Citation

MLA Core Elements

MLA has a “menu” of 9 citation elements that you may include in your citation. 

If you are citing an unfamiliar or confusing type of source, you can refer to the menu to decide which elements are appropriate. 

MLA Style is flexible--two people may cite the same source slightly differently without either one breaking MLA rules! What is essential is that your citation is useful to your readers--by looking at your citation, the reader will understand the kind of source used and know where it could be found. 

1. Author/Primary Creator. 
2. "Title of Source."
3. Title of Container,
4. Contributors,
5. Version,
6. Number,
7. Publisher,
8. Publication Date,
9. Location.

note that items 3-9 may repeat, depending on the particulars of the source

Below, each element is elaborated on, with examples and formatting guidance. With this information, it is possible to cite any source no matter how unusual.

1. Author.
The primary creator of the source.

• Usually this is, literally, the author--in a book or article, this information should be very clear!
  • Tomalin, Margaret. "Bradamante and Marfisa: An Analysis of the Guerriere of the Orlando Furioso." Modern Language Review, vol. 71, no. 3, 1976, pp. 540-52. JSTOR, doi:10.2307/3725747. 
• The "primary creator" may also be a producer, artist, or other person (or multiple people).
  • Prince-Bythewood, Gina, director. The Old Guard. Netflix, 2020, www.netflix.com/title/81038963 
• If there is no author (as with many websites), just leave this element out and start your citation entry with the title. 
  • "Women in Post-Classical Warfare." Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_post-classical_warfare. Accessed 17 March 2022.
• A source may have multiple authors.
  • Guzzetti, Linda, and Antje Ziemann. “Women in the Fourteenth-Century Venetian Scuole.” Renaissance Quarterly, vol. 55, no. 4, Winter 2002, p. 1151. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2307/1262100.
  • Fink, Joseph, and Jeffrey Cranor, producers. "13 - A Story About You." Welcome to Night Vale. Voiced by Cecil Baldwin, episode 13, Night Vale Presents, 15 Dec. 2012, beta.prx.org/stories/229705 
• If the author is the same as the publishing organization, omit the author
  • "Where should the original author’s name appear when citing indirect sources?" MLA Style Center. Modern Language Association, 20 Sep 2023, style.mla.org/citing-indirect-sources/
• Formatting Notes: See Section 3: MLA Author Formatting on this page

• Advanced Citation: In works that have many contributors playing different roles, choosing the “primary creator” will depend on the focus of your essay. For a film or tv show, the “primary creator” may be the director, or the lead actor, or the producer; but if you are writing an essay on the costumes, you may decide that the “primary creator” for your purposes is the costume designer. There may be multiple right answers regarding who is the primary creator in any given situation! All of these three options are correct ways to cite the same film, and there are many more potential correct citations!
  • Prince-Bythewood, Gina, director. The Old Guard. Performance by Charlize Theron and Kiki Layne, Netflix, 2020, www.netflix.com/title/81038963 
  • The Old Guard. Netflix, 2020, www.netflix.com/title/81038963 
  • Theron, Charlize and Kiki Layne, Performers. The Old Guard. Netflix, 2020, www.netflix.com/title/81038963 

2. Title of Source.
The name of the book, article, webpage, episode, etc--this is the most important part of your citation entry!

• Usually, this element is straightforward--it's what's on the cover of the book or the top of the article.
• Formatting Notes: If the source is typically self-contained (like a full book, an entire website, or a play), italicize the title. If the source is contained within a larger source (like a journal article or single webpage) put the title in “quotation marks.”
  • Tomalin, Margaret. "Bradamante and Marfisa: An Analysis of the Guerriere of the Orlando Furioso." Modern Language Review, vol. 71, no. 3, 1976, pp. 540-52. JSTOR, doi:10.2307/3725747. 
  • Jankowski, Theodora A. Pure Resistance : Queer Virginity in Early Modern English Drama. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000.

• Advanced Citation: Some kinds of sources don't have a formal title--for example, a personal interview, an archival document, or a social media post. In this case, the title will be a one or two word descriptor of the source (in the case of an interview or document) or the starting text of the post (in the case of social media). 
  • Johnson, Emily. Phone Interview. 22 Mar. 2022. 
  • Bozeman, Ada. Letter to Conrad Hilton, 1945. Ada Bozeman Papers (1908-1994), RG 10.1, Carton 1, Sarah Lawrence College Archives, Bronxville, NY. 
  • SLC Library. "#tbt Students relaxing under Magnolia trees, circa 1970s. Photographer Gary Gladstone and courtesy of the Sarah Lawrence College Archives." Twitter, 11 March 2021, 11:02am, twitter.com/SLCLibrary/status/1370042348739117057?cxt=HHwWgoCyvbyQr4MmAAAA 
  • Caabe23. "Looking for knowledge - How common were female warriors during the middle ages, particularly western Europe." Reddit, 9 Mar. 2018, 1:27pm, reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/838wkb/looking_for_knowledge_how_common_were_female/

