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MLA Quick Citation Guide

Quick citation guide for using MLA 9 style

Formatting Notes

Unless directed otherwise by your instructor, when using MLA 8 Style for your paper, follow these steps for formatting your citations:

  • Start your works cited list on a separate page at the end of your paper
  • Double space all of your citations, but don't add extra spaces between citations. Spacing should be consistent for the whole list.
  • Use a hanging indent for each citation by indenting the second line and any following lines of a citation. 

The Purdue Owl site has a helpful page with more detailed information about formatting:

Due to some limitations on this guide's design, many of the examples do not use double spaces and hanging indents (they don't work well with responsive design). Any color-coded images of citations, however, do show citations with standard MLA style spacing and indents.

Online (Streaming) Film or Video

Film Found in a Database or Streaming Platform

  • Title of Film or Video. Director, Film Studio or Distributor, Release Year. Name of Database or Streaming Platform, URL. Access Date [optional, but recommended]
    • If relevant to your paper, you can other contributors such as performers or screenwriters after the director's name. If you do this, include information about the roles of the contributors. For example, Performance(s) by, Screenplay by, Special Effects by, etc.
    • If you are focusing on a particular actor or director, place their name in the Author/Creator position at the beginning of the citation.
Examples:

Coraline. Directed by Henry Selick, screenplay by Henry Selick and Neil Gaiman, Laika, 2009. Netflix, https://www.netflix.com/title/70105599. Accessed 8 May 2018.

Kumail Nanjiani, screenwriter, actor. The Big Sick. Directed by Michael Showalter, Amazon Studios and Lionsgate, 2017. Amazon Prime, https://www.amazon.com/Big-Sick-Amazon-Original-Movie/dp/B071YSYB7K.

Spy. Directed by Paul Feig, performances by Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, and Miranda Hart, Fox, 2015. Amazon Prime, https://www.amazon.com/Spy-Melissa-McCarthy/dp/B013EZQV6E. 

Film Re-Published on a Website

  • Title of Film or Video. Director. Film Studio or Distributor, Release Year. Name of Website Where you Found the Film, name of the person or company who uploaded the film [if different from the director, studio, or distributor], date published on the website, URL. Access Date [optional, but recommended].
    • If relevant to your paper, you can other contributors such as performers or screenwriters after the director's name. If you do this, include information about the roles of the contributors. For example, Performance(s) by, Screenplay by, Special Effects by, etc.
    • If you are focusing on a particular actor or director, you can write their name in the Author/Creator position at the beginning of the citation.
Examples:

Attack of the Giant Leeches. Directed by Bernard L. Kowalski. Roger Corman Productions, 1959. Internet Archive, uploaded by classiccinemaonline.com, 17 Mar. 2007. https://archive.org/details/AttackOfTheGiantLeeches. Accessed 7 Feb. 2018.

Dreyer, Carl Theodore, director. The Passion of Joan of Arc. Performance by Renée Jeanne Falconetti. Société Générale des Films, 1928. YouTube, uploaded by iconauta, 23 June 2013, https://youtu.be/d3Q6FVhqLY0.

Television Episode Found in a Database or Streaming Platform

  • "Title of Episode." Name of Show, season number, episode number, Film Studio or Distributor, Release date. Name of Database or Streaming Platform, URL. Access Date [optional, but recommended]
    • If relevant to your paper, you can other contributors such as directors, writers, or performers after the name of the television show. If you do this, include information about the roles of the contributors. For example, performance(s) by, written by, etc.
    • If you are focusing on a particular actor or director, you can write their name in the Author/Creator position at the beginning of the citation.
Examples:

"Into You Like a Train." Grey's Anatomy, season 2, episode 6, ABC, 30 Oct. 2005. Netflix, www.netflix.com/watch/70158914.

"Sorry Baby." Killing Eve, performances by Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer, season 1, episode 4, BBC America, 29 Apr. 2018. Amazon Prime, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C2QGSFZ.

YouTube Video

For full-length films that have been re-published on YouTube, follow the format for Film Re-Published on a Website, above. For shorter films and videos, use the following format.

