MLA Style Guide Citation: Your Comprehensive Guide to MLA 9th Edition

In academic writing, properly citing your sources is paramount to maintaining integrity, avoiding plagiarism, and giving credit to the original authors whose work you’ve utilized. The Modern Language Association (MLA) style guide provides a standardized format for citations and formatting research papers across various disciplines in the humanities. The 9th edition of the MLA Handbook emphasizes a principles-based approach to citation, offering a flexible yet systematic method for documenting sources from an increasingly diverse range of media. This guide will walk you through the essential aspects of Mla Style Guide Citation, ensuring your research papers are both academically sound and correctly formatted according to the latest MLA guidelines.

This resource is designed to help you master MLA 9th edition citation, drawing upon the expertise of resources like the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab), a trusted authority in academic writing assistance. By understanding the core elements and principles of MLA, you can confidently cite any source type, enhancing the credibility and clarity of your scholarly work.

Understanding the Core Elements of MLA Citation

The 9th edition of the MLA Handbook moves away from rigid rules tied to specific source types and focuses instead on a universal approach based on core elements. This adaptable system allows you to cite virtually any source by identifying and arranging these key pieces of information in a consistent order. When constructing your “Works Cited” entries, remember to include the following core elements in this sequence, punctuated as shown:

Author.
Title of source.
Title of container,
Other contributors,
Version,
Number,
Publisher,
Publication date,
Location.

Let’s delve into each of these elements with detailed explanations and examples to solidify your understanding of MLA style guide citation.

1. Author

The citation entry begins with the author of the work. This could be an individual, a group of people, a corporate author, or an organization. List the author’s last name first, followed by a comma, and then the rest of the name as it appears in the source. End this element with a period.

Individual Author Example:

Bhabha, Homi K. The Location of Culture. Routledge, 1994.
Two Authors Example:

Gilbert, Sandra M., and Susan Gubar. The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination. Yale University Press, 1979.
Corporate Author Example:

American Psychological Association. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 7th ed., American Psychological Association, 2020.

If the author is unknown, this element is skipped, and the citation begins with the title of the source.

2. Title of Source

The title of the source is the specific work you are citing. How you format this title (italics or quotation marks) depends on the type of source.

Books and longer works are italicized:

Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. MacMurray, 1999.
Shorter works, parts of larger works (like articles, web pages, songs), are in quotation marks:

Lundman, Susan. “How to Make Vegetarian Chili.” eHow, www.ehow.com/how_10727_make-vegetarian-chili.html.
Journal, Magazine, and Newspaper Articles:

Bagchi, Alaknanda. “Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi’s Bashai Tudu.” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature, vol. 15, no. 1, 1996, pp. 41-50.
Songs or Music Tracks:

Beyoncé. “Pray You Catch Me.” Lemonade, Parkwood Entertainment, 2016, www.beyonce.com/album/lemonade-visual-album/.

3. Title of Container

The “container” is the larger whole in which the source is located. Understanding containers is a key aspect of mastering MLA style guide citation. A source might be part of a larger collection, website, journal, or series. The container title is usually italicized and followed by a comma.

Book Collection (Anthology):

Kincaid, Jamaica. “Girl.” The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories, edited by Tobias Wolff, Vintage, 1994, pp. 306-07. (The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories is the container.)
Television Series:

“94 Meetings.” Parks and Recreation, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, performance by Amy Poehler, season 2, episode 21, Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, 2010. (Parks and Recreation is the container.)
Website:

Wise, DeWanda. “Why TV Shows Make Me Feel Less Alone.” NAMI, 31 May 2019, www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/May-2019/How-TV-Shows-Make-Me-Feel-Less-Alone. Accessed 3 June 2019. (NAMI is the website container.)

Containers within Containers: Sometimes, you might encounter sources that are nested within multiple containers. For instance, a journal article found through a database like JSTOR or a TV show watched on Netflix. In such cases, cite all relevant containers to help readers locate your source precisely.

