Skip to Main Content

Citation Styles Overview

Modern Language Association (MLA) Style is used most often in the humanities fields. 

literature - languages - religion - art - theatre

Works Cited

Book

Author last name, First name. Title of Book Capitalized and Italicized. Place of Publication: Publisher, Date. Print. 

Example:  McCuen, Gary E. Cloning : Science and Society. GEM Pub. Inc., 1998.

 

Academic Article

Author last name, First name. "Title of Article Capitalized and in Quotes." Title of Journal Capitalized and Italicized Volume Number. Issue Number (Date): Page begin-page end. Print.

Example:  Matthew S. Erie. “Legal Education Reform in China Through U.S.-Inspired Transplants.” Journal of Legal Education, vol. 59, no. 1, Aug. 2009, pp. 60–96.

 

Online/Electronic Articles

The format is the same as shown above except for the addition of a brief statement with more information about online access to the end of your citation. This includes the following information provided immediately after the page numbers: 

Name of Database in which Article was Located. Web. Date Day Month Abbr. Year.

Example:  Shah, Melissa Ford, et al. “Predicting Homelessness among Emerging Adults Aging Out of Foster Care.” American Journal of Community Psychology, vol. 60, no. 1/2, Sept. 2017, pp. 33–43. EBSCOhost, DOI: org/10.1002/ajcp.12098.

 

Web Site/Page

Author, editor, or creator of site (if known). "Title of Article Capitalized and in Quotes." Title of Larger Site (if relevant). Name of Sponsoring or Publishing Organization (if none is listed use abbreviation n.P. (no publisher)) Day of Publication Month Abbr. Year. Web. Date of Access Day Month Abbr. Year. <URL of website/page>

Example:  Dean, Cornelia. "Executive on a Mission: Saving the Planet." The New York Times, 22 May 2007, Accessed 29 May 2019.<www.nytimes.com/2007/05/22/science/earth/22ander.html?_r=0>

In-text Citation - MLA

Parenthetical Citation

A parenthetical citation is both the author and the page number. It will generally appear at the end of a sentence before the period.  When the author appears in the running text, the page number will appear at the end of the sentence.

Examples: 

Falsely balanced news coverage can distort the public's perception of expert consensus on an issue (Koehler 63).

Koehler noted the dangers of falsely balanced news coverage (63). 

 

Citing Multiple Works

When citing multiple works, place the citations in alphabetical order, separating them with semicolons. 

Example: 

Studies indicate that teens need more sleep than adults (Johns 3; Smith 21).