Citing sources is an essential component of scholarly research papers. When done properly they not only allow your readers to easily locate the sources of your research, but they also protect you from plagiarism, which is a serious academic infraction.
This guide has been designed to assist you in creating a proper list of works cited for the more commonly used resources. However, it is wise to examine the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 9th edition for details. Chapter 5 is particularly useful for rules and examples concerning the list of works cited, and chapter 6 is especially valuable for rules and examples regarding in-text parenthetical citations.
Last updated June 2025.
MLA Handbook
by
Some changes to note from early editions:
Here's the general format for any citation:
Author. Title. Title of container (do not list container for standalone books, e.g. novels), Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs URL or DOI). 2nd container’s title, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location, Date of Access (if applicable).
A "container" may be a journal, database, anthology, or any other collection of works.
Other notes:
Taken from The Purdue Owl and the MLA Handbook, 9th ed., section 5.1-3.
Updated April 2025.
In MLA Style, use parenthetical citations when referring to the works of others in your text. This method involves providing relevant source information in parentheses whenever a sentence uses a quotation or paraphrase. Usually, the simplest way to do this is to put all of the source information in parentheses at the end of the sentence (i.e., just before the period). However, as the examples below will illustrate, there are situations where it makes sense to put the parenthetical elsewhere in the sentence, or even to leave information out.
General Guidelines
The source information required in a parenthetical citation depends (1) upon the source medium (e.g. print, web, DVD) and (2) upon the source’s entry on the Works Cited page.
Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on the Works Cited page. More specifically, whatever signal word or phrase you provide to your readers in the text must be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of the corresponding entry on the Works Cited page.
MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. For example: Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).
Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).
Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).
Both citations in the examples above, (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tell readers that the information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by an author named Wordsworth. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works Cited page, where, under the name of Wordsworth, they would find the following information:
Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads. Oxford UP, 1967.
For print sources like books, magazines, scholarly journal articles, and newspapers, provide a signal word or phrase (usually the author’s last name) and a page number. If you provide the signal word/phrase in the sentence, you do not need to include it in the parenthetical citation. Human beings have been described by Kenneth Burke as "symbol-using animals" (3).
Human beings have been described as "symbol-using animals" (Burke 3).
These examples must correspond to an entry that begins with Burke, which will be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of an entry on the Works Cited page:
Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method. University of California Press, 1966.
In your first parenthetical citation, you want to make clear which Bible you're using (and underline or italicize the title), as each version varies in its translation, followed by book (do not italicize or underline), chapter, and verse. For example:
Ezekiel saw "what seemed to be four living creatures," each with faces of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle (New Jerusalem Bible, Ezek. 1:5-10).
If future references employ the same edition of the Bible you’re using, list only the book, chapter, and verse in the parenthetical citation:
John of Patmos echoes this passage when describing his vision (Rev. 4:6-8).
When a source has a corporate author, it is acceptable to use the name of the corporation followed by the page number for the in-text citation. You should also use abbreviations (e.g., nat'l for national) where appropriate, so as to avoid interrupting the flow of reading with overly long parenthetical citations.
If a source uses a labeling or numbering system other than page numbers, such as a script or poetry, precede the citation with said label. When citing a poem, for instance, the parenthetical would begin with the word “line”, and then the line number or range. For example, the examination of William Blake’s poem “The Tyger” would be cited as such:
The speaker makes an ardent call for the exploration of the connection between the violence of nature and the divinity of creation. “In what distant deeps or skies. / Burnt the fire of thine eyes," they ask in reference to the tiger as they attempt to reconcile their intimidation with their relationship to creationism (lines 5-6).
Longer labels, such as chapters (ch.) and scenes (sc.), should be abbreviated.
When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name, following these guidelines.
Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work (such as an article) or italicize if it's a longer work (e.g. plays, books, television shows, entire Web sites). Provide a page number if available.
Titles longer than a standard noun phrase should be shortened into a noun phrase by excluding articles. For example, To the Lighthouse would be shortened to Lighthouse.
If the title cannot be easily shortened into a noun phrase, the title should be cut after the first clause, phrase, or punctuation:
We see so many global warming hotspots in North America likely because this region has "more readily accessible climatic data and more comprehensive programs to monitor and study environmental change..." ("Impact of Global Warming").
