Basic rules
From Purdue OWL's MLA Formatting: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/5/
Basic Format
The author’s name or a book with a single author's name appears in last name, first name format. The basic form for a book citation is:
Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.
From Purdue OWL's MLA Formatting: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/6/
Book with One Author
Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin, 1987. Print.
From Purdue OWL's MLA Formatting: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/6/
Book with More Than One Author
The first given name appears in last name, first name format; subsequent author names appear in first name last name format.
Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Boston: Allyn, 2000. Print.
From Purdue OWL's MLA Formatting: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/6/
Book by a Corporate Author or Organization
A corporate author may include a commission, a committee, or a group that does not identify individual members on the title page. List the names of corporate authors in the place where an author’s name typically appears at the beginning of the entry.
American Allergy Association. Allergies in Children. New York: Random, 1998. Print.
From Purdue OWL's MLA Formatting: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/6/
Book with No Author
List by title of the book. Incorporate these entries alphabetically just as you would with works that include an author name. For example, the following entry might appear between entries of works written by Dean, Shaun and Forsythe, Jonathan.
Encyclopedia of Indiana. New York: Somerset, 1993. Print.
From Purdue OWL'S MLA Formatting: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/6/
Article in a Magazine
Cite by listing the article's author, putting the title of the article in quotations marks, and italicizing the periodical title. Follow with the date of publication. Remember to abbreviate the month. The basic format is as follows:
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Medium of publication.
Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time 20 Nov. 2000: 70-71. Print.
From Purdue OWL's MLA Formatting: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/7/
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 following the date (e.g., 17 May 1987, late ed.).
Brubaker, Bill. "New Health Center Targets County's Uninsured Patients." Washington Post 24 May 2007: LZ01. Print.
From Purdue OWL's MLA Formatting: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/7/
Basic Style for Citations of Electronic Sources (Including Online Databases)
Here are some common features you should try and find before citing electronic sources in MLA style. Not every Web page will provide all of the following information. However, collect as much of the following information as possible both for your citations and for your research notes:
From Purdue OWL's Formatting: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/8/
Important Note on the Use of URLs in MLA
MLA no longer requires the use of URLs in MLA citations.
Remember to use n.p. if no publisher name is available and n.d. if no publishing date is given.
Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.
The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008. Web. 23 Apr. 2008.
From Purdue OWL's MLA Formatting: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/8/
A Page on a Web Site
For an individual page on a Web site, list the author or alias if known, followed by the information covered above for entire Web sites. Remember to use n.p. if no publisher name is available and n.d. if no publishing date is given.
"How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2009.
From Purdue OWL's MLA Formatting: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/8/
Web Magazine
Provide the author name, article name in quotation marks, title of the Web magazine in italics, publisher name, publication date, medium of publication, and the date of access. Remember to use n.p. if no publisher name is available and n.d. if no publishing date is given.
Bernstein, Mark. "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web." A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites. A List Apart Mag., 16 Aug. 2002. Web. 4 May
2009.
From Purdue OWL's MLA Formatting: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/8
An Article in an Online Scholarly Journal
For all online scholarly journals, provide the author(s) name(s), the name of the article in quotation marks, the title of the publication in italics, all volume and issue numbers, and the year of publication.
Dolby, Nadine. “Research in Youth Culture and Policy: Current Conditions and Future Directions.” Social Work and Society: The International
Online-Only Journal 6.2 (2008): n. pag. Web. 20 May 2009.
From Purdue OWL's Formatting: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/8/
An Article from an Online Database (or Other Electronic Subscription Service)
Cite articles from online databases (e.g. LexisNexis, ProQuest, JSTOR, ScienceDirect) and other subscription services just as you would print sources.
Junge, Wolfgang, and Nathan Nelson. “Nature's Rotary Electromotors.”Science 29 Apr. 2005: 642-44. Science Online. Web. 5 Mar. 2009.
Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England.” Historical Journal 50.1 (2007): 173-96. ProQuest. Web. 27 May 2009.
From Purdue OWL's MLA Formatting: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/8/
An Image (Including a Painting, Sculpture, or Photograph)
Provide the artist's name, the work of art italicized, the date of creation, the institution and city where the work is housed. Follow this initial entry with the name of the Website in italics, the medium of publication, and the date of access.
Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Museo National del Prado. Web. 22 May 2006.
From Purdue OWL's MLA Formatting: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/8/