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.

Books

Book with One Author

• Author's name. Title of the book [in italics]. Publisher's name, Date of publication.
  • Author's name format: Last name, first name.

Example:

Butler, Octavia E. Kindred. Beacon Press, 1988.
 

Book with Two Authors

• Authors' names. Title of the book [in italics]. Publisher's name, Date of publication.
  • Authors' name format: [Last] of first author, [First] of first author, [First] [Last] name of second author.

Example: 

Gaiman, Neil, and Terry Pratchett. Good Omens. Ace Books, 1996.
 

Book with Three or More Authors

• First Author's name, et al. Title of the book [in italics]. Publisher's name, Date of publication.

Example:

Battershill, Claire, et al. Scholarly Adventures in Digital Humanities: Making the Modernist Archives Publishing Project. Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
 

Part of a Book

• Author's name. "Title of the chapter, section, or essay in the book." Title of the Book, Publishing Information (editors, Press, publication date). Inclusive page numbers.

Example:

Whitson, Roger. “How to Theorize with a Hammer; or, Making and Baking Things in Steampunk and the Digital Humanities.” Like Clockwork: Steampunk Pasts, Presents, and Futures, edited by Rachel A. Bowser and Brian Croxall, U Of Minnesota P, 2016, pp.33–50.
 

Journal, Magazine, & Newspaper Articles

Journal Article​

• Author's name. "Title of Article." Journal Title, Volume Number, Issue Number, Publication year, inclusive page numbers.

Example:

Dinkelacker, Horst. “The Renaissance of the German Garden Gnome.” Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 30, no. 3, 1996, pp. 27–33.

Newspaper Article

• Author's name. "Title of Article." Title of the Newspaper, date, edition (if available), page number9s).
  • Newspapers page numbers often include a section letter with the page number(s). Write the page number or numbers as they appear in the newspaper.

Example:

Gottlieb, Annie. "A New Cycle in 'YA' Books." New York Times, 17 June 1984, p. BR24. 

Magazine Article

• Author's name. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine, date, page number(s).

Examples:

Dowd Lambert, Megan. "#Wegotdiverseawardbooks: Reflections on Awards and Allies." Horn Book Magazine, vol. 91, no. 4, Jul/Aug. 2015, pp. 101-104. 

Feinberg, Susan. "Latina Faculty Reshaping Higher Education." The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education, vol. 22, no. 10, 27 Feb. 2012, pp. 8-11. 

Advertisement

• Title of the Advertisement (or a description if there isn't a title). Title of the Publication Where You Found the Advertisement. date of the issue, page number(s).

Example:

Advertisement for NW Cryobank. Daily Evergreen, 14 Jun. 2018, p. 8.

Advertisement for South African Airways. Afar, Mar./Apr. 2015, 45.