MLA Reference List Samples
Things to remember...
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Creating a works cited list in the style of the MLA only requires slight variations on the styles of the APA. Citations are to include authors, book titles which are underlined and publication information; things such as publisher, place and date. Unlike the APA however, MLA dictates that you should capitalize all major words in book titles, excluding such things as article titles, coordinating conjunctions and prepositions.
A book with one author
Moore,
Megan. The Plight of Modern Man: A Retrospective Analysis. New
York: Knopf, 2002. |
NOTE: If the selected work is an edition other than the first, be sure to include the edition number in your citation.
Dorsey,
Danielle D. Individuals in Limbo. 3rd ed. Olympia: Everpress, 2004. |
A book by two or three authors
NOTE: If a selected work is authored by two to three individuals then be sure to list the first author by their last name and the rest by their first, also being aware of the order in which they appear on the work itself.
Moore,
Megan, and Danielle Dorsey. The Effects of Man and the Limbo Stick.
Seattle: Bellowing Ark, 2001. |
A book by more than three authors
NOTE: Use et al to represent all the other authors except the first one listed in the order on the original title page.
Johnson,
J. P., et al. Playing Party Games. Chicago: Oxford Press, 1999. |
Two or more books by the same author
NOTE: After making your first entry, replace the authors name with three hyphens and a period. Be sure to list the citations alphabetically by title.
Rose, Jacob. Being the Ravioli. Everett: Projects Press, 2003. ---. Letting the Ravioli In. Everett: Projects Press, 2001. |
An edited book
Citing the Authors Work
Beeman,
Matt. Living Italian: New York, New Jersey and New Cars. Ed. Jacob
Rose. New York: Bellowing Ark, 2003. |
Citing the Editors Work
Rose,
Jacob, ed. Living Italian: New York, New Jersey and New Cars. By
Matthew Beeman. New York: Bellowing Ark, 2003.
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A selection in an anthology
NOTE: Remember to cite all page numbers of the work, even if you are referencing only one page.
Daniels,
J. "Mineral Spirits." Drinks Through Time. Ed. Johnny
Walker. Seattle: Bellowing Ark Press, 1999. 124-135. |
More than one essay from the same anthology
NOTE: All references must be cited individually, and a cross-reference should be included for the entire anthology. You also have the choice to cite the publication info for the anthology as a single reference.
Regal,
Charles. "Bootlegging and the Speak Easy." Walker 138-145. |
| Walker, Johnny, ed. Drinks Through Time. Seattle: Bellowing Ark Press, 1999. |
| Stolichnaya, Dvorsch. "Paying Rent." Walker 89-101. |
A multivolume work
NOTE: If all the volumes of go by the same title, then you need only cite the volume you referenced.
Rose,
Jacob. Computers and the Humanities. Vol 3. Seattle: U Press, 1974. |
NOTE: If you have used all the volumes, then you must cite all of them as one entity.
Rose,
Jacob. Computers and the Humanities. 4 Vols. Seattle: U Press,
1974. |
NOTE: If a single volume in a multivolume work goes by an individual title, then you do not need to mention the other volumes.
Lord,
Matthew. Age of Recording. Everett: EVCC Press, 2002. |
NOTE: It becomes your choice however to include any extra information. Things like total number of volumes, titles of both the individual volume, and the entire work and as well all publication dates.
Lord,
Matthew. Age of Recording. Everett: EVCC Press, 2002. Vol. 2 of
Computers and the Humanities. 4
Vols. 1974-2002. |
The foreward, preface, or afterword of a book
Jameson,
Walter. Preface. The Days Before. By Benjamin Smith. Brunswick:
Dreadle Press, 2001. xii-xiii. |
A short story, play, or poem in an anthology
Cheney,
D. "Fooling You." The Politics of Poetry. Ed. John G.
Ashcroft and Colin M. Powell. 2nd ed. Camp David:
White Press, 1999. 123-134. |
A short story, play, or poem in a collection of an authors work
Letterman,
David. "Interviewing Jay." Selected Poems. New York:
Studio B, 2003. 23-25. |
A translation
Hundessmon,
Geargia. Moving to Sweden. Trans. Englebert Humperdink. New York:
Far Away Press, 2002. |
A republished book
NOTE: Be sure to include the original publication date after the title.
