LibGuides: Women's Studies: How to Cite in MLA

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MLA Citations

The MLA Handbook (call number LB2369 .M52 2021) is the official guide to MLA style. The Library has multiple copies of this book, both available to check out and for in-library-use. You may also access the MLA Handbook Plus online, which contains the full text of the MLA Handbook, plus other resources.

The following links and tutorials will help you create MLA citations for the sources you need to cite.

More Resources

Citation Examples

Book

Components

Author: Bonnie G. Smith
Title: Women in world history : 1450 to the present
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication Date: 2020

MLA Citation

Smith, Bonnie G. Women in World History: 1450 to the Present. Bloomsbury Academic, 2020.

In-Text Citation

(Smith 16)

Chapter in an Edited Book

Components

Author(s) of Chapter: Kasia Szpakowska
Title of Chapter: Hidden Voices: Unveiling Women in Ancient Egypt
Page Range: 25-37
Publication Date: 2012
Editor(s) of Book: Sharon L. James and Sheila Dillon
Title of Book: A Companion to Women in the Ancient World
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

MLA Citation

Szpakowska, Kasia. "Hidden Voices: Unveiling Women in Ancient Egypt." A Companion to Women in the Ancient World, edited by Sharon L. James and Sheila Dillon, John Wiley & Sons, 2012, pp. 25-37.

In-Text Citation

(Szpakowska 28)

eBook

Components

Author: Helen Lenskyj
Title: Out of Bounds : Women, Sport, and Sexuality
Publisher: Canadian Scholar's Press
Publication Date: 1986
Database: EBSCO eBook Collection
URL: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=nlebk&AN=129057&site=ehost-live&scope=site&custid=sfcc

MLA Citation

Lenskyj, Helen. Out of Bounds: Women, Sport, and Sexuality. Canadian Scholar's Press, 1986. EBSCO eBook Collection, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=nlebk&AN=129057&site=ehost-live&scope=site&custid=sfcc.

In-Text Citation

(Lenskyj 63)

MLA: Citing Books & eBooks from Lawrence W. Tyree Library on Vimeo.

Hello! In this video tutorial, we will learn how to cite books and eBooks in MLA style.

MLA citations may include a variety of components. Sources may be part of a larger source, called a container. Examples of containers may be a database, website, or a book. The following examples will show you how to identify these components and how to place and format them into a proper MLA citation.

The examples in this tutorial include a basic book, a chapter in an edited book, an eBook, and what to do if you have multiple authors or if a book has an edition statement.

Example 1: A Book With One Author

For the first example, you will learn how to cite this book: Visual Shock: A History of Art Controversies in American Culture.

The first step is to identify the author of the book. This can usually be found on the cover or title page.

To list an author, type the name in reverse order. Type the last name, a comma, and the first name, followed by a period. If the author's middle name or initial is given, include it after the first name.

Example:
Kammen, Michael.

Next, identify the title of the book. In this example, the title is Visual Shock: A History of Art Controversies in American Culture. Even though there is no colon on the title page, A History of Art Controversies in American Culture is styled differently and in a smaller font. This shows that it is the subtitle and should be separated from the title with a colon.

List the title of the book, in italics, after the author. Capitalize the first word of the title, the first word of the subtitle (which comes after the colon), and all important words. End with a period.

Example:
Kammen, Michael. Visual Shock: A History of Art Controversies in American Culture.

Finally, identify the publication information. This is the name of the publisher and the year it was published. If this information is not available on the title page, look for it on the back of the title page.

The publisher's name is listed after the title, followed by a comma, and then the year the book was published. End with a period. This completes the citation.

Example:
Kammen, Michael. Visual Shock: A History of Art Controversies in American Culture. Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.

If you refer to a work in your paper, by directly quoting, paraphrasing, or by referring to main ideas, you will need to include an in-text parenthetical citation. There are a number of ways to do this. In this example, a signal phrase is used to introduce a direct quote. The author's name is included in the text, and the page number is enclosed in parentheses at the end of the sentence.

Example:
Americans have increasingly shown their support of art through museum visits. As reported by Kammen, "Attendance at art museums rose from 22 million per year in 1962 to well over 100 million in 2000" (304).

Example 2: A Chapter in an Edited Book

In this next example, the book is overseen by editors, but each chapter has a different author. If you only use information from a single chapter, you will cite that chapter only. You will need to locate the same citation components as the first example, but also the title, author, and page ranges of the chapter you are citing.

