Examples of MLA CitationsNeed help with MLA citations?
Articles from the HCC library's electronic resources come from different kinds of sources, such as journals, magazines, newspapers, and encyclopedias. Most of these sources are available in paper formats, too. Therefore, when you put an article from a database on your works cited list or bibliography, you must add some extra information to explain that you got the article online rather than on paper.
Journal, magazine, and newspaper articles should be cited just as they are in print, with the following information added: the name of the database you used, Howard Community College Library, Columbia, MD., the date you looked up the article, and finally, the URL of the database's main search page (i.e., where you put in your keywords to search). Pay particular attention to format and punctuation.
MLA style is used primarily in the humanities disciplines, such as the study of literature and the arts.
Examples
Professional/Scholarly Journal Article
| Furlong, Michael, and Gale Morrison. "The School in School Violence: Definitions and |
| | Facts." Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders 8.2 (Summer 2000): 71. |
| | Academic OneFile. Gale. Howard Community Coll. Lib., Columbia, MD. |
| | 22 Oct. 2007 <http://infotrac.galegroup.com/>. |
| Kennelly, Jeanette. "The Specialist Role of the Music Therapist in Developmental |
| | Programs for Hospitalized Children." Journal of Pediatric Health Care 14.2 |
| | (2000): 56-59. ScienceDirect. Elsevier. Howard Community Coll. Lib., Columbia, |
| | MD. 30 Oct. 2007 <http://www.sciencedirect.com/>. |
Magazine Articles: Monthly and Weekly Magazines
| Peele, Stanton. "Recovering from an All-or-Nothing Approach to Alcohol." Psychology |
| | Today Sep.-Oct. 1996: 35-41. Academic OneFile. Gale. Howard Community |
| | Coll. Lib., Columbia, MD. 22 Oct. 2007 <http://infotrac.galegroup.com>. |
| Getz, Arlene. "Out in the Cold: Travel Nightmare: Far from Home with a Frozen |
| | Credit-Card Account." Newsweek 30 Oct. 2000: 102. Academic OneFile. |
| | Gale. Howard Community Coll. Lib., Columbia, MD. 22 Oct. 2007 |
| | <http://infotrac.galegroup.com>. |
Newspaper Article
| Dillin, John. "Independent Voters Are Helping Bush to Pull Ahead." Christian Science |
| | Monitor [Boston, MA] 31 Oct. 2000: 2. LexisNexis Academic. LexisNexis. |
| | Howard Community Coll. Lib., Columbia, MD. 22 Oct. 2007 <http://web |
| .lexis-nexis.com/universe>. |
Encyclopedia Article
Begin with the author if one is given at the beginning or end of the article; otherwise, start with the title, which is simply the word or words you looked up:
| "Hubble Space Telescope." Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. 2007. Encyclopaedia |
| | Britannica. Howard Community Coll. Lib., Columbia, MD. 22 Oct. 2007 |
| <http://eb.com>. |
Further Information
Consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed., Ready Reference LB2369.G53 2003 - for additional information, including citing paper copies of books & articles. Or go to the Modern Language Association's website & click on "MLA Style," and then "Frequently Asked Questions." "How do I document sources from the Web in my works-cited list?" gives descriptions and examples of citations from different kinds of online sources, including "subscription services" (databases).
Automatically generate MLA citations at the Son of Citation Machine.