In this example, since the reader does not know the author of the article, an abbreviated title appears in the parenthetical citation, and the full title of the article appears first at the left-hand margin of its respective entry on the Works Cited page. Thus, the writer includes the title in quotation marks as the signal phrase in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader directly to the source on the Works Cited page. The Works Cited entry appears as follows:
"The Impact of Global Warming in North America." Global Warming: Early Signs. 1999. www.climatehotmap.org/. Accessed 23 Mar. 2009.
If the title of the work begins with a quotation mark, such as a title that refers to another work, that quote or quoted title can be used as the shortened title. The single quotation marks must be included in the parenthetical, rather than the double quotation.
Parenthetical citations and Works Cited pages, used in conjunction, allow readers to know which sources you consulted in writing your essay, so that they can either verify your interpretation of the sources or use them in their own scholarly work.
Taken from The Purdue Owl.
Updated April 2025.
With some exceptions, titles of the Bible and parts thereof are capitalized but not italicized. For example:
When citing a specific version or edition, italicize “The Bible” and follow it with the version you are using. Remember that your in-text (parenthetical) citation should include the name of the specific edition of the Bible, followed by an abbreviation of the book, the chapter and verse(s). (See tab "In-text citations: written works.")
The Holy Bible. Authorized King James Version, Oxford UP, 1998.
The Bible. The New Oxford Annotated Version, 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2001.
The New Jerusalem Bible. Edited by Susan Jones, Doubleday, 1985.
Taken from The Purdue Owl and the MLA Handbook, 9th ed., section 2.110.
Updated May 2025.
Some changes to note from early editions:
Here's the general format for any book citation:
Author. Title. Title of container (do not list container for standalone books, e.g. novels), Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs URL or DOI). 2nd container’s title, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location, Date of Access (if applicable).
The author’s name or a book with a single author's name appears in last name, first name format. The basic form for a book citation is:
Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date.
*Note: the City of Publication should only be used if the book was published before 1900, if the publisher has offices in more than one country, or if the publisher is unknown in North America.
Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. Penguin, 1987.
Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. MacMurray, 1999.
Order the authors the same way they are presented in the book. List the first author in the format Last Name, First Name. Subsequent authors are listed First Name Last Name.
Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Allyn and Bacon, 2000.
In-text citation, two authors
Follow the format for single author, and include both authors' names. For example:
Best and Marcus argue that one should read a text for what it says on its surface, rather than looking for some hidden meaning (9).
The authors claim that surface reading looks at what is “evident, perceptible, apprehensible in texts” (Best and Marcus 9).
If there are three or more authors, list only the first author followed by the phrase et al. (abbreviation for Latin et alia, meaning "and others") in place of the subsequent authors' names.
Wysocki, Anne, et al. Writing New Media: Theory and Applications for Expanding the Teaching of Composition. Utah State UP, 2004.
List works alphabetically by title (remember to ignore articles like A, An, and The.) Provide the author’s name in last name, first name format for the first entry only. For each subsequent entry by the same author, use three hyphens and a period.
Palmer, William J. Dickens and New Historicism. St. Martin's, 1997.
---. The Films of the Eighties: A Social History. Southern Illinois UP, 1993.
A corporate author may include a commission, a committee, a government agency, or a group that does not identify individual members on the title page.
List the names of corporate authors in the place where an author’s name typically appears at the beginning of the entry.
American Allergy Association. Allergies in Children. Random House, 1998.
When the author and publisher are the same, skip the author, and list the title first. Then, list the corporate author only as the publisher.
Fair Housing—Fair Lending. Aspen Law & Business, 1985.
List by title of the book. Incorporate these entries alphabetically just as you would with works that include an author name. For example, the following entry might appear between entries of works written by Dean, Shaun and Forsythe, Jonathan.
Encyclopedia of Indiana. Somerset, 1993.
Consult your instructor on whether to cite the author or translator.
If citing the author, do so as with any other book. Add “translated by” and follow with the name(s) of the translator(s).
Foucault, Michel. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason. Translated by Richard Howard, Vintage-Random House, 1988.
If you want to focus on the translation, list the translator as the author. In place of the author’s name, the translator’s name appears. His or her name is followed by the label, “translator.” If the author of the book does not appear in the title of the book, include the name, with a “By” after the title of the book and before the publisher. Note that this type of citation is less common and should only be used for papers or writing in which translation plays a central role.
Howard, Richard, translator. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason. By Michel Foucault, Vintage-Random House, 1988.
There are two types of editions in book publishing: a book that has been published more than once in different editions and a book that is prepared by someone other than the author (typically an editor).
