What is an MLA citation supposed to look like in a bibliography or works cited page?
If I have a source I want to use, what information do I need to include in my citation?
Sources with One Container: A Book, Article, Video, Song, etc.
Find these pieces of information and put them in this order:
Author. “Source.” Container, Publisher, Date of Publication, Location.
This format will work for many books, websites, images, videos, and encyclopedias. Here are some tips:
Author: Last Name, First Name.
Source: A specific article or chapter title should be in quotation marks.
Container: This is the title of the book, website, or database. Use italics.
Publisher: Look for the book’s publishing company. For a website, look for the copyright holder.
Date of Publication: Look for the day, month, and year. If there is only a year, that is fine.
Location: For an online source, the URL link is the location. If you want to indicate that you are using only a specific portion of a book, put the page numbers. Otherwise, there is no location for a book. Do not put the city where it was published.
Sources with Two Containers (Large Databases)
Find these pieces of information and put them in this order:
Author. “Source.” Container, Publisher, Date of Publication, Location, Second Container, Second Location.
What if you can't find all of that information?
You may not always be able to find every single piece of citation information. Many sources do not have individual authors, and that is fine. However, if you are missing MANY pieces of information, you may not be using a reliable source.