MLA Referencing / Documentation in Research Papers (2014-2015)

The Purpose of Referencing / Documentation

1) to identify (cite) other peoples ideas and information used within your essay or research paper, and
2) to indicate the sources of these citations in a Works Cited list at the end of your paper.

MLA Format
The MLA format is only one of many methods of documentation. Details about this format are found in

the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th ed.) available in the MRU Bookstore and in the MRU Library

the MLA Style Manual (3rd ed.) available in the MRU Bookstore and in the MRU Library

the MLA website at www.mla.org/style

NOTE: The MLA Style Manual is not designed specifically for students. These guidelines have been adapted to fit the needs of MRU students.
Please consult with your professors if you have any questions about referencing guidelines for specific courses.

Avoiding Plagiarism Citation Principles for Essays and Research Papers

Within essays, term papers, and any other written assignments (as in all academic work), you must identify (i.e., reference, document,
cite) all quotations, paraphrases, ideas, and images from someone elses work. You must name the original author or source and
surround quoted material with quotation marks or set it in a block format as described in this handout (page 2). Copying any material
and submitting it as your own (plagiarism) is an academic offence. Plagiarism may result in failure on the assignment and, in some
cases, expulsion from a course. For more information, see the Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism and the section on Plagiarism &
Cheating on page 14 of the MRU Student Conduct Guide at www.mtroyal.ca/codeofstudentconduct.
th

NOTE: Page numbers in square brackets refer to the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7 ed.).

Referencing / Citing Sources within Your Paper

Whenever you use a quotation from an author or summarize or paraphrase someone elses ideas or research, you must identify
(reference/cite) the sources. This in-text citation is formatted with parentheses and includes the following:

the last name of the author(s) of the work, unless already stated
or the first few words of the entry in the Works Cited list (usually the title) if the author is not known

[MLA 21424]

page number(s), if available

[MLA 21415]

NOTE: Your in-text citation should refer the reader to a specific reference in your Works Cited list. If this list includes more than one work by the
same author, provide a title or abbreviated title following the authors name in your in-text citation.

Citing Short Quotations (four typed lines or fewer)

[MLA 9294]

When you incorporate a direct quotation into a sentence, you must surround it with quotation marks and cite its source.
Authors name in your text
OR
Authors name in parentheses ( )

Kathryn Lee states, The ability to think critically is needed in this revolutionary age of
technological change (82).
One researcher emphasizes that [t]he ability to think critically is needed in this revolutionary
age of technological change (Lee 82).

This handout has been compiled by Mount Royal Universitys Student Learning Services and Library and was revised Fall 2014.
Please consult them for more information on documentation or go to www.mla.org/style or http://library.mtroyal.ca/citesources.php

Citing Long Quotations (more than four typed lines)

[MLA 94]

If the quotation extends beyond four lines of type in your paper, it should be formatted as follows:

Use a block format in which all lines of the quotation are indented one inch from the left margin.

Do not use quotation marks around the long quotation.

Generally, the quotation should be introduced with a complete sentence followed by a colon.

Include a parenthetical reference following the closing punctuation for the quotation.

In A Likely Story, Robert Kroetsch considers the impact of a trip to the Yukon on his desire to become a writer:
Fools gold is to be found even in the mind. And yet my particular combination of folly and resolve did lead me to
encounter the stories that map for us both the North itself and our ignorance of that real and phantasmal place. I did
not intend to pursue any of the stories of that place I knew before going there, and yet, even now, by those strategies
of recital we call invention, I still imagine I might one day write a novel about the bush pilots who hunted the mad
trapper onto the tundra or the men and women who, in the poems of Robert Service, moiled for goldthere
beneath the northern lights or the midnight sun. (1314)

Citing Summaries or Paraphrases

[MLA 93, 21417, 22021]

Even if you put information into your own words by summarizing or paraphrasing, you must cite the original author or researcher.
For example, a paraphrase of Lees earlier quotation could be cited as follows:
One researcher believes that flexibly applied thinking is vital to cope with rapidly changing technology (Lee 82).
OR
Kathryn Lee believes that flexibly applied thinking is vital to cope with rapidly changing technology (82).