Cite the book as normal, and add the number of the edition after the title.
Crowley, Sharon, and Debra Hawhee. Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students. 3rd ed., Pearson, 2004.
Cite the book as normal, and add the editor after the title with the label "edited by."
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre, edited by Margaret Smith, Oxford UP, 1998.
The format for citing sources with important contributors with editor-like roles follows the same basic template:
...adapted by John Doe...
Finally, in the event that the source features a contributor that cannot be described with a past-tense verb and the word "by" (e.g., "edited by"), you may instead use a noun followed by a comma, like so:
...guest editor, Jane Smith...
To cite the entire anthology or collection, list by editor(s) followed by a comma and "editor" or, for multiple editors, "editors." This sort of entry is somewhat rare. If you are citing a particular piece within an anthology or collection (more common), see A Work in an Anthology, Reference, or Collection below.
Hill, Charles A., and Marguerite Helmers, editors. Defining Visual Rhetorics. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004.
Peterson, Nancy J., editor. Toni Morrison: Critical and Theoretical Approaches. Johns Hopkins UP, 1997.
Works may include an essay in an edited collection or anthology, or a chapter of a book. The basic form is for this sort of citation is as follows:
Last name, First name. "Title of Essay." Title of Collection, edited by Editor's Name(s), Publisher, Year, Page range of entry.
Some examples:
Harris, Muriel. "Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers." A Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers One to One, edited by Ben Rafoth, Heinemann, 2000, pp. 24-34.
Swanson, Gunnar. "Graphic Design Education as a Liberal Art: Design and Knowledge in the University and The 'Real World.'" The Education of a Graphic Designer, edited by Steven Heller, Allworth Press, 1998, pp. 13-24.
Burns, Robert. "Red, Red Rose." 100 Best-Loved Poems, edited by Philip Smith, Dover, 1995, p. 26.
Kincaid, Jamaica. "Girl." The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories, edited by Tobias Wolff, Vintage, 1994, pp. 306-07.
If the specific literary work is part of the author's own collection (all of the works have the same author), there's no need to reference the author as the editor:
Whitman, Walt. "I Sing the Body Electric." Selected Poems, Dover, 1991, pp. 12-19.
Carter, Angela. "The Tiger's Bride." Burning Your Boats: The Collected Stories, Penguin, 1995, pp. 154-69.
If you cite more than one essay from the same edited collection, MLA indicates you may cross-reference within your works cited list in order to avoid writing out the publishing information for each separate essay. You should consider this option if you have several references from a single collection. To do so:
(1) Include a separate entry for the entire collection, listed by the editor's name, as below:
Rose, Shirley K, and Irwin Weiser, editors. The Writing Program Administrator as Researcher. Heinemann, 1999.
(2) For each individual essay from the collection, list the author's name in last name, first name format, the title of the essay, the editor's last name, and the page range:
L'Eplattenier, Barbara. "Finding Ourselves in the Past: An Argument for Historical Work on WPAs." Rose and Weiser, pp. 131-40.
Peeples, Tim. "'Seeing' the WPA With/Through Postmodern Mapping." Rose and Weiser, pp. 153-67.
When cross-referencing items in the works cited list, alphabetical order should be maintained for the entire list.
Cite the entry name as you would any other work in a collection but do not include the publisher information. Also, if the reference book is organized alphabetically, as most are, do not list the volume or the page number of the article or item.
"Ideology." The American Heritage Dictionary. 3rd ed. 1997.
When citing only one volume of a multivolume work, include the volume number after the work's title, or after the work's editor or translator.
Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria. Translated by H. E. Butler, vol. 2, Loeb-Harvard UP, 1980.
When citing more than one volume of a multivolume work, cite the total number of volumes in the work.
Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria. Translated by H. E. Butler, Loeb-Harvard UP, 1980. 4 vols.
Be sure your in-text citation provides both the volume number and page number(s).
If the volume you are using has its own title, cite the book without referring to the other volumes as if it were an independent publication.
Churchill, Winston S. The Age of Revolution. Dodd, 1957.
Write the name of the author(s) of the piece you are citing. Then give the name of the part being cited, which should not be italicized or enclosed in quotation marks. In italics, provide the name of the work and the name of the author of the introduction/preface/foreword/afterword. Finish the citation with the details of publication and page range.
Farrell, Thomas B. Introduction. Norms of Rhetorical Culture, by Farrell, Yale UP, 1993, pp. 1-13.
