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MLA (Modern Language Association) style examples

The MLA system uses in-text citations rather than footnotes or endnotes. The citations in-text are very brief, usually just the author's family name and a relevant page number. These citations correspond to the full references in the list of works cited at the end of the document.

The following instructions and examples are based on more detailed information in:

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA handbook for writers of research papers. 7th ed. New York : Modern Language Association of America, 2009.

In-text references - general points

  • If the author's name is mentioned in the sentence, only cite the page number (see Author prominent citation below).
  • Font and capitalisation must match that in the reference list.
  • Long quotations (more than three lines) should be indented.
  • If you are citing more than one reference at the same point in a document, separate the references with a semicolon eg (Smith 150; Jackson 41).
  • If the work has no author use the title.
  • If you are citing two works by the same author, put a comma after the author's name and add title words. eg (Smyth, "Memories of Motherhood" 77) to distinguish between them in the in-text citation. Do this when citing each of the sources throughout the piece of writing.
  • If two authors have the same surname, use their first initial eg (G. Brown 26)

Reference list - general points

  • The recommended heading for the reference list is Works Cited, which should be centred.
  • Each reference should be formatted with double-spacing and a hanging indent (see Sample reference list below).
  • Capitalise the first word of the title or subtitle, and all other significant words.
  • Author's names should be listed with full forenames if known.
  • The name of the first author is inverted to list the family name first. If there are additional authors their names are not inverted.
  • If you cite more than one work by the same author, give the names in the first entry only. Thereafter, use three hyphens instead of the name, eg ---.
  • If a reference does not have an author, list it by title. Ignore the leading article (A, The etc.) when inserting the reference into the alphabetical works cited list.

Examples on this page include:

  • books
  • chapters of books
  • journal articles
  • newspaper articles
  • reviews
  • films
  • dvds / videos
  • websites
  • paraphrasing and quoting
  • sample reference list

Authored books

Example Examples:
Knowles, Ric. Reading the Material Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2004. Print.

Chopra-Grant, Mike. Cinema and History: The Telling of Stories. New York: Wallflower, 2008. Print.

Chapters of authored books

Example Example:
Corrigan, Timothy. "Writing About the Movies." A Short Guide to Writing About Film. New York: Longman, 2003. 1-16. Print.

Works with two or three authors

Example Examples:
Allain, Paul, and Jen Harvie. The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Performance. London: Routledge, 2006. Print.

Desmond, John M. and Peter Hawkes. Adaption: Studying Film and Literature. Boston, Mass: McGraw-Hill, 2006. Print.

Works with four or more authors

If there are more than three authors, you may choose to name only the first and add et al. or you may give all names in full in the order in which they appear on the title page.

Example Example:
Aumont, Jacques, Alain Bergala, Michel Marie and Mark Vernet. Aesthetics of Film. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1992. Print.

Works with a corporate author

Example Examples:
Australian Film Commission. Australian Feature Films 2007/2008. Sydney: Australian Film Commission, 2007. Print.

Japan Playwrights Association., ed. Half a Century of Japanese Theater. Tokyo: Kinokuniya, 1999. Print.

Edited books

Example Examples:
Stevens, George, Jr., ed. Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age at the American Film Institute. New York: A. A. Knopf, 2006. Print.

Newcomb, Horace, ed. Television: The Critical View. 7th ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2007. Print.

Chapters of edited books

Remember to include inclusive page numbers of the chapter/section.

Example Example:
Banks, Miranda J. "A Boy for All Planets: Roswell, Smallville and the Teen Male Melodrama." Teen TV: Genre, Consumption, Identity. Ed. Glyn Davis and Kay Dickinson. London: British Film Institute, 2004. 17-28. Print.

Electronic books

Example Example:
McLean, Mervyn. Weavers of Song: Polynesian Music and Dance. Honolulu: U of Hawaii P, 1999. Web. 13 Jan. 2004.

Translated works

Example Examples:
Metz, Christian. Language and Cinema. Trans. Donna Jean Umiker-Sebeok. The Hague: Mouton, 1974. Print.

Ibsen, Henrik. Hedda Gabler and Other Plays. Trans. Una Ellis-Fermor. London: Penguin, 1950. Print.

*Note in this example that a title within a title is not italicised.

Taylor, Diana, and Sarah J. Townsend, eds. Stages of Conflict: A Critical Anthology of Latin American Theater and Performance. Trans. Margaret Carson. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, c2008. Print.

