Citation Guide (MLA 9th Edition)

How to cite sources according to MLA

This page has been updated to MLA 9

Tips for Citing Web Sources

Use a Stable URL

Because web addresses change often, it is best to use a stable version of the URL. This is usually identified as Permalink, DOI, or Shareable Link, sometimes found through a 'Share This' button on the page. For many databases, the URL in the address bar may contain login and session data and will stop working.

Determining the Author

It can be difficult to determine a website's author/creator. Remember that an author doesn't need to be an individual person; it may be a group, corporation, organization, etc. Sometimes, you can find author information within the website's "About" section.

If there is no known author, skip that field for the citation and move on to the website's title.

Publication Date

Typically, you can find date information at the bottom of the webpage. The best date to use for a website is whenever the content was last updated. Otherwise, look for a copyright or original publication date. Sometimes, this information is not provided, or it's hard to find.

If you do not know the complete date, put as much information as is provided. For example, you might only list the year.

Provide an Accessed Date

Including the date you accessed the source is best practice for citing websites. Sources found online are subject to change or removal at any time, so listing the date you looked at its information helps indicate the version you are referencing. Listing an accessed date is especially important when there is no date specifying when the source was created.

List the accessed date at the very end of your citation, followed by a period. Begin with the phrase "Accessed" followed by the date listed as "day month (use the shortened month name) year." Example: Accessed 12 Dec. 2024.

Website

Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Website, Name of Organization Affiliated with the Website, Date of copyright or date last modified/updated, URL. Accessed date.

In-text citation: (Author's Last Name)

Works Cited List Example	Mabillard, Amanda. Shakespeare Online, 29 Dec. 2011, www.shakespeare-online.com. Accessed 6 July 2016.
In-Text Citation Example	(Mabillard)

Page or Document on a Website

IF AUTHOR IS KNOWN:

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Page or Document." Title of Website, Name of Organization Affiliated with the Website, Date of copyright or date last modified/updated, URL. Accessed date.

In-text citation: (Author's Last Name)

Works Cited List Example	Werlin, Katy. "Mythbusters: Fashion History Edition." The Fashion Historian, Mar. 2015, www.thefashionhistorian.com/2015/03/mythbusters-fashion-history-edition.html. Accessed 31 Oct. 2017.
In-Text Citation Example	(Werlin)

UNKNOWN AUTHOR:

"Title of Page or Document." Title of Website, Name of Organization Affiliated with the Website, Date of copyright or date last modified/updated, URL. Accessed date.

In-text citation: ("Title of Page or Document")

Works Cited List Example

"How to Teach Yourself Guitar." eHow, Demand Media, www.ehow.com/how_5298173_teach-yourself-guitar.html. Accessed 24 June 2016.

Note: Including the Accessed Date is especially important if the source has no date specifying when it was produced or published.

In-Text Citation Example

("How to Teach Yourself Guitar")

Note: There is no author, so the title (or an abbreviated version of the title) is used in the in-text citation, in quotation marks, as it appears in the Works Cited List Example above.

Page on a Website Created by a Organization

Name of Corporation/Group/Organization. "Title of Section." Title of Website, Publisher or Sponsoring Organization, Date of publication or last modified date, URL. Accessed date.

In-text citation: ("Title of Section")

Note: The publisher or sponsoring organization can often be found in a copyright notice at the bottom of the home page or on a page that gives information about the site. When the page is authored and published by the same organization/corporation/group, begin your citation with the section title.

Note: The publisher may be omitted from the citation if the website title is essentially the same as the publisher name

Works Cited List Example	"Spotlight on SIGGRAPH: S3 Provides the Tools for Success." ACM SIGGRAPH, 15 Dec. 2014, www.siggraph.org/discover/news/spotlight-siggraph-s3-provides-tools-success. Accessed 31 Oct. 2017.
In-Text Citation Example	("Spotlight on SIGGRAPH")

Government Document on a Website

Department, Agency or Committee. Title of Document: Subtitle if Given. Edition if given and is not first edition, Publisher, Publication Date, URL. Accessed date.

For in-text citations, use (Abbreviated Name of Departmner, Agency or Committee)

Works Cited List Example

Competition Bureau of Canada. Highlights from the Competition Bureau’s Workshop on Emerging Competition Issues. Competition Bureau of Canada, 4 Mar. 2016, www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/vwapj/cb-Workshop-Summary-Report-e.pdf/$FILE/cb-Workshop-Summary-Report-e.pdf. Accessed 6 July 2016.

In-Text Citation Example

(Competition Bur. of Can.)

Note: You can use a shortened form of the title by listing the first word or words of the full title.

Wikipedia

Reminder: Wikipedia is not considered an acceptable source for your assignments. It does not count towards the number of required sources for your assignments. However, it can be a good place to begin your research.

"Title of Entry." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Day Month Year entry was last modified, Time entry was last modified, URL of entry. Accessed Date.

For in-text citations, use ("Title of Entry")

Works Cited List Example

"Body Image." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Nov. 2017, 7:49 am, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_image. Accessed 9 Nov. 2017.

Note: The date and time the article was last modified appears at the bottom of each Wikipedia article.

In-Text Citation Example

("Body Image")

Blog Post

Author's Last Name, First Name or Username if their real name isn't provided. "Title of Blog Post." Name of Blog, Blog Network/Publisher if given, Day Month Year, URL. Accessed date.

For in-text citations, use (Author's Last Name)

Works Cited List Example	Naish, Darren. "If Bigfoot Were Real." Tetrapod Zoology, Scientific American Blogs, 27 June 2016, blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/if-bigfoot-were-real/. Accessed 28 June 2016.
In-Text Citation Example	(Naish) Note: Blog posts have no page numbers, paragraph numbers, or section headings, so this information is left out of the in-text citation.

Image from Website

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Website, Other Contributors, Version, Number, Publisher/Platform, Date of Publication, URL. Accessed date.

For captions, use: Fig. #. Description from: Citation.

For in-text citations, use (Fig. #) or (Author's Last Name) or ("Words from Title or Article").

Works Cited Example

"It All Started with a Fruit." Rob Janoff, contributions by www.fansofapple.com, robjanoff.com/applelogo/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2017.

Caption Example

6 Apple Logos from 1976 to today

Fig. 5. Six Apple logos from 1976 to now from: "It All Started with a Fruit." Rob Janoff, contributions by www.fansofapple.com, robjanoff.com/applelogo/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2017.

Note: If the citation is included in the caption, you do not need to add it to the Works Cited list.

In-Text Citation Example

(Fig. 5) or ("It All Started With a Fruit")

Comment on a website or web article

Commenter's Username. Comment on "Title." Publisher, date, time, URL. Accessed date.

Note: List the username as the author. Add the phrase "Comment on" before the title of the article, video, etc. Use the time listed on or near the comment.

For in-text citations, use (Username)

Works Cited List Example	Not Omniscent Enough. Comment on "Flight Attendant Tells Passenger to ‘Shut Up’ After Argument After Pasta." ABC News, 9 Jun 2016, 4:00 p.m., abcnews.go.com/US/flight-attendant-tells-passenger-shut-argument-pasta/story?id=39704050. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017.
In-Text Citation Example	(Not Omniscient Enough)

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