First, begin with the author of the chapter you are using, followed by the title of the chapter. Enclose the title of the chapter in quotation marks. For this example, the first word of the title is italicized since it is the title of a book, but the rest of the chapter title is not italicized.

Example:
Nelson, Claudia. "Jade and the Tomboy Tradition."

The chapter title is followed by the italicized book title, a comma, the phrase edited by, and the editors' names in normal order.

Example:
Nelson, Claudia. "Jade and the Tomboy Tradition." The Oxford Handbook of Children's Literature, edited by Julia L. Mickenberg and Lynne Vallone,

Include the publisher and date as usual, and then list the page numbers of the chapter after the date. This completes the citation. In this example, the phrase University Press is abbreviated to UP.

Example:
Nelson, Claudia. "Jade and the Tomboy Tradition." The Oxford Handbook of Children's Literature, edited by Julia L. Mickenberg and Lynne Vallone, Oxford UP, 2011, pp. 497–517.

Example 3: An eBook with Multiple Authors and Editions

In the last example, there are a few new characteristics. This is an eBook located through a library database. The eBook has two authors, and it is a second edition. You will need to include this information in your citation.

Once you have found and opened an eBook, scroll to the title page to locate the citation components.

For books with two authors, list the first author's name in reverse order, followed by a comma and the word and. Then list the next author in normal order. If a book has three or more authors, list only the first author's name, followed by a comma and the abbreviation et al.

Example:
Metcalfe, Barbara D., and Thomas R. Metcalfe.

List the title next, in italics, and then a period. The edition is listed after the title. Type the edition number, followed by ed. (which stands for edition), and a comma.

Example:
Metcalfe, Barbara D., and Thomas R. Metcalfe. A Concise History of Modern India. 2nd ed.,

List the publisher and date as before, ending with a period.

Example:
Metcalfe, Barbara D., and Thomas R. Metcalfe. A Concise History of Modern India. 2nd ed., Cambridge UP, 2006.

When citing an eBook from a database, include the name of the database. The name of this database, Ebook Central, is listed at the top of the screen. Finally, you need the URL of the eBook. In Ebook Central, this can be found in the address bar. Look for a Permalink option within other databases.

Format the title of the database or website in italics, type a comma, and then copy and paste the URL. Remove the https:// from the beginning of the URL. End the citation with a period. This concludes the citation.

Example:
Metcalfe, Barbara D., and Thomas R. Metcalfe. A Concise History of Modern India. 2nd ed., Cambridge UP, 2006. ProQuest Ebook Central, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sfcollege-ebooks/reader.action?docID=274880.

Some scholarly books have a digital object identifier, known as a DOI. This can be found on the title page or the next page. If a DOI is given, use that instead of the URL, using the format https://doi.org/ and then provide the DOI.

Example:
McGraw, Seamus. Betting the Farm on a Drought. U of Texas P, 2015. Ebook Central, https://doi.org/10.7560/756618.

In-text citations for works with two authors will include both last names. For works with three or more authors, list the first author’s last name and then the abbreviation et al.

Examples:
Metcalfe and Metcalfe discuss the legacy of British rule on the current political structure and constitution of India.

Jones et al. found that veterinary students suffer higher rates of depression and anxiety than other graduate students.

For more examples and additional situations you may encounter when citing books, visit the Tyree Library's MLA Citations guide. This can be found by visiting the Library's website, clicking Guides,and then How-To Guides.

This concludes the video tutorial on citing books using MLA style. If you have any questions, please contact a librarian:

352-395-5409
reference@sfcollege.edu
Building Y, NW Campus
sfcollege.edu/library

Journal Article (DOI)

Components

Authors: Silvia Evangelisti
Article Title: Religious Women, Mystic Journeys and Agency in Early Modern Spain
Journal Title: Journal of Early Modern History
Volume number: 22
Issue number: 1/2
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 9-27
Database: Academic Search Complete
DOI: 10.1163/15700658-17-00013

MLA Citation

Evangelisti, Silvia. "Religious Women, Mystic Journeys and Agency in Early Modern Spain." Journal of Early Modern History, vol. 22, no. 1/2, 2018, pp. 9–27. Academic Search Complete, https://doi.org/10.1163/15700658-17-00013.