Citing a Source Found / Cited in Another Source

[MLA 226]

Sometimes an author writes about research that someone else has done, but you are unable to track down the original sources. For
example, in your paper you might include research described in your course textbook. In the sample paraphrase below, Pither and
Sodens research review is discussed in a journal article written by Lee. Use the abbreviation qtd. in (quoted in) to indicate that
Pither and Sodens research is mentioned in Lees article.
NOTE: Because you did not read Pither and Sodens review, you will include only Lees article in your Works Cited list.

Pither and Sodens 2000 review found little empirical research on university students critical thinking (qtd. in Lee 83).

Citing Information If No Page Numbers Are Available

[MLA 179, 18487, 221]

Many electronic sources such as websites contain no page numbers, so you cannot include a page number for the in-text citation.
PDFs are an exception as they will normally show original page numbers. However, when your source explicitly numbers the
paragraphs, you can include paragraph number(s), preceded by the abbreviation par. or pars. in the citation parentheses.
Members of the Web 2.0 public are no longer limited to the interpretation of texts (Beer and Penfold-Mounce, par. 2.5).

Citing Poetry

[MLA 9596, 99100]

Short quotations of up to three lines of poetry that do not require special emphasis can be incorporated within your text. Within these
short quotations, individual lines should be separated with a slash with a space on each side ( / ). Poetry should be cited by line
number, rather than by page number.
In The Death of the Loch Ness Monster, Gwendolyn MacEwan writes, Consider him tired of pondering the possible existence of
man / whom he thinks he has sighted sometimes on the shore (1415).

Poetry quotations of more than three lines should begin on a new line. Each line should be indented one inch from the left margin
unless lines are indented inconsistently in the original poem, in which case, the quotation should reflect the original layout.
Individual lines should be double-spaced.

[MLA 9596]

Al Purdys The Country North of Belleville portrays this region as a place bereft of youth:
And this is a country where the young
leave quickly
unwilling to know what their fathers know
or think the words their mothers do not say. (58-61)

Citing from a Play

[MLA 9697]

A quotation of fewer than four lines from a play, spoken by a single character, can be incorporated into your text. The parenthetical
citation following this quotation should indicate the act, scene, and line numbers if they are available. If not, the citation should
indicate the page number on which the quotation appears.
Tomson Highways Aria begins with the lyrical reminiscences of the Kokum, who recalls that she [t]aught these seven daughters to
tell the many moods of wind, rain of tomorrow, my five sons to hold conversation with fire and the northern lights (81).

A quotation of four or more lines OR dialogue between two or more speakers should be set off from your text, as in the following
example:
Shakespeares use of rhyming couplets emphasizes the irony in the following exchange from A Midsummer Nights Dream:
HERMIA

I frown upon him, yet he loves me still.

HELENA

O that your frowns would teach my smiles such skill!

HERMIA

I give him curses, yet he gives me love.

HELENA

O that my prayers could such affection move! (I.i.19497)

NOTE: When quoting stage directions, treat them as any other quoted prose. Reproduce them as they appear in the original, using ellipses to
indicate any deleted text.

Tips for MLA In-Text Citation (Parenthetical Referencing)

Parenthetical references should be as short as possible while still directing readers to source material clearly and accurately.
[MLA 216219]
Place parenthetical references where there is a natural pause in your writing (generally at the end of a sentence) so as not to
interrupt the flow of your writing.
[MLA 217]

If the authors name is unavailable, use the shortened title of the article or book or web page, including the appropriate
capitalization and quotation marks/italics format.
(Ancient Tool) (Wind It Up)
[MLA 132, 145, 162, 18487]

Use and between multiple authors, but for more than three authors, name only the first followed by et al.
(Smith and Jones 77)
(Simpson, Stahl, and Francis 3)
(Hacker et al. 14)

[MLA 21516]

Fit partial quotations grammatically within your sentences rather than inserting full-sentence quotations.

[MLA 92105]

In Shadow Maker, Rosemary Sullivan describes Gwendolyn MacEwans childhood house as so high above Keele Street
that the local children used to make up stories about seeing bats circling it at night and claimed that it was haunted (2).

To leave out part of a quotation, insert ellipses where the deletion occurs. This may be necessary to make a quotation fit
grammatically or because it contains irrelevant or unnecessary information. For example, a shorter version of the quotation
above might read as follows:
[MLA 97101]
In Shadow Maker, Rosemary Sullivan explains that Gwendolyn MacEwans childhood house sat so high above Keele
Street that the local children . . . claimed that it was haunted (2).

To add or slightly change words within a quotation for grammar or clarity, put square brackets around the change. [MLA 101]
Lee states, All participants [in the study] completed pretests to assess their critical thinking level (86).

