| Book | Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date. | Collins, Suzanne. Hunger Games. Scholastic Inc, 2008. |
| Work in Anthology, Reference Book, or Collection | Last Name, First Name. "Title of Work." Title of Collection, edited by Editor's Name(s), Publisher, Year, Page Range of Entry. | Harris, Muriel. "Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers." A Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers One to One, edited by Ben Rafoth, Heinemann, 2000, pp.24-34. |
| Website | Last Name, First Name. "Title of Page or Article." Name of Publishing Site, Date of Publication, URL. | Rincon, Paul. "First Woman Physics Nobel Winner in 55 Years." BBC News, 2 Oct. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-4565515. |
| Journal Article | Last Name, First Name. "Article Title." Journal Title, Volume #, Date of Publication. URL if applicable. | Dolby, Nadine. "Research in Youth Culture and Policy: Current Conditions and Future Directions." Social Work and Society: The International Online-Only Journal, vol. 6, no. 2, 2008. www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/60/362. |
| Journal Article in a Database | Author(s) Name(s). "Article Title." Journal Title. Volume #, Date of Publication, Page(s), Database Name, URL or DOI. | Alonso, Alvaro, and Julio A. Camargo. "Toxicity of Nitrite to Three Species of Freshwater Invertebrates." Environmental Toxicology, vol. 21, no. 1, 3 Feb. 2006, pp. 90-94. Wiley Online Library, doi: 10.1002/tox.20155. |
| YouTube | Producer, Director, etc. if different from the uploader. "Title of Video." Title of Website, uploaded by, Date Uploaded, URL. | McGonigal, Jane. "Gaming and Productivity." YouTube, uploaded by Big Think, 3 July 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkdzy9bWW3E. |
| Twitter/X | User's Handle. "Tweet." Platform Name, Date and Time of Posting, URL. | Klein, Ezra. "My phone keeps autocorrecting 'I' to 'AI' which is a little on-the-nose." X, 22 Apr. 2022, twitter.com/ezraklein/status/1517591690101489665 |
MLA works like a Russian nesting doll with the smaller components of a work "nesting" within the larger container (e.g. the title of a single poem within the larger published book). It's important to include all elements of a container so that we can locate the exact version of a source that is used. Containers also ensure that citations follow a predictable pattern, making it easier to remember how to build a citation.
Note: A container must have contributed to or sponsored the creation of whatever it is you are citing. Therefore, Google, Amazon, or a link in Twitter to an outside source, are NOT containers. However, if Amazon or Twitter has directly published your source, then they are a container and must be included in the citation.
This is THE resource for most of your citation questions. Includes guides for MLA, APA, and Chicago style.
A fill in the blanks citation maker. Preferable to sites like EasyBib, which are prone to errors that can be difficult to spot if you don't know what to look for!
Guide based on the work of Nadine Bailey, Columbia College, and the MLA Style Guide.