In-Text Citation

(Evangelisti 14)

Journal Article (no DOI)

Components

Author(s): Samantha Gagnon
Article Title: COMMEMORATING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 19TH AMENDMENT
Journal Title: St. John's Law Review
Volume number: 94
Issue number: 4
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 895-897
Database: Academic Search Complete
Permalink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=a9h&AN=154573890&site=ehost-live&scope=site&custid=sfcc

MLA Citation

Gangon, Samantha. "Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment." St. John's Law Review, vol. 94, no. 4, 2022, pp. 895–897. Academic Search Complete, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=a9h&AN=154573890&site=ehost-live&scope=site&custid=sfcc.

In-Text Citation

(Gagnon 895)

Newspaper Article

Components

Author: none listed
Article Title: Women Talk of French History: Mrs. Emma Beckwith Thinks This Country Needs a Joan d'Arc
Newspaper Title: New York Times
Publication Date: December 13, 1893
Database: New York Times Historical
URL: https://www.proquest.com/hnpnewyorktimes/docview/95125620/B430989F89D24B70PQ/21?accountid=45765

MLA Citation

"Women Talk of French History: Mrs. Emma Beckwith Thinks This Country Needs a Joan d'Arc." New York Times, 13 Dec. 1893. New York Times Historical, www.proquest.com/hnpnewyorktimes/docview/95125620/B430989F89D24B70PQ/21?accountid=45765.

In-Text Citation

("Women Talk")

MLA: Citing Journal Articles from Lawrence W. Tyree Library on Vimeo.

Hello! In this video tutorial, we will learn how to cite journal articles in MLA style.

The examples in this tutorial include journal articles with and without a DOI and open access journal articles.

Example 1: A Journal Article without a DOI

As you research, you will often find journal articles online using the library's databases. This article was found online using the database Academic Search Complete.

The first step is to identify the author of the article. You can find this on the first page of the article or in the database record.

Example:
Orme, Jennifer.

Next, identify the title of the article. The title will usually be at the top of the article, in a font that is larger than the text.

Type the title of the article, enclosed in quotation marks, after the author. Capitalize the first word of the title, the first word of the subtitle, which comes after a colon, and all important words. Place a period after the title, but within the quotation marks. In this example, Pan's Labyrinth is italicized because it is the name of a film.

Example:
Orme, Jennifer. "Narrative Desire and Disobedience in Pan’s Labyrinth."

Next, identify the publication information. This includes the title of the journal; the volume, issue, and page numbers; and the year of publication. The issue may be referred to as the number. This information can be located most easily on the database record. In this example, all the publication information is located in the Source line.

Type the journal title, in italics. Then, type a comma, the abbreviation vol., the volume number, a comma, the abbreviation no. and then the issue number. Type a comma, then give the year of publication. Type another comma, the abbreviation pp. and the page numbers. End this section with a period. If there is no issue number, omit that component.

Example:
Orme, Jennifer. "Narrative Desire and Disobedience in Pan's Labyrinth." Marvels & Tales, vol. 24, no. 2, 2010, pp. 219–234.

Finally, you will need to include the name of the database that the article was found in and either a DOI or a permalink. DOI stands for Digital Object Identifier and can be found in the article's record or on the first page of the article. Not all articles have a DOI. If no DOI is present, as in this example, use a database permalink instead.

Format the title of the database in italics, type a comma, and then copy and paste the URL. Remove the https:// from the beginning of the URL. End the citation with a period. This concludes the citation.

Example:
Orme, Jennifer. "Narrative Desire and Disobedience in Pan's Labyrinth." Marvels & Tales, vol. 24, no. 2, 2010, pp. 219–234. Academic Search Complete, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=a9h&AN=54969134&site=ehost-live&scope=site&custid=sfcc.

Example:
Orme disputes the idea that Pan's Labyrinth is a mere 'adult fairy tale,' instead referring to it as a "juxtaposition of the fairy tale with [a] period film of civilian political resistance" (224).

Example 2: DOI and Multiple Authors

In this article, there are four authors, and a DOI is present. Many newer research articles include DOIs. Always look carefully at the first page of an article and the database record to determine if a DOI is present.

MLA guidelines state that for works with three or more authors, only list the first author, a comma, and then the abbreviation et al., which means ‘and all the rest.’

Example:
Berry, Devon, et al.

Continue with the article title, journal title, volume, issue, year, and page numbers as in the previous example.

Example:
Berry, Devon, et al. "Risk, Religiosity, and Emerging Adulthood: Description of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim University Students at Entering the Freshman Year." Mental Health, Religion & Culture, vol. 16, no. 7, 2013, pp. 695–710.

