Citation Guide (MLA 9th Edition)

Author

Author is the first core element of a Works Cited entry.

The term "author" is used loosely to mean the person or group primarily responsible for producing the source. Editors, translators, performers, and corporate authors may fill the author core element, but a descriptive label should be included.

Quick Rules:

• List author names as they appear in the document (e.g., do not change names to abbreviations)
• Reverse the name of the first author. For example, "Sam Jones" should be listed as "Jones, Sam." If there are multiple authors, only reverse the first author's name.
• For multiple authors, write out "and" rather than using an ampersand (&).
• For three or more authors, list the first author with the name reversed, followed by a comma and "et al."
• If a work has no personal or organizational author but has an editor, begin the citation with the editor name(s) followed by a comma and the abbreviation "ed." (or "eds." for multiple editors).
• If a work has no identifiable author (personal, organization, or editor), begin the citation with the title.
• For corporate authors, omit any initial articles in the name, like "The."
• If a corporate author is both author and publisher, also list the name for the publisher element.
• End the element with a period.

Examples*:

*For easier identification, author names appear in bold, green text below.

Title of Source

The title of the source is the second core element. 

Generally, the title of a work is taken from the publication's title page.

Quick Rules:

• List the full title as it appears on the source.
  • Capitalize all principal words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.). Do not capitalize articles, prepositions, or conjunctions when they fall in the middle of a title.
  • If there is a subtitle, separate it from the primary title with a colon and a space (e.g., Title: Subtitle).
  • Exceptions to this rule are for standardization of capitalization and subtitle punctuation.
• Italicize titles if the source is self-contained and independent. Titles of books, periodicals, databases, and Web sites are italicized.
• Place titles in quotation marks if the source is part of a larger work. Articles, essays, chapters, poems, Web pages, songs, and speeches should be in quotation marks.
• Sometimes, titles will contain other titles. For example, a journal article about a novel, short story, play, film, etc., may include the title of the work the article is about.
  • If the title included is usually indicated by italics, use italics for the title. Examples of these titles are films, novels, entire books, journals, and entire websites.
    • Example of a journal article title which includes the title of a book: "Unbearable Weight of Authenticity: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God and Theory of 'Touristic Reading'."
  • If the title mentioned is usually indicated by double quotation marks, enclose the title in single quotations marks. Examples of these titles are poems, short stories, book chapters, and journal articles. 
    • Example of a journal article title which includes the title of a short story: "Individualism in O'Connor's 'A Good Man is Hard to Find'."

Examples*:

*For ease of identification, titles are in bold and blue text below.

Title of Container

Title of container is the third core element.

Containers are either

1. Complete works which contain smaller works, like a book containing essays, a book containing short stories, or an academic journal containing articles, or
2. Larger containers holding smaller containers, like a database containing academic journals or a website containing Web pages.

Examples of containers

• Book
• YouTube channel
• Research database
• Website
• Newspaper
• Dataset
• Website

More information

• The title of the container is italicized and followed by a comma.
• It is possible for a source to have more than one container, for example, an article [title of source] from a journal [title of first container] accessed from an online database [title of second container].
• A website is a container when it is the platform of publication (e.g., Google Books). It is not a container when it provides passive access (e.g. Google search results). Refer to "When Is a Web Site a Container?" for more information.
• Sometimes titles will contain other titles. For example, a book of stories may be titled the name of one story "and Other Stories".
  • If the title mentioned is usually indicated by italics, do not use italics or quotation marks for the title within the title. The title within the title will be in Roman. Examples are a book about a novel and a book about a film.
    • Example of a book title which includes the title of a book: The Complete Gone with the Wind Trivia Book
  • If the title mentioned is usually indicated by double quotation marks, italicize the title (along with the rest of the title of container, and enclose the title in double quotations marks. Examples are a book about a poem and a book of short stories.
    • Example of a book title which includes the title of a short story: "The Metamorphosis" and Other Stories

Examples*

*For ease of identification, container titles are in bold, red text below.

Other Contributors

Other contributors is the fourth core element.

