Guide to MLA Bibliography

Sample MLA bibliography entries, taken from the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 5th edition.

For a discussion of the principles behind creating an MLA Style bibliography, see the "Building an MLA Bibliography" tutorial.

The examples included here are only the basic forms of MLA bibliography entries.  If you cannot find the information that you need here, you can

• ask the tutors at the Writing Center.  Use the "Ask Question" link to email us a question or come to the Writing Lab in person.

• ask your instructor.

• refer to the most recent MLA Handbook.  Copies are available at the Reference Desk in Kent Library and in the Writing Lab.

Books | Periodicals | Miscellaneous | Electronic

BOOKS

• Book by a Single Author

  • Wilson, Frank R. The Hand: How Its Use Shapes the Brain, Language, and Human Culture.  New York: Pantheon, 1998. Print.

• An Anthology or Compilation

  • Feldman, Paula R., ed. British Women Poets of the Romantic Era.  Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1997. Print.

• Two or More Books by the Same Author

  • Borroff, Marie. Language and the Past: Verbal Artistry in Frost, Stevens, and Moore.  Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1979. Print.

  • ---, trans. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.  New York: Norton, 1967. Print.

• A Book by Two or More Authors

  • Eggins, Suzanne, and Diane Slade. Analyzing Causal Conversation. London: Cassell, 1997. Print.

  • Marquart, James W., Sheldon Ekland Olson, and Jonathan R. Sorenson. The Rope, the Chair, and the Needle: Capital Punishment in Texas, 1923-1990. Austin: U of Texas P, 1994. Print.

• A Book by a Corporate Author

  • American Medical Association. The American Medical Association Encyclopedia of Medicine. New York: Random, 1989. Print.

• A Work in an Anthology

  • Calvino, Italo. "Cybernetics and Ghosts." The Uses of Literature: Essays. Trans. Patrick Creagh. San Diego: Harcourt, 1982. 3-27. Print.

• An Article in a Reference Book

  • "Ginsburg, Ruth Bader." Who's Who in America. 52nd ed. 1998. Print.

• An Introduction, Preface, Foreword, or Afterword

  • Doctorow, E.L. Introduction. Sister Carrie. By Theodore Dreiser. New York: Bantam, 1982. v-xi. Print.

• Cross-References

  • Hamill, Pete.  Introduction. Sexton and Powers xi-xiv.

  • Sexton, Andrea Wyatt, and Alice Leccese Powers, eds. The Brooklyn Reader: Thirty Writers Celebrate America's Favorite Borough. New York: Harmony, 1994. Print.

  • Walcott, Derek. "A Letter from Brooklyn." Sexton and Powers 264-65. Print.

• An Anonymous Book

  • Encyclopedia of Virginia. New York: Somerset, 1993. Print.

• An Edition

  • Twain, Mark. Roughing It. Ed. Harriet E. Smith and Edgar M. Branch.  Berkeley: U of California P, 1993. Print.

• A Translation

  • Dostoevsky, Feodor. Crime and Punishment. Trans. Jessie Coulson. Ed. George Gibian. New York: Norton, 1964.  Print.

• A Book Published in a Second or Subsequent Edition

  • Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Ed. F.W. Robinson. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton, 1957. Print.

• A Multivolume Work

  • Bianco, Richard L., ed. The American Revolution, 1775-1783: An Encyclopedia. 2 vols. Hamden: Garland, 1993. Print.

• A Book in a Series

  • Neruda, Pablo. Canto General. Trans. Jack Schmitt. Latin Amer. Lit. and Culture 7. Berkeley: U of California P, 1991. Print.

• A Republished Book

  • Atwood, Margaret. Surfacing. 1972. New York: Doubleday, 1998. Print.

• A Publisher's Imprint

  • Lopate, Philip, ed. The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present. New York: Anchor-Doubleday, 1994. Print.

• A Book with Multiple Publishers

  • Wells, H.G. The Time Machine. London: Dent; Rutland: Tuttle, 1992. Print.

• A Pamphlet

  • London. New York: Trip Builder, 1996. Print.

• A Government Publication

  • United States. Dept. of Labor. Child Care: A Workforce Issue. Washington, GPO, 1988. Print.