If the writer of the piece is different from the author of the complete work, then write the full name of the principal work's author after the word "By." For example, if you were to cite Hugh Dalziel Duncan’s introduction of Kenneth Burke’s book Permanence and Change, you would write the entry as follows:
Duncan, Hugh Dalziel. Introduction. Permanence and Change: An Anatomy of Purpose, by Kenneth Burke, 1935, 3rd ed., U of California P, 1984, pp. xiii-xliv.
When using an original copy of a book published before 1900 (as opposed to a newer edition), cite the city of publication where you would normally cite the publisher.
Thoreau, Henry David. Excursions. Boston, 1863.
Cite the author of the publication if the author is identified. Otherwise, start with the name of the national government, followed by the agency (including any subdivisions or agencies) that serves as the organizational author. For congressional documents, be sure to include the number of the Congress and the session when the hearing was held or resolution passed as well as the report number. US government documents are typically published by the Government Printing Office.
United States, Congress, Senate, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearing on the Geopolitics of Oil. Government Printing Office, 2007. 110th Congress, 1st session, Senate Report 111-8.
United States, Government Accountability Office. Climate Change: EPA and DOE Should Do More to Encourage Progress Under Two Voluntary Programs. Government Printing Office, 2006.
Cite the title and publication information for the pamphlet just as you would a book without an author. Pamphlets and promotional materials commonly feature corporate authors (commissions, committees, or other groups that does not provide individual group member names). If the pamphlet you are citing has no author, cite as directed below. If your pamphlet has an author or a corporate author, put the name of the author (last name, first name format) or corporate author in the place where the author name typically appears at the beginning of the entry. (See also Books by a Corporate Author or Organization above.)
Women's Health: Problems of the Digestive System. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2006.
Your Rights Under California Welfare Programs. California Department of Social Services, 2007.
Dissertations and master's theses may be used as sources, whether published or not. Unlike previous editions, MLA 8 specifies no difference in style for published/unpublished works.
The main elements of a dissertation citation are the same as those for a book: author name(s), title (italicized), and publication date. Conclude with an indication of the document type (e.g., "PhD dissertation"). The degree-granting institution may be included before the document type (though this is not required). If the dissertation was accessed through an online repository, include it as the second container after all the other elements.
Bishop, Karen Lynn. Documenting Institutional Identity: Strategic Writing in the IUPUI Comprehensive Campaign. 2002. Purdue University, PhD dissertation.
Bile, Jeffrey. Ecology, Feminism, and a Revised Critical Rhetoric: Toward a Dialectical Partnership. 2005. Ohio University, PhD dissertation.
Mitchell, Mark. The Impact of Product Quality Reducing Events on the Value of Brand-Name Capital: Evidence from Airline Crashes and the 1982 Tylenol Poisonings. 1987. PhD dissertation. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.
Taken from The Purdue Owl.
Updated April 2025.
In your entry, list the name of the reviewer in the Author element. As the title of the source, provide a description that includes the title of the reviewed work and its author. The title of the reviewed work should follow the usual conventions for italicizing the title or placing it in quotes, depending on the kind of work.
For example, if citing Lisa Rohrbaugh's review in the Library Journal of Scott O'Connor's novel Zero Zone:
Rohrbaugh, Lisa. Review of Zero Zone, by Scott O'Connor. Library Journal, 1 July 2020, www.libraryjournal.com/?reviewDetail=zero-zone.
Taken from the MLA Handbook, 9th ed., section 5.23.
Updated May 2025.
Do not cite a website where you purchase or download an e-books, such as Amazon, or an e-reader app, such as Kindle.
When citing a digital book with no URL that you read using software, cite much as you would a print book, with the element "e-book ed." included.
Crystal, David. Making a Point: The Persnickety Story of English Punctuation. E-book ed., St. Martin's Press, 2015.
Crystal, David. Making a Point: The Persnickety Story of English Punctuation. E-book ed., St. Martin's Press, 2015.
MLA Handbook.9th ed., e-book ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2021.
When citing a digital book published in a particular format, and the format is essential information—for example, if you know that the display of a work varies by file format.
MLA Handbook.8th ed., e-book ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2016. EPUB.
Taken/adapted from the MLA Handbook, 9th ed., sections 5.48 and 5.112.
Updated May 2025.
