Hudson's MLA Rules
Here is a free MLA template for your download, so that you have it ready to go when you have an essay to write.
You can also save a lot of time with all of those correct Works Cited entries by going to easybib.com.
Over the last few years, lots of changes have happened with websites and MLA rules. Among the changes are these:
Harris, Robert. "Evaluating Internet Research Sources."
VirtualSalt. 15 June 2008. Web. 20 Apr. 2009.
In the example above, the first date is the date of the page itself, while the second date is the date you accessed (read or printed) the page.
Optional, with URL if required:
Harris, Robert. "Evaluating Internet Research Sources."
VirtualSalt. 15 June 2008. Web. 20 Apr. 2009.
<http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm>.
In-text Citation For its citation style, the Modern Language Association uses an in-text reference which directs the reader to a list of Works Cited at the end of the paper. For printed works, the in-text reference includes the author's last name or a short title (if there is no author listed) and page number. For Web citations, where few Web documents have page numbers, you can give either a section or paragraph number (if those exist in the document) or simply the author's last name or short title. Here are examples:
A spa chemistry expert recommends adding spa shock after using the spa "in order to help assure a sanitizer level in the water" (Schuster).
Note: If there are no page numbers, as is usual with Web documents, do not make up a page number or use the number one (as in "Jones 1") to cover the whole document. Use a number only when there is a number present in the document.
If you mention the author in your introduction, you do not need the parenthetical name, but such a practice is not recommended because it may make the quotation at first appear to have no citation:
Alan Schuster recommends adding spa shock "in order to help assure a sanitizer level" in your spa.
If there is no author named, use a short title from the article in the parenthetical reference and optionally refer to the organization in the text:
The Gerber Baby Food company notes that for the first three to five days of feeding, formula "provides babies a substance rich in antibodies . . ." ("Newborn Feeding").
Also remember to make your quotes flow into your sentence. Here is a link from Perdue University on the best ways to correctly implement your quotes. Here is another link that shows you the correct use of quotation marks.
Works Cited Use, in this order, as many of these items as are relevant and useful for clearly identifying the source document. The list is long not so that you will include all of it in every reference, but because Web page content and format vary so widely. REMEMBER, if the article doesn’t have one of these, skip it and move on…
1. Author or editor's last name, then first name.
2. Title of the article in quotation marks.
3. Web site name, italicized. (Underlining is no longer used.)
4. Edition or version number.
5. Web site owner or sponsor if available.
6. Date of publication (DD MM YYYY as in 15 June 2009). If a publication date is not available, use n.d. for "no date."
7. The word Web and a period to indicate the publication medium.
8. The date you accessed the site and a period.
9. [If required by your instructor or if it's necessary to find the article, include the URL (uniform resource locator--that is, Web address) of the document <in angle brackets> followed by a period.]
Note that often you will not have all of these items. The site name will be available, but the Web site owner or sponsor will be the same or not known. Similarly, there may not be a version or edition number.
Note also that the two frustrations of Web article dating are (1) articles or pages with no dates at all and (2) autodating pages that automatically display today's date regardless of when the article was actually written. In the first instance, where no date is visible, be careful with the information because you don't really know when it was created. Cite it as shown below, using n.d. and the date of access. In the second case, where the page is autodated, be equally careful because you also don't know when the information was created. (To check for autodating, come back the page the next day or so and see if the current date shows up again.) The MLA does not give specific instructions for autodated pages. However, Section 5.5.24 of the Handbook says to add a bracketed question mark if you are uncertain about the accuracy of supplied information such as a date of publication. The same rule should apply to autodates. See the last "Article with autodate" example below.
Examples of Typical Web Sites General:
Lastname, Firstname. "Article Title." Site Name. Organization Name. Article date. Web.
Date of access.
With author:
Schuster, Alan. "Spa and Hot Tub Chemical Questions." Ask
Alan. Aqua-Clear Industries. 18 Aug. 2008. Web. 10 Oct.
2008.
