MLA Style Guide
The documentation style of the Modern Language Association (MLA) is widely used in the language arts and other humanities.
The 9th edition of the Modern Language Association Handbook is available in print.
For additional help with MLA style, see the MLA Style Center.
Works Cited
List the references you cite in your work alphabetically by author’s last name in a Works Cited section at the end of your paper.
Formatting
- Use hanging indentation.
- Place the titles of articles, chapters, webpages or other parts of a work. Use italics for book titles, websites and other whole works.
- Abbreviate the month of dates, followed by a period.
Authors
- For sources with two authors, list both names separated with and.
- For sources with three or more authors, list only the first and use “et al.”
- If a source does not have an author, omit and begin your citation with the first major word of the title.
Online Sources
- If an online source has a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) use this in place of the permalink or URL.
- Include an accessed date after the URL for sources that may change over time.
Articles
- Journal Articles
- Format:
Author Last, First. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal, vol. volume, no. issue, Year of publication, pp. page-page. doi: or URL. - Example:
Xerri, Daniel. “Finding a language that works for them: Gerald Dawe on young people’s engagement with poetry.” Irish Studies Review, vol. 32, no. 4, 2024, pp. 603-613. doi: 10.1080/09670882.2024.2413434. - Newspaper Articles
- Format:
Author Last, First. “Title of Article.” Title of Newspaper, Day month year of publication, pp. page-page or section. doi: or URL. Accessed date. - Example:
Haber, Leigh. “The True Story of a Shipwrecked Couple’s Fight to Survive.” Portland Press Herald, 10 Jul. 2025, https://www.pressherald.com/2025/07/10/the-true-story-of-a-shipwrecked-couples-fight-to-survive/. Accessed 12 Jul. 2025.
Books
- Print Book
- Format:
Author Last, First. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication. - Example:
Stephenson, Bryan. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. Spiegel & Grau, 2014. - E-book
- Format:
Author Last, First. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication, Database or Website Name, doi: or URL. - Example:
Cadieu, Morgane. On Both Sides of the Tracks: Social Mobility in Contemporary French Literature. University of Chicago Press, 2024, Proquest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uneedu/detail.action?docID=30876365.
- Chapter in Edited Book
- Format:
Author Last, First. “Title of Chapter.” Title of Book, edited by Editor First Last, Publisher, Edition, Version, Year of Publication, pp. page-page. - Example:
Marlowe, Christopher. “Hero and Leander.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, 8th edition, vol. 1, W. W. Norton & Company, 2006, pp. 1004-1022.
Web Sources
- Webpage
- Format:
Author’s Last, First (if known). “Title of page.” Title of site, Publication day month year, URL.Accessed day month year. - Example:
“Paul Robeson as Othello.” Folger Shakespeare Library, 2025, https://www.folger.edu/explore/collection-highlights/paul-robeson-as-othello-costume-sketch-and-promptbook/. Accessed 3 Jan. 2025. - Note:
If the site provides no date, specify when it was produced or published. - Blog Posts
- Format:
Author’s Last, First. “Title of post.” Title of blog site, Publication day month year, URL. Accessed day month year. - Example:
Cox Richardson, Heather. “On July 9th, 1868, Americans Changed the U.S. Constitution.” Letters From an American, 9 Jul. 2025, https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-9-2025. Accessed 10 Jul. 2025. - Social Media
- Format:
Account Last, First. “Full text of post.” Social Media Platform, Post day month year, URL. Accessed day month year. - Example:
Kingsolver, Barbara. “A message to my Congressman – and all others representing poor, rural districts like mine who KNOW they just voted for a bill to enrich the rich, at grave cost to their constituents’ health, their food, their safety, maybe their lives: If my pawpaw tree could grow a pair, why couldn’t you? (Sexist metaphor. I know, many courageous people do not have pawpaws.).” Instagram, 4 Jul. 2025, https://www.instagram.com/p/DLr4HtkuNu_/?hl=en. Accessed 16 Jul. 2025. - Note:
If a post does not have text, as for a photo, include a description in the title field.
Video & Audio
- Online Video
- Format:
Author Last, First (if known). Title of Video. Website, uploaded by Username, date of upload, URL. - Example:
Art History: What Makes a Caravaggio? YouTube, uploaded by Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 4 Jan. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9nhI9704cI. - Note:
If the format may not be clear, include “Video.” at the end of the citation. - Podcast
- Format:
Host Last, First. “Title of Episode.” Title of Podcast, season, episode, Publisher, Post day month year. Platform. URL. - Example:
Pahigian, Josh. “Digital Nutrition with Jocelyn Brewer.” Oh, The Humanities (and Social Sciences) episode 28, University of New England Center for Global Humanities, Apple Podcasts, 2 Jul. 2020. https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/digital-nutrition-with-jocelyn-brewer/id1331749901?i=1000464935388.
Images
- Format:
Creator Last, First. Title of image. Creation date. Location of the image, URL. - Example:
Courbet, Gustave. The Calm Sea. 1869. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436005?deptids=11&ao=on&ft=*&offset=0&rpp=40&pos=24.
Other Source Types
- Interviews
- Format:
Interviewee Last, First. “Title of Interview.” Interview by Interviewer First Last, Publication, Publisher, day month year, URL. - Example:
Abrams, Stacey. “Author Stacey Abrams Discusses Her New Thriller ‘Coded Justice.’” Interview by Michel Martin, Morning Edition, NPR, 14 Jul. 2025, https://www.npr.org/2025/07/14/nx-s1-5341444/author-stacey-abrams-discusses-her-new-thriller-coded-justice. - Class Materials
- Format:
Instructor Last, First. “Title of Document.” Platform. Uploaded by Name, day month year. URL. Material type. - Example:
McHugh, Susan. “Adam’s Task: Naming, Knowing, and Representing Animals.” Brightspace. Uploaded by McHugh, 2 Nov. 2024. https://brightspace.une.edu/d2l/. Powerpoint presentation.
AI
Cite any AI-generated content that you incorperate into your work. Include how the AI tool was used, such as for translation, summarizing, or editing, in the text of your paper.
Format:
“Text of prompt” prompt. Name of AI Tool, version number, Name of company, Day month year content was generated, URL.
Example:
“Analyze the causes and consequences of the War of 1812 in the context of U.S. foreign policy” prompt. ChatGPT, 4o mini, OpenAI, 3 Jan. 2025, http://chatgpt.com.
In-Text Citations
An in-text citation is a brief reference within your text that indicates the source you consulted. It should properly attribute any ideas, paraphrases, or quotations and directs readers to the full reference in the Works Cited section.
An in-text citation consists of the author’s name in parentheses.
- (Adebayo) or (Adebayo 254).
- For two authors, separate using and – (Tadashi and Dubois).
- For three or more authors, list only the first author’s name followed by “et al.” – (Tadashi et al.).
Special Cases
Author’s Name in the Sentence
Include only the page number in parentheses if using the author’s name in the sentence.
Example:
As a leading climate expert, Nguyen (154) asserts that ocean acidification is already affecting marine biodiversity and that urgent action is needed to prevent serious impacts on global fisheries.
Direct Quotes
Incude a page number or range if directly quoting or citing a specific place in the text.
Example:
“We must never forget that history is a weapon” (Galeano 137-139).
Citing Multiple Sources
If you need to cite multiple sources in one sentence, separate with a semicolon.
Example:
Scholar’s opinions differ significantly on this issue (Pérez 9-11; Li and Schwetz 145).
Questions & Help
If you have questions on this, or another topic, contact a librarian for help!