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MLA Citation Guide

This guide will help you understand how to use the MLA citation format for both in-text citations and works cited lists. It includes some more commonly used source formats. For complete information, please consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research

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Citing Different Types of Digital Periodical Articles

Periodicals  are publications that appear periodically. They include magazines, newspapers and scholarly journals.This section shows you how to cite articles in each type of publication.

CONTENTS OF THIS BOX

Articles in Scholarly Journals

Articles in Commercial Databases

                                                                                                 Articles in Online-Only Journals

Articles in Magazines

Articles in Newspapers

All of the examples shown here show only articles with one author. The format for articles with two or more authors is the same as for Books. It is important to note that a significant difference between citing books and citing periodical articles is that information about the publisher is NEVER included in citations of periodical articles!

Articles in Scholarly Journals
Scholarly journals are published much less frequently than do magazines and newspapers. Usually they are only published about three or four times per year.

Scholarly Articles from Library (Commercial) Databases

When citing articles from library databases, include the name of the database, followed by the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) or URL If the DOI is available cite it; otherwise use a stable URL (or permalink) if it is available, since URLs can change. Omit the http: or https.

Basic Format

Author of article (last name, first name). "Title" of article (in quotation marks). Title of journal (italicized), volume, number, issue

(f provided), year, page numbers (abbreviated pp.), Name of Database (italicized), URL or DOI.

What do citations look like?

Haydock, John. "Melville and Balzac: The Man in Cream-Colors. College Literature, vol. 35, no.1, Winter 2008, pp. 58-81.

Project  Muse, doi:10.1353/lit.2008.0006.

Chall, Jeanne. "Restoring Dignity and Self-Worth to the Teacher." The Phi Delta Kappan vol. 57, no. 3, Nov. 1975, pp. 170-174.

JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20298189/

Note: if the article does not show a DOI or stable URL, look to see if there is a Permalink, and use that.

Preminger, Omer. "Breaking Agreements: Distinguishing Agreement and Clitic Doubling by Their Failures".

Linguistic Inquiry, vol. 40, no. 4, Fall 2009, pp. 619-665. Communication and Mass Media

Complete,http://ezproxy.hofstra.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&

AN=44705402&site=ehost-live.

Articles in Online-Only Journals

For scholarly articles that appear in online-only journals (journals that do not appear in print),Use the same format as for articles in databases, supply all required publication information, as shown for scholarly articles in online databases, when available. DOIs, permanent URLs and page numbers may not be available for articles in online only journals. Sometimes online journals provide information on how to cite articles.

Basic Format

Author of article (last name, first name). "Title" of article (in quotation marks. Title of journal (italicized), volume,

number, issue (if provided), year page numbers (if available and abbreviated pp.), URL or DOI.

What do citations look like?

This online journal has both page numbers and a DOI.

Marhcevska, Elena. "Performing Everyday Maternal Practice: Activist Structures in Creative Work." Studies in the

Maternal, vol. 8, no. 2, 15 Dec. 2016, pp. 1-14, doi: dx.doi.org/10.16995/sim.235.

This online journal has page numbers but no DOI. Use the URL instead.

Hogan, Lalita Pandit. "The Sacred and the Profane in Omakara: Visual Bhardwar's Hindi Adaptation of Othello." Image &

Narrative, vol. 11, no. 2, 2010, pp. 49-62, http://www.imageandnarrative.be/index.php/imagenarrative/article/view/75/51.

Articles in Online Magazines

Basic Format

When citing an online only magazine, follow the basic format  for print magazines, except page numbers, if they are not provided. Additionally, give the URL and the date of access.

Author of article (last name, first name). "Title" of article in quotation marks. Title of Magazine (italicized), Day

Month Year (as much information as provided), page numbers (if provided, abbreviated as p. or pp.), URL.

Access Date (if the article appears in a web-based magazine).

What do citations look like?

This citation refers to a magazine that exists only on the web.

Leah, Rachel. "A Forgotten 165-year-old Walt Whitman Novel Has Been Republished." Salon, Thursday Feb. 23 2017,

http://www.salon.com/2017/02/23/a-165-year-old-walt-whitman-novel-has-been-republished/. Accessed 23

February 2017.

This citation refers to a magazine article retrieved from a library database. Provide the name of the database, as for scholarly articles, as well as the URL, but you do not need to provide the access date.

Marcus, Gary. "AM I HUMAN? (Cover Story)." Scientific American, vol. 316, no. 3, Mar. 2017, pp. 58-63. EBSCOhost,

ezproxy.hofstra.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=121208427&

site=ehost-live.

Newspaper Articles

Basic Format

The structure of a citation to a digital newspaper article is similar to the structure of print newspaper articles. If it comes from a library database, use the following structure:

Author of article (last name, first name). "Title" of article in quotation marks. Title of Newspaper (italicized). Version (if

provided). Publication Date, Title of Database (italicized), Permalink (if available) or URL.

What does a citation look like?

Sears, Robin V. " Canada Must Maintain Its Legacy of Ambitious Immigration Policies." Toronto Star 6 Nov. 2016,

Newspaper Source, EBSCOhost, ezproxy.hofstra.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&

db=nfh&AN=6FPTS2016110640428099&site=ehost-live.

Newspaper Articles Accessed Electronically or in Online-Only Newspapers

Many articles in print newspapers can be freely accessed electronically. There are also many online-only newspapers. In these cases, follow the same format as above (leaving out the database) and include the Accessed Date.

New York Times 23 Feb. 2017.

nyti.ms/2lDaR3b. Accessed 24 Feb. 2017.

Note that the URL to the New York Times article is a permalink, which can be found by clicking on the Share icon. The article cited below, from the Huffington Post, does not have a permalink.

Gregoire, Caroline. "Psychedelics Could Play A Role In Tackling The Opioid Epidemic." Huffington Post 24 Feb. 2017.

huffingtonpost.com/entry/psychedelics-opioid-addiction_us_58adcc89e4b04a0b274ef0a0?ogg51jikko2nmte29&.

Accessed 24 Feb. 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

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