LIBRARY INFORMATION COMMON

MLA Citation Style

GUIDE TO WORKS CITED AND PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS

Some departments and courses at Red Deer College, e.g. English, require the use of the Modern
Language Association (MLA) style for citing references in student papers. It is important to remain
consistent within the paper and to use the style recommended by your instructor.

The purpose of documentation is to:

ƒ Identify (cite) other people’s ideas and information used within your essay or term paper.
ƒ Indicate the authors or sources of these in a Works Cited list at the end of your paper.

Numbers in parentheses refer to sections in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed.).
The examples in this guide cover frequently used citation forms only. For more detailed information refer
to the MLA Handbook, available at the Information Desk.

General Guidelines for MLA Citation Style

; All sources of information and data, whether quoted directly or paraphrased, are cited with
parenthetical references in the text of your paper.
; Double-space your entire paper, including the “Works Cited” list and any block quotes. (4.4)
; List “Works Cited” entries with a hanging indent (see the example on page 321). (5.4)
; Arrange “Works Cited” entries in one alphabetical sequence by the surname of the first author or by
title or first word if there is no author. When beginning with the title ignore initial articles
(e.g. A, An, The) for alphabetization. (5.4 – 5.5)
; Cite the first author’s name with the surname first, but otherwise give the authors’ names as they
appear in the source. (5.6.4)
; If the “Works Cited” list includes two or more entries by the same author(s), give the author(s)
name(s) in the first entry only. In subsequent entries use three hyphens in place of the names,
followed by a period and the title. Arrange the works in alphabetical order by title. (5.6.3)
; Capitalize the first, the last, and all significant words in a title and subtitle. (3.6)
; Underline book titles, journal titles, and titles of other works published independently. (5.6.1)
; Use quotation marks around the titles of works published as part of another work, e.g. journal article,
short story, or essay in an anthology. (5.6.7)
; Omit any introductory article, e.g. first word The, in the title of an English-language journal. (5.7.1)
; For books, list the city of publication, publisher’s name, and year of publication as they appear on the
title page or its reverse. Include a state or province if the city of publication is not well known. If there
is more than one city, list the first one only. Abbreviate publishers names according to MLA
guidelines (e.g. omit articles, business abbreviations such as Co., Inc., etc., and descriptive words
such as Books, etc.). (7.4-7.5)
; When the “Works Cited” entry includes a URL that must be divided between two lines, break it only
after a slash.

See over for examples of

Print, Electronic, & Multimedia Citations
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Parenthetical
Works Cited
Citation
BOOKS General format General format
Author Surname, First Name, Other names as they (Author Surname
appear on the title page. Book Title: Subtitle. page number)
Place of Publication: Publisher, Year.
Book Berman, Ronald. Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and the (Berman 146-55)
One author (5.6.1) Twenties. Tuscaloosa, AL: UP of Alabama,
2001.
Book McCloskey, Mary Lou, and Lydia Stack. Voices in (McCloskey and Stack
Two or three authors (5.6.4) Literature. Boston: Heinle, 1996. 46)
[Always cite both
names]
Book You may name only the first author and add et al. or Follows Works Cited
More than three authors you may give all names in full. entry: either use first
(5.6.4) author et al. or cite all
names (6.2)
Anthology or compilation Wolfson, Susan J., ed. The Cambridge Companion (Wolfson 227-29)
(5.6.2) to Keats. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2001.
Work in an anthology McCormack, Eric. “Inspecting the Vaults.” Canadian (McCormack 397)
(5.6.7) Short Fiction. Ed. W.H. New. 2nd ed.
Scarborough, ON: Prentice Hall Canada, 1997.
396-406.
Article in a reference book Lindgren, Hans C. “Stereotyping.” Encyclopedia of (Lindgren 468)
(5.6.8) Psychology. Ed. Raymond J. Corsini. 2nd ed. 4
vols. New York: Wiley, 1994.
Government publication Statistics Canada. Culture, Tourism and the Centre (Statistics Canada 49)
(5.6.21) for Education Statistics. Canadian Culture in
Perspective: A Statistical Overview. Ottawa:
Statistics Canada, 2000.
JOURNAL ARTICLES General format General format
Author(s). “Article Title: Subtitle.” Journal Title vol.iss (Author Surname
(Year): page range. page number)
Journal article Paterson, Bill, and Ted Thorne. “Enhancing the (Paterson and Thorne
Paginated by issue Evaluation of Nursing Care Effectiveness.” 29)
(5.7.2) Canadian Journal of Nursing Research 35.3
(2003): 26-38.
Journal article Sheptycki, John. “The Governance of Organized (Sheptycki 511)
Continuous pagination Crime in Canada.” Canadian Journal of
(5.7.1) Sociology 28 (2003): 489-516.
Journal article Sielke, Sabine. "The Empathetic Imagination: An (Sielke 25)
From periodical index/online Interview with Yann Martel." Canadian
database (5.9.7) Literature 177 (2003): 12-32. Canadian Literary
Centre. EBSCO. Red Deer Coll. Lib., Red
Deer, AB. 11 Aug. 2004.

