The following are examples of bibliographic citations using the MLA (Modern Language Association) format. These examples can be used to construct bibliographies at the end of any piece of research. This guide reflects the changes in MLA format taking effect in April 2009.

Book with one author:

     Bird, Caroline.  Enterprising Woman.  New York: Norton, 1976. Print.

Author: Last name of the author,  first name. Title: Title of book, subtitle (if any) and a period. Title and subtitle are italicized. Also, main words in title and subtitle are capitalized. Publication information: Place of publication (state usually not needed), publisher followed by date of publication. Note that "University Press" is abbreviated UP and "University of Oregon Press" would be "U of Oregon P." Note that all entries in a bibliography finish with a period. A new feature is the addition of the word "Print' at the end of the citation, to indicate the item is in print rather than web-based format.

Book with two authors:

     Berelson, Bernard, and Gary A. Steiner.  Human Behavior: An Inventory of 

          Scientific Findings. New York: Harcourt, 1964. Print.

Book with three authors:

     Baum, Charlotte, Paula Hyman, and Sonya Michel. The Jewish Woman in America. 

          New York: Dial P., 1976. Print.

Format Note: Last name of the author, author's first name, followed by the word "and" then the name of the second author. Note that the second author format is first name followed by last name.

Book with multiple authors:

     Stewart, Marie M., et al. Business English and Communication. 5th ed. New 

          York: McGraw, 1978. Print.

Book written by an organization:

     Boston Women's Health Book Collective. Our Bodies, Ourselves: A Book by 

          and for Women. New York: Simon Schuster, 1971. Print.

Book with an editor:

     Silverberg, Robert, ed. Earth is the Strangest Planet: Ten Stories of 

          Science Fiction. Nashville: T. Nelson, 1977. Print.

Format Note: Last name, first name, then the abbreviation "ed." Sometimes the editor will appear after the title, depending on the nature of the book.

 

Section, chapter, or essay in a book or anthology:

     Allende, Isabel. "Toad's Mouth." A Hammock Beneath the Mangoes: Stories 

          from Latin America. Ed. Thomas Colchie. New York: Plume, 1992. 83-88. Print.

Format Note: In this example, there is a story by Isabel Allende in an anthology edited by Thomas Colchie. At the end of the citation, include the pages where the article, story or essay appeared.

Specific pages in a book:

     Leggett, Glenn C., David Mead, and William Charvat. Prentice-Hall Handbook 

          for Writers. 8th ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1982. 69-76. Print.

Book with more than one edition:

     Baugh, Albert C. A History of the English Language. 2nd ed. New York: 

          Appleton, 1957. Print.

Work published in several volumes:

     Woolf, Virginia. The Diary of Virginia Woolf. Ed. Anne Olivier Bell. 

          Vol. 1. New York: Harcourt, 1977. Print.

Article or entry in a popular general reference book:

     Goris, Jan-Albert. "Belgian Literature." Collier's Encyclopedia. 1983 ed. Print.

     "Aging." The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia. 15th ed. 1983. Print.

     "Graham, Martha." Who's Who in American Women. 13th ed. 1983-84. Print.

Article or entry in a subject reference book:

     Freedom of Information. Encyclopedia of Human Rights. Ed. Edward Lawson. 

          New York: Taylor & Francis, 1991. 592-595. Print.

Format Note: In a popular reference book such as the Encyclopaedia Britannica, you don't need to cite the full publication information; but in a more specific subject encyclopedia, you need to include the full publication information.

Article in a magazine:

     Begley, Sharon. "A Healthy Dose of Laughter." Newsweek 4 Oct. 1982: 74. Print.

     Ellison, Nancy, and Diane Smith. "Basic Sharon." Premiere May 1993: 63. Print.

Format Note: Magazine article format begins with the author, exactly the same way as a book. Then the title of the article appears, in quote marks, followed by the name of the magazine, italicized. For the date of the article, follow this format: day, month (abbreviated), year (not abbreviated). Then insert a colon, a space, and the page numbers. Finish with a period, and the word Print.

Magazine article from a database:

     Dineen, Shauna. "The Make-up Labyrinth." E Magazine: The Environmental 

          Magazine Nov./Dec. 2005: 40-. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Feb. 2007.    

     Smith, Kaukab Jhumra. "Shaping a Dream: Oregon Debates Future of Diversity." 

      Eugene Weekly 2 Oct. 2003: 19. Alt-Press Watch. Web. 12 Apr. 2008.    

Format Note: Include:        the author's name (if known)        the full title of the article in quotation marks        the title of the magazine, italicized        the date of the article        the name of the database, italicized        the word Web        the date that you visited the site

Magazine article from a website:

     McCulley, Russell.  "Law vs. Order in New Orleans." Time.com. Time Magazine, 14 

          Feb. 2007. Web. 3 Mar. 2009.

Article in a scholarly journal:

     Slack, Warner V., and Douglas Porter. "The Scholastic Aptitude Test: 

          A Critical Appraisal." Harvard Educational Review 50 (1980): 154-75. Print.

     Maimon, Elaine P. "Cinderella to Hercules: Demythologiz­ing Writing Across 

          the Curriculum." Journal of Basic Writing 2.4 (1980): 3-11. Print.

Format Note: In the MLA format, scholarly journals are cited differently than magazines and newspapers. It is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between a magazine and a journal - if you are in doubt, talk to one of your teachers. The format is the same for the author and title of the article, and the title of the journal. The difference is that the scholarly journal includes the volume and issue numbers of the journal, rather than the day and date. The format is the volume number, a period, and the issue number (if any). Next is the year in parentheses, followed by a colon, a space, and the page numbers.

