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Loyola University Chicago Libraries

Arrupe College

A Guide to library resources for the Arrupe College of Loyola University Chicago.

MLA Quick Guide Table of Contents:

  • Articles
    • From a journal, magazine, and newspaper
  • Books
    • Print
    • Entire book, edited book, book chapter, work in an anthology/collection, multivolume works
  • Ebooks
    • Online
    • Entire book, edited book, book chapter
  • Web Pages
    • Entire website, single web pages
    • Pages or sites with no author or date or with a corporate author
  • Media
    • Social media, images, music, videos
  • In-text Citations
    • Author(s) in sentence or parenthesis, no page numbers, etc.
  • Authors
    • None or multiple

Other MLA Style Resources

Articles

From an Online Database (ex: EBSCOhost, JSTOR):

Author(s) (Last, First). "Title." Journal Title (italicized), volume number, issue number, publication date, page numbers, database, permalink/stable URL or doi, date accessed.

In Text:

(Langhamer 176).

For more examples of citations of other types of journal articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

Article in a Magazine from an Online Database (ex: EBSCOhost, ProQuest):

In Text:

(Coll 18).

For more examples of citations of other types of magazine articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

Article in an Online Magazine (Not from a Database):

In-Text:

(Martinez).

For more examples of citations of other types of magazine articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

Article from a Print Magazine:

In-Text: 

(Poniewozik 70).

For more examples of citations of other types of magazine articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

Article from an Online Newspaper (including from a database):

In-Text:

(Gutowski and St. Clair 4).

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

Article from a Print Newspaper:

In-Text:

(Kingsley A1).

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

Books

Entire Book:

In-Text:

(Burnett 8).

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

Chapter in a Book:

In-Text:

(Camacci 29).

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

In Text:

(Bell 28)

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

In Text:

(Rampersad 22)

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

In Text:

(Swanson, 14)

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

Ebooks

NOTE:

  • Avoid using device-specific numbering systems, since they will vary among different devices.
  • If the book has chapters, sections, or other stable numbering systems, it is permissible to identify parts of the text that way.

In Text:

(Verstynen and Voytek ch. 1)

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual, the MLA Style Center, or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

NOTE:

  • Avoid using device-specific numbering systems, since they will vary among different devices.
  • If the book has chapters, sections, or other stable numbering systems, it is permissible to identify parts of the text that way.

In Text:

(Verstynen and Voytek ch. 1)

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual, the MLA Style Center, or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

NOTE:

  • Avoid using device-specific numbering systems, since they will vary among different devices.
  • If the book has chapters, sections, or other stable numbering systems, it is permissible to identify parts of the text that way.

In Text:

(Tracy ch. 3)

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual, the MLA Style Center, or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

Web Pages

NOTE:

  • Include the editor, author, or compiler name (if available) before the name of the site.
  • Although the date accessed is an optional element, the MLA Handbook recommends including it because "online works typically could be changed or removed at any time," therefore making the access date an important indicator of the version you consulted. (MLA Handbook p. 53).

 

In Text:

(Civil War in Art)

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

NOTE: 

  • If the publisher is the same as the website name, only list it once.
  • Although the date accessed is an optional element, the MLA Handbook recommends including it because "online works typically could be changed or removed at any time," therefore making the access date an important indicator of the version you consulted. (MLA Handbook p. 53).

In Text:

(Fong, "Cute Reindeer Cake Pops Tutorial")

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

In Text:

("Mexican Culture")

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

NOTE:

  • When a document's author and publisher are separate organizations, give both names, starting with the author.
  • When the organization is author and publisher, begin the entry with the work's title, list no author, and then list the organization.

In Text:

(National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism)

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

Media

NOTE:

  • Cite the original post or picture, not the shared post or picture.
  • If more than two authors are involved, use "et al" at the end of the author section.
  • If a tweet lacks a title or text, use a description instead (ex: "Photo of letter from Shirley Jackson").
  • Tweets under 140 characters: list full text of the tweet as the title.
  • Tweets over 140 or that include emojis: truncate the title by using an ellipsis at the end (ex: "Today is Frederick Douglass' 200th Birthday...").

In Text:

(@persiankiwi)

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

In Text:

(@mplteensection)

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

In Text:

(The Library of Congress)

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

NOTE:

  • If the author's name is the same as the uploader, only cite the author once.

In Text:
  • Citing whole video: ("Gaming and Productivity")
  • Citing a quote or scene from video (provide hours, minutes, and seconds as displayed in media player): ("Gaming and Productivity" 00:01:04)

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

NOTE:

  • The medium of publication (i.e. book) and materials of composition (i.e. oil on canvas) could be included at the end of the entry if important to your discussion. 
  • If you viewed the image online, include the date the image was posted on the site. 
  • A period follows the work's title on works viewed online because the date refers to when the work was created, not when it was published on the website.

In Text:

(Wood)

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

NOTE:

  • The medium of publication (i.e. book) and materials of composition (i.e. oil on canvas) could be included at the end of the entry if important to your discussion. 
  • If you viewed the image online, include the date the image was posted on the site. 
  • A period follows the work's title on works viewed online because the date refers to when the work was created, not when it was published on the website.

In Text:

(Wood)

For more examples of citations of other types of newspaper articles, see the MLA Style Manual or Purdue OWL's MLA Guide.

In-text Citations

One author:

  • Maggie Jones noted that reading is a "foundational block for elementary students" (5).
  • Jones discussed that children need to begin reading at an early age to do well in school (5).

Two authors:

  • Williams and Johnson argues that schools should adapt rapidly to change (5).

Three or more authors:

Include the surname of the first author followed by et al.

  • According to Smith et al, spending time at the library improves grades (10).

 

If more than one author in your bibliography have the same last name, include all the author's first initials:

  • (J Anderson 20)

If more than one authors in your bibliography have the same last name and first initial, provide their full names:

  • (John Anderson 20)

One author:

  • Children need to begin reading at an early age to do well in school (Jones 5).

Two authors: 

  • Schools should adapt rapidly to change (Williams and Johnson 5).

Three or more authors:

Include the last name of the first author followed by et al.

  • Studies have shown that spending time at the library improves grades (Smith et al. 10).

If the source has explicit chapters or sections and are labeled accordingly:

Provide the relevant number and use the appropriate label, such as section (sec.) or chapter (ch.)

  • (Martin ch. 1)
  • (Thompson sec. 6)

When the source has no page numbers or chapter/section numbers:

Do not provide a number in the parenthetical citation. This is commonly used for webpages.

  • (Martin)

Indirect source: a source cited in another source.

For quotations from such sources, use "qtd. in" to indicate the source used.

  • Samuel Edmonds admitted that Hannah Ball was an "extraordinary speaker" (qtd. in Weisman 34).

Authors

In Bibliography:

Last name, first name (and middle initial if provided)

Example: Smith, Karie J.

In Text:

(Smith 22)

In Bibliography: 

First author last name, first author first name, and second author first name, second author last name (and middle initial if provided)

Example: Smith, Karie J. and Micah Johnson.

In Text:

(Smith and Johnson 14).

In Bibliography:

Last name, first name, et al.

Example: Smith, Karie J. et al.

In Text:

(Smith et al. 18).

In Bibliography:

List the title of the work first

Example: "The Estate Tax Debate." The Wilson Quarterly vol. 25, no. 1....

In Text:

Shorten the title of the work to the first noun phrase or word (if necessary). Keep in mind that this helps lead the reader to the correct entry in your bibliography.

Example: ("Estate Tax" 20)

 

Note

The various examples used on this guide come from either Purdue OWLNWMSU's APA Style Citation Examples guide, or the MLA Style Center.