MLA Quick Reference Card Based on MLA 7 th Edition Revised October 11, 2016
1. A book by one author Gurko, Leo. Ernest Hemingway and the Pursuit of Heroism. New York: Crowell, 1968. Print.
2. A book by 2 or 3 authors (only reverse the first name listed) Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research. 2nd ed. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2003. Print.
3. 2 or more books by the same author Traversi, Derek A. An Approach to Shakespeare. Garden City: Anchor, 1969. Print. ---. Shakespeare: The Last Phase. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1955. Print. 4. A book with an editor Silverberg, Robert, editor. Earth is the Strangest Planet: Ten Stories of Science Fiction. Nelson, 1977.
5. A book with an Author AND an Editor (if you are citing the work of the author, begin with the author.) Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. Ed. Claudia Johnson. New York: Norton, 2001. Print.
6. Introduction, Foreword, Preface, Afterword See p. 5.5.8 in MLA Handbook 7th edition for more examples Author of Introduction, Foreword, Preface, or Afterword. Part of book. Title of Book. By Author of Work. If Editor Ed. Name. City: Publisher, copyright date. pages. Print.
Ogden, James. Introduction. Oliver Goldsmith She Stoops to Conquer. By Oliver Goldsmith. Ed. James Ogden. New York: W.W. Norton, 2001. xi-xli. Print.
Hunter, Paul J. Preface. Mary Shelley Frankenstein. By Mary Shelley. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996. vii-xii. Print.
7. An essay in a book of collected criticism—REMEMBER: Do NOT italicize the title of the original work within a title of a book. FORMAT: Author OF ESSAY. “Title of essay.” Title of book, edited by Name, Publisher, Year, page range. Parker, David. “Two Versions of the Hero.” F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. 29-44. Print.
8. An article in a PRINT magazine/journal Author. “Title of article.” Magazine/Journal title volume number.issue number (year of publication): page numbers. Print. Constanza, Robert. “Economics as a Life Science.” Bioscience 51.2 (2001):154-155. Print.
9. A signed article in a PRINT reference book (including encyclopedia entries) Tobias, Richard. “Thurber, James.” Encyclopedia Americana. 14th ed. 2008. Print.
10. An unsigned article in a PRINT reference book (including encyclopedia entries) "Best Dressed Women of All Time." Encyclopedia of Fashion. 3rd ed. 2003. Print.
11. A Book with a Translator Clavino, Italo. The Uses of Literature. Trans. Patrick Creagh. San Diego: Harcourt, 1986. Print.
12. Published Interview Name of person(s) interviewed. “Title of interview if it was published/broadcast” or Interviewed by name of interviewer. Name of publication, program or recording where interview was published, place of interview (if known), city of interview, date of interview (day, month, year). Media type if applicable (e.g. Television, DVD, Radio, etc.). Blackmun, Harry. Interview by Ted Koppel and Nina Totenberg. Nightline. ABC. WABC, New York, 5 Apr. 1994. Radio. 13. Personal Interview Name of person(s) interviewed. Kind of interview (Personal interview, Telephone interview), date of interview (day, month, year). EXAMPLE: Ghilani, Michael. Personal interview. 20 Sept. 2008.
14. Video/DVD Director’s name, dir. Title of VHS/DVD. Distributor, year of release. DVD or VHS. 15. Google Books Author. Title of book. Original book publication information, original copyright date. Google Books. Web. Access date. Frost, Robert. North of Boston. 2nd ed. New York: Henry Holt and Co. 1915. Google Books. Web. 3 November 2010.
16. Ebook/Online Book Include Original Author. Title. Publisher, copyright date. Ebook. Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Penquin, 2010. Ebook.
17. Information from an online database (e.g. JSTOR, EBSCOhost, Points of View, World Book Online, etc.) 1. Author’s name (last name, first name). Period after the name. 2. “Title of the article.” with quotation marks and a period before the last quotation mark. 3. Name of the original source ---Title of the magazine or book (e.g. Exploring Novels, Cyclopedia of Characters, Newsweek). Italicize. No period at the end. 4. If provided, volume number.issue number. Separate with a period but no space in between. No period at the end. 5. (Date of publication in parentheses): Colon at the end followed by page numbers. If no date, use n.d. no parentheses. If no page numbers, put n.pag. Period at the end. (NOT n.pag..) 6. Name of the subscription database followed by a period & italicized (e.g. Gale Discovering Collection). 7. The word: Web. followed by a period. 8. Date of access (day month year). Period at the end. 9. If your teacher requires a URL address, place it in angle brackets, at the end of your citation,
Examples with and without URL: Rollins, Jill. “The Catcher in the Rye.” Cyclopedia of Literary Characters (1998): n. pag. Magill OnLiterature. Web. 27 Aug. 2009. *Note: The Catcher in the Rye is italicized because it’s a title within a title of an article. Ashe, Frederick L. "Jane Eyre: The Quest for Optimism.” EXPLORING Novels (2003): n.pag. Gale Discovering Collection. Web. 15 Jan. 2009. *Note: Jane Eyre is italicized because it’s a title within a title of an article. Friess, Steve. “Deaf to the Problem." Newsweek 147.9 (2006):12. EBSCOhost Masterfile Premier. Web. 28 Feb. 2009.
18. World Wide Web (Internet) citation Author/Creator (if known). “Title of Page or Document.” Title of overall site. Publisher or sponsor of site/ if not available, use n.p., (comma here) Date of publication (day month year) followed by a period; if no date, use n.d. (followed by a period). Web. Date of access (day month year). If required, URL address in angle brackets
Examples with and without URL: Mintz, S. “Native America on the Eve of Contact.” Digital History. College of Education University of Houston, Nov. 2006. Web. 16 Nov. 2006.
19. E-mail Message Sender’s name. “Title of message from subject line.” Message to ______. Date sent. E-mail. Despines, J. “Schedule change for library.” Message to Ms. Tungate. 30 May 2009. E-mail.
20. On-line Image, Sound, Video Clip, or Digital File ( pdf, image, map, video, sound file, mp3, etc.) Author/Creator (if known). “Title or description item.” File type (pdf, image, map, video, sound file, mp3, etc.). Title of overall site. Publisher or sponsor of site; if not available, use n.p. (followed by comma), Date of publication (day month year)--if no date, use n.d. Web. Date of access. If required, URL address in angle brackets followed by period---shorten long URLs to the .com, .edu, .org, etc.
Month Abbreviations: Except for May, June and July, use these abbreviations: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.
PLEASE NOTE: Your works cited page should be double-spaced.
Revised by USC High School Librarians Revised October 11, 2016 Based on MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th edition