  • Author or Creator. "Title of the Video." Name of Website Where you Found the Film, name of the person or company who uploaded the film [if different from the author/creator], date published on the website, URL. Access Date [optional, but recommended].
    • When the author or creator is different from the uploader, cite the author's name in front of the video title. 
    • If relevant to your paper, you can other contributors such as performers or screenwriters after the director's name. If you do this, include information about the roles of the contributors. For example, Performance(s) by, Screenplay by, Special Effects by, etc.
    • If you are focusing on a particular actor or director, place their name in the Author/Creator position at the beginning of the citation.
Examples:

"The Hate U Give - Official Trailer." YouTube, uploaded by 20th Century Fox, 24 June 2018, https://youtu.be/3MM8OkVT0hw. Accessed 26 June 2018.

Reese, Debbie. "Some Truths, but Lots of Lies: Indigenous Peoples in Children's Literature." YouTube, uploaded by ASU Libraries, 28 Nov. 2016, https://youtu.be/Rn5sFPKQ9EY. Accessed 21 Dec. 2017.

Whedon, Joss. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Unaired Pilot 1996." YouTube, uploaded by Brian Stowe, 28 Jan. 2012, https://youtu.be/WR3J-v7QXXw.
 

 

Streaming Music or Audio

Song Accessed Online or Through a Streaming Service

  • Artist. "Title of Song." Title of Album [if available], Record Label, Release year. Streaming Service, URL.
    • If relevant, you can include information about performers and composers after the album title. 
    • If relevant, you can include the format (MP3, WAV file, etc.) at the end of the citation.
Examples:

Childish Gambino. "This is America." Written and produced by Donald Glover and Ludwig Goransson, RCA Records, 2018. Spotify,  https://open.spotify.com/album/7arx9qPJexCsDz67El4qvk.

Garcia, Kany. "Banana Papaya." Soy Yo, featuring Residente, Sony Music Latin, 2018. Spotify, https://open.spotify.com/track/237wGvq8S48RC4uCUHUzo6. Ogg Vorbis file.

Song Downloaded and Listened to on an App

  • Artist. "Title of Song." Title of Album [if available], Record Label, Release year. 
    • If relevant, you can include information about performers and composers after the album title. 
    • You don't have to include the name of the app you used to listen to the song, but if you want to include it, you can place it after the album title
Examples:

Pink Martini. "Hang on Little Tomato." Hang on Little Tomato, Heinz Records, 2004.

Queen. "Somebody to Love." A Day at the Races, written by Freddie Mercury, iTunes app, EMI Records, 1976.

Album Accessed Online or Through a Streaming Service

  • Artist. Title of Album, Record Label, Release year. Streaming Service, URL.
    • If relevant, you can include information about performers and composers after the album title. 
    • If relevant, you can include the format (MP3, WAV file, etc.) at the end of the citation.
Examples:

Fitzgerald, Ella, and Louis Armstrong. Ella and Louis, Verve Records, 1956. Spotify, https://open.spotify.com/album/1rP6GkPbp6DvIW59005PnR.

Pink Martini. Hang on Little Tomato, Heinz Records, 2004. Apple Music, https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/hang-on-little-tomato/1280808201.

Podcasts

  • Author [usually the narrator or the host]. "Title of the Podcast Episode." Name of the Podcast, season [if available], episode number [if available], Publisher, date [if available], URL. 
    • If the podcast you're citing is podcast is part of a larger website (often the case for news programs), include information about the website after the date.
    • If you listened to the podcast on an app like iTunes or SoundCloud, you can list the name of the app after the 
Examples:

Baldwin, Cecil, narrator. "Summer Reading Program." Welcome to Night Vale, episode 28, iTunes app, 31 July 2013.

Koenig, Sarah, narrator. "The Breakup." Serial, season 1, episode 2, WBEZ, serialpodcast.org/season-one/2/the-breakup.

Meraji, Shereen Marisol, and Gene Demby, hosts. "A Code Switch Thanksgiving Feast." Code Switch, NPR, 22 Nov. 2017. NPR, www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch.

 

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