Journal Article in a Database:

Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England.” Historical Journal, vol. 50, no. 1, 2007, pp. 173-96. ProQuest, doi:10.1017/S0018246X06005966. Accessed 27 May 2009. (Historical Journal is the primary container, and ProQuest is the database container.)
TV Episode on a Streaming Service:

“94 Meetings.” Parks and Recreation, season 2, episode 21, NBC, 29 Apr. 2010. Netflix, www.netflix.com/watch/70152031?trackId=200256157&tctx=0%2C20%2C0974d361-27cd-44de-9c2a-2d9d868b9f64-12120962. (Parks and Recreation is the series container, NBC is the original network, and Netflix is the streaming service container.)

4. Other Contributors

Beyond the author, other individuals might have significantly contributed to the source. If their contributions are relevant to your research or essential for identifying the source, include them. Common contributors include editors, translators, directors, and performers.

Translator:

Foucault, Michel. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason. Translated by Richard Howard, Vintage-Random House, 1988.
Editor (of an annotated work):

Woolf, Virginia. Jacob’s Room. Annotated and with an introduction by Vara Neverow, Harcourt, Inc., 2008.
Director (Film):

Spielberg, Steven, director. Schindler’s List. Universal Pictures, 1993.

5. Version

If the source is a specific version or edition of a work, indicate this in your citation. This is common for books, software, and certain online resources.

Edition of a Book:

Crowley, Sharon, and Debra Hawhee. Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students. 3rd ed., Pearson, 2004.
Version (e.g., of the Bible):

The Bible. Authorized King James Version, Oxford UP, 1998.

6. Number

When a source is part of a numbered sequence, such as volumes of a multi-volume work, journal volumes and issues, or episodes in a series, these numbers are crucial for precise identification.

Journal Volume and Issue:

Dolby, Nadine. “Research in Youth Culture and Policy: Current Conditions and Future Directions.” Social Work and Society: The International Online-Only Journal, vol. 6, no. 2, 2008, www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/60/362. Accessed 20 May 2009.
Television Series Season and Episode:

“94 Meetings.” Parks and Recreation, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, performance by Amy Poehler, season 2, episode 21, Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, 2010.
Volume of a Multi-Volume Work:

Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria. Translated by H. E. Butler, vol. 2, Loeb-Harvard UP, 1980.

7. Publisher

The publisher is the entity responsible for producing or distributing the source to the public. Identify the publisher as clearly as possible. If multiple publishers are relevant, list them separated by a forward slash (/).

Book Publisher:

Bhabha, Homi K. The Location of Culture. Routledge, 1994. (Routledge is the publisher.)
Museum as Publisher (for a work found on a museum website):

Klee, Paul. Twittering Machine. 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Artchive, www.artchive.com/artchive/K/klee/twittering_machine.jpg.html. Accessed May 2006. (Museum of Modern Art, New York is the publisher in this context.)
Production Company (for a TV show):

Daniels, Greg and Michael Schur, creators. Parks and Recreation. Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios, 2015. (Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios are the production companies, acting as publishers.)

Note: Publishers are generally omitted for periodicals (journals, magazines, newspapers), works published by their author or editor, websites that share the same name as their publisher, and platforms that host content but don’t publish it themselves (like YouTube, WordPress, JSTOR, Netflix).

8. Publication Date

The publication date indicates when the source was made available to the public. Use the most relevant date, which is often the original publication date. If multiple dates are present (e.g., for online versions of print sources), choose the date most pertinent to your context.

Book Publication Date:

Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. MacMurray, 1999. (1999 is the publication date.)
Specific Air Date of a TV Episode (when relevant):

“Hush.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon, performance by Sarah Michelle Gellar, season 4, episode 10, WB Television Network, 14 Dec. 1999. (14 Dec. 1999 is the specific air date.)
Year Only (General Citation):

“Hush.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon, performance by Sarah Michelle Gellar, season 4, Mutant Enemy, 1999. (1999 is the general year of release.)

9. Location

The location element helps readers find the source as precisely as possible. What constitutes “location” varies by source type.

