GSFS 265: Poetics and Politics of Health

MLA is most often used in English, rhetoric, foreign languages, and the humanities. Citations are created using both a detailed works cited list appearing at the end of a paper and brief in-text citations that direct readers to particular sources from that reference list. 

The examples and rules described on this page are intended as a quick reference for general MLA citation. For more sources with exhaustive rules, exceptions to rules, and types of sources not described here, see the MLA resources below. 

An MLA in-text citation to a print source should include the author's last name and the page number. If the source is electronic and formatted such that page numbers are not available, the source title can substituted in place of the page number. Put the source title in quotation marks if using it. 

Journal Article

Gold notes that Edmonia Lewis created her Cleopatra sculpture for Centennial celebrations (318). 

Edmonia Lewis carved the Cleopatra sculpture for the Centennial (Gold 318). 

Book

Morris argues that the great abolitionist schism of 1840 was less extreme in the west (6). 

Even as eastern abolitionist groups split in 1840, western abolitionists tended to remain affiliated with multiple organizations (Morris 6). 

​An MLA Works Cited citation should include the following elements if they are relevant to the work. Use the punctuation shown below: 

1. Author.
   • Last Name, First Name
2. Title of source.
   • If the source has a container, you will typically put the title of the source in quotation marks. 
   • If the source does not have a container, or if it would most commonly be published without a container, put the title of the source in italics. 
3. Title of container,
   • Use italics
4. Other contributors,
   • Specify their role, for example, translated by. 
5. Version,
   • Abbreviate revised and edition as rev. and ed. respectively
   • Use Arabic numerals for ordinal numbers
6. Number,
   • Abbreviate volume and number as vol. and no. respectively and separate them with a comma
7. Publisher,
   •  
8. Publication date,
   • Day Month Year
   • Months may be abbreviated
9. Location.
   • Print source
     • Include the pages, abbreviate pages as pp. 
   • Digital source
     • Use a DOI if one is available
     • If a DOI is not available, use a permalink, and omit http:// or https://
     • If a permalink is not available, use a standard URL, and omit http:// or https://

Journal Article

Gold, Susanna W. "The Death of Cleopatra /the Birth of Freedom: Edmonia Lewis at the New World's Fair." Biography, vol. 35, no. 2, 2012, pp. 318-341.

Book

Morris, J. B. Oberlin, Hotbed of Abolitionism: College, Community, and the Fight for Freedom and Equality in Antebellum America. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2014.

We are happy to help you with your citation and paraphrasing questions at the Research Help Desk or during individual consultations.

• Our full citation guide provides online resources and citation examples.
• We have copies of the major citation styles manuals at the Research Help Desks in the Libraries.
• We support two citation management software, RefWorks and Zotero, which can help you to organize your references and create your citations.

The Oberlin College Writing and Speaking Center can also assist with writing your research paper and citations. They provide assistance with writing mechanics, including citation, developing a research question or thesis, developing an argument to support your thesis, reviewing your paper for sentence-level corrections, and editing for flow and clarity.

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