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Citation Guide (MLA 9th Edition) UNDER CONSTRUCTION

How to cite sources according to MLA

About These Supplemental Elements

Supplmental elements may be included if they are relevant to the source and/or your use of the source. They can be added in two different places, depending on the context,

Covers sections 5.105 to 5.119 of the MLA Handbook, 9th Edition. 

Examples of each element are in red.

Placement After Title

Additional Contributors

  • Used mostly for translators, editors, interviewers, directors, etc., that only apply to part of a work

Example

Foucault, Michel. "The Functions of Literature." Translated by Alan Sheridan. Politics, Philosophy, Culture : Interviews and Other Writings, 1977-1984. Routledge, 1988, pp. 307-313.

  • Book is an anthology of works translated from the French into English by multiple translators
  • Translator of specific essay is treated as an Additional Contributor

Foucault, Michel. The Archaeology of Knowledge. Translated by A. M. Sheridan Smith, 1st American ed., Pantheon Books, 1972.

  • Book has one translator, so they are treated as a Contributor

Date of Original Publication

Used mostly to add the original publication date for a book when you are citing a newer edition or reprint.

Examples

Holbein, Hans, et al. The Dance of Death. 1538. Dover Publications, 1971. Facsimile.

  • Clairifies that the content was first published in 1538

Generic Labels

  • Clarify the type of content if it is not explicitly included elsewhere in the citation.
  • Usually used for: Preface, Introduction, Afterword, Self-interview.

Example

Kritzman, Lawrence D. "Foucault and the Politics of Experience." Introduction. Politics, Philosophy, Culture: Interviews and Other Writings, 1977-1984. Routledge, 1988, pp. ix-xxv.

  • Clarifies that the citation is for an introduction to a book, not an essay by Foucault

Placement After Container or End of Entry

These are usually added to the end of entry. On occation, you can add them between containers for clarity

Date of Access

  • Used mainly for websites, especially if there is no publication date for the source.
  • Use same month abbreviations as Publication Date.
  • Usually added at the end of the entry

Example

Austin, Katherine. Rasquache Baroque in the Chicana/o Borderlands. 2012. McGill U, PhD thesis. eScholarship, https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/concern/theses/8p58ph61j. Accessed 6 Jan. 2023.

Medium of Publication

Use when multiple versions of source are available on the same source, such as different file formats.

Especially helpful when quote trancsripts or closed captions for an audio or video.

Examples

Holbein, Hans, et al. The Dance of Death. 1538. Dover Publications, 1971. Facsimile.

  • A facsimile is a specific type of reprint, usually referring to exact reproductions of images and books

Dissertations and theses

  • Include the institution and the type of degree conferred.
  • Usually placed before the container of the online repository which houses the publication.
  • Since dissertations and theses are often re-worked into articles and books, it is important to note when your source was written to fulfill an academic degree requirement

Example

Austin, Katherine. Rasquache Baroque in the Chicana/o Borderlands. 2012. McGill U, PhD thesis. eScholarship, https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/concern/theses/8p58ph61j. Accessed 6 Jan. 2023.

  • eScholarship is McGill University's online repository of dissertations and theses
  • Followed McGill's lead and used "thesis" instead of "dissertation"

Publication History

  • Used mainly for reprints
  • Especially useful when the content's title or authors have changed

Example

Hashim, Ahmed S. "The Potential for Nuclear Proliferation Creates Tension." The Middle East, edited by Mary E. Williams, Greenhaven Press, 2000. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010229212/OVIC?u=los12365&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=4991e18d. Accessed 6 Jan. 2023. Originally published as "Nuclear Fears and Phantoms," Middle East Insight, 1998.

Book Series and Multivolume Works

TBA

8 vols.

Example: A Song of Ice and Fire 3.

Columns, Sections, and other Recurring Titled Features

Not italicized or in quotations.

 

Government Documents

TBA

Including the Number and Session of Congress for bills, reports, or resolutions from the United States Congress:

107th Congress, 2nd Session, House Report 203.

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