Library Logo MLA STYLE GUIDE
Compiled by Leilani Hall
Parenthetical Citations
Endnotes and Footnotes
Works Cited
    Journal Articles: Print
    Journal Articles: Electronic
    Books and Nonperiodicals
 		Formatting the Paper
Sample Papers
Web Sites
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The Modern Language Association of America (MLA) style is widely accepted in the Humanities. The MLA citation format uses abbreviated citations in parentheses within the text. Complete information about each source is listed at the end of the paper as a list of works cited. Some scholars in the fields of art, dance, history, music, religion, theater, and theology use endnotes or footnotes containing complete bibliographic information instead of the list of works cited. This handout is a brief guide for the most common types of sources used. For more information, these books go into greater detail:
  • MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed. (for high school and
              undergraduate students). 2 North Reference LB2369.G53 2003
  • MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 2nd ed. (for graduate
              students, scholars, and professional writers). 2 North Reference PN147.G444 1998
PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS or CITING SOURCES WITHIN THE TEXT
 MLA style provides a way to acknowledge another's facts, words, or ideas in your paper by inserting a brief indication of the source, usually the author's last name and page. Complete information will be found in the list of works cited (the references or bibliography) at the end of the paper. If the source is an electronic book and lacks numbering, omit numbers from your parenthetical references.
  • Author and Title Cited in Text (No Parenthetical Citation necessary when citing the entire work rather than a specific idea within the work)

    In The Literary Nature of Darwin, Gould explores some of Darwin's most effective metaphors.

  • Author Not Cited in Text

    As metaphors for the workings of nature, Darwin used the tangled bank, the tree of
    life, and the face of nature (Gould 14).

  • Author Cited in Text

    Gould attributes Darwin's success to his gift for making the appropriate metaphor (14).

  • Direct Quotation with Name of Author

    Gould explains that Darwin used the metaphor of the tree of life "to express the other form of interconnectedness-genealogical rather than ecological-and to illustrate both success and failure in the history of life" (14).

  • Direct Quotation without Name of Author

    Darwin used the metaphor of the tree of life "to express the other form of interconnectedness-genealogical rather than ecological" (Gould 14).
This is the correct MLA style format for the works cited list for each of the samples from above. Note the double spacing and the indentation of all lines after the first.

Gould, Stephen Jay. "The Wheel of Fortune and the Wedge of Progress." Natural

           History 89.3 (1989): 14-21.
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ENDNOTES AND FOOTNOTES
Some disciplines in the humanities use endnotes and footnotes to document sources instead of a list of works cited. Endnotes, which are generally preferable, are placed at the end of the paper while footnotes are placed at the end of the page. These notes are numbered consecutively through the paper, starting with 1, and formatted as a superscript following punctuation. Any subsequent references can be noted with the author's name and page number. In notes, the first line is indented and the author's name is not reversed.

This is the same reference written in note form, with the only period at the end:

          1Stephen Jay Gould, "The Wheel of Fortune and the Wedge of Progress," Natural
History 89.3 (1989): 14.
          2 Gould 14.
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WORKS CITED
MLA style requires that the list of Works Cited start on a new page following the text of the paper.
  • Center the title, Works Cited, one inch from the top.
  • Double space between the title and the first entry and begin flush with the left margin.
  • Use a half-inch indent for any subsequent lines in a single entry, maintaining the double spacing throughout the page.
  • Alphabetize the list by author's last name. If the author is unknown, alphabetize by the first significant word in the title.
  • Capitalize each significant word in the title.
 JOURNAL ARTICLES: PRINT

Format: Author's full name, reversed. "Title of Article." Name of Periodical volume number.
             issue number (year of publication) page numbers.

NOTE: Include the issue number separated from the volume number by a period only if each issue is paginated separately, i.e., the pagination begins fresh with each issue. If all issues within a single volume are paginated continuously, do not include the issue number.
  • One Author
    Witschi, Nicolas. "John of the Mines: Muir's Picturesque Rewrite of the Gold Rush." Western
              American Literature 34 (1999): 316-343.

  • Two or Three Authors
    Klimoski, Richard, and Susan Palmer. "The ADA and the Hiring Process in Organizations."
              Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research 45.2 (1993): 10-36.

  • Four or More Authors
    Wolchik, Sharlene A., et al. "An Experimental Evaluation of Theory-Based Mother and
              Mother-Child Programs for Children of Divorce." Journal of Consulting and Clinical
              Psychology 68 (2000): 843-856.

  • Magazine Article (weekly or every 2 week)
    Acocella, Joan. "Dance Man." New Yorker 8 Dec. 2003: 102.

  • Review of a Book
    Schatz, Bruce R. "Learning by Text or Context?" Rev. of The Social Life of Information,
              by John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid. Science 17 Nov. 2000: 1304.

  • Daily Newspaper Article
    Kisselgoff, Anna. "Still the Radical in Classical Garb." New York Times 2 Jan. 2004,
              late ed.: B1.

  • Entire Issue
    O'Hara, Daniel T, ed. "Global Freud: Psychoanalytical Cultures and Classic Modernism."
              Spec. issue of Journal of Modern Literature 25.3-4 (2002): 1-152.

