Citing Sources MLA Style and Plagiarism

This two-minute video on citing sources from North Carolina State University Libraries explains why it is important to cite your sources.

The elements of a citation may include:

• author
• title of a journal article
• title of a book
• title of a journal
• title of a video
• title of the database
• title of the website
• publisher
• date of publication
• date of access if it is an electronic source

The items are arranged in a specific order depending on the source and the citation style.

MLA citation style examples

Additional examples and in-text citation help are available on the SC4 MLA Citation Style Guide and at Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL).

Note: The date of access is optional, but be sure to include it whenever possible, since online works can be changed or removed at any time.

Book 

Last Name, First Name. Title. Publisher, Publication Date.

Book with 3 or more Authors

Last Name, First Name, et al. Title. Publisher, Publication Date.

Article from a Database

Last Name, First Name, and First Name Last Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal, vol. x, no. x, date, pp. x-x. Database name, doi or URL. Accessed day month year.

Note: If a doi is not provided, use the URL instead.

Newspaper Articles (Online)

Last Name, First Name. "Title." Newspaper Name, date, URL. Accessed day month year.

Web Site 

Last Name, First Name. "Title." Website Name, date, URL. Accessed day month year.

Web Site with no author

Title. Publisher, location, URL. Accessed day month year.

Government Publication

Last Name, First Name. Name of national government, agency. Title. Publisher, date. Number of the Congress, session, report number. Accessed day month year.

Note: If an author is not given, start with the name of the national government and agency.