Tips:

MLA refers to the Modern Language Association style of writing research papers citing sources.

If there is no author, start with the title. This will happen a lot with web sites.

Yes, you need to use all of the punctuation.

For books 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.

The bibliography should be alphabetized by the first word in each citation. (Do not alphabetize using: A, The, or An)

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

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: (WorldBook Online, Wikipedia)

Last name, First name of author. "Title of Article." Title of Encyclopedia. Year of edition. Date of Access. <URL of homepage>.

For example:

Adams, Beverly. "Overpopulation." WorldBook Online. 2006. 10 Oct. 2006 <http://www.worldbookonline.com>.

*Magazine/Professional Journal:

Last name, First name of author. "Title of Article." Name of Magazine Day Month Year of issue: Page numbers of article.

For example:

Wilson, Edward O. "Army Ants on the March." National Geographic Oct. 2006: 136.

*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: (Student Research Center, EBSCO, Facts on File)

Last name, First name of author. "Title of Article." Name of Publication. Date of Publication: page numbers. Name of Database. Name of Service. Library accessed in, City of Library, State, Day Month Year of access <URL>.

For example:

Fox, Justin. "What in the World Happened to Economics?" Fortune. 15 March 2006: 90-102. MAS Ultra. EBSCO. Mears Middle School Library, Anchorage, AK, 22 Sept. 2005 <http://www.ebsco.com>.

*Web Site:

Last name, First name of author. Title of Site. Date of last revision. Name of sponsoring organization. Day Month Year of access <URL>.

For example:

Afghanistan. 1 November 2005. Central Intelligence Agency. 3 January 2006 <http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/>.

Interview:

Last name, First name of person interviewed. Kind of interview. Day Month Year of Interview.

For example:

Washington, Denzel. Personal interview. 18 October 2005.

Ford, Harrison. Telephone interview. 17 October 2005.

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.

Online Images:

Artist’s (if one) last name, first name. "Description Or Title Of Image." Date image. Online image. Title of larger site. Date of download. <URL>.   For example: Smith, Greg. “Rhesus Monkeys in the Zoo." Online image. Monkey Picture Gallery . 3 May 2003 <http://monkeys.online.org/rhesus.jpg>.

Works Cited

Adams, Beverly. "Overpopulation." WorldBook Online. 2006. 10 Oct. 2006 <http://www.worldbookonline.com>.

Afghanistan. 1 November 2005. Central Intelligence Agency. 3 January 2006 <http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/>.

Alaska's Salmon Fisheries. Anchorage: Alaska Geographic Society, 1983.

Brown, Paul. "Pollution." Encyclopedia Britannica: Macropedia. 1990 ed.

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Konemann, 1999.

Ford, Harrison. Telephone Interview. 6 February 2005.

Fox, Justin. "What in the World Happened to Economics?" Fortune. 15 March 1999: 90-102. MAS Ultra Mears Middle School Library, Anchorage, AK, 22 September 1999 <http://www.ebsco.com>.

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1999.

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.

Wilson, Edward O. "Army Ants on the March." National Geographic. Oct. 2006: 136.

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.