With no author and no date:
"Newborn Feeding." Welcome to Gerber. Gerber Corporation. n.d. Web.
18 Oct. 2008.
With the Web site name the same as that of the organization (no organization name is specified):
Harris, Robert. "Evaluating Internet Research Sources." VirtualSalt.
15 June 2007. Web. 17 Oct. 2008.
Article with no title:
Doax, Joseph. Online Posting. The Rock Hunter. 22 Feb. 2009. Web. 12 April 2009.
Article with autodate [unofficial MLA style]:
Doe, John. "On the Contents of Ping Pong Balls." The Airful Truth. [15
Dec. 2009?]. Web. 15 Dec. 2009.
google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);
Citing from Web Site Databases When the article comes from an online database such as SIRS Researcher or InfoTrac, the publication data of the print article is also included.
Note: If the database service has several sub-databases, list the exact database as well as the service (For example, EBSCO Host MasterFILE Premier, EBSCO Host Academic Search Elite, EBSCO Host Busines Source Premier.) The database name is italicized.
General:
Lastname, Firstname. "Article Title." Periodical Name
Periodical Date: Page numbers. Database Name. Web. Date of access.
Database with author:
Rossman, Parker. "The Theology of Imagination: Science, Science
Fiction, and Religion." Witness Oct. 1989: 12+. SIRS
Researcher. Web. 9 Nov. 2008.
Database with no author:
"Monkeying with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome." Science News 14
Sept. 1996: 170. InfoTrac Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 4 Nov. 2008.
MLA Style for Printed Sources Book:
Lastname, Firstname. Title. City: Publisher, Date. Print.
Periodical:
Lastname, Firstname. "Title." Periodical day month year: pages. Print.
Journal:
Lastname, Firstname. "Title." Journal volume (year): pages. Print.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
The Media Center will send us an instruction sheet for ways to find additional sources other than “google.” WHEN YOU GET IT, SAVE THE HANDOUT FOR THE ENTIRE SEMESTER!!!
You can also save a lot of time with all of those correct Works Cited entries by going to easybib.com.
Over the last few years, lots of changes have happened with websites and MLA rules. Among the changes are these:
- The medium of publication (Web, Print) must be listed for every bibliographic entry.
- URLs of Web publictions are no longer needed in Works Cited entries, unless it is necessary to find the page or the instructor requires it (and I don’t).
- The volume number and issue number of journals must be included.
Harris, Robert. "Evaluating Internet Research Sources."
VirtualSalt. 15 June 2008. Web. 20 Apr. 2009.
In the example above, the first date is the date of the page itself, while the second date is the date you accessed (read or printed) the page.
Optional, with URL if required:
Harris, Robert. "Evaluating Internet Research Sources."
VirtualSalt. 15 June 2008. Web. 20 Apr. 2009.
<http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm>.
In-text Citation For its citation style, the Modern Language Association uses an in-text reference which directs the reader to a list of Works Cited at the end of the paper. For printed works, the in-text reference includes the author's last name or a short title (if there is no author listed) and page number. For Web citations, where few Web documents have page numbers, you can give either a section or paragraph number (if those exist in the document) or simply the author's last name or short title. Here are examples:
A spa chemistry expert recommends adding spa shock after using the spa "in order to help assure a sanitizer level in the water" (Schuster).
Note: If there are no page numbers, as is usual with Web documents, do not make up a page number or use the number one (as in "Jones 1") to cover the whole document. Use a number only when there is a number present in the document.
If you mention the author in your introduction, you do not need the parenthetical name, but such a practice is not recommended because it may make the quotation at first appear to have no citation:
Alan Schuster recommends adding spa shock "in order to help assure a sanitizer level" in your spa.
If there is no author named, use a short title from the article in the parenthetical reference and optionally refer to the organization in the text:
The Gerber Baby Food company notes that for the first three to five days of feeding, formula "provides babies a substance rich in antibodies . . ." ("Newborn Feeding").
Also remember to make your quotes flow into your sentence. Here is a link from Perdue University on the best ways to correctly implement your quotes. Here is another link that shows you the correct use of quotation marks.
