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
- 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. - Publishes 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.
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.
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
Haskell, Dale. Small Items. Sunrise Recording, 2002. CD. - A Film or Video Recording
Edward Scissorhands. Dir. Tim Burton. Perf. Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, and Dianne Wiest. Twentieth Century Fox, 1990. DVD. - 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.
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.
Electronic Sources
- A Complete Scholarly Project or Information Database
Britannica Online. Vers. 98.2. Apr. 1988. Encyclopedia Britannica. 8 May 1998 < 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
CBS.com. CBS Interactive, 2010. Web. 9 Feb. 2010.
Harris, Sam. Sam Harris. Sam Harris, 2010. Web. 9 Feb. 2010.
Kent Library. Southeast Missouri State U, 14 Nov. 2008. Web. 9 Feb. 2010.
The Walters Art Museum. The Walters Art Museum, 2010. Web. 9 Feb. 2010.
WebMD. WebMD, LLC, 2010. Web. 9 Feb. 2010.
The Writing Center. U of Iowa, 2009. Web. 9 Feb. 2010. - 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 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. > - An E-Mail Communication
Cinco, Jessica M. "Redhawk Writing: Online Draft Submission." Message to James W. Foster. 9 Feb. 2010. E-mail. - Downloaded Computer Software
MacCase. Vers 1.0. 1 Aug. 1998 ftp://ftp.adfa.oz.au/pub/mac/macCASE/.