A database is a "container," a collection of works. Typically (but not always), a database will be one of two or more containers for a source. For example, an essay can appear in a print book and that book can be digitized on a website or database. In this case, both the book and the website/database are containers: the database contains the book, and the book contains the essay.
For example, the essay "Aboriginal Writing," published in the book The Cambridge Companion to Canadian Literature, digitized in the database Cambridge Core, would be cited like so:
Toorn, Penny van, and Daniel Justice. "Aboriginal Writing." The Cambridge Companion to Canadian Literature, edited by Eva-Marie Kroller, Cambridge UP, 2017, pp. 26–58. Cambridge Core, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316671764.004.
Further examples:
Goldman, Anne. "Questions of Transport: Reading Primo Levi Reading Dante." The Georgia Review, vol. 64, no. 1, spring 2010, pp. 69–88. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/51503188.
Poe, Edgar Allen. "The Masque of the Red Death." The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, edited by James A. Harrison, vol. 4, Thomas Y. Cromwell, 1902, pp. 250–58. HathiTrust Digital Library, hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924079574368.
Taken from the MLA Handbook, ninth edition, sections 5.33,102.
Updated May 2025.
Journal issues are typically numbered. Some journals use both volume and issue numbers (and/or season). In general, the issues of a journal published in a single year compose one volume. Usually, volumes are numbered sequentially, while at the numbering of issues starts over with 1 in each new volume.
Young, Vershawn Ashanti. "Should Writers Use They Own English?" Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies, vol. 12, no. 1, 2010, pp. 110–18.
Some journals do not use volume numbers but instead number all the issues in sequence.
Kafka, Ben. "The Demon of Writing: Paperwork, Public Safety, and the Reign of Terror." Representations, no. 98, spring 2007, pp. 1–24.
Taken from the MLA Handbook, 9th ed., section 5.51.
Updated May 2025.
One-page article
Magra, Iliana, and Andrea Zaratemay. "Hikers' Love of a Rarity in the Andes Takes a Toll." The New York Times, 3 May 2018, p. A7.
Consecutively paginated article
Sharpe, Rochelle. "Those Hidden Fees." The New York Times Education Life, 6 Nov. 2016, pp. 18–19.
Nonconsecutively paginated article
When citing an article that appears on multiple, non-consecutive pages, give the number of the first page followed by a plus sign.
Green, Erica. "U.S. Demands Colleges Recast Mideast Focus." The New York Times, late ed. 20 Sep. 2019, sec. 1, pp. 1+.
News articles
Tribble, Ivan. "Bloggers Need Not Apply." The Chronicle of Higher Education, 8 July 2005, chronicle.com/article/Bloggers-Need-Not-Apply/45022.
Wilson, Matt. "The Fighting Temeraire: Why JMW Turner's greatest painting is so misunderstood." BBC, 17 Apr. 2025, https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250415-jmw-turner-at-250-why-his-greatest-painting-the-fighting-temeraire-is-so-misunderstood.
Magazine article
"Deresiwicz, William. "The Death of the Artist—and the Birth of the Creative Entrepreneur." The Atlantic, Jan.-Feb. 2015, pp.92–97.
"Giant of France: The Frenchman Who Changed Literature." The Economist, 19 Jan. 2017, economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21714971-frenchman-who-changed-literature-giant-france.
When citing a work republished in a magazine at a later date, give the original date of publication immediately after the title.
Riis, Jacob. "Huddled Masses." 1890. Lapham's Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 1, winter 2017, laphamsquarterly.org/home/huddled-masses.
Taken from the MLA Handbook, 9th ed.
Updated May 2025.
The MLA Handbook 9th edition states that narrator should be included "if they shaped the overall presentation of the work, if your discussion focuses on their contribution, or if they are important for identifying a version of the work" (section 5.41). For example:
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Narrated by Sissy Spacek, audiobook ed., unabridged ed., HarperAudio, 2014.
Li, Yiyun. "On the Street Where You Live." Narrated by Li. The Writer's Voice: Fiction from the Magazine, hosted by Deborah Treisman, 3 Jan. 2017. The New Yorker, www.newyorker.com/prodcast/the-authors-voice/yiyun-reads-on-the-street-where-you-live.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. "The Former Age." Narrated by Susan Yager. Baragona's Literary Resources, alanbaragona.wordpress.com/the-crying-and-the-soun/the-former-age/. Accessed 8 Mar. 2017, MP3 format.
Taken from the MLA Handbook, 9th ed., Appendix 2, p. 331.
Updated May 2025.
