Modern Language Association (MLA) Style
Citing in MLA: The Basics
Book with a single author or editor
In-Text Formula: (Author last name page #). This goes at the end of a sentence.
In-text Example: (Schoenberger 10).
Works Cited Formula: Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. City of Publication, Publisher, Publication Date.
*Note: the City of Publication should only be used if the book was published before 1900, if the publisher has offices in more than one country, or if the publisher is unknown in North America.
Works Cited Example: Schoenberger, Melissa. Cultivating Peace: The Virgilian Georgic in English, 1650-1750. Bucknell University Press: 2019.
Journal article from an online database
In-Text Formula: (Author last name page #). This goes at the end of a sentence.
In-text Example: (Amatangelo 250).
Works Cited Formula: Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, page range (if given). name of database, URL or DOI link. Date of Access (provide only if you or your professor wish to).
Works Cited Example: Amatangelo, Susan. "Coming to Her Senses: The Journey of the Mother in La Lunga Vita di Marianna Ucria." Italica, vol. 79, no. 2, 2002, pp. 240-256. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3655997.
Online newspaper/magazine article
In-text Formula: (author last name). This goes at the end of a sentence.
In-text Example: (Wiegand).
Works Cited Formula: Author last name, first. "Article Title." newspaper title, date published, link access date.
Works Cited Example: Wiegand, Chris. "‘Just to see Tom Hiddleston would be enough!’ My eye-popping night with the fans who mob stage doors." The Guardian, 04 March, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/mar/04/tom-hiddleston-fans-stage-doors-hollywood-west-end-tiktoks Accessed 05 March, 2025.
Page from a website
In-text Formula: ("name of page"). This goes at the end of a sentence.
In-text Example: ("Glosario").
Works Cited Formula: Author last name, first name (if given). "Title of webpage." title of website, link. Access date.
Works Cited Example: "Glosario." Cineglos, https://cineglos.holycross.edu/glosario/a/. Accessed August 18, 2024.
Citing Primary Sources in MLA
Primary source repositorys like Eighteenth Century Collections Online or private archives will almost always have a sample of the citation style they would like you to use for your materials. If for some reason you cannot find an example, your best move is to craft a citation with all of the neccesary identifying information, such as:
- Author or creator of what you're citing.
- Title of work. If that work is part of a larger work (like the chapter of a book, or a song on an album), you would put the name of the larger work in Itallics and the specific piece of it you are quoting in quotations, as seen below. If you just have a stand alone work with no larger work attached, default to itallics.
- Publication information of any kind -this could look like a commission credit for a piece of artwork to the name of a printing press.
- Name of repository. This could be something like Eighteenth Century Collections or the name of the archive or museum you found the source in.
- Link to item if found digitally.
Such a citation would usually look like this:
Author/Creator Last name, First. "Title of object or source in quotations," Title of larger work. Publishing information of any kind, name of repository, link.
Crafting citations is a skill that takes lots of practice! If you're ever unsure of your citations, please consult a librarian.