If you are quoting material already enclosed in quotation marks, such as dialogue, replace the double quotation marks in the
original with single quotation marks, and then surround your entire quotation with double quotation marks. [MLA 10204]
In Alistair McLeods No Great Mischief, the narrator recalls that sometimes the moon would gleam whitely above us
and my brothers would say, Chointhe, lochran aigh nam bochd, Look, the lamp of the poor (139).

Sample Paragraph with Citations

The character Edward Rochester first makes his appearance in Charlotte Brontes novel Jane Eyre. In the novel,
Rochester is the husband of Bertha Mason, the mad Creole woman whom he has locked away in the attic at Thornfield Hall.
Rochester makes another appearance in Jean Rhyss novel Wide Sargasso Sea. As Francis Wyndham explains in her introduction to
the latter novel, Rhys was haunted by the figure of the first Mrs. Rochesterthe mad wife in Jane Eyre whose voice was silenced in
Brontes novel; therefore, Wide Sargasso Sea frees Bertha from silence, and, according to Wyndham, the novel becomes her story, a
story that precedes her imprisonment in Thornfield Hall (9, 10). In Wide Sargasso Sea, Bertha is known as Antoinette. Thomas Staley
writes that Rhys attempts to create Antoinettes history:
The first section [of the novel] provides a psycho-historical background for Antoinettes life. The setting is
the West Indies after emancipation of the slaves, a time bristling with resentment, hatred, and vindictiveness.
Rhys concentrates on the psychological, . . . the personal traumas which larger historical events produced upon the
individual. (198)

Creating the Works Cited List

(See the sample Works Cited list on page 6 of this handout.)

Start the Works Cited list on a separate page at the end of your paper.

Include only those sources you have cited within your paper.

Double-space the entire Works Cited list, including the title line. Do not add an extra blank line after the title.

[MLA 131]

Position the first line of each entry flush-left, with subsequent lines wrapping with a -inch (hanging) indent.

[MLA 131]

Organize the list alphabetically according to the first letter of each entry, ignoring a, an, and the.
Normally, the authors last name, unless unknown, is the first piece of information in each entry.

[MLA 130]
[MLA 12933]

[MLA 131-33]

Explanation of Works Cited Entries: Pieces of the Puzzle

Accuracy is important. It helps someone reading your paper to find a particular source of information you have used.

For each reference, determine the combination of formatting from one or more of the examples on pages 7-10 that is
the best fit. Work left to right through the sample reference(s) to reproduce formatting details.

For each reference, include information on how the source was accessed (e.g., Print or Web).

If you have more than one entry by the same author, use the authors name in the first entry and three em-dashes ()
in place of the authors name in subsequent entries.

For web sources with no electronic publication date given, write n.d. (for no date), but always include the date on which
you accessed the information. Write n.p. if no information is given on place of publication or publisher (N.p. after a period).

Explanation of Works Cited Entries

Book with one
author, edition
stated

book edition

book title

book author

year published

Buzan, Tony. Make the Most of Your Mind. Rev. ed. London: Pan, 1988. Print.
place published

Scholarly article
with three
authors, from a
library database

article authors

article title

Simpson, Michele L., Norman A. Stahl, and Michelle Anderson Francis. Reading and Learning Strategies:
Recommendations for the 21st Century. Journal of Developmental Education 28.2 (2004): 215.
volume number

ProQuest Education Journals. Web. 20 July 2007.

date retrieved

database

Chapter with
known author(s)
in an edited book

hardcopy used

publisher

chapter authors

issue number

name of journal

chapter title

year published

book editor

book title

Smith, Fiona M., and Wendy Jones. The College Student. Cross-Cultural Education. Ed. Charles Wood.
London, ON: MacMillan, 2004. 75105. Print.
place published

Web page on an
organizations
website, author
unknown, no
publication date

page span

publisher
year published

web page title

(author unknown)

no publication date

date retrieved

Tree Care Guide. Local Enhancement & Appreciation of Forests. LEAF, n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2010.
website

website sponsor

found on the web

6
Start your list
of references on
a new page
(no extra space
after title)

Alberta. Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Applications Open: Alberta Arts Flood Rebuild Fund, 2013.

[MLA 13031]

Ancient Tool Makers Discovered Fire Treatment. Globe and Mail. CTVglobemedia, 13 Aug. 2009. Web.