Some notes on what your citation may include:
For a more nuanced explanation of how to cite networks and production companies, especially as multiple entities are typically involved in any given production (see the opening titles for many modern movies), see the MLA Handbook, 9th ed., sections 5.54 and 5.58.
The Fellowship of the Ring. Directed by Peter Jackson, New Line Cinema, 2001. HBO Max app.
The Lord of the Rings. Directed by Ralph Bakshi, United Artists, 1978.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Directed by Rian Johnson, Walt Disney Studios, 2017.
Opening Night. Directed by John Cassavetes, Faces Distribution, 1977.
Sairat. Directed by Nagraj Manjule, Zee Studios / Aatpat Production, 2016.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Directed by Steven Spielberg, Universal Studios, 1982. Netflix service.
Like Water for Chocolate [Como agua para chocolate]. Directed by Alfonso Arau, screenplay by Laura Esquivel, Miramax, 1993.
When viewed as a television broadcast:
"Hush." Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon, season 4, episode 10, Mutant Enemy Production / WB Television Network, 14 Dec. 1999.
When viewed on physical media:
"Hush." 1999. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Fourth Season, created by Joss Whedon, episode 10, Mutant Enemy Production / Twentieth Century Fox, 2003, disc 3. DVD.
When viewed on a streaming app:
"Hush." Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon, season 4, episode 10, Mutant Enemy Production / Twentieth Century Fox, 1999. Netflix service.
Section 5.41.
Include the name of the channel or user that uploaded the video. If the video is primarily the work of a named individual, you may include their name as the author. If the named author is also the name of the channel/user that uploaded the video, omit the "uploaded by" tag.
"What Is the MLA International Bibliography?" Vimeo, uploaded by MLA International Bibliography, 14 Oct. 2016, vimeo.com/187399565.
"St. Patrick's Bad Analogies." YouTube, uploaded by LutheranSatire, 14 Mar. 2013, youtube.com/watch?v=KQLfgaUoQCw.
"People are Strange When You're a Halfling." The Prancing Pony Podcast, episode 266, hosted by Alan Sisto and Shaun Gunner, 23 Oct. 2022. Spotify app.
Comer, John Mark. "Forgiving Wickedness, Rebellion, and Sin | God Has a Name Ep. 5." John Mark Comer Teachings podcast, uploaded by Practicing the Way, 18 Oct. 2024. Spotify app.
For a radio program you've listened to in podcast format, specify podcast edition:
"Yiyun Li Reads 'On the Street Where You Live.'" The Writer's Voice: New Fiction from The New Yorker, hosted by Deborah Treisman, podcast ed., The New Yorker / WNYC, 3 Jan. 2017. Apple Podcasts app.
Taken from the MLA Handbook, 9th ed.
Updated May 2025.
When citing a lecture or other live presentation, list the speaker, title, and venue or institution. If there is no title, substitute the type of presentation (e.g., lecture, sermon, seminar, keynote)
Horner, Grant. Lecture. Literary Criticism and Critical Theory, 4 Apr. 2025, The Master's University.
Atwood, Margaret. "Silencing the Scream." Boundaries of the Imagination Forum. MLA Annual Convention, 29 Dec. 1993, Royal York Hotel, Toronto.
Drout, Michael. "How to Read J.R.R. Tolkien." 28 Oct. 2013, Carnegie Mellon University, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXAvF9p8nmM. https://www.ted.com/talks/carl_honore_in_praise_of_slowness/transcript
Honoré, Carl. "In Praise of Slowness." TEDGlobal, 1 Jul. 2005, https://www.ted.com/talks/carl_honore_in_praise_of_slowness.
When the transcript or captioning accompanies a video or audio recording, cite as you would normally do for the video/audio recording, and add the word "Transcript" as extra information.
Honoré, Carl. "In Praise of Slowness." TEDGlobal, 1 Jul. 2005, https://www.ted.com/talks/carl_honore_in_praise_of_slowness/transcript. Transcript.
When citing a transcript published without the accompanying audio or video, cite as you would normal published material.
Scholes, Robert. "Presidential Address 2004: The Humanities in a Posthumanist World." PMLA, vol. 120, no. 3, May 2005, pp. 724-33.
Honoré, Carl. "In Praise of Slowness." TEDGlobal, 1 Jul. 2005, https://www.ted.com/talks/carl_honore_in_praise_of_slowness.
Taken/adapted from the MLA Handbook, 9th ed., p. 335.
