Library Guide to Citing Information Sources (MLA Style)

---

When doing any academic research, it is important to fully document any and all information sources. The reason for this documentation is to give appropriate credit to the author, publisher, or creator of the original work and to allow your readers to consult your sources for themselves. Complete and correct citation of information sources is also necessary to avoid plagiarism. Please consult the UMKC General Catalog Policies and Procedures section under "Student Conduct" for further information on the issue of plagiarism.

Source used to prepare this guide:
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Ed. Joseph Gibaldi. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003.
Ready Ref PE1478 .M57 2003.

---

Print Sources

According to the MLA Handbook, whenever a another's work is used as a resource for research, it must be documented by indicating what was borrowed from the work (e.g. facts, opinions, or quotations). Each entry in list of cited works usually contains the following elements: author, title, and publication information. The list must be double-spaced. Entries should have a hanging indent (not shown here).

Sample Citation - Book, Single Author

Chapman, Raymond. The Language of English Literature. London: Edward Arnold, 1982.

Sample Citation - Book, Two or More Authors

Calas, Nicolas, and Elena Calas. Icons and Images of the Sixties. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1971.

Sample Citation - Book, Edited

Drabble, Margaret, ed. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985.

Sample Citation - Book, An Edition

Jakobson, Roman. Language in Literature. Ed. Krystyna Pomorska and Stephen Rudy. Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1987.

Sample Citation - Journal Article, Continuous Pagination

Ducille, Ann. "Dyes and Dolls: Multicultural Barbie and the Merchandising of Difference." Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies 6 (1994): 348-368.

Sample Citation - Journal Article, Separate Paging for Each Issue

Albada, Kelly F. "The Public and Private Dialogue About the American Family on Television." Journal of Communication 50.4 (2000): 79-110.

Sample Citation: Newspaper Article

Yardley, Jonathan. "Civil War Washington, Truly Captured." Washington Post 13 August 2003: C01.

Sample Citation: Magazine Article

Quammen, David. "The Bear Slayer." Atlantic Monthly Mar. 2003: 45-63.

Return to top of page

---

Citations in Text - Print Sources

Citations throughout the text of a paper or manuscript should include the author and page of the source consulted during research. Briefly identifying a work within the text will allow readers to locate the source of information in the alphabetical list of references. This is sometimes known as a parenthetical reference.

Samples: (Tommasini 197) (Morris and McDougal 210-215)

---

Electronic Sources

According to the MLA Handbook, whenever a another's work is used as a resource for research, it must be documented by indicating what was borrowed from the work (e.g. facts, opinions, or quotations). Each entry in list of cited works usually contains the following elements: author, title, and publication information. References to electronic works must provide more information than print citations, including date of access and URL. The list must be double-spaced. Entries should have a hanging indent (not shown here).

Sample Citations - Articles from Library Databases

Werstine, Paul. "A Century of 'Bad' Shakespeare Quartos." Shakespeare Quarterly 50.3 (1999): 310-333. JSTOR. UMKC University Libraries. 18 July 2003 <http://www.jstor.org/search>.

Van Oort, Richard. "Cognitive Science and the Problem of Representation." Poetics Today 24.2 (2003): 237-295. Academic Search Elite. EBSCOHost. UMKC University Libraries. 23 June 2003 <http://www.search.epnet.com/>.

Sample Citations - Articles from Electronic Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers

Hamlin, William. "Elizabeth Cary's Mariam and the Critique of Pure Reason." Early Modern Literary Studies 9.1 (2003): 2.1-22. 14 August 2003 <http://purl.oclc.org/emls/09-1/hamlcary.html>.

Hirsh, Michael and Daniel Klaidman. "What Went Wrong." Newsweek 20 August 2003. 24 August 2003 <http://www.msnbc.com/news/953562.asp>.

Williams, Daniel. "U.N. to Resume Humanitarian Work in Iraq." Washington Post 21 August 2003. 24 August 2003 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27363-2003Aug21.html>.

Sample Citation - Electronic Books

Malet, Lucas. The Carissima. London: Methuen & Co., 1896. Victorian Women Writers Project. Ed. Perry Willett. Feb.1999. Indiana U. 21 August 2003 <http://www.indiana.edu/~letrs/vwwp/malet/carissima.html>.

Sample Citations - Websites

American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library. 2003. Library of Congress. 19 August 2003 <http://memory.loc.gov/>.

"E-mail Deluge Triggered by Worm." CNN.com. 2003. Cable News Network. 20 August 2003 <http://money.cnn.com/2003/08/20/technology/worms.reut/index.htm>.

---

Citations in Text - Electronic Sources

Citations throughout the text of a paper or manuscript should include the author and page or paragraph number of the source consulted during research. Briefly identifying a work within the text will allow readers to locate the source of information in the alphabetical list of references. This is sometimes known as a parenthetical reference.

Sample: (Phllips par. 18)

When citing a work that has no pagination or other type of reference markers, it is preferable to identify the work by including the title or author information in the text.

Sample: Marsha Rosenthal's Our Undeniable Future offers a different perspective.

---

Further Information

For more information and specific examples, please consult:

• MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Ed. Joseph Gibaldi. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003.
  Ready Ref PE1478 .M57 2003.

---

For further assistance, please contact the
Miller Nichols Library Reference Desk at (816) 235-1534.

Revised by Carrie Donovan