MLA

In the citation style of the MLA (The Modern Language Association of America) in-text citations normally consist of the author’s surname and a page number in parentheses. However, the MLA style allows for a certain degree of choice in the use of end- and footnotes for additional information. The final reference list should include all sources referred to in the running text.

This brief review of examples is based on Chapters 6 and 7 of the MLA Style Manual (see full biblographic details are given in the "Example of a list of works cited" below).

Examples

Journal articles

In-text citation

… (Surname Page number)
… (Reinton 19)

In the list of works cited

Surname, Firstname. "Title of the article." Name of the journal in italics Volume.Number (Year): page numbers. Medium of publication consulted.
Reinton, Ragnhild Evang. "Modernismens estetikk – revisited." Norsk litteraturvitenskapelig
tidsskrift 5.1 (2002): 16-31. Print.

Articles in electronic journals

In-text citation

… (Surname Page number)
… (Ytreberg 490)

In the list of works cited

Surname, First name. "Title of the article." Name of the journal in italics Volume. Number (Year): Page range. Title of database in italics. Medium of publication consulted. Date consulted.
Ytreberg, Espen. "Erving Goffman as a theorist of the mass media." Critical studies
in media communication 19.4 (2002): 481-497. Taylor & Francis Online. Web. 20 Jan. 2010.

In general, the MLA does not reccomend including a URL. If your publisher or lecturer requires the inclusion of a URL, it may be entered as supplementary information after the date of access, and enclosed in angle brackets.

Surname, First name. "Title of the article." Name of the journal in italics Volume. Number (Year): Page range. Name of database in italics. Medium of publication consulted. Date consulted. <URL>.
Degli-Esposti, Cristina. "Sally Potter’s Orlando and the Neo-Baroque Scopic Regime."
Cinema Journal 36.1 (1996): 75-93. JSTOR. Web. 20 Nov 2007. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1225596>.

Books

In-text citation

… (Name)
… (Jameson)

In the list of works cited

Surname, First name. Title of the book in italics: Subtitle of the book in italics. Place of publication: Publisher, Year. Medium of publication consulted.
Jameson, Fredric. The modernist papers. London: Verso, 2007. Print.

Books with more than one author

In-text citation

… (Surname, Surname and Surname)

In the list of works cited

Surname, First name, First name Surname and First name Surname. Title of the book in italics: Subtitle of the book in italics. Place of publication: Publisher, Year. Medium of publication consulted.
Haarberg, Jon, Tone Selboe, and Hans Erik Aarset. Verdenslitteratur: den vestlige tradisjonen.
Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 2007. Print.

Books by an author with more than one entry in the list of works cited

In-text citation

If an author has more than one work in the list of works cited, add the title, or an abbreviated version of the title, to the in-text citation.

… (Surname, Short title in italics)
… (Melberg, Aesthetics) or … (Melberg, Några vändingar)

In the list of works cited (same author, in alphabetical order by book title)

In the list of works cited, replace the author's name in the second and subsequent references with three dashes (---)

Surname, First name. Title of book A in italics. Place: Publisher, Year. Medium of publication consulted.
---. Title of book B in italics. Place: Publisher, Year. Medium of publication consulted.
Melberg, Arne. Aesthetics of prose. Oslo: Unipub, 2008. Print
---. Några vändningar hos Rilke. Stockholm: Symposion, 1998. Print.

Books with an editor

In-text citation

… (Surname)
… (Ross)

In the list of works cited

Surname, First name, ed. Title of the book in italics: Subtitle of the book in italics. Place of publication: Publisher, Year. Medium of publication consulted
Ross, Stephen, ed. Modernism and theory: a critical debate. London: Routledge, 2009. Print.

Books with no author or editor

In-text citation

… (Full title or first part of the title in italics)
… (MLA Style manual)

In the list of works cited

Title of the book in italics. Place: Publisher, Year. Medium of publication consulted.
MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. 3rd ed. New York:
The Modern Language Association of America, 2008. Print.

Unpublished PhD or Master’s theses

In-text citation

… (Surname)
… (Fossheim)

In the list of works cited

Surname, First name. "Title of the thesis in quotation marks." Master’s thesis/PhD thesis. Institution, Year. Medium of publication consulted.
Fossheim, Hallvard J. "The articulation of the human good in Aristotle." Master's thesis. University of Oslo, 1997. Print.

Chapters in books

In-text citation

… (Surname)
… (Bliksrud)

In the list of works cited

Surname, First name. "Title of the chapter." Title of the book in italics. Ed. First name Surname. Place: Publisher, Year. Page range. Medium of publication consulted.
Bliksrud, Liv. "Metamorfosens metamorfoser i dansk-norsk senklassisisme." I fortidens speil:
klassikk og klassisisme i Vestens kultur. Ed. Karin Gundersen and Magne Malmanger.
Oslo: Aschehoug, 1998. 232-250. Print.

Example of a list of works cited

Bliksrud, Liv. "Metamorfosens metamorfoser i dansk-norsk senklassisisme." I fortidens speil:
   klassikk og klassisisme i Vestens kultur. Ed. Karin Gundersen and Magne Malmanger.
   Oslo: Aschehoug, 1998. 232-250.  Print.

Degli-Esposti, Cristina. "Sally Potter’s Orlando and the Neo-Baroque Scopic Regime."
   Cinema Journal 36.1 (1996): 75-93. JSTOR. Web. 20 Nov 2007. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1225596>.

Fossheim, Hallvard J. "The articulation of the human good in Aristotle."
   Master's thesis. Universitety of Oslo, 1997. Print.

Haarberg, Jon, Tone Selboe, and Hans Erik Aarset. Verdenslitteratur: den vestlige tradisjonen.
   Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 2007. Print.

Jameson, Fredric. The modernist papers. London: Verso, 2007. Print.

Melberg, Arne. Aesthetics of prose. Oslo: Unipub, 2008. Print.
---        Några vändningar hos Rilke. Stockholm: Symposion, 1998. Print.

MLA Style manual and guide to scholarly publishing. 3rd ed. New York:
   The Modern Language Association of America, 2008. Print.

Reinton, Ragnhild Evang. "Modernismens estetikk – revisited."
   Norsk litteraturvitenskapelig tidsskrift 5.1 (2002): 16-31. Print.

Ross, Stephen, ed. Modernism and theory: a critical debate. London: Routledge, 2009. Print.

Ytreberg, Espen. "Erving Goffman as a theorist of the mass media." Critical studies in
media communication 19.4 (2002): 481-497. Taylor & Francis Online. Web. 20 Jan. 2010.

Use of endnotes or footnotes

In the MLA style, two types of endnotes or footnotes can be used:

Explanatory notes: Notes with additional comments, explanations or information not provided elsewhere in the text.
Bibliographical notes: Contain supplementary bibliographical information, alternative sources or assessments, or comments on the sources cited.

More about the MLA

Published May 8, 2013 04:05 PM - Last modified Jun 3, 2013 11:03 AM