• Published Proceedings of a Conference

  • Freed, Barbara F., ed. Foreign Language Acquisition Research and the Classroom. Proc. of Consortium for Lang. Teaching and Learning Conf., Oct 1989, U of Pennsylvania.  Lexington: Heath, 1991. Print.

• A Book in a Language Other Than English

  • Eco, Umberto. Isola del giorno primo. Milano: Bpmpiani, 1994. Print.

• A Book Published Before 1900

  • Brome, Richard. The Dramatic Works of Richard Brome. 3 vols. London, 1873. Print.

• A Book without Stated Publication Information or Pagination

  • Malachi, Zvi, ed. Proceedings of the International Conference on Literacy and Linguistic Computing. [Tel Aviv]: [Fac. of Humanities, Tel Aviv U.], n.d. Print.

• An Unpublished Dissertation

  • Boyle, Anthony T. "The Epistemological Evolution of Renaissance Utopian Literature, 1518-1657." Diss. New York U, 1983.

• A Published Dissertation

  • Valentine, Mary-Blair Truesdell. An Investigation of Gender-Based Leadership Styles of Male and Female Officers in the United States Army. Diss. George Mason U, 1993. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1993. 9316566. Print.

Books | Periodicals | Miscellaneous | Electronic | Top

PERIODICALS

• Article in a Scholarly Journal with Continuous Pagination

  • Craner, Paul M. "New Tool for an Ancient Art: the Computer and Music." Computers and the Humanities 25 (1991): 303-13. Print.

• Article in a Scholarly Journal that Pages Each Issue Separately

  • Hallin, Daniel C. "Sound Bite News: Television Coverage of Elections, 1968-1988." Journal of Communication 42.2 (1992): 5-24. Print.

• Article in a Scholarly Journal that Uses Only Issue Numbers

  • Bowering, George. "Baseball and the Canadian Imagination." Canadian Literature 108 (1986): 115-24. Print.

• Article in a Scholarly Journal with More than One Series

  • Daniels, John. "Indian Population of North America in 1492." William and Mary Quarterly 3rd ser. 49 (1992): 298-320. Print.

• Article in a Newspaper

  • Lohr, Steve. "Now Playing: Babes in Cyberspace." New York Times 3 Apr. 1998, late ed.: C1+. Print.

• Article in a Magazine

  • Mehta, Pratap Bhanu. "Exploding Myths." New Republic 6 June 1998: 17-19. Print.

• A Review

  • Updike, John. "Fine Points." Rev. of The New Fowler's Modern English Usage, ed. R.W. Burchfield. New Yorker 23-30 Dec. 1996: 142-49. Print.

• Abstract in an Abstracts Journal

  • Ferguson, Tamara J., and Susan L. Crowley. "Gender Differences in the Organization of Guilt and Shame." Sex Roles 37 (1997): 19-44. Psychological Abstracts 85 (1998): item 4265. Print.

• An Anonymous Article

  • "The Decade of the Spy." Newsweek 7 Mar. 1994: 26-27. Print.

• An Editorial

  • "Death of a Writer." Editorial. New York Times 20 Apr. 1994, late ed.: A18. Print.

• Letter to the Editor

  • Ozick, Cynthia. Letter. Partisan Review 57 (1990): 493-94. Print.

• A Serialized Article

  • Meserole, HArmon T., and James M. Rambeau. "Articles on American Literature Appearing in Current Periodicals." American Literature 52 (181): 688-705; 53 (1981): 164-80, 348-59. Print.

• A Special Issue

  • Science and Culture. Spec. issue of Daedalus 127.1 (1998): 1-236. Print.

• Article from a Special Issue

  • Ackerman, James. "Leonardo da Vinci: Art in Science." Science and Culture. Spec. issue of Daedalus 127.1 (1998): 207-24. Print.

• Article in a Microform Collection of Articles

  • Chapman, Don. "Panel Could Help to Protect Children." Winston-Salem Journal 14 Jan. 1990: 14. NewsBank: Welfare and Social Problems 12 (1990): fiche 1, grids A8-11. Print.

