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MLA 9th ed. is an expansion of the 8th ed. with some minor changes, additions and clarifications.
| Core Elements | Punctuation | |
| 1. Author. | Include maximum two authors in the entry (first author's last name, first name and second author's name in direct order; for more than two authors, list the first author's last name, first name, followed by a comma and et al. |
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| 2. Title of source. | In quotation mark if the source is part of a larger work, but italicized it if the source is self-contained; for example, an article title is placed in quotation mark, but a book title is italicized. This element is required for all sources in the Works Cited List; if there is no official title, provide a description of the source. |
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| Container | ||
| 3. Title of container, | Italicized; title of a periodical (journal, magazine, newspaper), a collection of essays, stories, poems, a website, a television series, a comic book series, etc., |
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| 4. Other contributors, | Precede contributors' name with a description of the role such as: adapted by, directed by, edited by, illustrated by, introduction by, narrated by, performance by, translated by, etc., |
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| 5. Version, | Editions (e.g., 2nd ed., expanded ed., updated ed., etc.), versions (e.g., unabridged version, director's cut, etc.), |
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| 6. Number, | Precede volume number with vol. (e.g., vol. 2), issue number with no. (e.g., no. 12), spell out the season number of a television series (e.g.,, season 2, episode 6), |
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| 7. Publisher, | The company or organization primarily responsible for producing the source or making it available is the publisher. Omit this element if there is no publisher; do not use n.p (MLA 5.54).; if the information is available in another reliable source, cite the name in square brackets (MLA 5.122), |
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| 8. Publication date, | If there are more than one publication date, cite the date that is most relevant; i.e. the version being cited (for example, when citing an online article, cite only the online publication date if it is different from the print one), If the publication date is not indicated on the source cited, but available in another reliable source, cite the date in square brackets (MLA 5.122); do not use n.d., If a season is given instead of a month, include the season in lower case (MLA 5.79), |
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| 9. Location. | Page or paragraph numbers, DOIs or URL for online works, disc # for DVD sets, place/city for physical objects or events experienced firsthand (for example, art works in a museum or live presentations) , a code/number for objects in an archive. |
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Put the nine core elements together:
Note: Some sources may not include all the elements. if that happens, list only the relevant elements you can find within the source.
If the source is available in more than one container, add elements 3-9 to the end of the entry for each container (see examples in MLA Handbook 9th ed., 5.31-5.37). Optional elements may be included if they are relevant to the source and/or your use of the source; click here for more information.