Works Cited

Web. 22 Aug. 2013.

14 Aug. 2013.
Double-space
between lines
[MLA 131]

Start each new

reference at the
left margin
[MLA 131]

Beer, David, and Ruth Penfold-Mounce. Celebrity Gossip and the New Melodramatic Imagination.
Sociological Research Online 14.23 (2009): n. pag. Web. 12 June 2009.
Being Caribou. Writ. and Dir. Leanne Allison and Diana Wilson. Natl. Film Board of Can., 2004. DVD.
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Chicago: Signet Classics, 2002. Print.
Family Counselling Centre. Dealing with a Delinquent Student. Calgary: Family Counselling Centre, 2003.
Print.

Use a half-inch
hanging-indent
for 2nd , 3rd , and
4th lines of a
reference [MLA
131]

Foley, Peter. Personal interview. 24 July 2007.

Fung, Margaret. Asthma Rates Increasing. Winnipeg Free Press 12 Dec. 2006: C4+. Print.
Highway, Tomson. Aria: A One-Woman Play in One Act. Staging Coyotes Dream: Anthology of First Nations
Drama in English. Ed. Monique Mojica and Ric Knowles. Toronto: Playwrights Canada, 2003. 8096.
Print.

Put in
alphabetical
order,
according to the
first letter
beginning the
reference
(ignore a, an,
the)
[MLA 13133]

The Holy Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978. Print. New International Vers.
Kroetsch, Robert. A Likely Story: The Writing Life. Red Deer: Red Deer College P, 1995. Print.
Lee, Kathryn. Online Collaborative Case Study Learning. Journal of College Reading and Learning 37.2
(2007): 82100. Print.
MacEwen, Gwendolyn. The Death of the Loch Ness Monster. 1987. A New Anthology of Canadian Literature
in English. Ed. Donna Bennett and Russell Brown. Don Mills: Oxford UP, 2002. 85859. Print.
MacLeod, Alistair. No Great Mischief. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1999. Print.

Include only the

sources cited in
your paper
[MLA 12933]

Add Print or
Web for each
reference
[MLA 136, 185]

Shorten
publisher name:
University Press
UP
Omit: A/An
/The, Co., Corp.,
Inc., Ltd., Books,
House,
Publishers
[MLA 24749]

Purdy, Al. The Country North of Belleville. 1972. A New Anthology of Canadian Literature in English. Ed.
Donna Bennett and Russell Brown. Don Mills: Oxford UP, 2002. 54849. Print.
Raphael. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2009. Web. 15 May 2009.
Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. London: Penguin Classics, 2000. Print.
Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Nights Dream. The Norton Shakespeare: Based on the Oxford Edition.
2nd ed. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt, et al. New York: Norton, 2008. 84996. Print.
Simpson, Michele L., Norman A. Stahl, and Michelle Anderson Francis. Reading and Learning Strategies:
Recommendations for the 21st Century. Journal of Developmental Education 28.2 (2004): 215.
ProQuest Education Journals. Web. 20 July 2007.
Staley, Thomas F. Jean Rhys. British Novelists, 18901929: Modernists. Ed. Staley. Farmington Hills: Gale,
1985. N. pag. Literature Resource Center. Web. 11 Sept. 2009.
Sullivan, Rosemary. Shadow Maker: The Life of Gwendolyn MacEwen. Toronto: HarperCollins, 2005. Print.
. Theodore Roethke: The Garden Master. Seattle: U of Washington P, 1975. Print.
Tree Care Guide. Local Enhancement & Appreciation of Forests. LEAF, n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2010.
Wind It Up. Perf. Gwen Stefani. Dir. Joseph Kahn. 2006. Music video. YouTube. Web. 29 Oct. 2008.
Wyndham, Francis. Introduction to the First Edition. Wide Sargasso Sea. By Jean Rhys. London: Penguin
Classics, 2000. 12530. Print.

A. Books
A1 Book with one author

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Chicago: Signet Classics, 2002. Print.

[MLA 14852]

A2 Book / manual with two

authors, edition stated
[MLA 14852]

A3 Book with three authors

(named in order shown on
books title page)

Robitaille, Julie, and Robert Connelly. Writers Resources: From Paragraph to Essay. 2nd ed.
Toronto: Doubleday, 2004. Print.
Downing, Lyn, James C. Carter, and Thomas McManus. Students in Our Midst. Toronto: Doubleday,
2007. Print.

