Citing Print Sources

MLA Format - Giving Credit to your Sources

In your works cited list double-space all entries and list in alphabetical order by author's last name. If an entry takes two lines, use a hanging indent. Generally, an entry has three main divisions -- author, title, and publication information -- each followed by a period and two spaces. Titles of books, magazines, and newspapers are always italicized or underlined.

1. Books
One author
Frye, Northrup. Anatomy of Criticism: FourEssays. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1997.

Two authors
Gesell, Arnold, and Frances L. Fie. Child Development: An Introduction to the Study of Human Growth. New York: Macmillan, 1990.

Corporate author 
United States Capitol Society. We, the People: The Story of the United States Capitol. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1994.

No author named 
Encyclopedia of Photography. New York: Crown, 1994.

An article from a reference book
"Mandarin." Encyclopedia Americana. 2000 ed.

2. Newspapers, Magazines, Journals, and other Sources
A weekly, biweekly, or monthly magazine Miller, Tyler. "The Vietnam War: The Executioner." Newsweek 13 Nov 1988: 70.

An article in a newspaper Strout, Richard L. "Another Bicentennial." Christian Science Monitor 10 Nov 1976: 27.

An anonymous article "Drunkproofing Automobiles." Time 6 Apr. 1996: 37.

A government publication United States Dept of Labor. Bureau of Statistics. Dictionary of Occupational Titles. 4th ed. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1997.

A pamphlet or brochure Capital Punishment: Cruel and Unusual / Plano, TX: Insturctional Aides, 1992.

The University of Minnesota Libraries has a tutorial on citing resources using the APA citation style. There is also a section on citing resources using the MLA citation style. This valuable tutorial is available: http://tutorial.lib.umn.edu/infomachine.asp?moduleID+10&lessonID+7