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Parenthetical
Works Cited
Citation
Journal article Astmann, Dana. “Freylekhe Felker: Queer Subculture (Astmann, pars. 17-
From an online periodical in the Klezmer Revival.” Discourses in Music 4.3 20)
(5.9.4) (2003). 17 Aug. 2004 <http://www.discourses.ca/
v4n3a2.html>.
Magazine article Plaskin, Robert. “Curtains for the End of Steel.” (Plaskin 29)
(5.7.6) Maclean’s 27 Nov. 1978: 29-30.

Magazine article Plaskin, Robert. “Curtains for the End of Steel.” (Plaskin 29)
From online database (5.9.7) Maclean’s 27 Nov. 1978: 29-30. CPI.Q. Gale.
Red Deer Coll. Lib., Red Deer, AB. 18 Nov.
2004.
Newspaper article Shecter, Barbara. “Canadian Broadcasters Catch (Shecter D3)
(5.7.5) Break from CRTC.” Calgary Herald 8 Nov. 2003:
D3.
AUDIOVISUAL MEDIA
Video or DVD Birth of a Nation. Dir. David W. Griffith. 1915. DVD. (Birth of a Nation)
(5.8.3) Image Entertainment, 1998.
Sound Recording (5.8.2) Strauss, Johann. Die Fledermaus: Highlights. Perf. (Strauss)
Bratislava City Chorus. HNH International, 1994.
Musical Composition Bach, Johann Sebastian. The Three Violin Concerti (Bach 43)
(5.8.5) in Full Score. New York: Dover, 1986.
WEB SITES General Format General Format
Author. Title of Site. Last update or copyright date. (Author surname OR
Name of sponsoring institution {if there is one}. Title page or par. #)
Date you accessed site <web site address>.
Web site Browning, Tonya. A Brief Historical Survey of Women (Browning par. 14)
General Writers of Science Fiction. 1993. 11 Aug. 2004
(5.9.2) <http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~tonya/Tonya/sf/
history.html>.
Web site “Literature.” Wikipedia. 2007. 8 Aug. 2007 (“Literature”)
Document from a Web site, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literature>.
no author (5.9.1)
Web page See pages 231-235 (5.9.9) for treatment of online
Multimedia and other television or radio programs, sound or film clips,
sources maps, advertisements, email communication, and
more.
SPOKEN / E-MAIL General Format General Format
COMMUNICATION Speaker’s name. “Title of Presentation.” Meeting and (Speaker Surname)
Sponsoring Organization. Location. Date.
Address, Lecture, Speech Barron, Guillermo. Lecture. Red Deer College, Red (Barron)
(5.8.11) Deer, AB. 23 Mar. 2005.
E-Mail (5.9.9j) Schumacher, Rod. “Re: Utopia.” E-mail to the author. (Schumacher)
15 Feb. 2005.
See over for
Parenthetical Citation Tips

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Parenthetical Citations
How to Cite Quotations (3.7)
• When you incorporate a direct quotation into a sentence, you must cite the source.
• Fit quotations within your sentences, making sure the sentences are grammatically correct.
Gibaldi indicates, “Quotations are effective in research papers when used selectively” (109).
Remember that “[q]uotations are effective in research papers when used selectively” (Gibaldi 109).
• If the quotation will run to more than 4 lines in your paper, you must use:
o a block format in which the quotation is indented 1 inch from the left margin
o no quotation marks

How to Cite Summaries or Paraphrases

Even if you put information in your own words by summarizing or paraphrasing, you must cite the original
author or researcher as well as the page or paragraph number(s). For example, a paraphrase of
Gibaldi’s earlier quotation might be identified as follows:
Within the research paper, quotations will have more impact when used judiciously (Gibaldi 109).

How to Cite Information When You Have Not Seen the Original Source (6.4.7)
Sometimes an author writes about research that someone else has done, but you are unable to
track down the original research report. In this case, because you did not read the original report,
you will include only the source you did consult in the Works Cited list. The abbreviation “qtd.” in
the parenthetical reference also indicates you have not read the original research.
Fong’s 1987 study found that older students’ memory can be as good as that of young people, but this
depends on how memory is tested (qtd. in Bertram 124). [Do not include Fong (1987) in Works Cited; do
include Bertram.]

How to Cite Information If No Page Numbers Are Available

If a resource contains no page numbers, as can be the case with electronic sources, then you cannot
include a page number in the parentheses. However, if the source indicates paragraph numbers, use the
abbreviation “par.” or “pars.” and the relevant numbers in the parentheses.
One website describes these specific dragons (King). A solution was suggested in 1996 (Pangee,
pars. 12-18).

How to Cite Two or More Works by the Same Author or Authors

When citing one of two or more works by the same author(s), put a comma after the author’s last name
and add the title of the work (if brief) or a shortened version of the title and the relevant page number.
(6.4.6)

More Tips for MLA Citation

• If the author’s name is unavailable, use the title of the article or book or Web source, including the
appropriate capitalization and quotation marks/underlining/italics format. e.g. (“Asthma Rates
Increasing” 29).
• When you need to leave out part of a quotation to make it fit grammatically or because it contains
irrelevant/unnecessary information, insert ellipses. (3.7.5)
• If you must add or slightly change words within a quotation for reasons of grammar or clarity,
surround the change with square brackets. (3.7.6)

For more information access the MLA Website www.mla.org, select MLA Style, and click on Frequently
Asked Questions.

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