Citation Guide (MLA 9th Edition)

Supplemental 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.

• Citations may contain multiple supplemental elements
• Covers sections 5.105 to 5.119 of the MLA Handbook, 9th Edition. 

Examples of each element are in red and bold text.

The supplemental elements are located immediately after the title OR at at the end of a container OR at the end of the entry.

When needed, you can add them between containers for clarity.

Usually added after the title.

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

Usually added after the title.

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

Examples

Content was first published in 1538, then reprinted in 1971:

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

Television episode was first broadcast in 1999 and released on DVD in 2003:

"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.

Usually added after the title.

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

Example

Section of a book:

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

Usually placed after container or end of entry

• 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

Examples:

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.

Usually placed after container or end of entry

• Use when multiple versions of source are available on the same source, such as different file formats.
• Especially helpful when transcripts or closed captions for an audio or video.

Examples:

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

Usually placed after container or end of entry

• 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"

Usually placed after container or end of entry

• 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.