• Article Reprinted in a Loose-Leaf Collection of Articles

  • Edmondson, Brad. "AIDS and Aging." American Demographics Mar. 1990: 28+. The AIDS Crisis. Ed. Eleanor Goldstein. Vol. 2. Boca Raton: SIRS, 1991. Art. 24. Print.

Books | Periodicals | Miscellaneous | Electronic | Top

MISCELLANEOUS PRINT SOURCES

• A Television or Radio Program

  • "Death and Society." Narr. Joanne Silberner. Weekend Edition Sunday. Natl. Public Radio. WUWM, Milwaukee. 25 Jan. 1998. Television.

  • "Frederick Douglass." Civil War Journal. Narr. Danny Glover. Dir. Craig Haffner. Arts and Entertainment Network. 6 Apr. 1993. Television.

• A Sound Recording

  • Holiday, Billie. The Essence of Billie Holiday. Columbia, 1991. CD.

• A Film or Video Recording

  • It's a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. Perf. James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, and Thomas Mitchell. RKO, 1946. Film.

• A Performance

  • Hamlet. By William Shakespeare. Dir. John Gielgud. Perf. Richard Burton. Shubert Theater, Boston. 4 Mar. 1964. Performance.

• A Musical Composition

  • Beethoven, Ludwig van. Symphony no. 8 in F, op. 93. Print.

• A Painting, Sculpture or Photograph

  • Bearden, Romare. The Train. Carole and Alex Rosenberg Collection, New York.

• An Interview

  • Blackmun, Harry. Interview with Ted Koppel and Nina Totenberg. Nightline. ABC. WABC, New York. 5 Apr. 1994. Television.

  • Pei, I.M. Personal Interview. 22 July 1993.

• A Map or Chart

  • Washington. Map. Chicago: Rand, 1995. Print.

• A Cartoon

  • Chast, Roz. Cartoon. New Yorker 7 Apr. 1997: 72. Print.

• An Advertisement

  • Air Canada. Advertisement. CNN. 15 May 1998.

  • The Fitness Fragrance by Ralph Lauren. Advertisement. GQ Apr. 1997: 111-12. Print.

• A Lecture, Speech, Address, or Reading

  • Terkel, Studs. Address. Conf. on Coll. Composition and Communication Convention. Palmer House, Chicago: 22 Mar. 1990. Address.

• A Manuscript or Typescript

  • Chaucer, Goeffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Harley ms. 7334. British Lib., London.

• A Letter or Memo

  • Woolf, Virginia. "To T.S. Eliot." 28 July 1920. Letter 1138 of The Letters of Virginia Woolf. Ed. Nigel Nicolson and Joanne Trautmann. Vol. 2. New York: Harcourt, 1976. 437-38. Print.

  • Benton, Thomas Hart. Letter to Charles Fremont. 22 June 1847. John Charles Fremont Papers. Southwest Museum Lib., Los Angeles. MS.

  • [Note:  Options for medium of unpublished letter = TS (typescript), MS (manuscript), and Digital file.]

  • Morrison, Toni. Letter to the author. 17 May 1999. TS.

  • Cahill, Daniel J. Memo to English dept. fac., Brooklyn Technical High School, New York, 1 June 1998. TS.
     

• A Legal Source

  • 21 US Code. Sec. 1401a. 1988.

  • Pesticide Monitoring Improvements Act of 1988. Pub. L. 100-418. 23 Aug. 1988. Stat. 102.1412.

  • Stevens v. National Broadcasting Co. 148 USPQ 755. CA Super. Ct. 1966.

Books | Periodicals | Miscellaneous | Electronic | Top

ELECTRONIC SOURCES

• A Complete Scholarly Project or Information Database

  • Britannica Online. Vers. 98.2. Apr. 1988. Encyclopedia Britannica. 8 May 198 <http://www.eb.com/>.

• A Document within a Scholarly Project or Information Database

  • "Catalan." Si, Espana. Ed. Jose felix Barrio. Vers. 2.0. Oct. 1996. Embassy of Spain, Ottawa. 3 Feb. 1998 <http://www.docuweb.ca/SiSpain/spanish/language/

  • language/catalan.html>.

