Citing Electronic References – MLA Style

Compiled by Catherine Bark, MDiv, MLIS

Librarian II, Gaylord Library

Gaylord College of Journalism & Mass Communication

What is a Citation?

When you write a research paper, or any paper for that matter, you are responsible for providing a list of Works Cited at the end of the paper. This list will include a citation for everything you refer to in your paper that is not your own original idea (i.e. articles, books, websites, personal interviews, etc.). The citations in the works cited list include information such as: authors, titles, publishers, dates, and more.

Citing Email Communications

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. “Re: Subject line in quotation marks.” To Whom it was sent. The day Month. Year it was sent. The medium of publication.

Kensey, Andrew. “Re: Online Tutoring.” Message to Joe Conklin. 27 Aug. 2004. E-mail.

Citing a Page on a Web Site

Author or alias if known. “Title of Information.” Name of Site. Medium of Publication. Date of Access.

Felgar, David. “How to Ride a Bike.” eHow.com. 21 Sept. 2007.

Citing Specific Documents from a Web Site

Web documents share many of the same elements found in a print document (e.g., authors, titles, dates). Therefore, the citation for a Web document often follows a format similar to that for print, with some information omitted and some added. Here are some examples of how to cite documents posted on Web sites.

NOTE: for all references, indent successive lines but not first line. All references are double-spaced.

1. An article from an online database:

Author's Last Name, Author's First Name. "Title of Journal Article." Title of Journal
Volume Number. Issue Number (Date of Publication): Page Numbers of Article (if
available). Name of the Periodical Database. Date of Access.

Lang, Karen. “Love and Joy in England.” Historical Journal 35.2 (2001): 127-145. ProQuest. 10 Mar. 2003.

2. An article from an e-journal (n. pag. indicates no page range):

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. “Name of the Article in Quotation Marks.” Title of the Publication in Italics Volume.Issue number (Year): page range. Medium of Publication. Date of Access.

Brewer, Harold. “Analysis of Scholarly Journals.” Communication & Research. 73.4 (2003): 71-83. Web. 1 May 2005.

3. An article from a print magazine or journal article found online:

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. “Name of the Article in Quotation Marks.” Title of the Publication in Italics Volume.Issue number (Year): page range. Medium of Publication. Date of Access.

Smolkin, Robert. “Adapt or Die.” American Journalism Review 28.3 (2006): 16-23. Web. 3 June 2010.

Beaudoin, Carl & Thorson, Erica. “Social Capital in Rural and Urban Communities.” Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 81.2 (2004): 378-399. Web. 6 Nov. 2009.

4. A newspaper article:

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. “Name of the Article in Quotation Marks.” Title of the Publication in Italics Article date: page number or section number. Database (if from one). Medium. Date of Access.

Dean, Bryan. “City Workers Make Efforts to Beat Heat.” The Oklahoman 28 July 2006: 14A. http:/www.newsok.com. Web. 31 July 2006.

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