Sample MLA Bibliographic Guidelines by Genre/Medium
For those of you who have questions about how to format your bibliographic citations, feel free to use this “cheat sheet.” For those who are interested in reading more about MLA bibliographic format, please see the Purdue OWL:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/06/
MLA Bibliographic Citations by Genre
Professor Rodgers, 2011
Article in a Magazine
Cite by listing the article’s author, putting the title of the article in quotations marks, and italicizing the periodical title. Follow with the date of publication. Remember to abbreviate the month. The basic format is as follows:
Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Medium of publication.
Poniewozik, James. “TV Makes a Too-Close Call.” Time 20 Nov. 2000: 70-71. Print.
Buchman, Dana. “A Special Education.” Good Housekeeping Mar. 2006: 143-48. Print.
Article in a Newspaper
Cite a newspaper article as you would a magazine article, but note the different pagination in a newspaper. If there is more than one edition available for that date (as in an early and late edition of a newspaper), identify the edition following the date (e.g., 17 May 1987, late ed.).
Brubaker, Bill. “New Health Center Targets County’s Uninsured Patients.” Washington Post 24 May 2007: LZ01. Print.
Krugman, Andrew. “Fear of Eating.” New York Times 21 May 2007 late ed.: A1. Print.
If the newspaper is a less well-known or local publication, include the city name and state in brackets after the title of the newspaper.
Behre, Robert. “Presidential Hopefuls Get Final Crack at Core of S.C. Democrats.” Post and Courier [Charleston, SC] 29 Apr. 2007: A11. Print.
Trembacki, Paul. “Brees Hopes to Win Heisman for Team.” Purdue Exponent [West Lafayette, IN] 5 Dec. 2000: 20. Print.
An Article in a Web Magazine
Provide the author name, article name in quotation marks, title of the Web magazine in italics, publisher name, publication date, medium of publication, and the date of access. Remember to use n.p. if no publisher name is available and n.d. if not publishing date is given.
Bernstein, Mark. “10 Tips on Writing the Living Web.” A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites. A List Apart Mag., 16 Aug. 2002. Web. 4 May 2009.
An Article in a Scholarly Journal
For all online scholarly journals, provide the author(s) name(s), the name of the article in quotation marks, the title of the publication in italics, all volume and issue numbers, and the year of publication.
Wheelis, Mark. “Investigating Disease Outbreaks Under a Protocol to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.” Emerging Infectious Diseases 6.6 (2000): 595-600. Web. 8 Feb. 2009.
A Film
List films (in theaters or not yet on DVD or video) by their title. Include the name of the director, the film studio or distributor, and the release year. If relevant, list performer names after the director’s name. Use the abbreviation perf. to head the list. List film as the medium of publication. To cite a DVD or other video recording, see “Recorded Films and Movies” below.
The Usual Suspects. Dir. Bryan Singer. Perf. Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Stephen Baldwin, and Benecio del Toro. Polygram, 1995. Film.
A Book
The author’s name or a book with a single author’s name appears in last name, first name format. The basic form for a book citation is:
Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.
Book with One Author
Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin, 1987. Print.
