The Modern Language Association (MLA) citation style is used for journals and research articles in the humanitarian field. When citing information, you need to include the full citation in the reference/bibliography page or segment, including brief in-text citations indicating the website used as the reference source. The eighth edition of the MLA Handbook requires you to provide as much information as possible based on 8 key elements: author, title of article, title of media, names of other contributors, version, article number, publisher, date of publication, and location. Compared to consistency, citation formats don't get the most attention. However, you may not always be able to find these elements when citing information from websites. Therefore, only list elements or citation information that you find.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Citing the Website as a whole
Step 1. Start with the author's name
For websites, it may be difficult for you to find the name of the author of the website in its entirety. If the author's name is not clearly displayed, you can find it on the "About Me" page. You can also use the name of the editor or compiler. If even that information is not available, skip this step and start with the next section, which is the name of the website.
- When listing names, enter the last name first, then follow it with a comma and the first and middle name (if available).
- The reference entry will look like this: Roberts, Rebeca Jean.
- Insert a period after the name.
- For author names, you can use the site owner/author username (eg Twitter username) in place of the author's real name if that is not available (eg @felinesforthewin).
Step 2. Add the website name
The site name is the primary name given to the website as a whole. You can usually find this information in the header of the site at the top of each page. Generally you will need to include a “title of source”, an element in the MLA that refers to a small segment containing the cited information (eg the name of a page or article in a major journal). However, if you're using the website as a whole, you don't need to include the source title and can just use the website name.
- Type the website name in italic text.
- The reference entry will look like this: Roberts, Rebeca. Cats Who Sleep,
- Insert a comma after the site name.
Step 3. List the names of other contributors
If you know of other people who contributed to the website other than the main editor, list those contributors' names after the site's name. Usually, you describe the nature of the contributions these people made (eg “edited by” or “edited by” for editors).
- Add contributors in the following method: Roberts, Rebeca Jean. Cats Who Sleep, edited by John Jacobs and Joseph George,
- For Indonesian: Roberts, Rebeca Jean. Cats Who Sleep, edited by John Jacobs and Joseph George,
- Insert a comma after the contributor name.
- If the website has no other contributors, skip this segment.
Step 4. Switch to the publisher name
Usually, the version and number of the article should be listed after it (as in a journal article). However, most websites don't have a version and number so at this stage, you will need to include publisher information. In this case, the name of the publisher is the organization or sponsor of the website. If the publisher name is the same as the site name, you do not need to include the publisher's name.
- Enter the name of the publisher after the comma after the names of the contributors: Roberts, Rebeca Jean. Cats Who Sleep, edited by John Jacobs and Joseph George, The Cat Institute,
- For Indonesian: Roberts, Rebeca Jean. Cats Who Sleep, edited by John Jacobs and Joseph George, The Cat Institute,
- If the site has no other contributors, list the publisher's name after the site's name: Roberts, Rebeca Jean. Cats Who Sleep, The Cat Institute,
- Insert a comma after the publisher name.
Step 5. Add a location
Location information does not refer to the place of publication of the site. Although previous editions of the MLA Handbook required the author to indicate the place of publication, place names were not required in the eighth edition. However, the location name refers to the “place” you found the quoted information. In this case, the name is the URL address of the website. You can find the URL address in your browser's address bar at the top of your computer screen.
- Don't use "http:" or "https:" before the site address. Begin the address with the segment "www."
- Enter the site address after the publisher's name: Roberts, Rebeca Jean. Cats Who Sleep, edited by John Jacobs and Joseph George, The Cat Institute, www.thewebsiteforsleepingcats.com.
- For Indonesian: Roberts, Rebeca Jean. Cats Who Sleep, edited by John Jacobs and Joseph George, The Cat Institute, www.thewebsiteforsleepingcats.com.
Step 6. Skip other information that can't be found
Previously, if you couldn't find a particular citation element or information, you would need to include a term like "n.d." (" no date " or "no date") or "n.p." (“no publisher” or “no publisher”). However, now the MLA advises authors to skip information that is not available. You don't have to “force yourself” to include alternate segments/information.
You can add the date of the visit to the page if you want, but this is not required. The date is entered before the location information or site URL
Part 2 of 3: Citing Pages from Websites
Step 1. Begin the reference entry with the author's name
Again, prefix the entry with the author's name. In this case, look for the name of the author of the page you are citing, and not the name of the author/owner of the website as a whole. Usually, the author's name is displayed at the top or bottom of the page, before the comments field. If the entire site is managed by one person, you can use their name. However, if you can't find the author's name, skip this element and start with the page title.
- Begin with the author's last name, followed by first and middle names (if available): Fitzgerald, Rosa.
- Insert a period after the name.
