Central Middle School of Science Library

MLA Bibliography Guide

Sample citations | Sample bibliography

Remember, when you are doing your research, to get the following information from each source that you use. Most teachers here at Central Middle School, at high school, and at college, will expect you to use MLA citation. The examples below will show you the basics.

 
 
NOTES:

*If there is no author, start with the title.

Yes, you need to use the punctuation.

All of the information can be found in the book, on the title page and its verso (the other side).

All lines in the citation after the first line, must be indented 5 spaces. This is called a hanging indentation.

 

 Book with 1 Author:
 Last name, First name of author. Title of Book. City published in: Publisher,
Copyright date.
 For example:
 Tessendorf, K.C. Over the Edge: Flying with the Arctic Heroes. New York:
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1998.
 
 Book with 2 Authors:
 Last name, First name of author, and First name Last name of second author.
Title of Book. City published in: Publisher, Date of copyright.
 For example:
 Weidenborner, Stephen, and Dominick Caruso. Writing Research Papers. New
York: St. Martin's Press, 1986.
 
 Book with 3 or more Authors:
 Last name, First name of first author listed, et al. Title of Book. City published
in: Publisher, Date of copyright.
 For example:
 Kendal, Melissa, et al. The Amber Wars and the Development of Europe.
New York: Shirlington, 1984.
 
 *Print Encyclopedia:
 Last name, First Name of author. "Title of article." Title of Encyclopedia.
City published in: Publisher, Date of edition.
 For example:
 Brown, Paul. "Pollution." Encyclopedia Britannica: Macropedia. 1990 ed.
 
 *Electronic Encyclopedias: (Encarta, Grolier's)
 Last name, First name of author. "Title of Article." Title of Encyclopedia.
CD-ROM.
 For example:
 Adams, Beverly. "Overpopulation." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia.
CD-ROM.
 
 *Magazine:
 Last name, First name of author. "Title of Article." Name of Magazine.
Day Month Year of issue: Page numbers of article.
 For example:
 Hanes, Jon. "Understanding Thurber." Saturday Evening Post. 23 August
1986: 72.
 
 *Newspaper:
 Last name, First name of author. "Title of Article." Name of Newspaper. Day
Month Year, Section and Page number.
 For example:
 McKinney, Debra. "Miracles of Chocolate." Anchorage Daily News. 11
February 2000, D1.
 
 *Electronic Database: (Electric Library, EBSCO Host)
 Last name, First name of author. "Title of Article." Name of Publication. Day
Month Year of Publication: page numbers. Name of Database. Library accessed in, City of Library. Day Month Year of access <URL>.
 For example:
 Fox, Justin. "What in the World Happened to Economics?" Fortune. 15 March
1999: 90-102. Electric Library, Central Middle School of Science Library, Anchorage. 22 September 1999 <http://www.elibrary.com>.
 
 *Web Site:
Last name, First name of author. Title of Site. Day Month Year of access.
<URL>.
 For example:
 The Yuckiest Site on the Internet. 18 October 2001.
<http://yucky.kids.discovery.com/>.
 
 Interview:
 Last name, First name of person interviewed. Kind of interview. Day Month
Year of Interview.
 For example:
 Washington, Denzel. Personal interview. 18 October 2001.
 Ford, Harrison. Telephone interview. 17 October 2001.
 
 Government Documents:
 Last name, First name of author (or the name of the agency). Title of
Publication. Place of publication: Publisher, date of publication.
 For example:
 U.S. Department of Commerce. Historical Statistics of the United States.
Washington D.C.: GPO, 1975.
 

Works Cited 
 Adams, Beverly. "Overpopulation." The Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia.
CD-ROM.
 
 Alaska's Salmon Fisheries. Anchorage: Alaska Geographic Society, 1983.
 
 Brown, Paul. "Pollution." Encyclopedia Britannica: Macropedia. 1990 ed.
 
 Central Intelligence Agency. Afghanistan. 10 February 2000
 
 Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Konemann, 1999.
 
 Ford, Harrison. Telephone Interview. 6 February 2000.
 
 Fox, Justin. "What in the World Happened to Economics?" Fortune. 15 March
1999: 90-102. Electric Library Central Middle School of Science
Library, Anchorage. 22 September 1999 <http://www.elibrary.com>.
 
 Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York:
Modern Language Association of America, 1999.
 
 Hanes, John. "Understanding Thurber." Saturday Evening Post. 23 August
1986: 72.
 
 Kendal, Melissa, et al. The Amber Wars and the Development of Europe.
New York: Shirlington, 1984.
 
 McKinney, Debra. "Miracles of Chocolate." Anchorage Daily News. 11
February 2000, D1.
 
 Tessendorf, K.C. Over the Edge: Flying with the Arctic Heroes. New York:
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1998.
 
 U.S. Department of Commerce. Historical Statistics of the United States.
Washington D.C.: GPO, 1975.
 
 Washington, Denzel. Personal Interview. 5 February 2000.
 
 Weidenborner, Stephen, and Domenick Caruso. Writing Research Papers.
New York: St. Martins Press, 1986.
 

Remember to alphabetize all entries by the first word in the entry.