Rhetoric and Composition Research Guide

The general MLA 9 formatting for books is:

Work Cited List: Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date. 

In-Text: (Author Last Name page number of quote or idea).

EXAMPLES

Single author:

Format:

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date. Sample Reference: Kirsh, Steven J. Children, Adolescents, and Media Violence: A Critical Look at the Research. Sage, 2006.

Jacobs, Alan. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. Oxford University Press, 2011.

Kurlansky, Mark. Salt: A World History. Walker, 2002.

Two authors:

​Dorris, Michael, and Louise Erdich. The Crown of Columbus. HarperCollins Publishers, 1999.

Wykes, Maggie, and Barrie Gunter. The Media and Body Image: If Looks Could Kill. Sage, 2005. 

Three or more authors:

If there are 3+, list only the first author followed by the phrase et al. 

Nickels, William, et al. Understanding Canadian Business. McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2016.

Ebook from a library database:

Calhoun, Craig. Sociology in America: A History. U of Chicago P, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/up/detail.action?docID=408466&pq-origsite=primo.  

Many databases now have the ability to generate citations for you.  Citations generally follow the same rules of citing print journal article, except with the additional information included: the title of the database, medium of publication (Web), and the date of access.

In MLA 9th ed., for online journal articles, core elements of the citation are: (irrelevant elements should be eliminated):

• Author (or editor, compiler, or translator).
• Title of source.
• Title of container (journal, newspaper, magazine, etc.),
• Other contributors,
• Number (volume, issue),
• Publication date,
• Page numbers.
• Title of larger container (database, website name, etc.),
• Location (website URL).

EXAMPLES

Goldman, Anne. "Questions of Transport: Reading Primo Levi Reading Dante." The Georgia Review, vol. 64, no. 1,

2010, pp.69-88. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41403188.

In MLA 9th ed., for print journal articles, core elements of the citation are: (irrelevant elements should be eliminated):

• Author.
• Title of source.
• Title of container (journal, newspaper, magazine, etc.),
• Number (volume, number),
• Publication date, 
• Page numbers.

EXAMPLES

Baron, Naomi S. "Redefining Reading: The Impact of Digital Communication Media." PMLA, vol. 128, no.1,

Jan. 2013, pp.193-200.

In MLA 9th ed., for websites/web pages, core elements of the citation are:

• Authors or compilers, if available (Last name, first).
• Name of site (in italics). Version number, if available.
• Publication date/range, if available. 
• DOI, URL, or permalink.
• Date of access (if applicable).

Note: Irrelevant elements should be eliminated

EXAMPLES

Website/project as a whole:

Eaves, Morris, et al., editors. The William Blake Archive. 1996-2014, www.blakearchive.org/blake.

Visualizing Emancipation. Directed by Scott Nesbit and Edward L. Ayers, dsl.richmond.edu/emancipation/.

Page on a site, comments on a web page, blog post, part of a site, tweet, etc.:

Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory. Purdue University, 28 Nov. 2003, www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/.

Accessed 10 May 2006.

Lundman, Susan. "How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow, www.ehow.com/how_10727_make-vegetarian-chili.html.

Accessed 6 July 2015.

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.

@tombrokaw. "SC demonstrated why all the debates are the engines of this campaign." Twitter, 22 Jan. 2012,

3:06 a.m., twitter.com/tombrokaw/status/160996868971704320.

In MLA 9th ed., for newspapers/newspaper articles, core elements of the citation are:

• Author.
• Title of source.
• Title of container (journal, newspaper, magazine, etc.),
• Number (volume, number),
• Publication date, 
• Page numbers.
• Location (Permalink or URL, if in online/digital format)

Note: Irrelevant elements should be eliminated.

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 after the article title.

If the newspaper is a less well-known or local publication, include the city name in brackets after the title of the newspaper.