How to format your Works Cited page in MLA Style
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Article from a printed journal
Printed journals usually come out 3 or 4 times a year. Each time a journal is published, this is called an “issue.” All the issues in one year are called a “volume.” There are 2 different ways that journals typically number their pages:
- By volume: For example, let’s say a journal typically has 75 pages in each issue. If that journal is numbered by volume, issue 1 is paginated 1-75. Then issue 2 is 75-150, issue 3 is 150-225, and issue 4 is 225-300.
- By issue: The second option would be for issue 1 to be paginated 1-75, issue 2 to be paginated 1-75, issue 3 to be paginated 1-75, and issue 4 to be paginated 1-75. In other words, each issue is paginated individually.
These are the important elements:
- Author of the article
- Title of the article
- Title of the journal
- Volume number of the journal
- Issue number of the journal only if each issue is paginated individually
- Date of publication (yes, this is redundant when we already have the volume number, but it gives the reader a sense of how recent the article is)
- Page numbers of the article
When you put all these elements together in MLA style, they look like the following example. Notice that this entry does not have an issue number. That’s because MLA style only if each issue of the journal is paginated individually:
Brown, Erella. “The Lake of Seduction: Silence, Hysteria, and the Space of Feminist Theatre.” JTD: Journal of Theatre and Drama 2 (1996): 175-200.
By contrast, here’s an example of an article from a journal where each issue is paginated individually. Notice that this entry has an issue number:
Kralj, Mary M. “Getting out of the box.” Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research 46.2 (1994): 27-28.
Full-text journal article from a database
Holton, Woody. “The Ohio Indians and the Coming of the American Revolution in Virginia.” The Journal of Southern History 60.3 (1994): 453-478. JSTOR. U of South Carolina Upstate Lib., Spartanburg, SC. 31 July 1998 <http://www.jstor.org>.
Important Elements:
[Author] Holton, Woody. [Article title] “The Ohio Indians and the Coming of the American Revolution in Virginia.” [Periodical title] The Journal of Southern History [Journal Volume#.Issue#] 60.3 [Date of publication] (1994): [Page #s] 453-478. [Database name] JSTOR. [Library name] U of South Carolina Upstate Lib., [Library city, state] Spartanburg, SC. [Access date] 31 July 1998 [Basic web address] <http://www.jstor.org>.
- Author
- Article title
- Journal title
- Volume number of the journal
- Issue number of the journal
- Date of publication
- Page or paragraph numbers if applicable
- Database Name (JSTOR in this example)
- Library name.
- Library city, state.
- Access date
- Basic web address
Book with a single author
Fleming, Thomas. Liberty!: The American Revolution. New York: Viking, 1997.
Important Elements:
- Author
- Title of the book
- Place of publication
- Publisher
- Date of publication
Article or chapter within a book
Cassel, Jeris, and BethAnn Zambella. “Without a Net: Supporting Ourselves in a Tremulous Atmosphere.” LOEX of the West: Teaching and Learning in a Climate of Constant Change. Ed. Thomas W. Leonhardt. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1996. 75-92.
Important Elements:
- Author of the article
- Title of the article
- Title of the book
- Author or editor of the book
- Place of publication
- Publisher
- Date of publication
- Page numbers for the article
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