The MLA Handbook 8th Edition provides a "universal set of guidelines" for citing sources across all format types.
These guidelines indicate that these nine major elements should be provided within the citation, whenever possible.
1. Author.
2. Title of Source.
3. Type of container,
4. Other contributors,
5. Version,
6. Number,
7. Publisher,
8. Publication date,
9. Location.
Please note: In this context, a container refers to the larger whole of what you are citing. A container might be an anthology, a periodical, a Web site, a TV program, a database, an online archive, etc.
| Book, Single Author |
Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. Love in the Time of Cholera. Vintage, 1988. |
| Book, Two Authors |
Casell, Kay Ann and Uma Hiremath. Reference and Information Services in the 21st Century: An Introduction. Neal-Schuman, 2004. |
| Book, Three or More Authors |
Robbins, Chandler S., et al. Birds of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. Golden, 1966. |
| A Work (e.g., essay, short story) in an anthology or compilation |
Kimball, Jean. "Growing Up Together: Joyce and Psychoanalysis, 1900-1922." Joyce through the Ages: A Nonlinear View, edited by Michael Patrick Gillespie, UP of Florida, 1999, pp. 25-45. |
| Book, with Translator or other Contributors |
Homer. The Odyssey. Translated by Robert Fagles, Viking, 1996. |
| Article, Print Journal |
Hannah, Daniel K. "The Private Life, the Public Stage: Henry James in Recent Fiction." Journal of Modern Literature, vol.30, no.3, 2007, pp. 70-94. |
| Article, Online Library Database |
Hannah, Daniel K. "The Private Life, the Public Stage: Henry James in Recent Fiction." Journal of Modern Literature, vol.30, no.3, 2007, pp. 70-94. JSTOR, jstor.org.ezproxy.lib.uwf.edu/stable/30053134. |
| Article, Web Page |
"Depression." mayo Clinic, 7 July 2014, mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/basics/ definition/con-20032977. |
| Website, Whole Site |
The Purdue Owl Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl. |
| Video | RotoBaller. "RotoBaller MLB: Top Fantasy Baseball Catcher Dynasty League Prospects for 2016." YouTube, commentary by Raphael Rabe,21 Mar. 2016, youtu.be/gk645_7TA6c. |
| Personal Interview | Smith, Jane. Personal interview. 19 May 2014. |
NOTE: When formatting your works cited page, make sure your citations are double spaced with a hanging indent.
Examples in this guide are based on:
MLA Handbook. 8th edition.
New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2016.