3. Title of Container,
The title of the book, journal, website, or platform that the source is contained in. 

• Some kinds of sources are published or made available within a larger whole--the "container." Some sources, especially some online sources, have more than one container.
• A regular print book has no container; neither does an entire webpage; nor a whole movie viewed on DVD.
• But many common sources have containers:
• A journal article is always contained in a journal
  • Tomalin, Margaret. "Bradamante and Marfisa: An Analysis of the Guerriere of the Orlando Furioso." Modern Language Review,  vol. 71, no. 3,1976, pp. 540-52. 
• If you cite a single chapter of a book, that chapter is contained in the book.
  • Neville, Cynthia. "Making a Manly Impression: The Image of Kingship on Scottish Royal Seals of the High Middle Ages." Nine Centuries of Man: Manhood and Masculinities in Scottish History, edited by Lynn Abrams and Elizabeth Ewan, Edinburgh University Press, 2017, pp. 101-21.
• A webpage or social media post is contained by its website or platform.
  • Caabe23. "Looking for knowledge - How common were female warriors during the middle ages, particularly western Europe." Reddit, 9 Mar. 2018, 1:27pm, www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/838wkb/looking_for_knowledge_how_common_were_female/
• A journal article accessed through an online database is contained both by the journal and by the database. 
  • Tomalin, Margaret. "Bradamante and Marfisa: An Analysis of the Guerriere of the Orlando Furioso." Modern Language Review, vol. 71, no. 3, 1976, pp. 540-52. JSTOR, doi:10.2307/3725747. 
• An e-book, though books are self-contained, is actually contained by the e-book platform
  • Jochens, Jenny. Old Norse Images of Women. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv512wbn. 
  • Mainer, Sergi. “Contrasting Kingly and Knightly Masculinities in Barbour’s Bruce.” Nine Centuries of Man: Manhood and Masculinities in Scottish History, edited by Lynn Abrams and Elizabeth Ewan, Edinburgh University Press, 2017, pp. 122–41. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt1g051n4.12. 
• Formatting Notes: Italicize the container title(s)
  • Tomalin, Margaret. "Bradamante and Marfisa: An Analysis of the Guerriere of the Orlando Furioso." Modern Language Review, vol. 71, no. 3, 1976, pp. 540-52. JSTOR, doi.org/10.2307/3725747. 
  • Jochens, Jenny. Old Norse Images of Women. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv512wbn. 

4. Other Contributors,
The name of the editor, translator, illustrator, or similar, if the work has contributors in addition to the author/primary creator

• If the work you are using has been translated or edited, it is important to include that information.
• Formatting Notes: precede the contributor's name with the role they played, i.e.: edited by, translated by, illustrated by, directed by, etc. If there are multiple contributors with different roles, separate the names/roles with a comma. 
  • Ariosto, Ludovico. Orlando Furioso: A New Verse Translation. Translated by David R. Slavitt, Belknap Press, 2009. 

• Advanced Citation: While editors and translators are the most common type of contributor when dealing with scholarly sources, there are other cases where it may be important to include a contributor, or situations where you may have freedom about which person who helped create the source is the "author," and which is a "contributor."
  • Other cases where it may be important to include a contributor:
    • When a source has many contributors who played different roles, each of who you want to highlight
      • Baldwin, Cecil, voice actor. "13 - A Story About You." Welcome to Night Vale. Produced by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, Music by Disparition, episode 13, Night Vale Presents, 15 Dec. 2012, beta.prx.org/stories/229705 
      • It would be equally correct to format it: Fink, Joseph and Jeffrey Cranor, producers. "13 - A Story About You." Welcome to Night Vale. Voiced by Cecil Baldwin, episode 13, Night Vale Presents, 15 Dec. 2012, beta.prx.org/stories/229705 
    • When citing a cover of a song, in order to attribute both the performance and the original composition
      • Peter, Paul, and Mary, performance. “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Music and lyrics composed by Bob Dylan, Warner Bros. Records, 1963
    • When the illustrations in a work are as important to your project as the text
      • Barrie, James. Peter Pan. Illustrated by Greg Hildebrandt, Unicorn Publishing Company, 1990. 
  • There are times when you may use your judgement and choose to feature, for example, the translator instead of the author as the primary contributor, if the work of the translator is most relevant to your analysis. In such a case, you would include the author as as a contributor. 
    • Ariosto, Ludovico. Orlando Furioso: A New Verse Translation. Translated by David R. Slavitt, Belknap Press, 2009. 
    • Slavitt, David R, translator. Orlando Furioso: A New Verse Translation. Written by Ludovico Ariosto, Belknap Press, 2009

