Citing Sources -- MLA 9th Edition

Sage Ross. (2009, Oct. 7). Jimmy Wales, [Citation Needed]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/ragesoss/3992184468/. Used under the Creative Commons License.

Formatting in the 9th Edition

The MLA Handbook 9th edition continues with the "core elements" introduced in the 8th edition. These elements make it easier to create citation entries for various types of sources. To create a citation, no matter the type of source, list each element that is relevant to your source as shown in the template. 

The standard format for an MLA citation includes the following core elements in this given order:

1. Author.
   • last name, first name
   • For two authors, the second authors name is written in normal order (e.g. John A. Smith)
   • For three or more authors, use a comma and  "et al." after the first author
2. Title of Source. (Never omit this field. Use your own description for the title if no title is given.) 
   • italics
3. Title of Container.
4. Other Contributors.
   • "illustrated by", "translated by", etc.
5. Version, (for books) Volume, (for articles)
   • "Expanded ed."
   • "9th ed."
6. Number,
   • "vol. 2"
   • "vol. 2, no.1"
   • "season 4, episode 3,"
7. Publisher,
   •  Oxford UP
   • Penguin Press
8. Publication Date.
   •  Unlike previous editions, n.d. is no longer used for works without a date in the MLA 8th Edition.
9. Location.
   • page 3 = p. 3
   • page range 9 thru 15 = pp. 9-15

Online Sources

10. DOI. (URL. if no DOI is available)
11. Date Consulted. (optional)

Omit any missing elements data