Skip to Main Content

MLA Citation Style 9th Edition: Articles

Core Elements

  Articles
1. Author. Author(s).
2. Title of source. "Article Title: And Subtitle if Included."
Container 1  
3. Title of container, Title of Journal, Newspaper, or Magazine, 
4. Other contributors, Editor(s) (if applicable/relevant),
5. Version,  
6. Number, vol. #, no. # (volume number and issue number), 
7. Publisher,  
8. Publication date, Publication date,
9. Location. Page number (p.) or page range (pp.).  
Container 2  
3. Title of second container,   Database Name (if retrieved from a database),
4. Other contributors,  
5. Version,  
6. Number,  
7. Publisher,  
8. Publication date,  
9. Second location. doi:xxxxxxxxxx (DOI) or URL (include http://: or "https:// if providing as a live link).

When the title of a periodical (journal, magazine, newspaper) begins with an article (A, An, The), the article is now treated as part of the title: the article is italicized and its first letter capitalized. For example, the handbook previously specified “the Georgia Review” in text and “Georgia Review” in the works-cited list but now specifies “The Georgia Review” in all contexts (MLA.org).

Magazine article

Citation format for paper copies of articles.

Citation description:

Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). "Title of Article." Title of Magazine, Day (if given) Month (abbreviated except May, June, and July) Year, Page numbers of article (if the article is not printed on consecutive pages, give the first page followed by a +). 

Citation examples:

 

Bazell, Robert. "Science and Society: Growth Industry." New Republic, 15 Mar. 1993, pp. 13-14. 

Frank, Michael. "The Wild, Wild West." Architectural Digest, June 1993, pp. 180+. 

Journal article

Citation format for paper copies of articles.

Citation description:

Author's Last name, First name Middle initial (if any). "Title of article." Journal title, Volume number, Issue number (if each issue number begins on page 1), date of publication, page numbers. 

Citation example:

 

Babrow, Austin S. Student Motives for Watching Soap Operas." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, vol. 31, no.3, summer 1997, pp. 309-321. 

Newspaper article

Citation format for paper copies of articles.

Citation description:

Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). "Article Title." Title of Newspaper, Day Month (abbreviated except May, June, and July) Year, section and page number(s) (if the article is not printed on consecutive pages, just give the first page followed by +), URL if it is online (without http:// or https:// in general but for live link include http:// or https:// ) 

Citation example:

MacKenzie, Bill. "Packin' the Heat." San Francisco Chronicle, 4 Nov. 1993, pp. A16+.

Note: If the title of a locally published newspaper do not include the name of the city, add the city in square brackets after the title. For example:

The Daily Journal [San Mateo]

Book review article

Citation format for paper copies of articles.

Citation description:

Reviewer's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). "Article Title." (if more than "Book Review" and/or title of the book) Review of Title of Book, by Book author's first name Middle initial (if any) Last name. Title of the Periodical, volume, issue number, and/or date and page information for the appropriate type of periodical as shown above (MLA 5.31). If the full text of the article is accessed from an electronic database, include database information such as name of the database and the URL as shown below. 

Citation examples:

Hendrickson, Donald. Review of The Case Against Immigration: the Moral, Economic Social and Environmental Reasons for Reducing United States Immigration Back to Traditional Levels, by Roy Howard Beck. Foreign Affairs, vol. 75, no.4,  July - Aug. 1996, p. 146. 

 

Fukuyama, Francis. "No Vacancy." Review of The Case Against Immigration: the Moral, Economic Social and Environmental Reasons for Reducing United States Immigration Back to Traditional Levels, by Roy Howard Beck. The New York Times Book Review, 1 Sept. 1996, p. 18.

 

Kamp, David. "Deconstructing Dinner." Review of The Omnivore's Dilemma: a Natural History of Four Meals,  by Michael Pollan. The New York Times Book Review, 23 Apr. 2006, vol. 4. Literature Resource Center, go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=LitRC.

Citation Format for Articles from Encyclopedias or Other Reference Sources, including Online Reference Sources

Citation description:

Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). [If no author listed, begin with article title.] "Title of Article: Subtitle of Article (if any)." Title of Encyclopedia or Other Reference Source, Edition number, Year of Publication.

Note: if the articles are organized alphabetically, do not list volume number or page number of the article.

Citation example:

Naisbitt, John, et al. "United States: Immigration." Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia, 1998 ed. 

Article from a Non-Major Print Encyclopedia or Other Reference Source

Citation description:

Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). [If no author listed, begin with article title.] "Title of Article: Subtitle of Article (if any)." Title of Encyclopedia or Other Reference Source, edited by Editor's name (if any), Edition (if not first edition), Publisher, Year of publication, Page range of entry.

Citation example:

Helweg, Arthur W. "Immigration." Encyclopedia of Social Issues, edited by John K. Roth, Marshall Cavendish, 1997.

Article from an Online Encyclopedia or Other Online Reference Database

Citation description:

Author's last name, First name Middle initial (if any). [If no author listed, begin with article title.] "Title of Article: Subtitle of Article (if any)." Title of Encyclopedia or Other Reference Source, Date of Publication or Latest Update. Publisher, Sponsoring Organization or Website name, URL (web address with http :// or https:// if you submit the paper online) of the page. Accessed Day Month Year of researcher's visit.