Works Cited Use, in this order, as many of these items as are relevant and useful for clearly identifying the source document. The list is long not so that you will include all of it in every reference, but because Web page content and format vary so widely. REMEMBER, if the article doesn’t have one of these, skip it and move on…
1. Author or editor's last name, then first name.
2. Title of the article in quotation marks.
3. Web site name, italicized. (Underlining is no longer used.)
4. Edition or version number.
5. Web site owner or sponsor if available.
6. Date of publication (DD MM YYYY as in 15 June 2009). If a publication date is not available, use n.d. for "no date."
7. The word Web and a period to indicate the publication medium.
8. The date you accessed the site and a period.
9. [If required by your instructor or if it's necessary to find the article, include the URL (uniform resource locator--that is, Web address) of the document <in angle brackets> followed by a period.]
Note that often you will not have all of these items. The site name will be available, but the Web site owner or sponsor will be the same or not known. Similarly, there may not be a version or edition number.
Note also that the two frustrations of Web article dating are (1) articles or pages with no dates at all and (2) autodating pages that automatically display today's date regardless of when the article was actually written. In the first instance, where no date is visible, be careful with the information because you don't really know when it was created. Cite it as shown below, using n.d. and the date of access. In the second case, where the page is autodated, be equally careful because you also don't know when the information was created. (To check for autodating, come back the page the next day or so and see if the current date shows up again.) The MLA does not give specific instructions for autodated pages. However, Section 5.5.24 of the Handbook says to add a bracketed question mark if you are uncertain about the accuracy of supplied information such as a date of publication. The same rule should apply to autodates. See the last "Article with autodate" example below.
Examples of Typical Web Sites General:
Lastname, Firstname. "Article Title." Site Name. Organization Name. Article date. Web.
Date of access.
With author:
Schuster, Alan. "Spa and Hot Tub Chemical Questions." Ask
Alan. Aqua-Clear Industries. 18 Aug. 2008. Web. 10 Oct.
2008.
With no author and no date:
"Newborn Feeding." Welcome to Gerber. Gerber Corporation. n.d. Web.
18 Oct. 2008.
With the Web site name the same as that of the organization (no organization name is specified):
Harris, Robert. "Evaluating Internet Research Sources." VirtualSalt.
15 June 2007. Web. 17 Oct. 2008.
Article with no title:
Doax, Joseph. Online Posting. The Rock Hunter. 22 Feb. 2009. Web. 12 April 2009.
Article with autodate [unofficial MLA style]:
Doe, John. "On the Contents of Ping Pong Balls." The Airful Truth. [15
Dec. 2009?]. Web. 15 Dec. 2009.
google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);
Citing from Web Site Databases When the article comes from an online database such as SIRS Researcher or InfoTrac, the publication data of the print article is also included.
Note: If the database service has several sub-databases, list the exact database as well as the service (For example, EBSCO Host MasterFILE Premier, EBSCO Host Academic Search Elite, EBSCO Host Busines Source Premier.) The database name is italicized.
General:
Lastname, Firstname. "Article Title." Periodical Name
Periodical Date: Page numbers. Database Name. Web. Date of access.
Database with author:
Rossman, Parker. "The Theology of Imagination: Science, Science
Fiction, and Religion." Witness Oct. 1989: 12+. SIRS
Researcher. Web. 9 Nov. 2008.
Database with no author:
"Monkeying with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome." Science News 14
Sept. 1996: 170. InfoTrac Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 4 Nov. 2008.
MLA Style for Printed Sources Book:
Lastname, Firstname. Title. City: Publisher, Date. Print.
Periodical:
Lastname, Firstname. "Title." Periodical day month year: pages. Print.
Journal:
Lastname, Firstname. "Title." Journal volume (year): pages. Print.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
The Media Center will send us an instruction sheet for ways to find additional sources other than “google.” WHEN YOU GET IT, SAVE THE HANDOUT FOR THE ENTIRE SEMESTER!!!