If someone other than the primary author (or editor) contributed to the source in a way that is relevant to your paper, you can identify that person by including this element.

• This element begins with a description of the other contributor. Some common descriptors include:
  • adapted by
  • directed by
  • edited by
  • illustrated by
  • introduction by
  • narrated by
  • performance by
  • translated by
• The descriptor is capitalized or not depending on the punctuation directly preceding it.
  • If preceded by a comma, do not capitalize (applies to most journal articles and websites)
  • If preceded by a period, do capitalize the first word (applies mostly to books)
• If you use information from an introduction, preface, foreword or afterword, begin the citation with the author of that piece.
• This element ends with a comma.

Examples*

*For ease of identification, contributors appear in bold, red text below.

Version

Version is the fifth core element.

If different versions of the source exist, use this element to state which version is being cited.

Some examples of different versions include editions, director's cuts, and abridged or unabridged versions. It is not always needed.

• This element begins with a capital letter only if the proceeding element ended with a period. If the proceeding element ended with a comma, the first letter of this element will be lowercase.
• Abbreviate the word "edition" and other descriptive words.
• This element ends with a comma.

Examples*:

*For ease of identification, version information is in bold and red text below.

Number

Number is the sixth core element.

Number is used to document multiple volume works which are numbered.

This element may not be necessary for every Works Cited entry. For example, journals are typically numbered by volume and issue.

• This element begins with a capital letter only if the proceeding element ended with a period.
• If the proceeding element ended with a comma, the first letter of this element will be lower case.
• Abbreviate the word volume as "vol." and the word number as "no.".
• Separate the two parts with a comma and a space in this format: vol. 10, no. 2,
• This element ends with a comma.

Examples

For ease of identification, number information is in bold and red text below.

Publisher

Publisher is the seventh core element.

The company or organization primarily responsible for producing the source or making it available is the publisher.

For books, the publisher is listed on the title page.

• This element begins with a capital letter because it will almost always be a proper noun.
• Use shortened forms of publisher names.
  • For example, "University Press" is shortened to "UP".
  • Omit all business words like "Company", "Corporation", "Incorporated", and "Limited".
• If more than one party appears to be equally responsible for the source, document both separated by a forward slash "/".
• Use the publisher(s) of the version you have accessed, even if it is different from the original publisher(s).
• Some sources will not have a publisher. Common examples include:
  • Articles from periodicals (journals, magazines, and newspapers)
  • Self-published works
  • Web sites with no publisher listed
  • Web sites functioning as a container instead of a publisher like YouTube, WordPress.com, JSTOR, etc.
• This element ends with a comma.

For ease of identification, publishers are in bold and red text below.

Book:

Brinkley, Alan, The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People. 7th ed, McGraw Hill, 2014.

Website:

Couceiro, Sofia and Jason Hanna. "Kate's Sister, Pippa Middleton, Announces Engagement." CNN, 19 July 2016, www.cnn.com/2016/07/19/europe/uk-pippa-middleton-engagement/index.html.

Blog network:

DiFrancesco, Tim. "The 4-Week Fitness Plan to Increase Strength: Day 9." Hello Healthy, My Fitness Pal, 2 June 2016, blog.myfitnesspal.com/4-week-fitness-plan-increase-strength-day-9/.

Films or television series:

The Big Lebowski. Directed by Joel Coen, performances by Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore, Polygram Filmed Entertainment, 1998.

"Something Nice Back Home." Lost, directed by Stephen Williams, performance by Matthew Fox, season 4, episode 10, Bad Robot, 2008.

"Hush." Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon, season 4, episode 10, Mutant Enemy / WB Television Network, 14 Dec. 1999.

"Hush." 1999. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Fourth Season, created by Joss Whedon, episode 10, Mutant Enemy / Twentieth Century Fox, 2003, disc 3. DVD.

Comic book issue:

Byrne, John and Jim Lee. "The Resurrection and the Flesh." X-Men, vol. 2, no. 4, Marvel Comics, Jan. 1992.

Examples*:

For ease of identification, publishers are in bold and red text below.