance/port
  /gt.

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Electronic Resources More Examples

• Article in a Reference Database
• Fresco." Britannica Online. Vers. 97.1.1. Mar.
  1997. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 29 Mar. 1997
  lthttp//www.eb.com180gt.
• Article First Published in a Periodical
• Tamblyn, Robyn, et al. Adverse Events
  Associated With Prescription Drug Cost-Sharing
  Among Poor and Elderly Persons. JAMA 24/31 Jan.
  2001. 30 Jan. 2000 http//www.jama.ama.org/article
  /24310101.html .

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Electronic Resources More Examples

• Personal Site
• Lancashire, Ian. Home Page. 30 Jan. 2001
  lthttp//www.chass.utoronto.ca8080/ian/index.html
  gt.
• Book
• Nesbit, Edith. Ballads and Lyrics of Socialism.
  London, 1908. Victorian Women Writers Project.
  Ed. Perry Willett. Indiana U. Apr. 1997. 26
  Apr.1997 lthttp//www. indiana.edu/letrs/vwwp/nesb
  it/ballsoc. htmlgt.

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Electronic Resources More Examples

• Web Page from a Larger Web Site.
• About Kidney Disease and Dialysis. Kidney
  Dialysis Foundation. 18 Feb. 2000 lt http//
  www.kdf.org.sg/aboutkidney.html gt.

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Remember

• MLA is tricky.
• You must follow it exactly.
• You cant memorize it.
• Always use a handbook with the most recent
  version of MLA.
• Go to MLA.org if you want more help on electronic
  sources.