• A Professional or Personal Site

  • Dawe, James. Jane Austen Page. 15 Sept. 1998 <http:// nyquist.ee.ualberta.ca/~dawe/austen.html>.

  • Lancashire, Ian. Home page. 1 May 1998 <http:// www.chass.utoronto.ca:808/~ian/>.

  • Romance Languages and Literatures Home Page. 1 Jan. 1997. Dept of Romance Langs. and Lits., U of Chicago. 8 July 1998 <http://humanities.uchicago.edu/romance/>.

• An Online Book Available Independently

  • Austen, Jane. pride and Prejudice. Ed. Henry Churchyard. 1996. 10 Sept. 1998 <http://www.pemberley.com/ janeinfo/pridprej.html>.

• An Online Book within a Scholarly Project

  • Keats, John. Poetical Works. 1884. Project Bartleby. Ed. Steven van Leeuwen. May 1998. Columbia U. 5 May 1998 <http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/keats/>.

• A Part of an Online Book

  • Barsky, Robert F. Introduction. Noam Chomsky: A Life of Dissent. By Bersky. Cambridge: MIT P, 1997. 8 May 1998 <http://mitpress.mit.edu/e-books/chomsky/intro.html>.

• An Online Government Publication

  • United States. Dept. of Justice. Natl. Inst. of Justice. Prosecuting Gangs: A National Assessment. By Claire Johnson, Barbara Webster, and Edward Connors. Feb. 1995. 29 June 1998 <http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles/ pgang.txt>.

• An Online Article in a Scholarly Journal

  • Calabrese, Michael. "Between Despair and Ecstasy: Marco Polo's Life of the Buddha." Exemplaria 9.1 (1997). 22 June 1998 <http://web.english.ufl.edu/english/ exemplaria/calax.html>.

• An Online Article in a Newspaper or on a Newswire

  • "Endangered Species Act Upheld." AP Online 22 June 1998. 22 June 1998 <http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-Court-Endangered-Species.html>.

• An Online Article in a Magazine

  • Guckenberger, Katherine. "A Convent with a View." Atlantic Unbound 22 Jan. 1998. 26 June 1998 <http://www.theAtlantic.com/atlantic/unbound/abroad/ kg980122.htm>.

• An Online Review

  • Angelo, Gretchen V. Rev. of The Book of the Body Politic, by Christine de Pizan. Bryn Mawr Medieval Review 96.1.7 (1996). 26 Jan. 1997 <gopher://gopher.lib.virginia.edu:70/ 00/alpha/bmmr/v96/96-1-7>.

• An Online Abstract

  • Bullough, Vern J. "Medieval Concepts of Adultery." Arthuriana 7.4 (1997): 5-15. Abstract. 26 June 1998 <http://dc.smu.edu/Arthuriana/Abstract/AB_list1.htm>.

• An Online Anonymous Article

  • "Fleeting Consciousness." Us News Online 29 June 1998. 1 July 1998 <http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/ 980629/29brai.htm>.

• An Online Editorial

  • "Controlling Deadly Trade." Editorial. Christian Science Monitor: Electronic Edition 26 June 1998. 26 June 1998 <http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1998/06/26/

  • f-p16s1.htm>.

• An Online Letter to the Editor

  • Kung, Cleo. Letter. New York Times on the Web 28 June 1998. 28 June 1998 <http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/ letters/lkung.html>.

• An Online Serialized Article

  • Dugger, Celia W. "Wedding Vows Bind Old World and New." New York Times on the Web 20 July 1998. Pt. 2 of a series, Here and There: Immigration Now, begun 19 July 1998. 5 Aug 1998 <http://www.nytimes.com/library/ national/regional/072098.immigration.html>.

• A Nonperiodical Publication on CD-ROM, Diskette, or Magnetic Tape

  • Braunmuller, A.R., ed. Macbeth. By William Shakespeare. CD-ROM. New York: Voyager, 1994.

• Material from a Periodically published Database on CD-ROM

  • Coates, Steve. "Et Tu, Cybernetica Machina User?" New York Times 28 Oct. 1996, late ed.: D4. New York Times Ondisc. Cd-Rom. UMI-ProQuest. Dec. 1996.