Updated May 2025.
A blog may be a standalone site or published on the website of a larger publication or organization. See for example:
When citing, include as much information as you can.
If the blog is published on the website of a larger publication or organization, and the blog doesn't have a name apart from that of the organization, give the name of the organization in italics, and add the supplemental information "Blog post" at the end of your citation.
Moore, Alex. "Hurry Sickness: The Disease Infecting Us All." The Crossing Church, 31 May 2020, thecrossingchurch.com/blog/hurry-sickness-the-disease-infecting-us-all. Blog post.
If the blog is published on the website of a larger publication or organization, give the name of the blog as a supplemental piece of information at the end of your citation.
Hayes, Terrence. "The Wicked Candor of Wanda Coleman." The Paris Review, 12 June 2020, theparisreview.org/blog/2020/06/12/the-wicked-candor-of-wanda-coleman/. The Daily.
If the blog is a standalone site, the title of the blog should be italicized in your citation.
Hillman, Tom. "C. S. Lewis, in hospital in France, 12 February 1918." Alas, Not Me, 29 July 2015, alasnotme.blogspot.com/2015/07/c-s-lewis-in-hospital-in-france-12.html.
Taken from the MLA Handbook, 9th ed. See p. 326.
Updated May 2025.
When citing the content of a webpage that does not contain a a news/magazine article, blog post, journal article, database item, video, or audio recording, give whatever information is available.
"About the BBC." BBC, https://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc. Accessed 29 May 2025.
Hillman, Tom. "About." Alas, Not Me, https://alasnotme.blogspot.com/p/about.html. Accessed 29 May 2025.
Adapted from the MLA Handbook, 9th ed.
Updated May 2025.
These may be cited simply by author (your correspondent), communication type, and date.
MacArthur, John. Personal communication with the author. 11 Feb. 2017.
Pierson, Collette. Email to the author. 1 June 2019.
Taken/adapted from the MLA Handbook, 9th ed., p. 336.
Updated May 2025.
Cite the interviewee as the author. Introduce the interviewer with "conducted by" or "interview by."
Bacon, Francis. Interviews with Francis Bacon. Conducted by David Sylvester, Thames and Hudson, 2016.
Saro-Wiwa, Ken. "English Is the Hero." Interview by Diri I. Teilanyo. No Condition Is Permanent: Nigerian Writing and the Struggle for Democracy, edited by Holger Ehling and Claus-Peter Holste-von Mutius, Rodopi, 2001, pp. 13–19.
When you are the interviewer, cite as you would personal communication.
Tillman, Janet. Interview conducted by the author. 20 May 2025.
Taken/adapted from the MLA Handbook, 9th ed., p. 336.
Updated May 2025.
Social media posts are often most clearly identified by a brief excerpt of their body text or a description of the content. Identify the posting account as the author. In cases where the display name and account name are different, as in the first example below, provide both.
Chaucer Doth Tweet [@LeVostreGC]. "A daye wythout anachronism ys lyke Emily Dickinson wythout her lightsaber." Twitter, 7 Apr. 2018, twitter.com/LeVostreGC/status/982829987286827009.
Comer, John Mark [@johnmarkcomer]. "The last thing we should try to overcome by ourselves is sin..." Instagram, 20 May 2025, instagram.com/reel/DJ4h94wJtPK.
Taken/adapted from the MLA Handbook, 9th ed., section 5.23.
Updated May 2025.
The institution conferring the degree and the type of thesis or dissertation (BA, MA, or PhD) are essential to defining the work and should appear as a final supplemental element.
Njus, Jesse. Performing the Passion: A Study on the Nature of Medieval Acting. 2010. Northwestern U, PhD dissertation.
Butler, Daron. A Culturally Relevant Proclamation of the Gospel to the Navajo People Based Upon the Navajo Concept of Hozho and the Biblical Concept of Shalom. 1992. TREN, doc ID 009-0557. Grace Theological Seminary, ThM disseration.
Taken from the MLA Handbook, 9th ed., section 5.113.
If your instructor allows AI-generated content in your assignments, keep in mind generative AI is experimental and often wrong. Its answers may well contain factual errors, misattributed or invented quotes, and hallucinated information. It also typically cannot distinguish parody or error from truth. It simply pulls from whatever is available online, using an opaque algorithm to determine which sources to draw from. See for example:
When incorporating or citing AI- or LLM-generated content, you should:
Author
The MLA does not recommend treating the AI tool as an author.