Page Numbers (for articles in books or journals):

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. “On Monday of Last Week.” The Thing around Your Neck, Alfred A. Knopf, 2009, pp. 74-94. (pp. 74-94 are the page numbers.)
URL (for online works):

Wheelis, Mark. “Investigating Disease Outbreaks Under a Protocol to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.” Emerging Infectious Diseases, vol. 6, no. 6, 2000, pp. 595-600, wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/6/6/00-0607_article. Accessed 8 Feb. 2009. (wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/6/6/00-0607_article is the URL.)
DOI (Digital Object Identifier – preferred for journal articles when available):

Alonso, Alvaro, and Julio A. Camargo. “Toxicity of Nitrite to Three Species of Freshwater Invertebrates.” Environmental Toxicology, vol. 21, no. 1, 3 Feb. 2006, pp. 90-94. Wiley Online Library, doi: 10.1002/tox.20155. (doi: 10.1002/tox.20155 is the DOI.)
Physical Location (for firsthand experiences of physical objects, like art in a museum):

Matisse, Henri. The Swimming Pool. 1952, Museum of Modern Art, New York. (Museum of Modern Art, New York is the physical location.)

When including URLs, remove the “http://” or “https://” part. For online sources, providing a stable URL or DOI is crucial for accessibility.

Optional Elements in MLA 9th Edition

While the nine core elements are typically sufficient, MLA 9th edition allows for optional elements to be included when they provide helpful context or clarity. These should be used judiciously.

Date of Original Publication: Useful when citing a reprint or later edition, and the original date is relevant.

Erdrich, Louise. Love Medicine. 1984. Perennial-Harper, 1993. (1984 is the original publication date, 1993 is the edition you consulted.)
City of Publication: Generally not needed unless citing works published before 1900, where city was often tied to the publisher’s identity.

Thoreau, Henry David. Excursions. Boston, 1863. (Boston is included as the city of publication for this older work.)
Date of Access: Recommended for online sources because web content can change.

Bernstein, Mark. “10 Tips on Writing the Living Web.” A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites, 16 Aug. 2002, alistapart.com/article/writeliving. Accessed 4 May 2009. (Accessed 4 May 2009 indicates when you last accessed the online content.)
URLs: MLA recommends including URLs for online sources to enhance findability, but check with your instructor or editor for specific preferences.
DOIs: For journal articles and other scholarly online resources with DOIs, using the DOI is preferred over a URL as it is a more stable and persistent link.

MLA In-Text Citations

In-text citations are brief references within the body of your paper that point readers to the full citation in your Works Cited list. The most common format is the author-page style, using the author’s last name and the page number(s) in parentheses.

Basic In-Text Citation:

Imperialism is “the practice, the theory, and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan center ruling a distant territory” (Said 9).
Author Named in Sentence: If you mention the author in your sentence, only the page number is needed in parentheses.

According to Edward W. Said, imperialism is defined by “the practice, the theory, and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan center ruling a distant territory” (9).
Citing Media with Runtime: For sources like films or podcasts, use timestamps (hours, minutes, seconds) instead of page numbers.

(00:02:15-00:02:35)

The goal of in-text citation in MLA style guide citation is to be clear, concise, and to avoid disrupting the flow of your writing while accurately attributing sources.

Works Cited Page Formatting

The “Works Cited” page is a separate page at the end of your research paper that lists all the sources you have cited. It provides the full bibliographic information for each source, allowing readers to find and consult your sources.

Formatting Guidelines for Works Cited:

Start a new page: The Works Cited page begins on a new page after the main body of your paper.
Title: Center the title “Works Cited” at the top of the page (no bolding, italics, or quotation marks; H2 could be used for visual hierarchy if needed in a digital context, though not strictly MLA).
Alphabetical Order: Entries are listed alphabetically by the first element of the citation entry, usually the author’s last name. If there is no author, alphabetize by the first word of the title (ignoring articles like “A,” “An,” or “The”).
Hanging Indent: Each entry should have a hanging indent. This means the first line of each citation is flush left, and subsequent lines are indented half an inch.
Double-Spacing: The entire Works Cited page should be double-spaced, both within and between entries.

By adhering to these formatting guidelines and consistently applying the core elements of MLA style guide citation, you can ensure your research papers are properly documented, credible, and contribute meaningfully to academic discourse. Remember to always consult the official MLA Handbook for the most detailed and up-to-date information and resources like the Purdue OWL for further guidance and examples.

This comprehensive guide provides a solid foundation in MLA 9th edition citation. For more in-depth explanations and specific scenarios, the Purdue OWL remains an invaluable resource. Accurate and thorough citation is a cornerstone of academic integrity, and mastering MLA style guide citation is a crucial skill for students and scholars alike.