[MLA 14852, 15456]

A4 Book with more than

three authors
[MLA 14852, 155]

Hacker, Maria E., et al. The Two-Year College: A Social Synthesis. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice, 2005.
Print.
NOTE: If there are more than three authors, you may use the first author followed by et al. or all the authors.
Your in-text citation must be consistent with your Works Cited list entry [MLA 215].

A5 Bible and other sacred

writings, editor not known

The Holy Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978. Print. New International Vers.

[MLA 16264, 22728]

A6 E-book, accessed from

library subscription with
print publication date
[MLA 18789]

A7 E-book, found through a

web search
[MLA 18789]

A8 Graphic novel (discussion

of the artwork rather than
the text)

Bayers, Peter L. Imperial Ascent: Mountaineering, Masculinity, and Empire. Boulder: UP of

Colorado, 2003. Ebrary. Web. 11 Aug. 2009.
NOTE: Abbreviate University Press to UP [MLA 24649].

Williams, Paul. Mahayana Buddhism. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2008. Freebookspot. Web. 10 Sept.
2009.
Templesmith, Ben, artist. HatterM: The Looking Glass Wars. By Frank Beddor and Liz Cavalier. Los
Angeles: Automatic, 2008. Print.

[MLA 16566]

B. Entries or Chapters in Edited Books or Encyclopedia

NOTE: Book editor(s) need to be credited in addition to the chapter/story/play/poem author(s).

B1 Chapter with author(s) in

an edited book
[MLA 14852, 15759]

B2 Chapter as introduction to
an edited anthology,
authors same as editors

Smith, Fiona M., and Wendy Jones. The College Student. Cross-Cultural Education. Ed. Charles
Wood. London, ON: MacMillan, 2004. 75105. Print.
Sullivan, Rosemary, and Mark Levene. The House of Fiction. Introduction. Short Fiction: An
Anthology. Ed. Sullivan and Levene. Don Mills: Oxford, 2003. 412. Print.

[MLA 15758, 16162]

B3 Previously published
article, reprinted in a
book
[MLA 159]

B4 Journal article reprinted

in a course pack
[MLA 15859]

Aizenberg, Edna. Borges, Postcolonial Precursor. World Literature Today 66.1 (1992): 2126. Rpt.
in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. James P. Draper. Vol. 83. Detroit: Gale, 1994.
19194. Print.
Mayhew, Matthew J., and Sonia Deluca Fernandez. Pedagogical Practices That Contribute to Social
Justice Outcomes. Review of Higher Education 31.1 (2007): 5580. Rpt. in SLGY 2155:
Supplementary Readings. Calgary: Mount Royal U, 2009. 1035. Print.

B5 Short story in an edited

book, with original
publication date provided
[MLA 15760]

OConnor, Flannery. The Life You Save May Be Your Own. 1953. The Realm of Fiction: SeventyFour Stories. Ed. James B. Hall and Elizabeth C. Hall. New York: McGraw, 2007. 48899.
Print.

8
B6 Poem in an anthology,
with original publication
date provided
[MLA 15760]

B7 Play in an anthology, not

previously published
[MLA 15760]

MacEwen, Gwendolyn. The Death of the Loch Ness Monster. 1987. A New Anthology of Canadian
Literature in English. Ed. Donna Bennett and Russell Brown. Don Mills: Oxford UP, 2002.
85859. Print.
Highway, Tomson. Aria: A One-Woman Play in One Act. Staging Coyotes Dream: Anthology of
First Nations Drama in English. Ed. Monique Mojica and Ric Knowles. Toronto:
Playwrights Canada, 2003. 8096. Print.

B8 Editors commentary in a
scholarly edition of a play
[MLA 164]

B9 Article or definition in
online encyclopedia,
author unknown

Thompson, Ann, and Neil Taylor, eds. Hamlet. By William Shakespeare. London: Arden, 2006.
Print.
Raphael. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2009. Web. 15 May 2009.

[MLA 162, 18487]

B10 Biography of an author

written by three editors of
an anthology, edition
stated

Booth, Alison, J. Paul Hunter, and Kelly J. Mays, eds. Ernest Hemingway (18991961). The
Norton Introduction to Literature. Portable ed. Ed. Booth, Hunger, and Mays. New York:
Norton, 2006. 391. Print.

