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Citation Formats

MLA 8 and 9

The MLA Handbook, 8th edition, has abandoned the "print" v. "web" designations, and now uses a universal set of guidelines for all sources focusing on "containers" of information. The 9th edition of the handbook continues the same format and provides additional examples. For specific guidance, please refer to the official MLA 9 handbook (print). 

Journal Articles

Journal article with a DOI (Digital Object Identifier):

Kincaid, Jamaica. "In History." Callaloo, vol. 24, no. 2, Spring 2001, pp. 620-26. Project Muse, doi:10.1353/cal.2001.0097.

Parenthetical citation: (Kincaid 622)

Journal article from a database:

Capperdoni, Alessandra. "Why the Avant-Garde? The Function of the Letter in Canadian Avant-Garde Poetics." Canadian Literature, no. 210/211, Autumn/Winter 2011, pp. 97-114. Academic Search Complete, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=73785263&site=ehost-live

Parenthetical Citation: (Capperdoni 100)

Journal article in print (more than 2 authors):

Cooper, Stewart E., et al. "Professional Preparation and Continuing Education for Beginning, Entry, Midlevel, and Senior Consulting Psychologists." Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, vol. 59, no. 1, 2007, pp. 1-16.

Parenthetical Citation: (Cooper et al. 14)

Journal article reprinted in a book series:

Bergmann, Harrier F. "‘A Piercing Virtue': Emily Dickinson in Margaret Drabble's The Waterfall." Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by,  Jeffrey W. Hunter, vol. 129, Gale, 2000, pp. 124-29. Originally published in Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 36, no. 2, Summer 1990, pp. 181-93.

Parenthetical Citation: (Bergmann 183)

Journal article from an online repository or other open access site:

Shehan, Constance L., and Amanda B. Moras. “Deconstructing Laundry: Gendered Technologies and the Reluctant Redesign of Household Labor.” Michigan Family Review, vol. 11, no. 1, 2006, pp. 39-54. hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.4919087.0011.104.

Parenthetical Citation: (Shehan and Moras 50)

Articles from Magazines, Newspapers, Encyclopedias, and the Web

Print magazine article:

Kates, Robert W. “Population and Consumption: What We Know, What We Need to Know.” Environment, Apr. 2000, pp. 10-19.

Parenthetical Citation: (Kates 12)

Online magazine article:

Deresiewicz, William. “The Death of the Artist—and the Birth of the Creative Entrepreneur.” The Atlantic, 28 Dec.2014, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/01/the-death-of-the-artist-and-the-birth-of-the-creative-entrepreneur/383497/.

Parenthetical Citation: (Deresiewicz)

Print newspaper article:

Ruhe, Pierre. "Pouring it On: Heat Churns in a Vicious Cycle." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, main edition, 8 Aug. 2008, p. A1.

Parenthetical Citation: (Ruhe)

Online newspaper article (no author):

“The Scientists Speak.” New York Times, 20 Nov. 2007, nyti.ms/25n2Pf9.

Parenthetical Citation: ("The Scientists Speak")

Newspaper article from a library database:

Jeromack, Paul. “This Once, A David of the Art World Does Goliath a Favor.” New York Times, late edition, 13 July 2002, p. B7. LexisNexis Academic, www.lexisnexis.com/lnacui2api/api/version1/getDocCui?lni=468H-Y5C0-01CN-H2CR&csi=270944,270077,11059,8411&hl=t&hv=t&hnsd=f&hns=t&hgn=t&oc=00240&perma=true.

Parenthetical Citation: (Jeromack)

Article in multi-volume encyclopedia:

Schroth, Gwen. "Scheduling." Encyclopedia of Education, edited by James W. Guthrie, 2nd ed., vol. 6, Macmillan Reference USA, 2003, pp. 2095-99.

Parenthetical Citation: (Schroth 2098)

Blog post or web article:

Hollmichel, Stefanie. "The Reading Brain: Differences between Digital and Print." So Many Books, 25 Apr. 2013, somanybooksblog.com/2013/04/25/the-reading-brain-differences-between-digital-and-print/.

Parenthetical Citation: (Hollmichel)

Books, Book Chapters, and Anthologies

Books in print:

Wieder, Alan. Teacher and Comrade: Richard Dudley and the Fight for Democracy in South Africa. State U of New York P, 2008.

Parenthetical Citation: (Wieder 10-11)

Eggins, Suzanne, and Diana Slade. Analyzing Casual Conversation. Cassell, 1997.

Parenthetical Citation: (Eggins and Slade 32)

Quirk, Randolph, et al. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. Longman,1985.

Parenthetical Citation: (Quirik et al. 11)

Ebook from a library database:

Coutinho, Steve. An Introduction to Daoist Philosophies. Columbia UP, 2014. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=658170&site=ehost-live.

Parenthetical Citation: (Coutinho 21)

Book chapter in an edited volume:

Bordo, Susan. “The Moral Content of Nabokov’s Lolita.” Aesthetic Subjects, edited by Pamela R. Matthews and David McWhirter, U of Minnesota P, 2003, pp. 125-52.

Parenthetical Citation: (Bordo 132)

Stand-alone work (e.g., a play) in an anthology:

Euripides. The Trojan WomenTen Plays, translated by Paul Roche, New American Library, 1998, pp. 457-512.

Parenthetical Citation: (Euripides 485)

Dissertations And Theses

Dissertation from ProQuest database:

Njus, Jesse. Performing the Passion: A Study on the Nature of Medieval Acting. 2010. Northwestern U, PhD dissertation. ProQuest, search.proquest.com/docview/305212264?accountid=13965.

Parenthetical Citation: (Njus 143)

Print master's thesis:

Remedios, Richard E. Defining My Process: My Journey Through the MFA Acting Program at the University of South Carolina. 2007. U of South Carolina, Master's thesis.

Parenthetical Citation: (Remedios 31-32)

Social Media and Non-Textual Sources

X Post (formally "Tweet")

@USC. "GO GAMECOCKS." X, 13 Mar. 2022, 7:52 p.m., x.com/USC/status/1503157124217675780.

Parenthetical Citation: (@USC)

YouTube video:

"This is How Social Media is Destroying Your Life - The Fake Reality." YouTube, uploaded by MotivationGrid, 16 Jul. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2Tq2gvGt80.

Parenthetical Citation: ("This is How Social Media is Destroying Your Life" 02:40-03:25)

Online image with URL and access date:

Van Gogh, Vincent. The Potato Eaters. 1885. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. Van Gogh Museum, artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-potato-eaters-vincent-van-gogh/7gFcKarE9QeaXw. Accessed 20 Mar. 2022.

Parenthetical Citation: (Van Gogh)

Streaming film:

The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till, directed by Keith Beauchamp, Shout Factory, 2005, Kanopy. sc.kanopy.com/video/untold-story-emmett-louis-till. Accessed 20 Mar. 2022.

Parenthetical Citation: (The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till)

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