Home / Guides / Citation Guides / MLA Format / How to Cite a Blog in MLA 9
How to Cite a Blog in MLA 9
Blog – A website with regular (and sometimes opinionated) posts that allows commentary and discussion from readers. To cite a website in MLA that’s not a blog, you’ll need to use a different citation format.
Citing a Blog Post
Mla blog post citation structure :.
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. “Title of Post.” Blog Name, Publisher (only include this information if it is different than the name of the blog site), date blog post was published, URL. Column or section name (if applicable).
Note: MLA 9 does not require the access date for online articles . (This is the day that the article was found and read.) However, some instructors still ask for it – double-check if your instructor requires it.
MLA Blog Post Citation Example:
Cohen, Micah. “Retirements Contributing to Largest Senate Turnover in Decades.” FiveThirtyEight , The New York Times Company, 28 Mar. 2013, fivethirtyeight.com/features/retirements-contributing-to-largest-senate-turnover-in-decades/.
MLA Blog Post In-text Citation Structure:
(Author Last Name)
MLA Blog Post In-text Citation Example:
Note: Blog posts are sometimes posted in a video format (known as a vlog) on websites like YouTube. In those cases, you will instead need to know how to cite a YouTube video in MLA .
MLA Formatting Guide
MLA Formatting
- Annotated Bibliography
- Bibliography
- Block Quotes
- et al Usage
- In-text Citations
- Paraphrasing
- Page Numbers
- Sample Paper
- Works Cited
- MLA 8 Updates
- MLA 9 Updates
- View MLA Guide
Citation Examples
- Book Chapter
- Journal Article
- Magazine Article
- Newspaper Article
- Website (no author)
- View all MLA Examples
How useful was this post?
Click on a star to rate it!
We are sorry that this post was not useful for you!
Let us improve this post!
Tell us how we can improve this post?
MLA Citation Examples
Writing Tools
Citation Generators
Other Citation Styles
Plagiarism Checker
Upload a paper to check for plagiarism against billions of sources and get advanced writing suggestions for clarity and style.
Get Started
MLA 8 Citation Guide
- TITLE of SOURCE
- TITLE of CONTAINER
- OTHER CONTRIBUTORS
- PUBLICATION DATE
- Works Cited
- Journal Article with One Author
- Journal Article with 2 Authors
- Journal Article with 3 or more Authors
- Magazine Article
- Newspaper Article
- One Author or Editor
- Two Authors or Editors
- Three or More Authors
- Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
- Article in a Reference Book
- Reference Work
- Basic Web Page
- Entry in a Reference Work
- Government or Agency Document
- YouTube Video
- Electronic Image
- Figures and Charts
- Class Lecture/Notes
- Secondary Sources
- Next: CORE ELEMENTS >>
- Last Updated: Feb 28, 2023 2:24 PM
- URL: https://utica.libguides.com/mla
Purdue Online Writing Lab College of Liberal Arts
MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources (Web Publications)
Welcome to the Purdue OWL
This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.
Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.
MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. This resource, updated to reflect the MLA Handbook (9 th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page.
The MLA Handbook highlights principles over prescriptive practices. Essentially, a writer will need to take note of primary elements in every source, such as author, title, etc. and then assort them in a general format. Thus, by using this methodology, a writer will be able to cite any source regardless of whether it’s included in this list.
However, this guide will highlight a few concerns when citing digital sources in MLA style.
Best Practices for Managing Online Sources
Because online information can change or disappear, it is always a good idea to keep personal copies of important electronic information whenever possible. Downloading or even printing key documents ensures you have a stable backup. You can also use the Bookmark function in your web browser in order to build an easy-to-access reference for all of your project's sources (though this will not help you if the information is changed or deleted).
It is also wise to keep a record of when you first consult with each online source. MLA uses the phrase, “Accessed” to denote which date you accessed the web page when available or necessary. It is not required to do so, but it is encouraged (especially when there is no copyright date listed on a website).
Important Note on the Use of URLs in MLA
Include a URL or web address to help readers locate your sources. Because web addresses are not static (i.e., they change often) and because documents sometimes appear in multiple places on the web (e.g., on multiple databases), MLA encourages the use of citing containers such as Youtube, JSTOR, Spotify, or Netflix in order to easily access and verify sources. However, MLA only requires the www. address, so eliminate all https:// when citing URLs.