[MLA 15354, 15758, 16162]

B11 Article in a reference

work, with print
publication information,
from a library database
[MLA 18789]

Staley, Thomas F. Jean Rhys. British Novelists, 18901929: Modernists. Ed. Staley. Farmington
Hills: Gale, 1985. N. pag. Literature Resource Center. Web. 11 Sept. 2009.
NOTE: Use n. pag. if there are no page numbers (N. pag. after a period). [MLA 17980].

C. Articles: Journals and Periodicals (newspapers, magazines)

C1 Scholarly journal article,
one author, paper-bound
[MLA 13741]

Lee, Kathryn. Online Collaborative Case Study Learning. Journal of College Reading and
Learning 37.2 (2007): 82100. Print.

C2 Scholarly journal article,

one author, from a library
database [MLA 19293]

Godfrey, Esther. Jane Eyre, from Governess to Girl Bride. Studies in English Literature 1500

C3 Scholarly journal article,

three authors, from a
library database

Simpson, Michele L., Norman A. Stahl, and Michelle Anderson Francis. Reading and Learning

[MLA 19293]

C4 Scholarly article, two

authors, from a journal
published only on the web

1900 45.4 (2005): 85371. Project Muse. Web. 30 Sept. 2009.

Strategies: Recommendations for the 21st Century. Journal of Developmental Education

28.2 (2004): 215. ProQuest Education Journals. Web. 20 July 2007.
Beer, David, and Ruth Penfold-Mounce. Celebrity Gossip and the New Melodramatic Imagination.
Sociological Research Online 14.23 (2009): n. pag. Web. 12 June 2009.

[MLA 19091]

C5 Review of a book, in a
journal, from a library
database

Kloppolo, Grace. Rev. of Hamlet in Purgatory, by Stephen Greenblatt. The Modern Language
Review 98.2 (2003): 43233. JSTOR. Web. 20 July 2007.

[MLA 19093]

C6 Newspaper article, with

author, on discontinuous
pages, print publication

Nielsen, Todd. Calgary Poetry Capital of Canada. Calgary Herald 21 Sept. 2005: C5+. Print.

[MLA 14142]

C7 Newspaper article, online

nonperiodical version,
author unknown, not from
a library database
[MLA 18486]

Ancient Tool Makers Discovered Fire Treatment. Globe and Mail. CTVglobemedia, 13 Aug. 2009.
Web. 14 Aug. 2009.

9
C8 Magazine article, with
author, nonperiodical
online version

Wells, Paul. Our Universities Can Be Smarter. Macleans.ca. Rogers Digital Media, 28 July 2009.
Web. 14 Aug. 2009.

[MLA 136]

C9 Magazine article, with

author, periodical version
from a library database

Wells, Paul. Our Universities Can Be Smarter. Macleans 28 July 2009: 3234. CBCA Business.
Web. 14 Aug. 2009.

[MLA 13637, 14243]

C10 Advertisement in a print

magazine

Splenda. Advertisement. Canadian Living Sept. 2009: 13. Print.

[MLA 203]

D. Websites and Web Pages

D1 Web page with an author,
on a website
[MLA 18187, 24748]

Tucker, Aaron. Identity and Autobiography. Youngpoets.ca. League of Canadian Poets, 2008.
Web. 22 Aug. 2013.
NOTE: The MLA guidelines suggest including a URL only when the reader cannot locate the source without it
or when your instructor requires it [MLA 182].

D2 Website, no author,
website publisher/sponsor
unknown

How to Study Effectively8 Concentration Strategies. Studenthacks.org. N.p.,12 Oct. 2007. Web.
20 July 2009.

[MLA 18187]

D3 Website, no author, no
date (URL provided to aid
in locating the source)
[MLA 182, 18487]

D4 Web page on an
organizations website, no
author, no publication
date

The Poetry of Sylvia Plath. Stanford U, n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2009. <http://www.stanford.edu/class/
engl187/docs/plathpoem.html>
NOTE: If you must break a URL between two lines, do so only after double slashes or a single slash [MLA
182].

Tree Care Guide. Local Enhancement & Appreciation of Forests. LEAF, n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2010.

[MLA 18187]

D5 Course notes on a website

/ Blackboard site
[MLA 18187]

D6 Blog post, website

publisher/sponsor
unknown

Reynolds, Walter. Key Points. EDUC 1212 Pedagogy. Course Blackboard page. Mount Royal U,
Humanities Dept., Sept.Dec. 2008. Web. 14 Sept. 2008.
Webber, Sheila. Survey of Plagiarism Penalties. Online posting. Information Literacy Weblog.
N.p., 11 July 2007. Web. 19 July 2007.

