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Citation Formats and Style Guides

MLA Segments

The 9th edition of MLA (updated in 2021) is a citation style used in many of the humanities disciplines (Literature, foreign languages, and cultural studies, to name a few). 

On this LibGuide, you'll find resources for formatting your paper and your citations in MLA style. If you are ever unsure of how to interpret a citation rule, reach out to your professor or the library - we are here to help!

Last updated October 2025

Author type

Parenthetical citation

Narrative citation example

One author

(Patterson 45)

Patterson states “[quote]” (45).

Two authors

(Bloom and Rosenblatt 100)

According to Bloom and Rosenblatt, “[quote]” (100).

Three or more authors

(Smith et al. 33)

Smith et al. believes “[quote]” (33).

Notes:

  • If you cite more than one work by an author, include a shortened title for the particular work from which you are quoting to distinguish it from the others. Put short titles of books in italics and short titles of articles in quotation marks:
    • Lightenor has argued that computers are not useful tools for small children ("Too Soon" 38), though he has acknowledged elsewhere that early exposure to computer games does lead to better small motor skill development in a child's second and third year ("Hand-Eye Development" 17).
  • Additionally, if the author's name is not mentioned in the sentence, format your citation with the author's name followed by a comma, followed by a shortened title of the work, and, when appropriate, the page number(s):
    • Visual studies, because it is such a new discipline, may be "too easy" (Elkins, "Visual Studies" 63).

Type of work

Format

Example

Book

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date.

Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. MacMurray, 1999.

Edited book

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book, edited by First Name Last Name, Publisher, Publication Date.

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre, edited by Margaret Smith, Oxford UP, 1998.

Chapter in an edited book, anthology, or collection

Last name, First name. "Title of Essay." Title of Collection, edited by Editor's Name(s), Publisher, Year, Page range of entry.

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.

Notes for books:

  • When a book has two authors, order the authors in the same way they are presented in the book.
  • If there are three or more authors, list only the first author followed by the phrase “et al.”

Type of work

Format

Example

Article in scholarly journal from an online database (e.g., JSTOR, ProQuest, etc.)

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages. Name of Database, DOI.

Alonso, Alvaro, and Julio A. Camargo. “Toxicity of Nitrite to Three Species of Freshwater Invertebrates.” Environmental Toxicology, vol. 21, no. 1, 3 Feb. 2006, pp. 90-94. Wiley Online Library, https://doi.org/10.1002/tox.20155.

Magazine or newspaper

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical, Day Month Year, pages.

Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time, 20 Nov. 2000, pp. 70-71.

Krugman, Andrew. "Fear of Eating." New York Times, late ed., 21 May 2007, p. A1.

Notes for scholarly articles:

  • If there is no DOI for an article, use its permanent URL.

Notes for magazines and newspapers:

  • Note the different pagination in most newspapers. If there is more than one edition available for that date (as in an early and late edition of a newspaper), identify the edition after the newspaper title.

Style Guide