Transcript MLA Guidelines for Citing Online Sources 2010

MLA GUIDELINES FOR
CITING ONLINE SOURCES
Information from
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th edition.
New York: MLAA, 2009.
Designed by Chris Bui and Tina Blaas
Revised by Savanna Richter
2010
© 2002 UWF Writing Lab
Use discretion when using the
Internet or other electronic
sources. The author should be
credible and authoritative on the
topic, not someone who simply
has an opinion or
maintains a web page
as a hobby.
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MATERIALS WITH A URL
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Previous editions of the MLA handbook
have required the complete URL in
citations. However, this practice has
been done away with because URLs
often change. If your instructor
specifically requests the URL, “give it
immediately following the date of
access, a period, and a space. Enclose
the URL in angle brackets, and
conclude with a period” (182).
In Works Cited Page
Author. “Title of Article.” Database or Online Source.
Version or edition used. Publisher or sponsor of
the site; if not available, use N.p. Date of
publication; if not available, use n.d. Medium of
publication (Web). Date of Access.
Example:
Green, Joshua. “The Rove Presidency.” The Atlantic.com
Atlantic Monthly Group, Sept. 2007. Web. 15 May
2008.
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Often, online sources provide no author or
print-based publication info, usually
because none exists. In these cases, leave
out whatever is not available to you, and
move on to the next item. Cite whatever
information is available to you.
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CITING A URL WITHIN
THE TEXT
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Follow normal MLA guidelines when
citing a URL within the text:
(Author’s last name and page number).
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Page Numbers
The problem is that you probably will not
have real page numbers–only numbers
indicating how many pages you have printed.
If the paragraphs within the source are
numbered, include the paragraph numbers.
(Fox par. 5)
If the paragraphs are not numbered, do not
assign them numbers. In this case, simply
exclude any page or paragraph reference.
(Fox)
If the work has no known author, use
the title of the work in the citation. If the
title is lengthy, use a shortened version
of the title in the citation. Make sure to
use the word order in the citation that
is used on the Works Cited page.
(“School Vouchers”).
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“Untitled works may be identified by a
genre label (e.g. Home page,
Introduction, Online posting), neither
italicized nor enclosed in quotation
marks, in the place where the title
goes” (185).
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E-MAIL
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In Works Cited:
Writer’s Name. “Subject Line.” Description of
message including recipient’s name. Date of
message. Medium of delivery.
Example:
Boyle, Anthony T. “Re: Utopia.” E-mail to Daniel J.
Cahill. 21 June 1997. E-mail.
If the subject line is blank, omit that portion of
the citation.
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CITING AN E-MAIL WITHIN
THE TEXT
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If you are using an e-mail communication in
your paper, the author should be someone of
relative authority, not a friend or a relative.
Therefore, the author should be important
enough to introduce in your text. The name
you cite in-text must match the corresponding
entry on the works cited page.
Example:
In a personal e-mail, Second Lieutenant Brian Turner of
the United States Marine Corps states, “Marines go
through the toughest physical conditioning of all the
military branches.”
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For questions about MLA format,
consult the MLA Handbook for Writers
of Research Papers
or call or stop by the
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