MLA Documentation Guide

MLA Guidelines…updated 10/25/2004

The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Sixth Edition is an invaluable resource. I strongly recommend that you purchase a copy for yourself. The following guidelines follow the MLA style. It is not feasible to place an example of each and every citation you might need, therefore, please refer to an MLA book if you do not see what you need. We have copies in the Reference area (Ref 808.02 Gib). You may use www.easybib.com or http://www.landmark- project.com/citation_machine/cm_book.php3 to help you with your citations.

When setting up your paper, take advantage of the tools available in Microsoft Word. Use the header/footer to set your name and page numbers. Use the hanging indent to set up your works cited page. See your media specialist for help if you are unsure of how to use these features. Also, if you are typing your paper at home, please remember that we use Microsoft Word! If you do not have this, you must save your work as a Word document if you want to be able to open it at school. This is very important! Again, see your media specialist if you’re unsure of how to do this!

All items within this MLA Guidelines sheet have received copyright clearance through the MLA organization.

Preparing your Works Cited page

Your works cited page is an alphabetical list of the sources used in your research paper. It is double spaced within and between sources. The first line of each entry is flush with the left margin while the remaining lines are indented five spaces. It is a good idea to use the “hanging indent” tool to set this up. Note: The examples given are single spaced in order to save paper! You must double space yours when doing your works cited page! Refer to the MLA Handbook for all margins and spacing rules!

Works Cited

Book with one author (pages 147-152):

Author’s name (last name first), title, place of publication, publisher, and copyright date.

Derrick, Sally. Whistle While You Work. New York: Derrick Press, 1999.

Book with two or more authors (pages 154-156):

Wash, Jane, and Susan Jones. The Goals of Famous Women. New York: Winds

Press, 1988.

Article in a reference book (pages 160-161):

“Wind Storms.” World Book Encyclopedia. 1998 ed.

Timmons, Joe. “Winter Winds.” The New Encyclopaedia Britannica:

Macropaedia. 15^th ed. 1988.

An edition (pages 163-165):

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Ed. John Jacobs. New York: Gale, 1977.

Book published in a second or subsequent edition (pages 166-167):

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 5^th ed. New

York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1999.

Multivolume work if you are using more than one volume (pages 167-170):

Pendergast, Sara and Tom Pendergast, eds. Bowling, Beatniks, and Bell-

Bottoms: Pop Culture of 20^th Century America. 5 vols.

New York: Gale, 2002.

Multivolume work if you are using just one of the volumes (pages 168-169):

Miller, Jane Eldridge. “May Swenson.” American Writers: A Collection of

Literary Biographies. Eds. A. Walton Litz and Molly Weigel.

Supplement IV Part 2. New York: Scribner, 1996. 14-18.

Mercier, Vivian. “Liam O’Flaherty.” Short Story Criticism: Excerpts from

Criticism of the Works of Short Fiction Writers. Eds. Thomas

Votteler and Shannon J. Young. Vol. 6. Detroit: Gale, 1990. 259-260.

Sylvester, William. “Angelou, Maya.” Contemporary Poets. Ed. Thomas

Riggs. 7^th ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 2001. 26-29.

“King, Stephen (Edwin) 1947-(Richard Bachman, Steve King, John Swithen).”

Contemporary Authors New Revision Series. Ed. Scot Peacock. Vol.119.

Detroit: Gale, 2003. 188-202.

Articles in scholarly journals (pages 180-185):

Author’s name, title of article, title of periodical, volume number, year of

publication, and page numbers. If volume and/or number are not given use the month

and year.

Scott, Fred. “Laughter for a Long Life.” Humor. 6 (1990): 252-256.

Articles in magazines (pages 187-188):

Bender, William. “How Much Food Will We Need?” Environment. 25 Mar.1995:

5-8.

Television program (pages 194-195):

Title of the episode, title of the program, title of the series, name of the network,

call letters and city of the local station, broadcast date.

“Passions Run High.” Civil War Journal. Masterpiece Theater. PBS. WGXL,

Boston. 28 May 1995.

Videocassette (pages 198-199):

Don Carlo. By Sally Hatcher. Dir. Frank Zimms. Videocassette. Miramax, 1993.

Citing Electronic Sources

Document from an Internet site (pages 207-216):

“New York.” CNN.com. 2001. Cable News Network. 12 Mar. 2002.

<http://www.cnn.com/TRAVEL/New York/intro.html>

Evans, Paul E. “Librarian.” Occupational Outlook Handbook. 8 Aug. 2003.

Bureau of Labor Statistics. Online. 3 Mar. 2000. <http://stats.bls.gov/

Oco/ocos068.htm>

“Natural Born Killers: Genetics/Bad Seeds.” Court TV’s Crime Library Criminal

Minds and Methods. 2003. Courtroom Television Network LLC.

19 Nov. 2003 <http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/notorious/

tick/killers_9.html?sect=19>

An entire Internet site (pages 216-217):

History Channel.com. 2000. History Channel. 12 Mar. 2003.

<http://historychannel.com>

A personal home page (page 218):

Derrick, Sally. Home Page. 12 May 2003. <http://www.chass..usc.sc:8080/

~sally/>

Article in an online periodical (pages 221-224):

Scholarly Journal:

Denning, Peter. “Business Ideas.” Educom Review 31.5 (1995): 22-28.

Educom. 23 July 1998. 1998. <http://educom.edu/library.html>

Newspaper or Newswire:

Jones, Ray. “America.” Washington Post. 6 Mar. 2001

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/articles/A1245March6.html>

“Endangered Species.” AP Online 21 June 1999. 21 June 1999

<http://www.Nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-

Court-Endangered-Species.html>

Magazine:

King, Mike. “Now is the Time.” Good Housekeeping. June 1992.

31 Aug. 2000 <http://www.goodhousekeeping.com>

A work from a library subscription service (pages 229-230):

“FDA Oncology Tools on the Internet. (from the Food and Drug

Administration).” JAMA. The Journal of the American Medical

Association. Sept. 13, 2000. Online. Health & Wellness Resource

Center. Gale Group. 26 Mar. 2001. <http://www.infotrac.galegroup.com>

Jones, Robert. “Investing Tips.” Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. Feb. 1999:

80-85.SIRS Knowledge Source: Researcher. 10 Mar. 2000

<http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article>

“Fresco.” Britannica Online. Vers. 98.2 April 1998. Encyclopaedia Britannica.

8 May 1999 <http://www.eb.com:180>

CD-ROM (pages 224-227):

“Welder.” Discover. CD-ROM. ACT, Inc. 2000.

E-mail (page 233):

Borders, Libby. E-mail to Judy Smith. 22 Aug. 2000.

Works Cited

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6^th ed. New York:

The Modern Language Association of America, 2003.