Disclaimer: This handout is only meant as a guide. If we tried to cover all citations you might make, we’d have a book—which is exactly what the Modern Language Association (MLA) publishes every couple of years. You should check the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th edition, if you have a question that this guide doesn’t answer. See the library for a copy (call number R 808.02 M72ml 2009 in the reference section).
Formatting your citations: In making your list of works cited, begin each entry flush with the left margin; if the entry runs more than a line long, the next lines should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. On many word processors you can accomplish this by paragraph formatting for a "hanging indent." (Whichever you choose, be consistent throughout.) Also use double spacing for your entire list, both between and within entries.
Websites
*Note: URLs are optional. Only include a URL when the reader could not locate the source without it or your teacher requires you to. URLs should be placed after the date of access enclosed in brackets and ending in a period.
Articles from online databases (like Academic Search Premier or LexisNexis)
These are usually articles from journals, magazines, or newspapers that can be accessed over the Web using a database such as LexisNexis, Academic Search Premier or MAS Ultra - School Edition.
*Note: URLs are optional. Only include a URL when the reader could not locate the source without it or your teacher requires you to. URLs should be placed after the date of access enclosed in brackets and ending in a period.
Articles from online magazines and journals
These are journals or magazines that are published directly on the web. Articles obtained directly from the website of a magazine or journal are cited differently than magazine and journal articles you find in article databases like Academic Search Premier and Lexis-Nexis (which include articles from many different publications).
Articles from online newspapers
Use this format for articles from newspapers available in full-text format over the web. Note that if you found a newspaper article through an article database like Lexis-Nexis or EBSCO, you should cite it using the "Articles from online databases" format given above.