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Citation and Documentation Guide

Guidelines and examples of citing information using MLA, APA, and other formats.

MLA - 7th edition: Print Articles

An Article in a Reference Book:

"Perennial." Def. 4c. The Oxford English Dict. 2nd ed. 1989. Print.

An Article in a Biblical Dictionary:

Wessel, W. W. "Blessing." The New Bible Dictionary. Ed. J.D. Douglas, et al. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1967. 160. Print.

Note: In specialized reference works in which entries are attributed to authors, then follow the more complete format as follows: Author/Editor. Title. Volume #. City: Publisher, Year. page #'s. # of volumes. See Anthology entry.

 

An Article in a Journal with Continuous Annual Pagination:

Marotti, Arthur F. "Countertransference, the Communication Process, and the Dimensions of Psychoanalytic Criticism." Critical Inquiry 4 (1978): 471-89. Print.

An Article in a Journal that Paginates Each Issue Separately:

Festinger, Leon. "Cognitive Dissonance." Scientific American 7.2 (Oct. 1962): 93-102. Print.

An Article from a Daily Newspaper:

Lublin, Joann S. "On Idle: The Unemployed Shun Much Mundane Work, at Least for a While." Wall Street Journal 5 Dec. 1980: 1+. Microform.

An Article in a Magazine or Journal:

Serrill, Michael S. "Bareknuckle Banking." Time 30 July 1990: 48-50. Microform.

MLA: Basic Format for Non-Periodical Print Publications

For most books, arrange the information into three units (Name, Title, Publisher), each followed by a period:

  1. Name of the author, editor, narrator, or translator of the work.
  2. Title of the work (italicized if the work is independent; in Roman type and quotation marks if the work is part of a larger work).
  3. Edition.
  4. Number of volumes.
  5. Publisher: city of publication, name of publisher (short version; see section 7.5 in MLA Handbook), year. If not available use n.p.
  6. Date of publication (day, month, and year, as available); if nothing is available, use n.d.
  7. Medium of publication, e.g., Print.
  8. Date of access (day, month, and year).

This information is taken from the title page of the book and the reverse side of the title page (the copyright page).

MLA: Basic Format for Print Periodical Publications (Journals, Magazines, Newspapers)

Basic Format for Periodical Print Publications (Newspapers, Magazines, Journals)

  1. Name of the author(s); corporate author, or anonymous author.
  2. Title of the work (in quotation marks).
  3. Name of periodical (italicized).
  4. Series number or name.
  5. Volumenumber.issue number, if available.
  6. Date of publication (day, month, and year, as available).
  7. Page numbers.
  8. Medium of publication, e.g., Print.

MLA Resources