This article describes 2016 MLA Web citation style (MLA Handbook, 8th ed.). The new eighth edition, released in 2016, has instituted several significant changes over previous editions. Among the changes are these:
- The medium of publication (Web, Print) is no longer cited.
- Book citations no longer include the city (except in rare cases).
- URLs of Web publictions are no longer needed in Works Cited entries, unless it is necessary to find the page or if the instructor requires it.
- When a source has both a URL and a DOI (digital object identfier), the DOI should be used instead of the URL.
- The volume number and issue number of journals must be included, with vol. and no. used to clarify.
Instant Help: If you arrived at this page from the “How to cite this page” link at the bottom of one of the VirtualSalt articles, follow this model for citing:
Harris, Robert. "Evaluating Internet Research Sources." VirtualSalt. 21 January 2015. Accessed 20 Apr. 2016.
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 (Uniform Resource Locator = the Web address) if required for the assignment:
Harris, Robert. "Evaluating Internet Research Sources." VirtualSalt. 21 January 2015, http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm. Accessed 20 Apr. 2016.
Bonus Help for APA Style Users
To cite a page from my Web site using APA style, follow this model:
Harris, R. (2013, December 27). Evaluating Internet research sources. Retrieved from http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm
More information on APA citation here. Note that Amazon.com has lots of Books about MLA Style
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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, if there is nso author listed, a short title 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 1 (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 breast feeding, a woman’s body “will produce a substance called colostrum. This thick, yellowy substance is a milk rich in antibodies . . .” (“Newborn Feeding”).
For a more in-depth look at in-text citation, see MLA In-Text Citation Style.
Works Cited
Use, in this order, as many of these items as are relevant and useful for clearly identifying the source document. The list has been simplified by the MLA for the eighth edition of the Handbook:
1. Author or editor’s last name, then first name.
2. Title of the article in quotation marks.
3. Web site name, italicized.
4. Edition or version number.
5. Web site owner or sponsor if needed to identify the source.
6. Date of publication (DD MM YYYY as in 15 June 2014). If a publication date is not available, use n.d. for “no date.”
7. [Optional] URL or DOI if required to locate the source or if required by instructor.
8. [Optional] The date you accessed the site and 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 to 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.
Examples of Typical Web Sites
General:
Lastname, Firstname. "Article Title." Site Name. Organization Name. Article date. Date of access.
With author:
Schuster, Alan. "Spa and Hot Tub Chemical Questions." Ask Alan. Aqua-Clear Industries.
18 Aug. 2008. Accessed 10 Oct. 2015.
With no author and no date:
"Newborn Feeding." Welcome to Gerber. Gerber Corporation. n.d. 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. 27 December 2013. 17 Oct. 2008.
Article from daughter site of a parent site:
The Art of America Project. John Smith English 104 Class. Dec. 2012. Kenwood
High School, http://www.kenwoodhigh.k12.us/ArtAmerica.html.
Article with no title:
Doax, Joseph. Online Posting. The Rock Hunter. 22 Feb. 2009. 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.
Citing from Web Site Databases
When the article comes from an online database such as SIRS Researcher or InfoTrac, the publication information 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. 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. 4 Nov. 2008.
MLA Style for Printed Sources
Book:
Lastname, Firstname. Title. Publisher, Date. Williams, Samantha. Making Better Decisions. Think Tool Publishing, 2013.
Periodical:
Lastname, Firstname. “Title.” Periodical day month year: pages.
Fredericks, James. “The Benefits of Perseverance.” Problem Solving Weekly 14 February 2013: pp. 46-57.
Journal:
Lastname, Firstname. "Title." Journal volume, number, year, pages.
Abercrombie, Susan. "Quantum Entanglement and the Speed of Light." Journal of Advanced
Theoretical Physics vol. 36, no. 2, 2010, pp. 457-583.
For further information about MLA style for Works Cited entries, see MLA Works Cited Style.
Go here for APA References page style. Or to Amazon.com for APA citation and reference style books.