This page includes the latest changes and additions for the MLA 8th Edition. Below you will find examples of citations for common types of resources.
As you will understand, works cited under MLA 8th Edition center on the type of "container" a source is housed in. Containers can be books, journals, databases or web sites.
This edition makes it easier for the writer to document all sources relying only on the 'core elements' shown below, instead of consulting the handbook for a particular source, such as a film, video within a website, or even a tweet. This makes citing using MLA more universal and practical for today's information needs.
"Core Elements" of MLA 8th Edition:
1. Authors.
2. Title of Source.
3. Title of Container,
4. Other Contributors,
5. Version,
6. Numbers,
7. Publisher,
8. Publication date,
9. Location.
MLA 8th Edition format continues to follow the author-page method for in-text citations, with very little changes since the 7th edition.
Parenthetical citations will still include author's last name and page number(s) within the text marked with parentheses.
Example:
The need for library services "is accentuated when students are incarcerated," (Sorgert 429), especially when it comes to gaining the skills necessary upon release.
The example below follows MLA's in-text citation rule of placing page number only in ( ) when stating author name throughout sentence.
Example:
In his novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Alexie describes Junior's method of drawing as a coping mechanism with Junior saying "...the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny little lifeboats" (6).
Scholarly Articles from Online Database
Womack, Hubert David, Susan Sharpless Smith, and Mary Beth Lock. “Large-Scale, Live-Action Gaming Events in Academic Libraries.” College & Research Libraries News, Vol. 26, no. 4, April 2015, pp. 210-214.
Thomas, Ebony Elizabeth and Kelly Saddi. "An Ethical Dilemma: Talking about Plagiarism and Academic Integrity in the Digital Age." English Journal, Vol. 100, no. 6, July 2011, pp. 47-53.
Articles from Scholarly Journal
Green, Harriett. "Libraries Across Land and Sea: Academic Library Services on International Branch Campuses." College & Research Libraries, Vol. 74, no. 1, January 2013, pp. 9-23.
Davis, Jim, Raquel Cook, and Jon Ostenson. "Empowering Stereotyped ReadersThrough Self-Directed Learning." English Journal, High School Edition, Vol. 105, no. 1, Spring 2015, pp. 42-47.
Slauter, E. "Reading and Radicalization: Print, Politics, and the American Revolution." Early American Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal Vol. 8, no. 1, Winter 2010, pp. 5-40.
*Citing the date when database was accessed is optional.
Examples of books by a single author
Bohjalian, Chris. The Sandcastle Girls. Doubleday, 2012.
Erdrich, Louise. The Round House. Harper, 2012.
Examples of books by two or more authors
Kaminoff, Leslie, Amy Matthews, and Sharon Ellis. Yoga Anatomy. Human Kinetics, 2007.
*if more than three authors, may include et al. after the first author.
Example:
Nicholls, Peter, et al. The Science Fiction Encyclopedia. Doubleday, 1979.
Books with Editor
Cather, Willa. O Pioneers! Edited by Rosowski, Susan J., Charles W. Mignon, and Kathleen Danker, University of Nebraska Press, 1992.
Examples:
Slappey, Kellie. "Alfred Moore Scales (1827-1889)." NorthCarolinahistoryproject.org, 2016.
http://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/alfred-moore-scales-1827-1889/.
"Transmission & Risks: Zika Virus Home." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25 July 2016.
http://www.cdc.gov/zika/transmission/index.html
DVDs:
Miles Ahead. Directed by Don Cheadle. Perfomances by Don Cheadle, Emayatzy Corinealdi, and Ewan McGregor, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2016.
Video from Online Source:
“Under One Sky: Arab Women in North America Talk about the Hijab.” Films Media Group, 1999. Films onDemand, http://fod.infobase.com/portalplaylists.aspx?wid=102633&xtid=10688.
Valencia College MLA 8th Edition LibGuide:
http://libguides.valenciacollege.edu/mla8
Purdue Owl: Writing Lab MLA guide:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/22/
MLA Website:
https://www.mla.org/MLA-Style/What-s-New-in-the-Eighth-Edition
University of West Florida MLA 8th Edition LibGuide: