"Blog" is short for web log which is a list of journal-type articles posted on a Web page.
"Listserv" is short for list server, which is a program that automatically sends messages to multiple e-mail addresses on a mailing list. People usually need to subscribe to a listserv.
Use the screen name as the author name when the author name is not known. If both names are known, begin the entry with the screen name and place the author’s name in brackets (ex. Funnyman123 [John Smith]).
EXAMPLES:
Blog
Listserv
Digital files can exist independently from the Web or a published disc. Examples are:
A PDF file stored on your computer
A document created by a peer using a word processor,
A scanned image you received in an email (as an attachment)
A sound recording formatted for playing on a digital audio player
Determine the kind of work you are citing and follow guidelines set forth here for formatting the entry. In the place reserved for the medium of publication - record the digital format, followed by the word file.
FORMATTING
Author Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. Title of Source. Publisher Location: Publisher, Publication Date. Digital file.
To cite a digital file, first determine what kind of source you are citing (pdf, photograph, sound recording) and follow the relevant guidelines for formatting that type of source. In the place reserved for "Medium of Publication", record the digital file format and follow with the word file. If you can't identify what kind of file it is, use digital file.
Example---
Ex. 2 - PDF File
Eastern University. Library Quick Guide: Evaluating Web Sites. St. Davids, PA. File last modified on Feb. 2013. PDF file.
Items posted on the web usually have no page numbers or reference markers so it is acceptable to cite them by author, screenname, or title.
Basic Format
Example:
Doe, Jane. "Re: Online Databases." Message to John Smith. 12 Apr. 2012. E-mail.
A "webcast" is a delivery of media over the Internet using streaming technology.
A "podcast" is a digital audio or video file or recording, usually part of a themed series, that can be downloaded from a web site to a media player or computer.
Basic Format - Webcast
Example of viewed online streaming:
"Who Made the First Cell Phone Call?" Narr. Jake Tapper. The Lead. CNN. Cable News Network, 3 Mar. 2013. Web. 5 Mar. 2013.
Unless you are featuring an individual (director, performer, narrator, etc.), the episode or segment title begins the citation, in quotation marks. If you are featuring an individual, that person's name is listed first, followed by his/her contribution (ex. Tapper, Jake, narr.)
Example of downloaded podcast to another device:
“Episode or Segment Title.” Other pertinent information. Program or Series Title. Podcast Publisher or Sponsor, Day Month Year of Release. Type of file.
If the podcast is downloaded to another device, cite it as you would a digital file. The "medium of publication" becomes the type of file that is downloaded and there is no need for the "date accessed" field.
Today, electronic resources are the primary source used by students when researching for scholarly journals, blogs, podcasts, Facebook, Twitter, websites, You Tube videos, emails and personal interviews, the Internet, streaming videos, and radio sources.
This guide will attempt to make clear how to cite many of these resources in MLA format.
SINGLE AUTHOR
SINGLE EDITION - EXAMPLE:
If you are citing an entire edited book, place editors bane in the author position followed by "ed."
E-BOOK BY MULTIPLE AUTHORS OR EDITORS
Two authors---
List the authors in the order they appear on the title page. List the first author with the last name first; additional authors' names are listed with the first name followed by the last name.
Example
Three authors---
List the authors in the order they appear on the title page. List the first author with the last name first; additional authors' names are listed with the first name followed by the last name.
Four or more authors---
You may list each author as in the examples above, or list the first author followed by "et al." (meaning "and others").
E-Book BY A CORPORATE AUTHOR OR ORGANIZATION
List the name of the organization in place of the author.
WORK IN AN ANTHOLOGY
Begin the citation with the author of the work, not the editor of the eBook.
CHAPTER, SECTION OR ESSAY IN AN EDITED E-BOOK
Begin the citation with the author of the specific work, not the editor of the eBook.
ENTRY OR ARTICLE IN A REFERENCE E-BOOK
Signed Entry:
Begin the citation with the author of the article, not the author or editor of the eBook. Page numbers are not necessary if the entries are arranged alphabetically.
Unsigned Entry:
MULTI-VOLUME WORK
Include the volume number after the editor's name. (If there is no editor, the volume number will appear after the title.)
EDITION OTHER THAN FIRST
Include the volume number after the editor. (If there is no editor, the volume number will appear after the title.)
Electronic books are cited exactly as their print counterparts with the addition of a media marker at the end of the citation: Kindle edition, PDF e-book, Microsoft Reader e-book, Palm e-book, CD-ROM, etc. Books consulted online are also cited exactly as their print counterparts with the addition of a DOI (or URL) at the end of the citation.
Example:
Lemon, Rebecca, Emma Mason, Johnathan Roberts, and Christopher Rowland, ed. The Blackwell Companion to the Bible in English
Literature. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. PDF e-book.
MLA suggests two definitions of a "website".
1. All pages affiliated with a particular domain name (ex. www.mla.org).
2. All pages organized by a particular editor or project, even if the project is housed under a larger body's domain name (ex. Victorian Women Writers Project which is housed under the University of Indiana's website (www.indiana.edu).
EXAMPLES ARE BELOW---
PAGE ON A WEBSITE
In the example below, the title of the Web page ("Whitman the Fiction Writer") is enclosed in quotations, while the overall website (The Walt Whitman Archive) is italicized.
WEB PAGE, NO STATED AUTHOR
Begin your citation with the title of the page or article if no author is available.
Example:
"English Civil Wars." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2009. Web. 31 Aug. 2009.
ENTIRE WEBSITE
Include as much information as you can find in your citation.
Example:
American Memory Project. Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2009.