5. Version,
The edition of the work, if there are multiple editions or versions.  

• Different editions of a work may have small--or large--alterations. In a book, changes range from different page numbers to added chapters, to very different content. Other source types may also have variations--a directors cut or extended version of a film, for example
• Formatting Notes: Abbreviate the word "edition" as ed. 
  • Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespeare. Edited by Stephen Greenblatt et al., Third ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2016.
  • Lucas, George, Producer. Star Wars: A New Hope, 1977. Original unaltered ed., Lucasfilm, 2006.

6. Number,
Volume and issue of a journal, newspaper, or other periodical; the volume of a multi-volume book; the episode number of a tv show or podcast

• Academic journals are typically published quarterly or monthly. Each new year that a journal is published begins a new volume of the journal. The quarterly or monthly publications are the issues of that volume. 
  • For example, a monthly journal in its 17th year of publication publishes its March edition. This would be volume 17, issue 3.
  • Some journals may be published annually, in which case there will only be a volume number; other journals only count issue numbers. 
• Formatting Notes: Abbreviate volume as vol. and issue as no., short for number. Write out other terms, like episode or season.
  • Tomalin, Margaret. "Bradamante and Marfisa: An Analysis of the Guerriere of the Orlando Furioso." Modern Language Review, vol. 71, no. 3, 1976, pp. 540-52. JSTOR, doi.org/10.2307/3725747. 
  • Oates, Whitney and Eugene O'Neill, editors. The Complete Greek Drama : All the Extant Tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, and the Comedies of Aristophanes and Menander, in a Variety of Translations. Translated by Richard Aldington et al., vol. I, Random House, 1938
  • Baldwin, Cecil, voice actor. "13 - A Story About You." Welcome to Night Vale. Produced by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, Music by Disparition, episode 13, Night Vale Presents, 15 Dec. 2012, beta.prx.org/stories/229705

7. Publisher,
Organization responsible for producing, publishing, or making available the source. 

• Do not list a publisher if the publisher name is also the container title 
  • Journals, newspapers, and magazines will never have a publisher listed in their citations
  • Websites where the publishing organization is also the name of the website will not list a publisher
  • Self-published works have no publisher
• If the author/primary creator is the same organization that publishes the work, list that organization only as the publisher
• Formatting Notes: Write out the name of the publisher
  • Ariosto, Lodovico. Orlando Furioso : A New Verse Translation. Translated by David R Slavitt, Belknap Press, 2009 
  • Jankowski, Theodora. Pure Resistance : Queer Virginity in Early Modern English Drama. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000
  • Baldwin, Cecil, voice actor. "A Story About You." Welcome to Night Vale. Written and produced by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, Music by Disparition, episode 13, Night Vale Presents, 15 Dec. 2012, beta.prx.org/stories/229705
  • Prince-Bythewood, Gina, director. The Old Guard. Netflix, 2020, https://www.netflix.com/title/81038963 
  • Lucas, George, Producer. Star Wars: A New Hope, 1977. Original unaltered ed., Lucasfilm, 2006.
  • Porath, Jason. "The Master List of Historical Women in Combat." Rejected Princesses, 1 Apr. 2015, rejectedprincesses.com/women-in-combat. 
    • This entry has no publisher, because it is both self-published and the website that "publishes" the material is the container
  • MLA Handbook. 8th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2016.

    • The Modern Language Association of America both wrote and published the MLA Handbook; we only include that information in the publisher field. 

• Advanced Citation

  • If a book lists multiple publishers, there are two ways of formatting, depending on the context
    • If the work is co-published by two separate companies, list both, separated by a forward slash /
    • If one publisher is a division/imprint of another company, list only the division/imprint
  • If a film lists multiple companies involved in production, include the organization that had the "primary overall responsibility for it" (MLA 41)
  • If a lecture or presentation is sponsored by an organization or given at a convention or scholarly topic, the convention/conference name and sponsoring body is the publisher
    • Johnson, Emily. "Bodily Power and the Inviolate Body: The Virgin Conqueror in the Orlando Furioso." Messy Bodies Workshop Series, Medieval And Renaissance Interdisciplinary Network, 17 April 2018, New York University, New York City.