Johnson,
Justin. Wishing Upon a Star: A Decade of Disney. 1983. Seattle:
Bellowing Ark Press, 2004. |
An article in a reference book
NOTE: For signed articles, be sure to include the authors name in the citation, as well if the reference book is relatively unknown then remember to include all publication data. If popularity of a a work is unknown then default to include all publication data.
Thornton,
Billy B. "Directing Films." A-Z Encyclopedia of Film.
5th ed. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. |
NOTE: For unsigned articles in popular encyclopedias, then no publication info is needed. Just begin the citation with the article title as it appears in the reference book.
"Aeronautics."
Encyclopedia Britannica. 1997 ed. |
A government publication
NOTE: If no author is given then cite the work beginning with the name of the government and then the department.
United
States. Office of Internal Revenue. 2002 Library Revenue Handbook.
Washington: GPO, 2002. |
If you have to cite articles in you reference list then be sure to include author names, titles in quotations, underlined periodical titles, dates of publication, pages in which the article resides and be sure not to use the abbreviations of p. or pp. Also, dates of publication are abbreviated, although you must write them out in full within your paper.
An article with continuous pagination in an annual volume
NOTE: Be sure to include the volume number, and in parentheses include the publication date followed by a colon and then the page numbers.
Moore,
Megan. "Scrapbook Arts." Do-It-Yourself Book Arts 12
(2003): 234-245. |
An article within a periodical with separate pagination
NOTE: In this case you should add a period and then issue number after the volume number.
Dorsey,
D. P. "Hair Color: Differences and Opinion." American Stylist
3.1 (1999): 34-45. |
An article in a weekly magazine (signed/unsigned)
Signed
Cowan,
John. "Going the Distance." Seattle Monthly 6 Nov. 2002:
34-38. |
Unsigned
"Retrofitting
the Pipeline." Time 12 Sep. 1999" 34. |
An article in a monthly magazine
Rose,
Jacob. "Careers in the Digital World." Computer User
Nov. 1999: 34. |
An article that does not appear on consecutive pages
Beeman,
Matthew. "Following you Intuition." Remix Sep.- Oct.
1997: 45+. |
An article in a newspaper (signed/unsigned)
Signed
Evans,
D. J. "Building a Balanced Library." New York Times 12
Apr. 1972, early ed.: A2+. |
Unsigned
"Politically
Taboo." Seattle Times 12 Nov. 1999, sec. B: 3+. |
An editorial
"Relatively
Unknown." Editorial. South Whidbey Record 4 May 2003, Wed.
ed.: B3. |
A letter to the editor
Coale,
Robert. Letter. Whidbey News-Times 11 Jan. 2004: A2. |
A book review
NOTE: In this case, start your citation with the name of the critic, followed by the book title and then the author, plus the publication information.
Cowan,
Jimmy. "Unfounded Rhetoric." Rev. of White House Mayhem:
Bush, Cheney and Other Tales of Deviance,
by Bill Smithers. Seattle Times 12 Jun. 2003: C23. |
A Lecture
Finderton,
James. "Dealing with Racism." Humanities Seminar, Dept. of Humanities.
Evergreen State College, 23 Nov. 2003. |
An Interview (personal/published)
Personal
Spielberg,
Steven. Personal Interview. 23 Dec. 2002. |
| Winfrey, Oprah. Telephone Interview. 24 Dec. 2002. |
Published
Johnson,
J. P. "Oprah Winfrey Tells All." Contemporary America
12.3 (Fall 1986): 12-27. |
A Letter (personal/published)
Personal
King,
Steven. Letter to the author. 13 Dec. 1995. |
Published
King,
Steven. "Letter to J. P. Cowan." 13 Sep. 1999. Steven King.
By Bill Smith. New York: Findleton Press, 2000.
23. |
A Letter in a Library Archive
Evans,
Daniel J. Letter to Robert Locke. 6 Sep. 1973. Library Archive. Evergreen
State Col., Olympia. |
A Film
NOTE: Generally the title will be included along with the director and distributor, but also you have the choice of including other useful information like main actor names.
Gilgamesh.
Dir. Bill Evans. Perf. Tom Cruise, Dale Burnton, Nicole Kidman, and James
Priest. MGM, 1991. |
A Videotape/DVD/ or Laserdisc
NOTE: Cite this medium like you would a film but be sure to include the format name before the distributors title.