Citation example:

Berthoff, Roland. "United States of America: The People: Colonial and National Immigration." Encyclopedia Americana , Grolier Online, 2004, go.grolier.com/gol. Accessed 29 Mar. 2007,

"Charles Dickens." Authors and Artists for Young Adults. Gale Research, 1998. Biography Resource Center, 2004, Gale, galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC. Accessed 26 Mar. 2007. 

Article for which only the abstract (summary) of the article is accessed from an online periodical database on the World Wide Web (such as Medline database on PubMed)

Citation description:

Article information as shown above for magazine, journal or newspaper. Abstract. Title of Database. Name of database service or publisher. URL (without http:// or https:// in general but include them if you want to provide a live link for your reader(s) ). Accessed date.

Citation example:

LeGrand, E. K. "Potential Risk of Enhancing Survival of Infected Cells." Journal of the American Veterinary Medicine Association, vol. 213, no. 12, 15 Dec. 1998, p. 1698. Abstract. Medline, PubMed, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Accessed 18 Feb. 2006,

Article accessed from an online library periodical database (such as EBSCOhost, Gale, or Proquest web-based databases):

Citation description: Article information as shown above for magazine, journal or newspaper; then add information of the second container: Title of Database, Name of database service or publisher, DOI (digital object identifier). If a DOI is not available, cite the URL (electronic address without http:// or https:// if you are not providing a live link). Accessed Date of  researcher's access.   

For example, an article, "Some considerations on amoeba forcing notions," by Giorgio Laguzzi published in a journal, Archive for Mathematical Logic, in 2014 was retrieved from an online database Academic Search Premier.

Core Elements Articles
1. Author. Laguzzi, Giorgio.
2. Title of source. Some considerations on amoeba forcing notions
Container 1
3. Title of container, Archive for Mathematical Logic,
4. Other contributors,  
5. Version,  
6. Number, vol. 53, no. 5/6,
7. Publisher,
8. Publication date, 2014,
9. Location. pp. 487-502. 
Container 2
3. Title of second container, Academic Search Premier,
4. Other contributors,
5. Version,
6. Number,
7. Publisher,
8. Publication date,
9. Second location. doi:10.1007/s00153-014-0375-x.

Citation:

Laguzzi, Giorgio. "Some Considerations On Amoeba Forcing Notions." Archive For Mathematical Logic, vol. 53, no. 5/6, 2014, pp. 487-502. Academic Search Premier, doi:10.1007/s00153-014-0375-x. Accessed 19 Sept. 2016.

Note: If you submit your paper/report online, include the url protocol http:// or https:// to make it a live link.

Other citation examples:

a. Popular magazine article from PowerSearch databases:

Adler, Jonathan H. "A Child's Garden of Misinformation." Consumers' Research Magazine, Sept. 1993, pp. 11+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/infomark.do?. Accessed 8 May 2008.

b. Academic journal article from MEDLINE database:

Johansson, Michael A., et al. “Zika and the Risk of Microcephaly.” New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 375, no. 1, 2016, pp. 1-4. MEDLINE [EBSCO], doi:10.1056/NEJMp1605367. Accessed 4 Oct. 2016.

c. Newspaper article from Lexis Nexis Academic Universe database:

McNeil, Donald G., Jr. "Zika Virus: Answers About a Growing Menace." New York Times, 19 Jan. 2016, late ed., sec. D. LexisNexis Academic, www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics. Accessed 31 Aug. 2016.

d. A complete academic journal article reprinted in a collected volume from Literature Resource Center database:

McFarland, Ron. "Sherman Alexie's Polemical Stories." Studies in American Indian Literatures: The Journal of the Association for the Study of American Indian Literatures, vol. 9, no. 4, Winter 1997, pp. 27-38. Reprinted in Short Story Criticism, vol. 107, Gale. Literature Resource Center, Gale, go.galegroup.com/ps. Accessed 1 Dec. 2009.

e . An excerpt from an academic journal article reprinted in a collected volume from Literature Resource Center database:

Ullman, Leslie. "Betrayals and Boundaries: A Question of Balance." Kenyon Review, vol. 15, no. 3, Summer 1993, p. 186. Excerpt in Contemporary Literary Criticism Select, Gale. Literature Resource Center. Gale, go.galegroup.com/ps. Accessed 1 Dec. 2008.

f. Article from a book from the Opposing Viewpoints In Contextdatabase:

Singer, Peter. "The Choice of a Pregnant Woman Always Outweighs the Life of a Fetus." Ethics, edited by Noël Merino, Greenhaven Press, 2015. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "The Real Abortion Tragedy." www.project-syndicate.org, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/Viewpoints. Accessed 1 Sept. 2016.

g. Book review article from an academic journal from PowerSearchdatabases:

Forman, James, Jr. Review of "Let's Get Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice", by Paul Butler. Michigan Law Review, vol.108, no. 6, Apr. 2010, pp. 993+. General OneFile. Gale, go.galegroup.com/ps. Accessed 21 Nov. 2010.

Citing an online report

A government report accessed online at https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2019-11/Reg_Report-SUM-CCCA4-2018-005_SanFranciscoBayArea_ADA.pdf; see the PDF document:

Ackerly, David, et al. “San Francisco Bay Area Region Report.” California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment, no. CCCA4-SUM-2018-005, California Energy Commission/Natural Resources Agency, 2018, www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2019-11/Reg_Report-SUM-CCCA4-2018-005_SanFranciscoBayArea_ADA.pdf. Accessed 19 Nov. 2020.