The new format is based on a a list of 

nine core elements which are given in a specific

order (see the template on the right).  If a core element can not be found or does not exist,
simply omit the element from the citation.  To make a citation, fill in the MLA template with
as much information as available for each source.  Use the punctuation given in the
Template.  The citations are double spaced.  The first line begins at the left margin and all
subsequent lines use a hanging indent.

The MLA core elements are as follows:

Author Number

Title of source Publisher

Title of container Publication date

Other Location (e.g.,

contributors pages)

Version

AUTHOR
Begin the entry with the author’s last name, followed by a comma and the rest of the
name, as presented in the work. End this element with a period.

Bhabha, Homi K. The Location of Culture. Routledge, 1994.

When a work has multiple authors, include them in the order in which they are given in the
work.  
Two authors  - reverse the first, follow it with a comma and and, and give the second
name in normal order.
e.g.  Trujillo, Alexander, and Gerald Komanski.
Three or More Authors - reverse the first of the names (like above), follow it with and
comma and et al. (meaning and others).
e.g.  Mansfield, Amanda, et al.
If there is no author, skip this element and begin the citation with the title.
 

After the author, the next element in the citation is the title. Enter the title as it is given in
the source, capitalizing each major word.
TITLE OF SOURCE
The title of the source should follow the author’s name. Depending upon the type of
source, it should be listed in italics or quotation marks. Enter the title as it is given in the
source, capitalizing each major word.
 If the source is self-contained and independent (and not part of a larger container), the title
is italicized.  If the title is part of a larger work, such as an article in a journal, chapter in a
book, or a web page on a website, the title is placed within quotation marks.

A book should be in italics:

Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. MacMurray, 1999.

An individual webpage should be in quotation marks. The name of the parent website,
which MLA treats as a "container," should follow in italics:
Lundman, Susan. "How to Make Vegetarian
Chili." eHow, www.ehow.com/how_10727_make-vegetarian-chili.html.*

A periodical (journal, magazine, newspaper) article should be in quotation marks:

Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta
Devi's Bashai Tudu." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, vol. 15, no. 1, 1996, pp. 41-
50.

A song or piece of music on an album should be in quotation marks. The name of the
album should then follow in italics:
Beyoncé. "Pray You Catch Me." Lemonade, Parkwood Entertainment, 2016,
www.beyonce.com/album/lemonade-visual-album/.
*The MLA eighth edition handbook recommends including URLs when citing online
sources. For more information, see the “Optional Elements” section below.

TITLE OF CONTAINER
Unlike earlier versions, the eighth edition refers to "containers," which are the larger
wholes in which the source is located. For example, if you want to cite a poem that is
listed in a collection of poems, the individual poem is the source, while the larger
collection is the container. The title of the container is usually italicized and followed by
a comma, since the information that follows next describes the container.

Kincaid, Jamaica. "Girl." The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short

Stories, edited by Tobias Wolff, Vintage, 1994, pp. 306-07.

The container may also be a television series, which is made up of episodes.

“94 Meetings.” Parks and Recreation, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur,
performance by Amy Poehler, season 2, episode 21, Deedle-Dee Productions and
Universal Media Studios, 2010.

The container may also be a website, which contains articles, postings, and other
works.
Wise, DeWanda. “Why TV Shows Make Me Feel Less Alone.” NAMI, 31 May
2019, www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/May-2019/How-TV-Shows-Make-
Me-Feel-Less-Alone. Accessed 3 June 2019.
 OTHER CONTRIBUTORS
In addition to the author, there may be other contributors to the source who should be
credited, such as editors, illustrators, translators, etc. If their contributions are relevant
to your research, or necessary to identify the source, include their names in your
documentation.
Note: In the eighth edition, terms like editor, illustrator, translator, etc., are no longer
abbreviated.

Common descriptions of other contributors are:

adapted by
directed by
edited by
illustrated by
introduction by
narrated by 
performance by
translated by

Foucault, Michel. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of

Reason. Translated by Richard Howard, Vintage-Random House, 1988.
Woolf, Virginia. Jacob’s Room. Annotated and with an introduction by Vara
Neverow, Harcourt, Inc., 2008.

VERSION
If a source is listed as an edition or version of a work, include it in your citation.

If the source has a version or edition, include this in your citation.  Books are commonly
published in versions called editions.  They may published as revised edition, 2nd edition,
expanded edition etc.  Abbreviate edition to ed. and revised to rev. 
 
 Audiovisual material may also appear in versions such as unabridged version or director's
cut.

The Bible. Authorized King James Version, Oxford UP, 1998.

Crowley, Sharon, and Debra Hawhee. Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students. 3rd

ed., Pearson, 2004.

Lutgens, Frederick K., and Edward J. Tarbuck. The Atmosphere: An 

Introduction to Meteorology. 13th ed., Pearson, 2016.

NUMBER
If a source is part of a numbered sequence, such as a multi-volume book or journal with
both volume and issue numbers, those numbers must be listed in your citation.
Abbreviate volume to vol. and number to no.

Dolby, Nadine. “Research in Youth Culture and Policy: Current Conditions and Future
Directions.” Social Work and Society: The International Online-Only Journal, vol. 6,
no. 2, 2008, www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/60/362. Accessed 20 May 2009.
“94 Meetings.” Parks and Recreation, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur,
performance by Amy Poehler, season 2, episode 21, Deedle-Dee Productions and
Universal Media Studios, 2010.
Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria. Translated by H. E. Butler, vol. 2, Loeb-Harvard UP, 1980.

PUBLISHER
The publisher produces the work or makes it available to the public.  To find out the the
name of a book's publisher, check the title page or the copyright page which is usually on
the reverse side. 
 
Omit business words such as Company (Co.), Incorporated (Inc.), Limited (Ltd.),
Corporation (Corp.).
Shorten University Press to UP (e.g. Oxford UP,  U of Chicago P).
If your source has more than one publisher, separate the publishers with a forward slash
(/).

Klee, Paul. Twittering Machine. 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York. The

Artchive, www.artchive.com/artchive/K/klee/twittering_machine.jpg.html. Accessed
May 2006.
Women's Health: Problems of the Digestive System. American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists, 2006.
Daniels, Greg and Michael Schur, creators. Parks and Recreation. Deedle-Dee Productions
and Universal Media Studios, 2015.

PUBLICATION DATE
Write the full date as you find it on the source.  Use the format of Day Month Year to
minimize the use of commas.
The names of months that are longer than four letters are abbreviated in the works cited
list.
Jan.     Feb.     Mar.     Apr.     Aug.     Sept.     Oct.     Nov.     Dec. 

If the source you are citing does not have a publication date, omit that part of the
citation. Do not write "No date" or "N.d."

LOCATION
 The location element refers to page number or page numbers in a print resource or the web
address (URL) or a digital object identifier (DOI) for online resources.
For a single page, use p., for a range of pages use pp.
If available, cite the DOI rather than a URL.
 
Adiche, Chimamanda Ngozi. “On Monday of Last Week.” The Thing around Your Neck, Alfred
A. Knopf, 2009, pp. 74-94.

The location of an online work should include a URL. Remove any "http://" or "https://"
tag from the beginning of the URL.
Wheelis, Mark. "Investigating Disease Outbreaks Under a Protocol to the Biological and
Toxin Weapons Convention." Emerging Infectious Diseases, vol. 6, no. 6, 2000, pp.
595-600, wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/6/6/00-0607_article. Accessed 8 Feb. 2009.
When citing a physical object that you experienced firsthand, identify the place of
location.
Matisse, Henri. The Swimming Pool. 1952, Museum of Modern Art, New York.