MLA 9th Edition

CORE ELEMENTS 

EXAMPLES: 

HOW IT CAN VARY 

OTHER 

AUTHOR 

• Heilig, Heidi.
• @erinthelibrarian.
• Smith, Derrik, editor.
• United Nations. 

2 authors: Heilig, Heidi, and Sophie Hildegarde. 

3+ authors: Heilig, Heidi, et al. 

No author? Skip that element and move to Title. 

“Author” can mean lots of things: editor, actor, online creator (username), translator, corporate author, etc. instead of an “author”.  Just pop that title after the name (ex: Smith, Derrik, editor) or list the username (@erinthelibrarian). 

TITLE OF SOURCE  

• Grapes of Wrath. 
• “Chapter 7: Social Media.” 
• “Election 2017.” Time Magazine, 
• “Winter is Coming.” Game of Thrones, 

Italicize titles. 

If your source is part of a larger source (ex: you’re citing a chapter of a book, an article from a periodical, an episode from a tv show), put the smaller part in quotes and italicize the larger part. 

Use upper- and lower-case letters (no “all caps”) 

Capitalize major title words (leave lower case: a, an, of, the, or, at, etc.) 

TITLE OF CONTAINER 

Similar to the above examples:  Time Magazine, Game of Thrones, YouTube… these are all containers (larger sources) that contain smaller things (your particular source). 

Sometimes your source will be nested in multiple containers (example: an episode of a documentary that is on a particular online channel).  Cite as many of these containers as you can in your citation.  

Ex: “Forever Prison” is an episode of Frontline, published by PBS.  So: 

“Forever Prison” and Frontline are the containers, PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) is the Publisher. 

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS 

Usually directors, editors, introducers, translators, etc. 

Adapted by Jim Smith, 

• Directed by George Lucas, 
• Translated by Ivy Bizwald, 

VERSION 

• Expanded ed., 
• Unabridged version, 
• Director’s cut,
• Version 1.8  

NUMBER 

• vol. 2
• vol. 2, no. 7
• no. 78
• season 1, episode 1,

Some journals use a volume/issue numbering system; some just use numbers.   

If your source uses a different numbering system than shown here, include the number along with something in front of it that clues the reader as to what it means. 

PUBLISHER 

• Oxford UP [abbrev. for University Press] 
• U of California, Berkeley 

Publisher is omitted entirely when appropriate:  

If the publisher and author/editor are the same 

The source is a periodical and has that container listed in the citation 

A website that provides access, but doesn’t actually create the content (i.e.: YouTube, which is the Container, not the Publisher) 

PUBLICATION DATE 

• 2012
• 20 Dec. 2012
• Nov.-Dec. 2012
• 2012-2014
• winter 2012 

Sometimes you’ll only find a year, sometimes you’ll find a month, day and year.  Cite what you find, and/or what makes the most sense to help your reader track down your exact source. 

Use “day mo. Year” for dates that include those three elements.   

Look for the most recent publication date. 

Copyright and publication date are not always the same thing. 

LOCATION 

• In a book: page numbers (p. 97 or pp. 97-100) 
• Online: URL (web address), permalink, or DOI
• Object: physical location (SF Museum of Modern Art) 
• Live presentation: venue/city (The Fillmore, San Francisco) 

The “location” depends on whether your source is print, electronic, “live” (in person), etc.

If you’re including a URL, omit the “http://" or "https://” from your citation. 

If your source includes a permalink (i.e., a permanent or persistent URL), use it instead of the URL that appears on the address line of the browser.