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MLA Guide

This guide contains information to help you cite your sources in MLA format.

Container Punctuation

Containers help explain the punctuation of MLA citations (when to use commas versus periods).

First, you always list the author and title of the source that you're citing--both of which always have a period after them.

Book Example: Thomas, Angie. The Hate U Give.

Book Chapter Example: Fallows, James. "Throwing Like a Girl."

Article Example: Smith, Eric. "The Carbon Solution."

Next, you'll list the information for the first container (assuming there is one). This could include:

  • Title of the container,
  • Editor or other contributors,
  • Edition or version,
  • Volume and/or issue number,
  • Publisher,
  • Publication Date,
  • Location (usually page numbers, DOI, or URL).

Notice how each piece of information has a comma after it except for the last one, which has a period. This is how you do punctuation for containers. You won't always have all the information above, so you list what you have (in the order above), using a comma after every piece except for the last one, which will have a period.

Example: Explicator, vol. 61, no. 2, 2003, pp. 122-24.

Example: The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings and Handbook, 5th ed., W.W. Norton, 2019, pp. 137-41.

Example: Plant News, University of Maryland, 5 Aug. 2009, www.ipment.umd.edu/5-4art1.htm.

Example: Cultural Analysis, vol. 16, no. 2, 20 Apr. 2017.

Multiple Containers

If you have a second container (like a database), then you follow the same rule. List all the information about the second container (in the order above) with commas following every piece except the last one, which will have a period. So when you put the entire citation together, you should have a period after the author and title of the source at the beginning, and then a period at the end of each container's information. The rest will be commas. See examples below:

MLA Citation with black boxes around the different containers in the citation.

Example: Moore, Leonard N. "Civil Rights Movement." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, edited by Thomas Riggs, 2nd ed., vol. 1, St. James Press, 2013, pp. 608-11. Gale eBooks, pascal-scc.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01PASCAL_SCC/1msufik/cdi_gale_incontextnref_ISN_
SFRNQP801853224.

Example: Teach Us All: Segregation and Education in the United States. Directed by Sonia Lowman, Video Project, 2017. Kanopy, sccsc.kanopy.com/video/teach-us-all. 

Example: Swann, Samantha. "Spartanburg Community College's New 'Chasers' Mascot Encourages Students to Chase Dreams." Herald-Journal [Spartanburg, SC], 2 Nov. 2021. NewsBank: Access World News, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/18607A7DB6DE8DF8.

How to Practice

The SCC Library has a practice template that you can use to help yourself figure out which punctuation should go where. Each part of the template is labelled with each part of the citation. Fill out the information for your citation in the template and pay attention to the punctuation included. Then, combine all of the parts together to create your citation. It is okay to leave some sections blank if you do not have the information.

Check out the example templates below. There is also a blank Practice Template available for download at the bottom of the screen.

Example 1 - Journal Article

MLA Element
Example Citation
1. Author. Reider, Noriko T.
2. Title of source. "The Appeal of Kaidan Tales of the Strange."
Container 1
3. Title of Container, Asian Folklore Studies
4. Other contributors,  
5. Version,  
6. Number, vol. 59, no. 2,
7. Publisher,  
8. Publication date, 2000,
9. Location. pp. 265-83.
Container 2
3. Title of container, EBSCOhost,
4. Other contributors,  
5. Version,  
6. Number,  
7. Publisher,  
8. Publication Date,  
9. Location. search.proquest.com/docview/224527484?accountid=14244.

The full citation would be:

Reider, Noriko T. "The Appeal of Kaidan Tales of the Strange." Asian Folklore Studies, vol. 59, no. 2, 2000, pp. 265-83. EBSCOhost, search.proquest.com/docview/224527484?

Example 2 - Print Book

MLA Element
Example Citation
1. Author. Heinlein, Sabine.
2. Title of Source. "The Cruelty of Kindness."

Container 1
3. Title of Container, The Writer's Mindset,
4. Other contributors, edited by Lisa Wright Hoeffner,
5. Version,  
6. Number,  
7. Publisher, McGraw Hill,
8. Publication date, 2022,
9. Location. pp. 512-522.

Container 2
3. Title of Container,  
4. Other contributors,  
5. Version,  
6. Number,  
7. Publisher,  
8. Publication date,  
9. Location.  

The full citation would be:

Heinlein, Sabine. "The Cruelty of Kindness." The Writer's Mindset, edited by Lisa Wright Hoeffner, McGraw Hill, 2022, pp. 512-522.

Example 3 - Website Article

MLA Element
Example Citation
1. Author.  
2. Title of Source. "Sloth Bear."

Container 1
3. Title of Container, Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute,
4. Other contributors,  
5. Version,  
6. Number,  
7. Publisher,  
8. Publication date, 2022,
9. Location. nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/sloth-bear.

Container 2
3. Title of Container,  
4. Other contributors,  
5. Version,  
6. Number,  
7. Publisher,  
8. Publication date,  
9. Location.  

The full citation would be:

"Sloth Bear." Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute, 2022, nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/sloth-bear.

Example 4 - Newspaper Article

MLA Element
Example Citation
1. Author. Wade, Nicholas.
2. Title of Source. "Sit. Stay. Parse. Good Girl!"

Container 1
3. Title of Container, The New York Times,
4. Other contributors,  
5. Version,  
6. Number,  
7. Publisher,  
8. Publication date, 18 Jan. 2011.
9. Location.  

Container 2
3. Title of Container, Gale Power Search,
4. Other contributors,  
5. Version,  
6. Number,  
7. Publisher,  
8. Publication date,  
9. Location. link.gale.com/apps/A246802186/GPS?u=spartechcl&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=7c8e3f97.

The full citation would be:

Wade, Nicholas. "Sit. Stay. Parse. Good Girl!" The New York Times, 18. Jan 2011. Gale Power Search, link.gale.com/apps/A246802186/GPS?u=spartechcl&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=7c8e3f97.