Scholarly journal article from a database:

     Vassy, Zoltan. "A Study of Telepathy by Classical Conditioning." Journal 

          of Parapsychology 68.2 (2004): 323-50. Academic Search Premier. 

          Web. 14 Feb. 2009.

Scholarly journal article from a website:

     Lyu, Siwei, Daniel Rockmore, and Hany Farid. "A Digital Technique for Art 

          Authentication." PNAS Online 101.49 (2004). Web. 15 Feb. 2009.

Article in a newspaper:

     Griffith, John. "Coquille Indians Open Panel-Building Plant." Oregonian 27 

      Sept. 1995: DO2. Print.

Anonymous article in a newspaper:

     "Single-Father Survey Finds Adjustment a Problem." New York Times 21 Nov. 

          1983: B17. Print.

     "Show of Titanic Items is Attacked." New York Times 11 May 1997, sec. 1: 16. Print.

Format Note: Newspapers are cited the same as magazines, except you may need to include section information; also, the page numbers sometimes include sections, e.g. B3.

Newspaper article from a database: 

     Russo, Edward. "City Council Sets Public Hearing on Gas Tax." The Register

          -Guard 23 Jan. 2007: E1. The Register-Guard. Proquest. Web. 8 Feb. 2007.

Newspaper article from a website:

     Lewin, Tamar. "Oregon's Gay Workers Given Benefits for Domestic Partners." 

          New York Times. New York Times, 10 Dec. 1998. Web. 24 Feb. 2007.



     Cohen, Elizabeth. "Five Ways to Avoid Germs While Traveling." 

          CNN.com. CNN, 27 Nov. 2008. Web. 28 Nov. 2008.

Editorial in a newspaper:

     Newcomb, Steven. "The Legacy of Religious Racism in US Indian Law." 

          Editorial. Indian Country Today 24 Apr. 2002: A5. Print.

Government publication:

     United States. Dept. of Education. National Commission on Excellence in 

          Education. A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. 

          Washington: GPO, 1983. Print.

Television or radio program (now usually online):

     "Death and Society." Narr. Joanne Silberner. Weekend Edition Sunday. Natl. 

          Public Radio. 25 Jan. 1998. Web. 15 Mar. 2009.

Format Note: TV or radio programs include        the title of the piece        the name of the narrator        the name of the program (italicized like a book title)        the network        the broadcast date        the word Web if accessed online        the access date

Video recording:

     Myths and the Mound Builders. Dir. Graham Shedd. Videocassette. PBS Home 

          Video, 1990.

     It's a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. 1946. DVD. Republic, 2001.

Format Note: A video or DVD includes        the name of the item (italicized like a book title)        the director (if known)        the original year of issue (if known)        the word "Videocassette" or "DVD"        the studio        the date of the current release

Sound recording:

     Burnett, Frances Hodgson. The Secret Garden. 1911. Read by Helena Bonham 

          Carter. Audiocassette. Penguin, 1993.

     Holiday, Billie. The Essence of Billie Holiday. Columbia, 1991.

     Kronos Quartet. Nuevo. Nonesuch, 2002.

Format Note: Include        the name of the performer        the title of the CD (italicized like a book title)        the record label        the date of the current release        For an audiocassette, add the word "Audiocassette" just before the name of the label

Dissertation:

     Hadja, Yvonne P. "Mary's River Kalapuyan: A Descriptive Phonology." Diss. 

          Portland State U, 1976. Print.

Format Note: An unpublished dissertation is treated differently than a book in the MLA format. The title is in quote marks, followed by the abbreviation "Diss.", the name of the university, and the year. Remember that University is abbreviated to "U".

Web sites:

     Futcher, David. "Name That Flag!" David Futcher's Home Page. 1998. Web. 23 Oct. 

          2002.

     "Learning Technologies." Apple Community College Alliance (ACCA). Mar. 

          2002. Web. 11 Jan. 2004.

     "City Profile: San Francisco." CNN.com. 2002. Cable News Network. Jan. 

          1999. Web. 14 May 2002.

Format Note: Include        the author's name (if known)        the full title of the work in quotation marks        the title of the complete work or the website (if applicable) italicized        the date of the site (if known)        the date that you visited the site

An entire site:

     Victorian Women Writers Project. Ed. Perry Willett. May 2000. Indiana U. Web.  

          26 June 2002.

Online review:

     Ebert, Roger. Rev. of Memento, dir. Christopher Nolan. Chicago Sun-Times 

          Online.  Chicago Sun-Times, 13 Apr. 2001. Web. 3 May 2008.

Online radio or tv program:

     Keillor, Garrison. Prairie Home Companion. With Ledward Ka'apana and Owana 

          Salazar. Minnesota Public Radio, 12 Oct. 2002. Web. 18 Oct. 2005.

Online interview:

     Ackroyd, Peter. Interview. Bold Type. Nov. 2001. Web. 28 June 2008.

Published interview:

     Fellini, Federico. "The Long Interview." Juliet of the Spirits. Ed. Tullio 

          Kezich. Trans. Howard Greenfield. New York: Ballantine, 1966. 17-64. Print.

     Gordimer, Nadine. Interview. New York Times 10 Oct. 1991, late ed.: C25. Print.

TV interview:

     Wiesel, Elie. Interview with Ted Koppel. Nightline. ABC. WABC, New York. 18 

          Apr. 2002.

Format Note: Include        the name of the person interviewed        the name of the publication        the bibliographic information        If the interview is untitled, use the descriptive label Interview

Personal interview:

     Jones, Theo. Personal interview. 18 Apr. 2004.

     Smith, Alex. Telephone interview. 10 Dec. 2003.

     O'Brien, Siobahn. E-mail interview. 8-12 May 2002.

Format Note: Include        the name of the person interviewed        the type of interview        the date or dates

 

For examples not included here, see Chapter 5 of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.