MLA (Modern Language Association) Style is used in Literature, Arts, and Humanities disciplines. Always consult your assignment or ask your instructor for the correct citation style to use
Include as much of the following as possible:
Author. Title of Source. Title of Container, Contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication Date, Location. Date Accessed.
| Part of the Formula | Examples and Explanation |
|---|---|
| Author. | • one author: Last Name, rest of name as presented in the source. (example: Williams, Fred Laurence.) • two authors: reverse name of first author followed by a comma, then second author’s first name and then last name. (example: Cordell, Barbara, and Jane Buckle.) • more than two authors: reverse the name of the first author, follow with a comma and et al. (example: Browne, Charlene, et al.) |
| Title of Source. | • Put name of source in italics. • HOWEVER, if citing an article or only part of the source, instead put that title in quotation marks with no italics: “Article Name.” |
|
Title of Container, |
• When the source is part of a larger whole, the larger whole can be thought of as a container (example: a whole book is a container for a book chapter) • Put the title of the container in italics (if you have cited an article or part of the whole source container) |
| Contributors, | Example: edited by, |
| Version, | Example: 7th ed., |
| Number, | Any numbered sequence. Example: vol. 3, no. 7 |
| Publisher, | (however, no publisher is required for articles) |
| Publication date, | date as given on source but following this date style: 28 Jan. 2020, |
| Location. |
• Example of website: www.cnn.com (do not include http:// in the URL) |