Encyclopedia (whole work)

If you are using two or more volumes of a multivolume work, cite the total number of volumes of the work. This information comes after the title - or after any editor's name or identification of edition - and before the publication information.

Example Example:
Terrace, Vincent. Encyclopedia of Television Shows 1935 Through 2004. 4 vols. North Carolina: McFarland, 2007. Print.

Encyclopedia (article / entry)

Example Example:
Terrace, Vincent. "Will and Grace." Encyclopedia of Television Shows 1935 Through 2007. Vol. 4. North Carolina: McFarland, 2007. Print.

* Give volume number in the in-text citation eg (Terrace 4: 1661)

Articles in edited collections

Example Example:
Gurr, Andrew. "A New Theatre Historicism." From Script to Stage in Early Modern England. Ed. Peter Holland and Stephen Orgel. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. 71-88. Print.

Journal articles in published journals

Example Example:
Mather, Christine C. "The Political Afterlife of Eleonora Duse." Theatre Survey 45.1 (May 2004): 41-59. Print.

Journal articles in electronic journals

Example Examples:
Helm, C. R. "Remembering Spalding Gray." Theatre History Studies 26 (2006): 1-6. Expanded Academic. Web. 5 Mar. 2008.

*This entry includes the name of the database through which the article was accessed and the date of access.

Linné, Olga and Paul Hartmann. "The Family Differences on Television." European Journal of Communication 11.4 (1996): 407-420. Web. 20 July 2008.

Newspaper articles

Example Examples:
Litson, Jo. "Pulse of the Times." The Australian 7 May 2004: 17. Print.

MacDonald, Gayle. "Why She Slays us Fans and Academics Alike Argue that Buffy the Vampire Slayer has Depths of Symbolic Meaning Rarely Seen on Television." Globe and Mail 22 Jan. 2002, metro ed.: R1. Factiva. Web. 26 June 2009.

Holmes, Cecile. "New Book Explores the Ethics and Morality of Vampire Slayer Buffy; TV Show Like Medieval Morality Play Characters' Actions Have Consequences." Toronto Star 15 Aug. 2004: F07. Factiva. Web. 26 June 2009.

Elliott, Stuart. "Sex and the City and Its Lasting Female Appeal." New York Times 17 Mar. 2008: final ed.: 8. Newsbank Newspapers. Web. 29 June 2008.

Reviews

Example Examples:
Kinder, Marsha. Rev. of High Heels, dir. Pedro Almodóvar. Film Quarterly 45.3 (1992): 39-44. Print.

Anderson, John. "Boys Don't Cry Director Turns Her Lens on What it Means to Be a Soldier." Rev. of Stop-Loss, dir. Kim Peirce. Washington Post 25 Mar. 2008, final ed.: C01. Factiva. Web. 12 Sep. 2008.

Film (original release)

Example Example:
Shattered Glass. Dir. And Writ. Billy Ray. Perf. Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard, and Chloe Sevigny. Lions Gate Films, 2003. Film.

Film (dvd / video)

Example Example:
Vertigo. Dir. And Prod. Alfred Hitchcock. Perf. James Stewart. 1958. Universal Home Entertainment, 2003. DVD.

The Usual Suspects. Dir. Bryan Singer. Perf. Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Stephen Baldwin. Polygram, 1995. DVD.

Cultural Baggage. Educational Media Australia, 1995. Videocassette.

Muriel's Wedding. Dir. P. J. Hogan. 1994. Roadshow Entertainment, 2000. DVD.

Television show (whole season) on dvd

Example Example:
Friends: The Complete Sixth Season. Writ. Andrew Reich and Ted Cohen. Dir. Kevin Bright. NBC. 10 Feb. 2000. DVD. Warner Brothers, 2004.

Television show (one episode) on dvd or video

Example Example:
"The One Where Chandler Can't Cry." Friends: The Complete Sixth Season. Writ. Andrew Reich and Ted Cohen. Dir. Kevin Bright. NBC. 10 Feb. 2000. DVD. Warner Brothers, 2004.

"The Trip." Seinfeld. Dir. Tom Cherones. NBC, 12 Aug. 1992. Google Video. Web. 15 Aug. 2007.