As before, include the database name in italics. Because this article has a DOI, that will be included instead of a link. Format the DOI as a URL, with the prefix https://doi.org/. End the citation with a period. Unlike other URLs, leave the https:// in the DOI.

Example:
Berry, Devon, et al. "Risk, Religiosity, and Emerging Adulthood: Description of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim University Students at Entering the Freshman Year." Mental Health, Religion & Culture, vol. 16, no. 7, 2013, pp. 695–710. Academic Search Complete, https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2012.715145.

In-text citations for articles with three or more authors similarly use the et al. abbreviation within the narrative.

Example:
Berry et al. found that religious or spiritual undergraduate students were less likely to engage in risky behaviors.

Example 3: An Open Access Journal Article

You may encounter open access full-text journal articles while searching online via search engines or other websites. This article is from the online-only journal Australian Humanities Review.

Look for the information needed to cite the article at the top of the page or on the journal's table of contents page. In this example, the journal does not have volumes. Instead there are only issues. Also, since the articles are presented as HTML files, there are no page numbers.

For articles with two authors, list the first author's name in reverse order, followed by a comma and the word and. Then, list the second author in normal order.

Example:
Robinson, Alice, and Dan Tout.

Cite the journal article as before. Since this article does not have a volume number, the issue number stands alone. There are no page numbers, so that element is skipped. Add the URL, omitting the http://. Place a period after the URL to complete the citation.

Example:
Robinson, Alice, and Dan Tout. "Only Planet: Unsettling Travel, Culture and Climate Change in Settler Australia." Australian Humanities Review, no. 52, 2012. australianhumanitiesreview.org/2012/05/01/only-planet-unsettling-travel-culture-and-climate-change-in-settler-australia/.

For more examples and additional situations you may encounter when citing journal articles, visit the Tyree Library's MLA Citations research guide. This can be found by visiting the Library's website, clicking Guides and then How-To Guides.

This concludes the video tutorial on citing journal articles using MLA style. If you have any questions, please contact a librarian:

352-395-5409
reference@sfcollege.edu
Building Y, NW Campus
sfcollege.edu/library

Webpage

Components

Author: Afshan Jafar
Webpage Title: Covering Female Athletes: On The Backlash Over Nike’s Pro Hijab
Website Title: Role Reboot
Publication Date: March 24, 2017
URL of Webpage: http://www.rolereboot.org/culture-and-politics/details/2017-03-covering-female-athletes-backlash-nikes-pro-hijab/index.html

MLA Citation

Jafar, Afshan. "Covering Female Athletes: On the Backlash Over Nike's Pro Hijab." Role Reboot, 24 Mar. 2017, www.rolereboot.org/culture-and-politics/details/2017-03-covering-female-athletes-backlash-nikes-pro-hijab/index.html.

In-Text Citation

(Jafar)

Webpage with Organizational Author and No Date

Components

Author: none listed
Webpage Title: Jane Addams
Website Title: National Women's Hall of Fame
URL of Webpage: https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/jane-addams/

MLA Citation

"Jane Addams." National Women's Hall of Fame, 2022, www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/jane-addams/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2022.

In-Text Citation

("Jane Addams")

MLA: Citing Web Resources from Lawrence W. Tyree Library on Vimeo.

Hello! In this video tutorial, we will learn how to cite Web resources in MLA style.

The examples in this tutorial include webpages, blog posts, and reports.

Example 1: A Webpage

For the first example, you will learn how to cite a webpage. A webpage is a single document within a website. The first step is to identify the author of the page.

Example:
Austin, Ben S.

Next, determine the title of the webpage. The title of the webpage is usually found above the main content in the body of the page.

Type the title of the webpage, enclosed in quotation marks, after the author's name. Capitalize the first word of the title, the first word of the subtitle (when a subtitle is given), and all important words. Place a period before the last quotation mark.

Example:
Austin, Ben S. "Holocaust Denial: A Brief History."

Next, determine the title of the website. The website is the overall container for the page or document you are using. The title of the website is usually found in a prominent place on the page or at the top of the browser screen.

Type the title of the website, in italics, after the title of the webpage. Capitalize the first word of the title, the first word of the subtitle (when a subtitle is given), and all important words. End with a comma.