Title of Source
Describe what was generated by the AI tool. You may want to include information about the prompt in the Title of Source element if you have not done so in the text.
Title of Container
Use the Title of Container element to name the AI tool (e.g., ChatGPT).
Version
Name the version of the AI tool as specifically as possible (for example, ChatGPT 3.5), which assigns a specific date to the version, so the Version element shows this version date.
Publisher
Name the organization that made the tool.
Date
Give the date the content was generated.
Location
Give the general URL for the tool.
While the green light in The Great Gatsby might be said to chiefly symbolize four main things: optimism, the unattainability of the American dream, greed, and covetousness (“Describe the symbolism”), arguably the most important—the one that ties all four themes together—is greed.
"Describe the symbolism of the green light in the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald" prompt. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.
![FOLLOW-UP PROMPT: What scholarly sources were used to generate that description? RESPONSE: As an Al language model, I do not have the ability to conduct research or cite sources independently. However, I can provide a list of scholarly sources related to the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby: [1] Bruccoli, Matthew J. "F. Scott Fitzgerald's American Dream." In Critical Essays on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, edited by Scott Donaldson, 83-95. G.K. Hall & Coq 1984. [2] Johnson, Claudia Durst "Seeing and Believing: The Great Gatsby." In Understanding The Great Gatsby: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents, edited by Dalton Gross and MaryJean Gross, 71-87. Greenwood Press, 1998. [3] Lee, A. Robert. "Gatsby's Green Light: The Emanation of a Dream." In Twentieth Century Literature 1, no. 1 (1955): 1-6. [4] Lydenberg, Robin. "The Symbolic Landscape ofThe Great Gatsby." In F. Scott Fitzgerald: New Perspectives, edited by Jackson R. Bryer, 153-70. University of Georgia Press, 1982. These sources and others like them offer detailed analysis and interpretation of the green light as a central symbol in The Great Gatsby.](https://d2jv02qf7xgjwx.cloudfront.net/accounts/395032/images/Prompt_3.png)
When asked to describe the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby, ChatGPT provided a summary about optimism, the unattainability of the American dream, greed, and covetousness. However, when further prompted to cite the source on which that summary was based, it noted that it lacked “the ability to conduct research or cite sources independently” but that it could “provide a list of scholarly sources related to the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby" (“In 200 words”).
"In 200 words, describe the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby" follow-up prompt to list sources. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 9 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.
While these examples give fairly detailed descriptions of the relevant prompts, a more general one (e.g., Symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby prompt) could be used, since you are describing something that mimics a conversation, which could have various prompts along the way.
If you are incorporating an AI-generated image in your work, you will likely need to create a caption for it following the guidelines in section 1.7 of the MLA Handbook. Use a description of the prompt, followed by the AI tool, version, and date created:
Fig. 1. “Pointillist painting of a sheep in a sunny field of blue flowers” prompt, DALL-E, version 2, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, labs.openai.com/.
You can use this same information if you choose to create a works-cited-list entry instead of including the full citation in the caption (see MLA Handbook, sec. 1.7).
If you ask a generative AI tool to create a work, like a poem, how you cite it will depend on whether you assign a title to it. Let's say, for example, you ask ChatGPT to write a villanelle titled “The Sunflower” and then quote it in your text. Your works-cited entry might look like this:
“The Sunflower” villanelle about a sunflower. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.
If you did not title the work, incorporate part of or all of the first line into the description of the work in the Title of Source element:
“Upon the shore . . .” Shakespearean sonnet about seeing the ocean. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.
For guidance on using descriptions and text from the work itself in the Title of Source element, see the MLA Handbook, 5.28 and 5.29.
The following tool is not endorsed by The Master's University, but may be useful to students:
AI Archives is a tool that saves generative AI conversations into a public URL, which can then be shared or incorporated into a citation. Providing the prompt may not be sufficient, as a generative AI tool will provide a different answer to the same prompt entered at a different time.
Furthermore, DALL-E allows users to download the AI-generated images they create or generate a publicly-available URL that leads to an image. If you choose to create a shareable link for an image you generate with DALL-E (or other similar AI image generators), include that unique URL that leads to the image instead of the general URL.
Taken and adapted mainly from:
"How do I cite generative AI in MLA style?" The MLA Style Center, 17 Mar. 2023, style.mla.org/citing-generative-ai/.
Updated May 2025.