MLA Format for Various Print and Electronic Sources

The information presented below is intended to be a guide for using the MLA citation style for coursework. If you have questions about citing sources in the text or creating a works cited list please consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers , which can be found in all three campus libraries, or ask a library staff member for assistance.

Citing sources in the text

When the author's name is included in the text you simply cite the appropriate page number(s).
Example: This is the point argued by Francione (24-6).

When the author's name is included in the reference you include the author's name and page number(s).
Some hold this point of view (Francione 24-6).

When authors' names are included in the text.
Greek and Greek (211) hold the opposite opinion.

When authors' names are in the reference.
Others hold the opposite opinion (e.g., Greek and Greek 211).

When the author's name is in the text and a quotation is used.
Li argues that "the pleasure of consuming meat, like various other types of pleasure (such as sexual pleasure), cannot be deemed to have negligible or trivial value" (24).

When a quotation is used and the author's name is in the reference.
Some have argued that "the pleasure of consuming meat, like various other types of pleasure (such as sexual pleasure), cannot be deemed to have negligible or trivial value" (Li 24).

Works with an anonymous author.
A Madison Capital Times editorial argued that PETA should get "more aggressive about battling the corporate agribusiness firms" ("PETA").

Works in which paragraphs are numbered but no page numbers are given and the author's name appears in the text.
Johnson argues that "if you eat garbage you become garbage" (par.13).

Works in which paragraphs are numbered but no page numbers are given and the author's name appears in the reference.
Some have argued that "if you eat garbage you become garbage" (Johnson, par. 13).

Constructing a works cited list
Here are a few things to remember when putting together your works cited list:

Each entry should begin flush with the left margin; each additional line for that entry should be indented five spaces.
All entries should be double-spaced.
Single space after each period.

No author listed
"PETA vs. Picnics." Editorial. Madison Capital Times 7 Aug. 2003, A16.

Article with numbered paragraphs but no page numbers
Johnson, Gijs. "You are What You Eat." Freakin' Vegan 32 (2003): 27 pars.

Book with a single author
Francione, Gary L. Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or the Dog.

Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000.

Book with two authors
Greek, C. Ray and Jean Swingle Greek. Sacred Cows and Golden Geese: The

Human Costs of Experiments on Animals. New York: Continuum, 2000.

Electronic Book
Warren, Mary Anne. Moral Status: Obligations to Persons and Other Living

Things. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. Moraine Park Tech. Col. Lib.,

West Bend, WI. 2 Dec 2002 <http://www.netlibrary.com>.

Journal article
Li, Hon-Lam. "Animal Research, Non-vegetarianism, and the Moral Status of Animals -

Understanding the Impasse of the Animal Rights Problem." Journal of Medicine &

Philosophy 27 (2002): 589-616.

Journal article from an online database
Li, Hon-Lam. "Animal Research, Non-vegetarianism, and the Moral Status of Animals -

Understanding the Impasse of the Animal Rights Problem." Journal of Medicine &

Philosophy 27 (2002): 589-616. Academic Search Elite . EBSCOhost. Moraine Park

Tech. Col. Lib., West Bend, WI. 2 Dec 2002 <http://www.ebscohost.com>.

Magazine article
Goldstein, Andrew. "A Win for the Kittens." Time 24 June 2002: 20.

Magazine article from an online database
Goldstein, Andrew. "A Win for the Kittens." Time 24 June 2002: MasterFILE Premier .

EBSCOhost. Moraine Park Tech. Col. Lib., West Bend, WI. 2 Dec 2002

<http://www.ebscohost.com>.

Newspaper article
Stolberg, Sheryl Gay. "Debate Over Whether to Defend Animal Tests." New York Times

23 July 2002, natl. ed.: A1+.

Newspaper article from an online database
Stolberg, Sheryl Gay. "Debate Over Whether to Defend Animal Tests." New York Times

23 July 2002, natl. ed. MasterFILE Premier . Moraine Park Tech. Col. Lib., West Bend, WI.

2 Dec 2002 <http://www.ebscohost.com>.

Article from a print encyclopedia
Regan, Tom. "Animals, Treatment of." Encyclopedia of Ethics . 2nd ed. 2001.

Article from an online encyclopedia
Rowan, Andrew N. "Animal Experimentation." World Book Online . 3 Dec. 2002

<http://www.worldbookonline.com>.

Web document
Why Animal Experiments Fail in Birth Defect Research. 27 Oct. 1998. Physicians

Committee for Responsible Medicine. 3 Dec. 2002

Need Help?

MLA Format for Various Print and Electronic Sources