- If you can't find the author's name, you may replace it with the author's username.
Step 2. Add a page title
After the author's name, look for the title of the cited page. You need to have page title information. Otherwise, you can cite the website in its entirety. The page title is usually at the top of the page, below the website's header segment.
- Enclose the page title in quotation marks: Fitzgerald, Rosa. "The Sleeping Habits of Elderly Felines."
- Insert a period before the closing quotation mark.
Step 3. Enter the name of the website
After the page title, you need to add the website name, as when citing the site as a whole. The site name is usually at the top of any page on the site, in the main head section/segment of the site. If you can't find the name of the site, look for this information on the "About Me" page.
- Type the site name in italics: Fitzgerald, Rosa. "The Sleeping Habits of Elderly Felines." Cats Who Sleep,
- Insert a comma after the site name.
Step 4. Enter the name of the contributor
If you know of people who contributed to the page or edited it, include their names in the reference entry. You can also explain the form of contribution they make (eg “edited by or “edited by” in Indonesian).
- Contributor names are added after the website name: Fitzgerald, Rosa. "The Sleeping Habits of Elderly Felines." Cats Who Sleep, edited by John Jacobs,
- For Indonesian: Fitzgerald, Rosa. "The Sleeping Habits of Elderly Felines." Cats Who Sleep, edited by John Jacobs,
- Insert a comma after the contributor name.
- If the site has no other contributors, skip this element/information.
Step 5. Enter the name of the publisher of the page
The publisher is the primary sponsor or organization that maintains or owns the website. You can find this information on the " About Me " page, or sometimes at the bottom of the web page. If the publisher name is the same as the site name, you do not need to include it.
- Enter the publisher's name after the contributor's name. If there are no other contributors, add the publisher name after the site name: Fitzgerald, Rosa. "The Sleeping Habits of Elderly Felines." Cats Who Sleep, edited by John Jacobs, The Cat Institute,
- For Indonesian: Fitzgerald, Rosa. "The Sleeping Habits of Elderly Felines." Cats Who Sleep, edited by John Jacobs, The Cat Institute,
- Insert a comma after the publisher name.
Step 6. Add location information
In this case, as in citing the website as a whole, location refers to the URL address of the site. To find a URL address, look at the address bar at the top of the browser window. The site address begins with the "http:", "https:" or "www." segment. Copy and paste the address into the reference entry, but make sure you remove the "http:" or "https:" section, and immediately prefix the address with the "www."
- Enter the site URL after the publisher name: Fitzgerald, Rosa. "The Sleeping Habits of Elderly Felines." Cats Who Sleep, edited by John Jacobs, The Cat Institute, www.thewebsiteforsleepingcats.com/sleeping-habits-of-elderly-felines.
- For Indonesian: Fitzgerald, Rosa. "The Sleeping Habits of Elderly Felines." Cats Who Sleep, edited by John Jacobs, The Cat Institute, www.thewebsiteforsleepingcats.com/sleeping-habits-of-elderly-felines.
Part 3 of 3: Creating Quotes in Text
Step 1. Write a sentence that refers to the information from the website
In-text citations are added in the essay section containing information from the website. It doesn't matter if you quote directly (with quotes) or paraphrase information from the source (using your own words, without quotes). Whatever the form, you still need to add in-text citations to indicate the source of the information.
- If you use information from other sources without citing it, it is considered plagiarism. However, general knowledge that has become fact can be considered an exception.
- Citing sources is also a form of respect and courtesy for the readers. Excerpts show readers locations or sources that can be used to find out more information about the topic being discussed.
Step 2. Enter the brackets
At the end of the quoted sentence, add an opening parenthesis. The parentheses tell the reader that you are going to tell the source information. In-text quotations are added after the period at the end of the sentence. However, if you are using a direct quote, it should always be added before the closing parenthesis.
You can also add a citation directly after the quoted information, usually before a comma or other punctuation mark if you are citing more than one source in a sentence
Step 3. Use the first part of the full citation (reference entry)
Usually, for information from a book, you will need to include the author's name and page number. Since websites don't always have an author, use the first information in the reference entry, either the author's name, page title, or website name. You don't need to use page or paragraph numbers to cite websites.
- An in-text quote in your sentence would look something like this: Cats enjoy sleeping for many hours a day (Fitzgerald).
- For English: Cats like to sleep for a few hours every day (Fitzgerald).
- You only need to use your last name when you include the author's name.
- Use the title in abbreviated form. Choose 3-4 words that direct the reader to the reference entry at the end of the article. If you use the page title (since the author's name is not available), your sentence would look something like this: Cats enjoy sleeping for many hours a day ("Sleeping Habits of Felines").
- For English: Cats like to sleep for a few hours each day ("Sleeping Habits of Felines").
