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MLA 8th Edition: MLA Citation Examples

A reference to formatting and citing, MLA 8th Edition.

Sources & Citations

Gathering information about the sources used is an important part of maintaining academic honesty. Each element helps to describe the documents, videos, images, etc. used in a paper and can be a helpful tool in evaluating sources for use in a scholarly paper. 

Citation Elements

Elements of a citation:

  • Author - Who is responsible for the creation of this work? May be a single author or editor or there may be no single individual responsible. 
  • Title of source - May be an article, webpage, chapter title, video title. 
  • Title of container - Where is this source located? The title of a book, journal, website, etc.
  • Other contributors - If there are additional contributors, indicate here.
  • Version
  • Number
  • Publisher - What organization or company is responsible for producing the work in this format? 
  • Publication date - be as specific as source allows. May be date published or last updated.
  • Location - of cited passage(s). May be a page number, URL, or DOI

All MLA citations use the same set of common elements.
 

Learn more about Elements

Website

Article from an online publication

Lustgarten, Abrahm and Propublica. "A Free Market Plan to Save the American West from Drought." The Atlantic, Mar. 2016, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/03/a-plan-to-save-the-american-west-from-drought/426846/.

Article from an online reference work

"DNA and RNA." Computational Medicine Center, Thomas Jefferson University, cm.jefferson.edu/learn/dna-and-rna/.

Books & eBooks

Chapter from an eBook

Blackburn, Simon. "Egoism." Being Good: A Short Introduction to Ethics, OUP Oxford, 2001, pp. 29-36. EBSCOhost, sc4.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=438452&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

eBook

Davis, Amy M. Good Girls and Wicked Witches : Changing Representations of Women in Disney's Feature Animation, 1937-2001. John Libbey Publishing, 2006. EBSCOhost, sc4.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=959459&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Chapter from a Book

Andrea, Alfred J., and Andrew Holt, editors. "Myths of Innocence : The Making of the Children's Crusade." Seven myths of the Crusades, Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2015, pp. 91-105.

Book

Price, Catherine. Vitimania: Our Obsessive Quest for Nutritional Perfection. Penguin Press, 2015.

Journal & Magazine

Gretter, Sarah, and Aman Yadav. "Computational Thinking and Media & Information Literacy: An Integrated Approach to Teaching Twenty-First Century Skills." TechTrends, vol. 60, no. 5, 2016, pp. 510-6. ProQuest, dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11528-016-0098-4. Accessed 6 Nov. 2018.

Newspaper

Hayes, Joseph. "Vos State's Top Athletic Director. " Times Herald, Port Huron, Mich., 2016. ProQuest, 20 Sept. 2016. sc4.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1797789818?accountid=41091. Accessed 6 Nov. 2018.

Video

Between You and Your Pronouns. The Great Courses, 2016. Kanopy. Web. 6 Nov. 2018.

 

“Sleep and the College Student.” Films Media Group, 2011, digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=97865&xtid=48912. Accessed 6 Nov. 2018.

Image

Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800, Museo del Prado, Madrid.

Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800. Museo del Prado, https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/the-family-of-carlos-iv/f47898fc-aa1c-48f6-a779-71759e417e74.

Gale Literary Criticism

Erdrich, Louise, and Joseph Bruchac. "Whatever Is Really Yours." Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Jeffrey W. Hunter and Timothy J. White, vol. 120, Gale, 1999. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1100018391/LitRC?u=lom_stclaircocc&sid=LitRC&xid=2fc0196d. Accessed 6 Nov. 2018. Originally published in Survival This Way: Interviews with American Indian Poets, Sun Tracks and the University of Arizona Press, 1987, pp. 73-86.

Social media

Blog

Author's Last Name, First Name or Username if real name not provided. "Title of Blog Post." Name of Blog, Blog Network/Publisher if given, Day Month Year of blog post, URL of blog post. Accessed Day Month Year blog was visited.

Podcast

Host's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Podcast Episode." Title of Overall Podcast, Episode Number if Given, Web Site Hosting If Different From Podcast Title, Day Month Year of Episode, URL of episode. Accessed Day Month Year podcast was downloaded/played.

YouTube

Last Name, First Name of video creator or Username of Creator. "Title of Video." Title of the Hosting Website, Day Month Year of Publication, URL of video. Accessed Day Month Year video was viewed.

Twitter

Twitter Handle (First Name Last Name if Known). "The entire tweet word-for-word." Twitter, Day Month Year of Tweet, Time of Tweet, URL.

Facebook

Author Last Name, First Name or Account Name. Description of Post. Facebook, Day Month Year of Post, Time of Post, URL. Accessed Day Month Year post was viewed.