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 JOURNAL ARTICLES: ELECTRONIC

Citing electronic sources is similar to citing print sources except more information is needed, such as the name of the database, where it is located, date of access, and a stable or persistent URL.
  • Articles Retrieved from a Library Subscription Database (Lexis-Nexis, JSTOR, etc.)
    Hamera, Judith. "An Answerability of Memory: 'Saving' Khmer Classical Dance." TDR:
              The Drama Review 46.4 (2002): 65- 85. Academic Search Elite. EBSCO. CA
              State U, Sacramento Lib. 10 Feb. 2004 <http://search.epnet.com>.

  • Article in a Scholarly Journal from JSTOR
     Paske, Edward. "Buddhism in the British Provinces of Little Tibet." Journal of the
              Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 8 (1879): 195-210. JSTOR.
              CA State U, Sacramento Lib. 9 Jan. 2004 <http://www.jstor.org/search>.

  • Article from Public Domain or E-journal
    Dickman, Steven. "Tough Mining: The Challenges of Searching the Scientific
              Literature." PloS Biology 1.2 (2003). 12 Dec. 2003. <http://www.plosbiology.org>.
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 BOOKS AND NONPERIODICALS

Format: Author's name, reversed. Title. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year.
  • Book by One Author
    Mazzotta, Giuseppe. Dante, Poet of the Desert: History and Allegory in the
              Divine Comedy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1979.

  • Book by Two or More Authors
    Rice, Richard B., William A. Bullough, and Richard J. Orsi. The Elusive Eden: A New
              History of California. 2nd ed. NY: McGraw, 1996.

  • Two or More Books by the Same Author
    McCausland, Elizabeth. Charles W. Hawthorne, an American figure painter. NY: American Artists Group, inc., 1947.

    ---. George Inness, an American landscape painter, 1825-1894. NY:
              American Artists Group, inc., 1946.

  • Electronic Book
    McLean, Mervyn. Weavers of Song: Polynesian Music and Dance. Honolulu: U
              of HI P, 1999. CA State U, Sacramento Lib. 13 Jan. 2004 <http:/www.netlibrary.com/>.

  • Chapter in an Anthology
    Harris, Kenton. "No Dance is a Fake." Ethics and the Arts: An Anthology. Ed. David E. W.
              Fenner. NY: Garland Pub., 1995. 115-139.

  • Anonymous Author
    New York Public Library Performing Arts Desk Reference. NY: Macmillan, 1994.

  • Review
    Woodhouse, Mark. Rev. of Monk Dancers of Tibet, by Mattheiu Ricard. Library
              Journal     128.19 (2003): 72.

  • Book in a Series
    Gutiérrez, Ramón A. and Richard J. Orsi, eds. Contested Eden: California Before the Gold
              Rush. CA Hist. Sesquicentennial Ser.1. Berkeley: U of California P, 1998.

  • Government Report
    United States. Cong. Senate. Senate Art in Stamps. Washington: GPO, 2000.

  • Film
    Chocolat. Dir. Lasse Hallstrom. Perf. Alfred Molina and Juliette Binoche. 2000. DVD.
              Miramax, 2003.

  • Sound Recording
    Counting Crows. "Holiday in Spain." Hard Candy. Geffen, 2002.

    •
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FORMATTING THE PAPER

  • The paper's text should be flush left and unjustified on the right. Skip two spaces between each sentence.
  • Top, bottom, and side margins should be one inch.
  • Indent the first line of each paragraph a half-inch.
  • Double-space text throughout, with no extra spaces between paragraphs.
  • The heading and title are also double-spaced; no additional spaces are placed between heading and title or the title and the first paragraph of the paper.
  • The heading consists of Student's Name, Instructor's Name, Course Name, and Date. It is placed in upper left corner of the first page of the paper.
  • Place student's last name and the page number in upper right-hand corner of each page (use the Header/Footer tool in Word), a half-inch from top of page.
  • Center the title of the paper.
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SAMPLE PAPERS

An example of MLA style is available from the MLA sample paper.

Other sample papers can be found at:
     Model Papers (Writer's Reference/Hacker)
     Sample MLA Report
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WEB SITES
CSUS Online Writing Lab http://www.csus.edu/owl/index/mla.htm
Citation Machine http://citationmachine.net/
Frequently Asked Questions About MLA Style http://www.mla.org/style_faq
MLA Style (Diane Hacker) http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c08_o.html
MLA Format (Purdue Univ) http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html
Ohio State University MLA Citation Style Guide http://library.osu.edu/sites/guides/mlagd.php

Citing Sources from the WEB or from a Database:
MLA: documenting sources from the Web http://www.mla.org/style_faq4
Citing Electronic Sources (Purdue Univ) http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/09/
CSUS Guide: Citing Electronic Sources http://library.csus.edu/guides/bradleya/eography.htm
Citing Electronic Sources (Ohio State) http://gateway.lib.ohio-state.edu/tutor/les7/guide.html
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Questions/comments to: Leilani Hall, Science Reference Librarian; leilani@csus.edu, California State University, Sacramento
lh/dr/2/04 Last updated 11/07