A Radio/Television Program
"Who
Done It." Writ. Jason Belcheck. Perf. James Burger. Mystery Theatre.
KAOS. Evergreen State Col. 12 Dec. 1999. |
Electronic Sources (APA, CHICAGO)
Electronic sources can be a tricky thing to cite correctly, and the MLA has some particular guidelines that can further complicate the practice. Because of the nature of most electronic mediums, the MLA suggests that you include the date of the publication as well as the date that you retrieved the information. Going further, the MLA also suggests that you make a print copy of the electronic format so that you can preserve what may change in the future. It should also be mentioned that if you cannot find all the needed information that you shouldn't panic, the MLA recognizes that many times online mediums do not give reference information, so they suggest that you gather as much data you can and include that into your citation.
NOTE: It is very important that you pay attention to the web address you give in your citation, be sure include all access mode identifiers such as http, ftp, gopher, telnet or news.
A Scholarly project or information database
Toe
Jam Recordings Project. Ed. Jacob A. Rose. Apr. 2003. Washington U.
12 Sep. 2003. <http://www.uwash.edu/letrs/wwp/>. |
A document within a Scholarly project or information database
"Arhoolie Island." The National Geographic Channel Online. 2002. National Geographic Society. 8 June 2003 <http://nationalgeographic.com/ arhoolie.html>. |
A web page or home page
Gimbel,
D. D. Jim's Surfing Page. 13 Apr. 1999 <http://www.jimsurf.com/>. |
| Jeeves, Bart. Home Page. 23 July 2003 <http://www.tholemew.co.uk/> |
An online book
Chaucer,
Geoffrey. Clandestine Knight. London, 1765. 3 Apr. 2002 <gopher://gopher.vt.edu:10024/22/178/3>. |
An article in an online scholarly journal, newspaper, newsletter, or magazine
Scholarly Journal Online
Dorsey,
Danielle. "Standing Against Wit." American Woman 12.2
(1995): 12 pp. 15 July 2003 <http://muse.jhu.gimbel.edu/forty/howard.htm>. |
Newspaper Online
Jobs,
Steven. "Bill Gates Finally Pays." Seattle Weekly Online
21 Oct. 1999. 23 Nov. 2001 <http://seattleweekly.com/jobs/gates.html>. |
Newsletter Online
"Finding
a Reason to Live." MIT Center for Continuing Education 23.2
(Fall 2003). 23 Jan. 2004 <http://www.anything.edu/gov/example.html>. |
Magazine Online
Evans,
D. J. "The Going has Gotten Tougher." Life 12 Feb. 2003.
4 Apr. 2004. <http://www.anything.edu/gov/example.html>. |
A review
Englebert,
H. Rev. of Aliens vs. Predator, dir. Lloyd Wilson. Los Angeles
Times 5 Oct. 2004. 12 Nov. 2004 <http://www.anything.edu/gov/example.html>. |
A letter to the editor
Nottingham,
S. O. Letter. Sherwood Times Online 12 July 2003. 13 Nov. 2004
<http://www.anything.edu/gov/example.html>. |
An article in an online encyclopedia
"Hemingway,
Ernest." Britannica Online. Vers. 45.3. Nov. 1999. Encyclopedia
Britannica. 12 May 2003 <http://www.anything.edu/gov/example.html>. |
A nonperiodical publication on CD-ROM or diskette
NOTE: In this case you would cite the work much in the same way that you would a book, however you must include the format of the publication.
"Choochokam."
The American Heritage Dictionary. 3rd ed. CD-ROM. New York: Oxford
UP, 1999. |
| MacDonald, Jim. DiscLit: American Authors. Diskette. Boston: Hall, 1993. |
A periodical publication on CD-ROM
Moore,
Megan. "The Linguistics of Time." German Quarterly 23
(1999): 13-34. InfoTrac: Magazine Index Plus.
CD-ROM. Information Access. Apr. 1998. |
A painting or photograph
Coale,
Gordon. Photographs of Man. 1998. Seattle Art Museum, Seattle. 23 June
2002. <http://www.anything.edu/gov/example.html>. |
A Map
"Olympia,
Washington." Map. U.S. Gazetteer. US Census Bureau. 13 Nov. 2003
<http://www.anything.edu/gov/example.html>.
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An E-mail
Berhard,
Jim. E-mail to the author. 23 June 1998. |