[MLA 18187]

E. Government and Conference Publications

E1 Government report,
paper-bound, publisher
same as the author

Alberta. Alberta Health. Proposals for Day Care. Edmonton: Alberta Health, 2006. Print.

[MLA 17476]

E2 Government report with

author, on a website
[MLA 17477, 18486]

Sosiak, Albert. Evaluation of Recent Trends in Water Quality in the Elbow River Upstream from
Glenmore Reservoir. Alberta Environment, Water Sciences Branch, 1999. Web. 23 Aug.
2007.

E3 Statistics Canada data

report, on a website
[MLA 17476, 18486]

E4 Canadian legislation (refer

to Can. Guide to Uniform
Legal Citation. 6th ed.)
[MLA 20506]

Canada. Statistics Canada. Frequency of Language by Work, by Census Metropolitan Area (2001
Census) (Calgary). Canada. 27 Jan. 2005. Web. 15 Sept. 2008.
Canada Elections Act. R.S.C. 1985, c. 9, s.2. Print.

10
E5 Conference presentation
in a published proceedings
[MLA 177]

Chou, Zhi. Eastern Influences on Western Literature. Proceedings of the Third International
Conference on Globalization of Text, Paris, 7-10 August 2002. Ed. Jan Koblenz. Berlin:
Global Literature Soc., 2002. 7781. Print.

F. Various Media
F1 Film on a DVD

Being Caribou. Writ. and Dir. Leanne Allison and Diana Wilson. Natl. Film Board of Can., 2004.

[MLA 19798]

DVD.
F2 Film on YouTube,
information on director
found elsewhere

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. By Tennessee Williams. [Dir. Richard Brooks]. MGM, 1958. YouTube. Web.
5 Apr. 2009.

[MLA 179, 189, 19798]

F3 Music video performance

on the web (discussion of
the performance not the
song)

Wind It Up. Perf. Gwen Stefani. Dir. Joseph Kahn. 2006. Music video. YouTube. Web. 29 Oct. 2008.

[MLA 189, 19799]

F4 Published musical score

Bach, J. S. Suite in B Minor for Flute and Keyboard. London: Boosey and Hawkes, 1945. Print.

[MLA 189, 19799]

F5 Song recording on a CD

Simon, Paul. The Obvious Child. The Rhythm of the Saints. Warner Bros., 1990. CD.

[MLA 19596]

F6 Radio interview on the

web
[MLA 18586, 2012]

F7 Graphic novel (discussion

of the artwork not the
text)

Suzuki, David. TreeHugger Radio: An Interview with David Suzuki. Treehugger, 16 Mar. 2007.
Web. 10 Sept. 2009.
Templesmith, Ben, artist. HatterM: The Looking Glass Wars. By Frank Beddor and Liz Cavalier. Los
Angeles: Automatic, 2008. Print.

[MLA 16566]

F8 Brochure, corporate
author
[MLA 174]

F9 Personal interview /
communication

Family Counselling Centre. Dealing with a Delinquent Student. Calgary: Family Counselling Centre,
2003. Print.
Foley, Peter. Personal interview. 24 July 2007.

[MLA 20102]

F10 Personal communication

/ e-mail sent to you

ONeal, Eamon. Re: Jane Austens Style. Message to the author. 17 Sept. 2009. E-mail.

[MLA 20405]

F11 Twitter update or tweet

[MLA website]

Angelou, Maya (DrMayaAngelou). You can only become truly accomplished at something you
love. Dont make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love. 9 June 2013, 2:37
p.m. Tweet.

F12 Work of visual art, found

in a book
[MLA 20001]

F13 Work of visual art, found

on a website
[MLA 20001]

Peterson, Mark. Image of Homelessness. 1994. Seeing and Writing 4. Ed. Donald McQuade and
Christine McQuade. Boston: Bedford-St. Martins, 2010. 169. Print.
Harris, Lawren. North Shore, Lake Superior. 1926. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. National
Gallery of Canada. Web. 12 Aug. 2014.

This handout has been compiled and revised by Mount Royal Universitys Student Learning Services and Library for 2014-2015.
Please consult them for more information on documentation or go to http://www.mla.org/style.