Basic Format
Author Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. “Article Title.” Periodical Title Volume.Issue (Year Published): Page Numbers. Electronic Database Title. Web. Day Month Year of Access.
Example:
Rosenberg, Jared. "Polygynous Marriage Linked to Higher Child Mortality." International Perspectives on Sexual & Reproductive Health 35.2
(2009): 56-57. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 May 2010.
When citing a scholarly journal in an online database, cite it as you would cite a print journal. Add the name of the database (italicized) after the publication information. Change the medium of publication from "Print" to "Web" and add the date you accessed the database.
Basic Format
Author Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. "ArticleTitle." Journal Title Volume. Issue (Year Published): Page Numbers. Web. Day Month Year of Access.
Example:
Fike, David S., et al. “Improving Community College Student Learning Outcomes in Biology.” Electronic Journal of Science Education 15.1 (2011): 46-49. Web. 15 Jan. 2012.
When citing a scholarly journal on the web, cite it as you would cite a print journal. Change the medium of publication from "Print" to "Web" and add the date you accessed the journal.
Basic Format
Example with an Author:
Andrews, Evan. "History Lists: 11 Things You May Not Know About Ancient Egypt." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 12 Nov. 2012. Web. 04 Sept. 2013.
Example with No Author:
"Summary Report for: 25-4021.00 - Librarians." O*NET OnLine. O*NET Resource Center, 2010. Web. 4 Mar. 2013.
Sometimes it's hard to find an author's name or other bibliographic elements on internet sites. Use the abbreviations n.p. (no publisher/sponsor), n.d (no date), or n. pag. (no page number) if applicable. If there is no author name available, start your citation with the next element, usually the title of the article.
In order to find the name of the web site and/or the name of the web site sponsor or publisher, it is sometimes necessary to go to the home page of the site.
Because newspaper articles often don’t appear on consecutive pages, cite the section and page number where the article begins. If the article continues onto additional pages, note this by placing a + sign after the page number.
Signed Article example:
Unsigned Article
If the article is unsigned, begin with the title of the article. Omit "A," " An," or "The" if the title begins this way.
Example:
"Retirement Expert Urges Diversity in 401(k) Options." USA Today 19 Jan. 2010: 4B. Print.
Cite the article as you would a print article, followed by the database in which you accessed the article, the medium of publication (Web), and the date of access.
Example:
If you are citing an article published online which you have not accessed through a database, treat it as you would any other website.
Example:
Basic Format
Works Cited Page
Example
When citing an abstract from a journal, include the word Abstract (neither italicized nor in quotation marks) after the title of the article.
The Modern Language Association provides guidelines for writing research papers in MLA style. MLA style is primarily used by researchers in the fields of language and literature and is known for its simplicity and flexibility.
Tips on basic MLA formatting (print or electronic sources)
Author Last Name, First Name Middle Initial, if known (Screen Name, if known). “Title of Posted Work or Generic Label Such as Comment." "Title of the Entire Facebook Page, if Known and not Previously Given." Author or Editor of the Page, if Known and not Previously Given. Facebook. Facebook, Day Month Year of Posted Work. Web. Day Month Year Accessed.
Example (from MLA):
Jane Doe posted her poem called "Summer Days" on a Facebook page called "Shakespeare Insights" which is edited by James Lewis.
Doe, Jane. "Summer Days." "Shakespeare Insights." Ed. James Lewis. Facebook. Facebook, 1 May 2011. Web. 15 June 2011.
Example of citing a group:
Heart of Ohio myTeam Triumph. "Cerebral Palsy: What I Want You to Know." Facebook. Facebook, 12 Mar. 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.
Example of citing a user name:
Hannah, Kristin. "Tour." Facebook. Facebook, 9 Apr. 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.
Example of citing User Name (screen Name):
Basic Format
Author Real Last Name, First Name Middle Initial (user name, if both are known). “Entire Text of the Tweet without changing the capitalization.” Day Month Year the message was sent, Time message was sent reflecting reader's time zone. Tweet.
Begin the entry with the author's real name and, in parentheses, user's name if both are known and they differ. If only the user's name is known, give it alone (ex. 123smith.)
Example:
Dessen, Sarah. "Our weeping cherry tree is so gorgeous right now. Must share a picture, as public service." 9 Apr. 2013, 3:02 p.m. Tweet.
If the full text of the Tweet is too long to put in the citation, truncate the text by using just a few words at the beginning of the text to identify it. (Ex. above: "Our weeping cherry tree."
Film access includes Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc.
Cite details as you would any film (include the title, director, distributor, year of release. Add the name of the online service (in italics), medium of publication (Web), and day month, year of access.
You may include other data that seems important such as the names of performers, producer or screenwriter between the title and the distributor.
If you are citing the contribution of a particular individual, begin with that person's name and contribution.
Basic Format
Example of a film title beginning the citation:
Example of director at the beginning of the citation:
YouTube could be an Online Video Clip / Podcast (MLA 5.6.2d)
A "video clip" is a short piece of video, sometimes part of a longer program.
A "podcast" is a digital audio or video file or recording, usually part of a themed series, that can be downloaded from a Web site to a media player or computer.
Basic Format
Author Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. (or Screen Name or Corporate Author). “Segment Title.” Media Type. Website Title. Website Publisher/Sponsor, Day Month Year Posted. Medium of Publication. Day Month Year of Access.
Use the screen name as the author name when the author name is not known. If both names are known, place the author’s name in brackets (ex. Funnyman123 [John Smith]).
Example of online video clip:
TheKheinz. “JK Wedding Entrance Dance.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 19 July 2009. Web. 02 Sep. 2009.