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Citing Web Sources MLA Style
In-text Citation For its citation style, the Modern Language Association uses
an in-text reference which directs the reader to a list of Works
Cited at the end of the paper. For printed works, the in-text
reference includes the author's last name or a short title (if
there is no author listed) and page number. For Web citations,
where few Web documents have page numbers, you can give either a
section or paragraph number (if those exist in the document) or
simply the author's last name or short title. Here are examples:
A spa chemistry expert
recommends adding spa shock after using the spa "in order to
help assure a sanitizer level in the water" (Schuster).
Note: If there are no page numbers, as is usual with Web
documents, do not make up one or use the number one (as in "Jones 1") to cover the whole document. Use a number only when
there is a number. If you mention the author in your introduction, you do not
need the parenthetical name, but such a practice is not
recommended because it may make the quotation at first appear to
have no citation: Alan Schuster recommends
adding spa shock "in order to help assure a sanitizer level" in
your spa. If there is no author named, use a short title from the
article in the parenthetical reference and optionally refer to
the organization in the text: The Gerber Baby Food
company notes that for the first three to five days of breast
feeding, a woman's body "will produce a substance called
colostrum. This thick, yellowy substance is a milk rich in
antibodies [. . .]" ("Newborn Feeding"). Works Cited Use, in this order, as many of these items as are relevant
and useful for clearly identifying the source document. The list
is long not so that you will include all of it in every
reference, but because Web page content and format vary so
widely.
1. Author or editor's last name, then first name.
2. Title of the article in quotation marks.
3. Site name or site section that has collected the articles, or
book title, either underlined or italicized.
4. Editor or compiler's name (if not used in No. 1 above).
5. Publication information for the printed version, if such
exists. (Use the appropriate
Periodical date: pages format for printed sources
described below.)
6. Title of Web site (if No. 3 is a site section), project, or
database. Use Home Page if no title.
7. Editor of the Web site or project or database, if any.
8. Version number, volume number, or other identifying number.
9. Date of publication, posting, or modification. (In Netscape,
use "View," "Page Info" to get a "Last Modified" date if no date
is given in the article itself.)
10. Total pages, sections, or paragraphs if numbered.
11. Name of corporation, organization, or institution sponsoring
Web site. (Note that the URL will usually contain the
organization's name or initials or short form and thus help you
determine the name to use here.)
12. Date when you accessed the site (without a period following
it).
13. URL of the document <in angle brackets> followed by a
period. Note that you will normally be using only about half a dozen
of these. Examples of Typical Web Sites General: Lastname, Firstname. "Article Title." Site Name. Article date.
Organization Name. Date of access <URL>. With author: Schuster, Alan. "Spa and Hot Tub Chemical Questions." Ask Alan. 18 Aug. 1998. Aqua-Clear Industries. 10 Oct.
1998 <http://www.aqua-clear.com/alan/aa9.htm>. With no author and no page date: "Newborn Feeding." Welcome to Gerber. Gerber Corporation.
18 Oct. 1998 <http://www.gerber.com/phases/newborn/feeding.html>. With the Web site name the same as that of the
organization (no organization name is specified): Harris, Robert. "Evaluating Internet Research Sources." VirtualSalt
17 Nov. 1997. 17 Oct 2000
<http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm>. Site with no site name: Lastname, Firstname. "Article Title." Home Page. Article date. Date of Access <URL>. Site with page, paragraph, or section numbers:
"The Ahwahnee Principles." The Center for Livable Communities.
18 Aug. 1997. 23 Principles. Local Government Commission.
18 Oct. 1998 <http://www.lgc.org/clc/ahwan.html>. Citing from Web Site Databases When the article comes from an online database such as SIRS
Researcher or InfoTrac, the publication data of the print
article is also included. Note: (1) List the database as well as
the service (InfoTrac has several databases, for example). (2)
Use cut and paste for the URL-from your browser to your word
processor-since the string may be lengthy.
General: Lastname, Firstname. "Article Title." Periodical Name
Periodical Date: Page numbers. Database Name. Date of access
<URL>. Database with author: Rossman, Parker. "The Theology of Imagination: Science, Science
Fiction, and Religion." Witness Oct. 1989: 12+. SIRS
Researcher on the Web. 9 Nov. 1998 <http://researcher.sirs.com/cgi-bin/res-article-display?001275+L''Engle>.
Database with no author: "Monkeying with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome." Science News 14
Sept. 1996: 170. InfoTrac Expanded Academic ASAP. 4 Nov. 1998
<http://web4.searchbank.com/infotrac/session/402/859/28283962w3/5!xrn_1>.
MLA Style for Printed Sources Book: Lastname, Firstname. Title. City: Publisher, Date. Periodical: Lastname, Firstname. "Title." Periodical day month year: pages. Journal: Lastname, Firstname. "Title." Journal volume (year): pages.
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