In the 7th edition of the Handbook, a separate set of citation instructions were given for each format type. The problem with this approach is that there is no way to anticipate all format types a student may encounter.
To solve this problem, this new edition of the MLA Handbook provides a "universal set of guidelines" for citing sources across all format types.
These guidelines state that, if given, these major elements should be included in the citation:
1. Author.
2. Title of Source
3. Title of Container
4. Other Contributors
5. Version
6. Number
7. Publisher
8. Publication date
9. Location
Sometimes, elements 3-9 will repeat again, if say, your journal was inside a database.
Putting it all together:
Your research paper ends with a list of all the sources cited in the text of the paper. This is called a Works Cited list. You can see an example of a Works Cited list at the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
Here are eight quick rules for this list:
Many disciplines in the humanities use MLA citation format. Below are some examples for formatting the Works Cited page.
NOTE: Your Works Cited entries should have hanging indents like the example at the top (under "Putting It All Together"). I did not do that below because of how this guide displays across different browsers.
Book, |
Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. Love in the Time of Cholera. Vintage, 1988. |
Book, |
Casell, Kay Ann, and Uma Hiremath. Reference and Information Services in the 21st Century: An Introduction. Neal-Schuman, 2004. (NOTE: Authors should be listed in the order they are listed on the title page.) |
Book, |
Robbins, Chandler S., et al. Birds of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. Golden, 1966. |
Article in an Online Database |
Hannah, Daniel K. "The Private Life, the Public Stage: Henry James in Recent Fiction." Journal of Modern Literature, vol.30, no. 3, 2007, pp. 70-94. JSTOR, www.jstor.org.ezproxy.lib.uwf.edu/stable/30053134. Note: When including a URL, omit the http:// and https:// |
Website (Whole site) | Farkas, Meredith. Information Wants to Be Free. Jun. 2015, meredith.wolfwater.com. |
YouTube Video | "Dog Turns Roomba Off." YouTube, uploaded by ilovetobamom, 28 Dec. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei5H-wd3BIU. |
Podcast |
"Chapter I: If You Keep Your Mouth Shut, You'll Be Surprised What You Can Learn." S-Town from Serial and This American Life. stownpodcast.org/chapter/1. Accessed 8 May 2017. Note: Date of access is optional in MLA 8th edition. I decided to include it here because I could find no publication date for the podcast. If I had, I would have included it after This American Life and probably would have omitted the accessed date. Like so: This American Life, 2 April 2017. stownpodcast.org/chapter/1 Also, Serial and This American Life are the organizations that publish S-Town. So, you may have NPR here, for example, or an individual's name. |
Television Show on Streaming Platform | "A Fish Out of Water." Family Guy, season 3, episode 10, Fox Broadcasting Company, 19 September 2001. Hulu, www.hulu.com/watch/171063. |