This wikiHow teaches you how to cite Wikipedia articles using the MLA citation style. You can do this manually or use Wikipedia's auto-citation options. However, keep in mind that Wikipedia articles are usually not accepted as trusted references for academic texts.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Using Handwritten Quotes
Step 1. Understand the citation format of online articles with multiple authors
Since Wikipedia articles usually have hundreds of contributors, you don't need to include the author's name. However, you will need the following information:
- Article title
- Title of publication (in this case, Wikipedia)
- Publication company name
- Last edited date in date-month-year format (e.g. “July 10, 2017”)
- Publication format (in this case, website)
- Article access date in date-month-year format
- Article web address (don't include the "https:" prefix in the address)
Step 2. Find the article you want to cite
Visit https://www.wikipedia.org/ in a web browser, type the topic in the text field at the bottom of the page, click the " Search " icon
and select the title of the article you want to cite. After that, the article will be opened.
Step 3. Find out the full title of the article
At the top of the article, you can see the title in large and bold, and refers to the topic of the article. This title is what you need to use as the article title in the quote.
Step 4. Find the last edited date of the article
Scroll down the article page, then look for the date next to the text "This page was last edited on" in the lower left corner of the page. This date should be included in the issue date segment of the citation.
When writing a date in a quote, you need to abbreviate the name of the month to the first three letters, followed by a period (except for the month of May)
Step 5. Record the current date
The page access date needs to be listed in the “Access date” section of the citation.
Step 6. Find the specific URL of the article
Although Wikipedia articles themselves have general addresses, you will need to retrieve the specific version of the article used, in case the article is updated from time to time. You can get it by following these steps:
- Click the link " View history ” at the top of the article.
- Under the button " Compare selected revisions ”, click the current date.
- Click the website address in the bar at the top of the browser to bookmark it.
- Press Ctrl+C (Windows) or Command+C (Mac) to copy the URL.
Step 7. Create a quote
Use the following format to create citations (including punctuation). The text in bold refers to the information you need to include: "Article Title." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia (or Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia for the Indonesian version). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Publication date.
Web. Access date, website address. For example, to quote the Wikipedia article on plagiarism accessed on May 16, 2018, cite the following:
- English: "Plagiarism." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 15 May 2018. Web. 16 May 2018, en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plagiarism&oldid=841301291
- English: “Plagiarism.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, Free Encyclopedia, 15 May 2018. Web. May 16 2018, en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plagiarism&oldid=15074496
- Make sure you remove the "https:" segment from the address before it's included in the quote.
Step 8. Include the caption in the text
Unlike standard MLA-style in-text citations that include the author's last name and page number (e.g. "Riana 61"), you don't have a specific page number or author name to cite. Instead, use the article title as the in-text citation at the end of the quoted line.
For example, articles that refer to the Wikipedia article on plagiarism can be cited as follows:
-
- English: " While plagiarism isn't a crime in and of itself, it does constitute a major ethical violation in most academic fields ("Plagiarism")."
- English: “Although not a criminal act, plagiarism is a major ethical violation in most academic fields (“Plagiarism”).”
Method 2 of 2: Using the Wikipedia Citation Tool
Step 1. Open Wikipedia
Visit https://www.wikipedia.org via a computer web browser.
Step 2. Find the desired article
Type the topic of the article you want to cite into the text field at the bottom of the page and press Enter, then select the article you want to cite.
Step 3. Locate the "Tools" section
The title of this segment is on the left side of the article page, below the Wikipedia logo.
Step 4. Click Cite this page
It's at the bottom of the "Tools" section. After that, a list of various citation styles for the selected article will be displayed.
Step 5. Scroll to the "MLA Style Manual" section
This segment is at the top of the page. You can view quotations in the following format under the "MLA Style Manual" heading:
- Wikipedia contributors (or Wikipedia Contributors for Indonesian). "Title of the article." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (or Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia for the Indonesian version). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, last edited. Web. Article access date.
- For example, a citation for an article entitled " Plagiarism " is shown as follows: Wikipedia contributors. "Plagiarism." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 15 May 2018. Web. 16 May 2019.
- For Indonesian: Wikipedia Contributor. "Plagiarism". Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, Free Encyclopedia, 15 May 2018. Web. May 16, 2018.
Step 6. Copy the quote
Click and drag the cursor over the quote, then press Ctrl+C (Windows) or Command+C (Mac) to copy it. You can paste a citation into the “Reference” or “Source” section by pressing Ctrl+V (Windows) or Command+V (Mac).
- This quote begins with the phrase "Wikipedia contributors " (or “Wikipedia contributors”) as the name of the “author”. You can include or remove this information before adding the citation to the “References” section. Both options are allowed in MLA rules.
- You can see that this quote does not include the Wikipedia article address. While adding URLs is useful, the MLA style doesn't require a URL address so even official citations from Wikipedia don't contain article addresses.