Example:
Austin, Ben S. "Holocaust Denial: A Brief History." Jewish Virtual Library,

Next, locate the publisher or sponsor of the website, and the date of publication. Look for these elements at the top and bottom of the page. The publisher may also be found on the website's About page. If the publisher is identical to the title of the website, do not include it. The publisher for this example is AICE. The About page for the site shows that AICE stands for American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. There may not be a separate publisher or sponsor for all websites.

Type the publisher after the website title, if applicable. After the publisher type a comma.

Example:
Austin, Ben S. "Holocaust Denial: A Brief History." Jewish Virtual Library, American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise,

Look for a date at the top and bottom of the webpage. If there is no specific date listed, you may use the copyright date. If you are unable to locate any date, omit this component.

List the date, followed by a comma.

Example:
Austin, Ben S. "Holocaust Denial: A Brief History." Jewish Virtual Library, American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2022

Finally, locate the URL of the webpage. The URL is found in the address bar of the browser.

Copy and paste the URL, omitting the beginning http://. End with a period. With online sources that lack firm publication dates, you may include a Date Accessed component to the end of the citation. Start with the word Accessed and then in Day Month Year format, type the date you accessed the webpage. End with a period. This concludes the citation.

Example:
Austin, Ben S. "Holocaust Denial: A Brief History." Jewish Virtual Library, American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2022, www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/a-brief-history-of-holocaust-denial. Accessed 7 Jan. 2022.

If you refer to a work in your paper by directly quoting, paraphrasing, or by referring to main ideas, you will need to include an in-text parenthetical citation. There are a number of ways to do this. In this example, a signal phrase is used to introduce a direct quote, and the author's name is included in the narrative. If there are no specific page numbers, as in most webpages, use only the author.

Example:
As Austin notes, "The very first Holocaust deniers were the Nazis themselves."

If you are missing any information, such as an author, publisher, or date, simply omit the element and move on to the next part of the citation. In this example, there is no specific author listed, so the citation begins with the webpage. There is also no date listed, so that component is omitted.

Example:
"The Swahili." The Story of Africa, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/index_section5.shtml. Accessed 7 Jan. 2022.

Example 2: A Blog Post

Blog posts follow the same guidelines as webpages. In this example, the title of the blog post is Misty Copeland and the Newness of the Ballerina Body, and it is part of the blog Sociological Images.

The remaining elements required for the citation are located at the top of the post. The publisher can be found at the top in this example, but you may need to look at a copyright statement, the footer, or an About page to identify them.

The citation for a blog post follows the structure shown in the previous example. The author is listed first, followed by the blog post title, the title of the blog, and the publisher. The date component is listed in Day Month Year format. Abbreviate all months except for May, June, and July. End with the URL.

Example:
Wade, Lisa. "Misty Copeland and the Newness of the Ballerina Body." Sociological Images, The Society Pages, 26 Apr. 2016, thesocietypages.org/socimages/2016/04/26/misty-copeland-and-the-newness-of-the-ballerina-body/.

Example 3: Reports

You may find reports from various organizations in your research online. Reports will follow the same basic template as previous example, but there may be a report series present.

For reports with two authors, list the first author's name in reverse order, followed by a comma and the word and. Then list the next author in normal order. If a report has three or more authors, list only the first author's name, followed by a comma and the abbreviation et al.

Example:
Adams, Brian, and Randal Verbrugge.

Report titles are italicized, and the website or agency responsible will be listed in normal font.

Example:
Adams, Brian, and Randal Verbrugge. Location, Location, Structure Type: Rent Divergence within Neighborhoods. United States Department of Labor,

Follow the same template as shown in previous examples. If a report has a series, include that at the end of the citation, concluding with a period.

Example:
Adams, Brian, and Randal Verbrugge. Location, Location, Structure Type: Rent Divergence within Neighborhoods. United States Department of Labor, 9 Dec. 2020, www.bls.gov/osmr/research-papers/2020/pdf/ec200150.pdf. Working Paper 533.

Reports may include a suggested citation. Be aware that this may not be in the appropriate style you need. This example is not in MLA style.

For more examples and additional situations you may encounter when citing Web resources, visit the Tyree Library's MLA Citations research guide. This can be found by visiting the Library's website, clicking Guides, and then How-To Guides.

This concludes the video tutorial on citing Web resources using MLA style. If you have any questions, please contact a librarian:

352-395-5409
reference@sfcollege.edu
Building Y, NW Campus
sfcollege.edu/library