Websites

You should only include a URL as supplementary information when the reader probably cannot locate the source without it or when your instructor requires it.  If including a URL enclose it in angle brackets at the end of the citation. eg <URL>.

Example Examples:
Allingham, Philip V. "Theatres in Victorian London." Victorian Web. Ed. George P. Landow. National University of Singapore. 9 May 2007. Web. 5 Mar. 2008.

*This entry includes the author and title of the page cited, as well as the editor and year of creation of the page or site.

Krausz, Peter. "Lessons in Chocolate." Lavazza Italian Film Festival. Australian Film Critics Association. 12 Oct. 2008. Web. 30 June 2009.

Be careful when using Internet sources and avoid using material that is not associated with a university, library, museum, gallery or other research institution.

When making a general reference to an entire website (i.e. not a specific document or page), the website can be cited in the text and no entry is necessary in the works cited list.

Paraphrasing and quoting

Below is a section of text from a news article published in Wired Magazine, and an example of how this source might be both paraphrased and used for a direct quotation.

Australia is suffering through its worst dry spell in a millennium. The outback has turned into a dust bowl, […] But what really intrigues Glenn Albrecht - a philosopher by training - is how his fellow Australians are reacting. They're getting sad. In interviews Albrecht conducted over the past few years, scores of Australians described their deep, wrenching sense of loss as they watch the landscape around them change. [. . .] "They no longer feel like they know the place they've lived for decades," he says. Albrecht believes that this is a new type of sadness. People are feeling displaced. They're suffering symptoms eerily similar to those of indigenous populations that are forcibly removed from their traditional homelands. But nobody is being relocated; they haven't moved anywhere. It's just that the familiar markers of their area, the physical and sensory signals that define home, are vanishing.

Thompson, Clive. "Clive Thompson on How the Next Victim of Climate Change Will Be Our Minds." Wired Magazine 20 Dec. 2007: 16:01. Web. 9 July 2009.

Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is a skill that develops with practice. To paraphrase correctly you need to rewrite information in your own words whilst summarising and condensing it, and accompany this with an appropriate citation.

Example Incorrect example:
The devastating effects of the prolonged dry spell are apparent in both the Australian landscape and the people. Many Australians have described a strong sense of loss as a result of the changes in the landscape around them. This new type of sadness has led to people feeling displaced within their own homeland (Thompson 16:01).

Explanation: Key phrases and terms from the original (highlighted) are repeated with little change making the overall 'voice' of the piece that of the original author. Even with a citation this could constitute plagiarism.

Example Correct example:
Australia's terrain is not the only casualty of the enduring drought. As the environment struggles with depletion and destruction, this is echoed in the human inhabitants with a perceived distress and emotional anguish more suited to a physical uprooting from all that one knows and loves (Thompson 16:01).

Explanation: Appropriate synonyms are used and the important point of the article is expressed in the writer's own words, not those of the original author.

Quoting
Generally it is best to quote an author directly and not modify a quotation, however there are some exceptions. For example, when a quote is very long it is acceptable to shorten it by using an ellipsis, or an ellipsis enclosed in square brackets to make it clear that text has been omitted. This method can be seen in the excerpt above from Wired magazine.

Quotations are most suitable when an author's words are particularly pertinent to your topic, or are difficult to paraphrase. Enclose the quotation in parentheses.

Example Example:
As Australians witness the devastation the drought is inflicting on scenery and vegetation, the emotional impact is a profound "wrenching sense of loss" (Thompson 16:01).

'Information prominent' and 'Author prominent' citations

When a citation is not part of the grammatical structure of the sentence it refers to, this is known as an 'Information prominent' citation.

Example Example:
As the environment struggles with the drought's resulting depletion and destruction, this is echoed in the human inhabitants who display symptoms "eerily similar to those of indigenous populations that are forcibly removed from their traditional homelands." (Thompson 16:01).

When the Author's name forms part of the sentence, this is known as an 'Author prominent' citation.

Example Examples:
Thompson (16:01) discusses that feelings of ‘displacement' exist despite the fact that "nobody is being relocated".

Albrecht's interviews revealed that Australians "no longer feel like they know the place they've lived for decades" (qtd. in Thompson 16:01).

Thompson, Clive. "Clive Thompson on How the Next Victim of Climate Change Will Be Our Minds." Wired Magazine 20 Dec. 2007: 16:01. Web. 9 July 2009.

Sample reference list

MLA works cited list example image

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