MLA Reference Style Examples
Types of Sources
Book: an entire work (novel, play, long poem, biography, etc.), published separately.
Article: an article from a journal, magazine, or newspaper.
Web Page: personal home page, online journal article, or other Internet resource.
Selection: a work published in an encyclopedia or collection.
Basic format for a book
Author Title and Publication Information
Arrange the information into 3 units, each followed by a full stop and a space except the last
- Author's name
- Title and subtitle, underlined (or italicised)
- Edition if a second or later edition; and the place of publication, the publisher, and the date.
Book: Citation Information
The title, the author & the publisher can be found on the book's title page. The place of publication, the publication or copyright year can be found on the reverse of the title page.
Journal article: Citation Information
Arrange the information into 3 units. The first 2 are followed by a full stop and one space:
- Author's name
- "Title" of article
- Journal title, volume.issue numbers (separated by a full stop), year (2000): (in parentheses followed by a colon and a space) and the page numbers.
Example:
Wood, Michael. "Fiction and the Century." Kenyon Review 22.3
(2000): 50-64
Magazine: Citation Information
Arrange as for a journal article but include the month and date.
Example:
McCrae, M. "Central Africa's Gorillas." National Geographic February, 2000:
84-97
Article in a daily newspaper
Arrange as for a magazine article but include the day and month and date.
Example:
Murphy, Sean P. "Status of Tribes Draw Fire." Boston Globe 27 Mar. 2001: A2.
Basic Format for an Encyclopedia
Arrange the information into 3 units, all separated by a space. The first 2 are followed by a full stop and one space:
- Author of the article.
- "Article title".
- Publication Information: Title of the Encyclopedia the edition (abbreviated) followed by a full stop then the Date published.
Step 3: Referencing Online Resources
Online Resources
Journal articles retrieved from proprietary databases, e.g. ProQuest, that require user authentication for access to the articles.
Example:
Fitzgerald, Jill. "Bilingual/ESL Programs in Literacy" Reading Research Quarterly 35.4 (2000). ABI/INFORM. ProQuest. Univ. of Waikato Lib., 24 Feb. 2003 <http://www.proquest.com>
Formal documents, e.g., a journal article, government document, or book, retrieved directly from the World Wide Web.
Example:
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Ed. Henry Churchyard. 1996. 13 Sep. 2003 <http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/pridprej.html>
Common web pages that are not online journal articles, government documents, or books and that have URLs by which they can be can be freely and directly accessed.
Example:
More, D. David's Townhouse. 1997. 13 Feb. 2002 <http://www.geocities.com/>
Step 4: Formatting a Works Cited List at the End of Your Paper
Begin the list of Works Cited on a new page continuing the page numbers of the text. This alphabetised list gives publication information for each of the sources cited, enabling readers to retrieve and use the sources. The citations must be correct and complete.