• A Multidisc Publication

  • Perseus 2.0: Interactive Sources and Studies on Ancient Greece. Cd-Rom. 4 discs. New Haven: Yale UP, 1996.

• A Work in More Than One Publication Medium

  • Perseus 1.0: Interactive Sources and Studies on Ancient Greece. CD-ROM, laser disc. New Haven: Yale UP, 1992.

• A Work from an Online Service

  • "Table Tennis." Compton's Encyclopedia Online. Vers. 2.0. 1997. America Online. 4 July 1998. Keyword: Compton's.

  • Fox, Justin. "What in the World Happened to Economics?" Fortune 15 Mar. 1999: 90-102. ABI/INFORM Global. ProQuest Direct. Regional Community Coll. Lib., Little Rock. 2 Mar. 1999 <http://www.umi.com/proquest/>.

• A Work in an Indeterminate Medium

  • Bartlett, John. Familiar Quotations. 9th ed. Boston, Little, 1901. New York: Columbia U, Academic Information Systems, 1995. Electronic. ColumbiaNet, Columbia U. 2 July 1998.

• A Television or Radio Program

  • Fishkin, Fred. "Privacy and the Net." Boot Camp. CBS Radio. WCBS, New York. 5 Mar. 1998. Transcript. 29 June 1998 <http://newsradio88.com/boot/archive/ march_1998/march_5.html>.

• A Sound Recording/Sound Clip

  • Fishkin, Fred. "Privacy and the Net." Boot Camp. CBS Radio. WCBS, New York. 5 Mar. 1998. 29 June 1998 <http://newsradio88.com/bootcamp-cgi/ServeRAM.cgi? story1d=889074000>.

• A Film or Film Clip

  • Kurosawa, Akira, dir. Throne of Blood. 1957. Macbeth. By William Shakespeare. Ed. A.R. Braunmuller. CD-ROM. New York: Voyager, 1994.

• A Painting, Sculpture, or Photograph

  • Delacroix, Eugene. Death of Ophelia. 1953. Louvre, Paris. Shakespeare Illustrated. Ed. Harry Rusche. Aug. 1996.  Emory U. 7 Apr. 1997 <http://www.cc.emory.edu/ ENGLISH/classes/Shakespeare_Illustrated/ Delacroix.Ophelia.html>.

• An Interview

  • Price, Richard. Interview with Larry Weissman. Bold Type. June 1998. 25 June 1998 <http://199.29.97.173/0698/ price/interview.html>.

• A Map

  • "Phoenix, Arizona." Map. U.S. Gazetteer. US Census Bureau. 30 June 1998 <http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/gazetteer>.

• A Cartoon

  • Toles, Tom. "One Way to Solve the Beeper Problem." Cartoon. US News Online 1 June 1998. 29 June 1998 <http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/980601/ ltole.htm>.

• An Advertisement

  • Lee Mood Ring. Advertisement. 29 June 1998 <http:// www.leejeans.com/features/moodring.html>.

• A Manuscript or Working Paper

  • Cacicedo, Al. "Private Parts: Preliminary Notes for an Essay on Gender Identity in Shakespeare." Working paper, 12 Mar. 1997. 4 July 1998 <http://www.arts.ubc.ca/english/ iemls/shak/PRIVATE_PARTS.txt>.

• An E-Mail Communication

  • Boyle, Anthony T. "Re: Utopia." E-mail to Daniel J. Cahill. 21 June 1997.

• An Online Posting

  • Holland, Norman. "Overcoming Depression." Online posting. 19 MAr. 1997. Psyart. 21 Mar. 1997 <http:// web.class.ufl.edu/ipsa/psyart.htm>.

• A Synchronous Communication

  • Grigar, Dene. Online defense of dissertation "Penelopeia: The Making of Penelope in Homer's Story and Beyond." 25 July 1997. LinguaMOO. 25 July 1995 <telnet:// lingua.utdallas.edu:8888>.

• Downloaded Computer Software

  • MacCase. Vers 1.0. 1 Aug. 1998 <ftp://ftp.adfa.oz.au/pub/ mac/macCASE/>.

  •