8. Publication Date,
The publication/copyright date of the edition of the work you are using.

• For books and academic journals, this is the publication/copyright year of the edition you are using. Some journals may also give you a month or season, if so, include that as well. If a book has been republished multiple times, cite the year that your particular edition was published--usually the most recent year.
  • Tomalin, Margaret. "Bradamante and Marfisa: An Analysis of the Guerriere of the Orlando Furioso." Modern Language Review, vol. 71, no. 3, July 1976, pp. 540-52.
  • Jankowski, Theodora A. Pure Resistance : Queer Virginity in Early Modern English Drama. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000.
• Newspapers, certain websites, and some other sources may have specific dates available; in these cases, include the entire date.
  • "Bradamante". Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 May 2010, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bradamante-fictional-character. 
• If a publication date is not available for an online source, instead include “accessed on Day Month Year” at the end of your citation.
  • "Orlando Furioso." Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlando_Furioso accessed on 1 Apr. 2022. 
• Formatting Notes
  • Abbreviate months of more than 4 letters to the first 3 letters: Mar., Apr., May, June, July, Aug. 
  • Order the date Day Month Year: 4 May 2010, 1 Apr. 2022

• Advanced Citation: What do you do when there are multiple publication dates listed? As a general rule, cite the publication date of the precise version of the source that you are referencing--this makes it most straightforward for your reader to find this information themselves. If the original publication year is also extremely meaningful, please read Section 6: Supplemental Elements, at the bottom of this page. 
  • A periodical with different print and digital publication dates: Cite the date when the version you're using was published. 
  • A film uploaded to Youtube years later: Use the date the video was posted. If you also want to include the original release year, see Part 6: Supplemental Elements. 
  • A short story republished in an anthology: Use the publication date of the anthology. If you also want to include the original release year, see Part 6: Supplemental Elements. 

9. Location.
Where to find the source within its container.

• The page numbers in a book or journal (if the source is contained within a book or journal).
  • Tomalin, Margaret. "Bradamante and Marfisa: An Analysis of the Guerriere of the Orlando Furioso." Modern Language Review, vol. 71, no. 3, 1976, pp. 540-52. 
  • Neville, Cynthia. "Making a Manly Impression: The Image of Kingship on Scottish Royal Seals of the High Middle Ages." Nine Centuries of Man: Manhood and Masculinities in Scottish History, edited by Lynn Abrams and Elizabeth Ewan, Edinburgh University Press, 2017, pp. 101-21.
• The URL for online sources (whether the source is an entire website, or contained within another website)
  • "Orlando Furioso." Wikipedia, accessed on 1 Apr. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlando_Furioso
• DOI for online academic articles (when the article is both contained within a journal and contained within a database or website)\
  • Tomalin, Margaret. "Bradamante and Marfisa: An Analysis of the Guerriere of the Orlando Furioso." Modern Language Review, 1976, pp. 540-52. JSTOR, doi:10.2307/3725747. 
    • Notice that the above article has BOTH a page location (within the journal) and a DOI location (on the database)--because it has two containers (Modern Language Review and JSTOR), it also has two locations
• Formatting Notes: 
  • Abbreviate page as p. and multiple pages as pp. 
  • Most online academic journal articles have a unique permanent URL called a Digital Object Identifier, or DOI. It will typically be included on the article's webpage, appearing either as a URL (https://doi.org/10.XXXXXXX) or as a string of numbers (10.XXXXXXXXXX); in your citation, remove the URL portion and write it as doi:10.XXXXXXXXXX
  • Do not begin a URL with https://. Just begin with www. 
    • If a webpage has a "permalink" or stable URL, use that in your entry instead of copying the web address at the top of your browser.

• Advanced Citation: There are other sources where you will need to include the location--in these cases, the location is a place.
  • Live Performances, Conventions, and Conferences:  Include the date you attended the performance, panel, etc, as well as the location. 
    • Sprague, Shea. Don't Muchmind. Directed by Michelle Cowles, 16 February 2022, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY. First Look Reading. 
    • Johnson, Emily. "Bodily Power and the Inviolate Body: The Virgin Conqueror in the Orlando Furioso." Messy Bodies Workshop Series, Medieval And Renaissance Interdisciplinary Network, 17 April 2018, New York University, New York City.
  • Phyisical Archival Works: Include the name and location of the archive, as well as the collection and box number. This information will be in the finding aid on the archive's website or you can ask the archivist for help. 
    • Bozeman, Ada. Letter to Conrad Hilton, 1945. Ada Bozeman Papers (1908-1994), RG 10.1, Carton 1, Sarah Lawrence College Archives, Bronxville, NY. 
  • Physical Artworks: If you have viewed a piece of art in a museum or other physical location, include the gallery name and location.
    • Shepherd, Margaret, artist. Song of Songs: The Bible's Great Love Poems in Calligraphy. 29 March-12 June 2022, Barbara Walters Gallery, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY. 
    • Gentileschi, Artemisia, artist. "Judith Slaying Holofernes," 1613. Museo Capodimonte, Naples, Italy.