How to Cite Online Sources in M.L.A. Format

 

In the Text of Your Paper:

If an author is listed, use the author's name:

Example: (Jones)

If no author is listed, abbreviate the web page title, place it in quotes, and place it in parentheses:

Example: ("A Hypertext")

There is no need to include a page number in either case, because page numbers vary according to how you have printed out the document.

 

In Your "Works Cited":

Include the following information, in this order:

• The author's name, last name first (if known);
• the full title of the work or the full title of the web page, in quotation marks, followed by the title of the complete work (if applicable), in italics or underlined;
• publication information for any print version of the source, placing magazine and newspaper titles in italics or underlined;
• Title of the scholarly project, database, periodical, or professional or personal site (in italics or underlined), or, for a professional or personal site with no title, a description such as Home Page;
• the date of the web page or of electronic publication (if available);
• the name of any institution or organization sponsoring or associated with the site (if applicable);
• the date of access (the date you accessed the page);
• Next, list the protocol (e.g., "http") and the full URL (in angled brackets <>). Note: If you accessed a source from a database, include the home page URL for the database instead of the URL created from your search.

Example:

Here's how the information looks at the top of an article from Lexis-Nexis:

Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company
The New York Times

November 13, 2000, Monday, Late Edition - Final

SECTION: Section C; Page 1; Column 2; Business/Financial Desk

LENGTH: 1286 words

HEADLINE: Media; TV Talk Shows See Hope in the Never-Ending 2000 Election

BYLINE: By BILL CARTER

Here's that information translated into an MLA "Works Cited" listing:

Carter, Bill. "TV Talk Shows See Hope in the Never-Ending 2000 Election." New York Times 13 Nov 2000: C1. Lexis-Nexis. 30 Nov 2000 <http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe>.

 

 

Note: If you had looked at the actual print source and not the online version, the citation would appear as follows:

 

Carter, Bill. "TV Talk Shows See Hope in the Never-Ending 2000 Election." New York Times 13 Nov 2000: C1.

For guidelines on citing print sources in MLA format, consult Chapter 17 of Ramage and Bean, Writing Arguments.

For further guidelines on citing online sources in MLA format, consult <http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite5.html#1>.