Here are a few examples to help you cite your sources in MLA format
Format: Author(s). Title of Book in Italics. Edition, Publisher, Year. Database Name in Italics. (if electronic) URL.
*Note: if using a print book, skip the database name.
Example: Pryce, Brenda Lee, et al. North of Main: Spartanburg's Historic Black Neighborhoods
of North Dean Street, Gas Bottom, and Back of the College. Hub City Press, 2024.
Example: McEvoy, Sean. Shakespeare: The Basics. 2nd ed., Routledge, 2006. eBook Collection,https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=nlebk&AN=170965&site=ehost-live&scope=site&custid=s9007306.
*Note: Include URL for database at end if instructor requires it.
Format: Author(s). "Title of Part." Title of Book, edited by Editor, edition, vol. #, Publisher, Year, page number(s). Database Name (if electronic), URL.
Example: Hemingway, Ernest. "Hills Like White Elephants." The Norton Introduction to Literature, edited by Kelly J. Mays, shorter 13th ed., W. W. Norton, 2019, pp. 114-18.
Example: Hennessy, Michael. “Sinking the Titanic.” Critical Survey of Poetry, edited by Frank Magill, 2nd ed., vol. 1, Harvard UP, 1991, pp. 80-89. Literature Resource Center, www.gale.com/databases/literature-resource-center.
*Note: Include URL for database at end if instructor requires it.
Format: Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Magazine/Newspaper, Date of Publication, page number(s). Database Name (if electronic), URL
*Note: For local newspapers, if the city is not included in the title of the paper add the city in square brackets after the newspaper title: The Herald [Rock Hill]
Example: Pantazi, Andrew. "Fired IT Director Who Testified in George Zimmerman Trial Will Sue State Attorney's Office, Lawyer Says." Florida Times-Union [Jacksonville], 17 July 2013. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=n5h&AN=2W6559740466&site=ehost-live&scope=site&custid=s9007306.
Format: Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal, vol. #, no. #, Date of Publication, page number(s). Database Name (if electronic).
Example: Godwin, John. "Wallace’s 'Jest'." Explicator, vol. 61, no. 2, 2003, pp. 122-24. General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A186269246/ITOF?u=spartechcl&sid=ITOF&xid=1e4615a6.
Article with a DOI:
Example: Goldman, Ann. “Reading Primo Levi Reading.” The Georgia Review, vol. 64, no. 1, 2010, pp. 69-88. Gale Literature Resource Center, https://doi.org/10.1632/adfl.43.2.11.
Format: Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Website in Italics, Website Publisher (if different than title), Date of publication, URL.
*Note: Exclude publisher if title of website and publisher are the same.
*Note: If website does not have a date, add an access date at the end after the URL: Accessed 7 May 2016.
*Note: Do not include the http:// or https:// in the URL.
Example 1: Stewart, Bob. “Biostimulants.” Plant News, University of Maryland, 5 Aug. 2009, www.ipmnet.umd.edu/ 5-4art1.htm.
Example 2: “Biospheres.” Amazing Earth, www.amazingearth.com/biospheres/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2020.
This in-text citation information will get you started, but see our full In-text Citation Guide for more information and additional examples.
Place the author’s last name and page number in parenthesis. If the in-text citation is at the end of a sentence, place the period outside the parenthesis.
Example 1: (Hennessy 81).
Example 2: (Hennessy 81-82).
If a source has no page numbers, omit the page number. Keep in mind, most electronic sources do not include pages.
Example 1: ("Everyday Victims")
Example 2: (Jones)
If a source has numbered paragraphs instead of having page numbers or if your instructor requires it, give the paragraph number in your in-text citation. Use par. or pars. in front of the number to indicate paragraphs. You can also do this with numbered sections or lines. If your in-text citation includes the author/title, use a comma to separate that information from the paragraph numbers.
Example 1: (Jones, pars. 112-113).
Example 2: ("Everyday Victims," par. 45).
Note: Some SCC Instructors require you to use paragraph numbers for sources that do not provide page numbers even if the paragraphs aren't specifically numbered. If the paragraphs aren't numbered, count from the top of the article and use that number. Always follow your instructor's requirements.
If the source has no author, your in-text citation will use the title of the source that starts your works cited entry. The title may appear in the sentence itself or, abbreviated, before the page number in parenthesis.
Example 1: (“Noon” 508).
Example 2: (Faulkner’s Novels 25).
Example 3: (“Climate Model Simulations").
If the entry on the Works Cited page begins with the names of two authors, include both last names in the in-text citation, connected by and.
Example: (Dorris and Erdrich 23).
If the source has three or more authors, include the first author’s last name followed by et al.
Example: (Burdick et al. 42).
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