Many scholarly journal articles found in databases include a DOI (digital object identifier). If a DOI is available, cite the DOI number instead of the URL.
Online newspapers and magazines sometimes include a “permalink,” which is a shortened, stable version of a URL. Look for a “share” or “cite this” button to see if a source includes a permalink. If you can find a permalink, use that instead of a URL.
Abbreviations Commonly Used with Electronic Sources
If page numbers are not available, use par. or pars. to denote paragraph numbers. Use these in place of the p. or pp. abbreviation. Par. would be used for a single paragraph, while pars. would be used for a span of two or more paragraphs.
Basic Style for Citations of Electronic Sources (Including Online Databases)
Here are some common features you should try to find before citing electronic sources in MLA style. Not every web page will provide all of the following information. However, collect as much of the following information as possible:
- Author and/or editor names (if available); last names first.
- "Article name in quotation marks."
- Title of the website, project, or book in italics.
- Any version numbers available, including editions (ed.), revisions, posting dates, volumes (vol.), or issue numbers (no.).
- Publisher information, including the publisher name and publishing date.
- Take note of any page numbers (p. or pp.) or paragraph numbers (par. or pars.).
- DOI (if available, precede it with "https://doi.org/"), otherwise a URL (without the https://) or permalink.
- Date you accessed the material (Date Accessed). While not required, saving this information it is highly recommended, especially when dealing with pages that change frequently or do not have a visible copyright date.
Use the following format:
Author. "Title." Title of container (self contained if book) , Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs and/or URL, DOI or permalink). 2 nd container’s title , Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location, Date of Access (if applicable).
Citing an Entire Web Site
When citing an entire website, follow the same format as listed above, but include a compiler name if no single author is available.
Author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number (if available), Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available), DOI (preferred), otherwise include a URL or permalink. Date of access (if applicable).
Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site . Version number, Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available), URL, DOI or permalink. Date of access (if applicable).
The Purdue OWL Family of Sites . The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl. Accessed 23 Apr. 2008.
Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory . Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003, www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/. Accessed 10 May 2006.
Course or Department Websites
Give the instructor name. Then list the title of the course (or the school catalog designation for the course) in italics. Give appropriate department and school names as well, following the course title.
Felluga, Dino. Survey of the Literature of England . Purdue U, Aug. 2006, web.ics.purdue.edu/~felluga/241/241/Home.html. Accessed 31 May 2007.
English Department . Purdue U, 20 Apr. 2009, www.cla.purdue.edu/english/. Accessed 31 May 2015.
A Page on a Web Site
For an individual page on a Web site, list the author or alias if known, followed by an indication of the specific page or article being referenced. Usually, the title of the page or article appears in a header at the top of the page. Follow this with the information covered above for entire Web sites. If the publisher is the same as the website name, only list it once.
Lundman, Susan. “How to Make Vegetarian Chili.” eHow , www.ehow.com/how_10727_make-vegetarian-chili.html. Accessed 6 July 2015.
“ Athlete's Foot - Topic Overview. ” WebMD , 25 Sept. 2014, www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tc/athletes-foot-topic-overview.
Citations for e-books closely resemble those for physical books. Simply indicate that the book in question is an e-book by putting the term "e-book" in the "version" slot of the MLA template (i.e., after the author, the title of the source, the title of the container, and the names of any other contributors).
Silva, Paul J. How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing. E-book, American Psychological Association, 2007.
If the e-book is formatted for a specific reader device or service, you can indicate this by treating this information the same way you would treat a physical book's edition number. Often, this will mean replacing "e-book" with "[App/Service] ed."
Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince , translated by W. K. Marriott, Kindle ed., Library of Alexandria, 2018.
Note: The MLA considers the term "e-book" to refer to publications formatted specifically for reading with an e-book reader device (e.g., a Kindle) or a corresponding web application. These e-books will not have URLs or DOIs. If you are citing book content from an ordinary webpage with a URL, use the "A Page on a Web Site" format above.
An Image (Including a Painting, Sculpture, or Photograph)
Provide the artist's name, the work of art italicized, the date of creation, the institution and city where the work is housed. Follow this initial entry with the name of the Website in italics, and the date of access.
Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV . 1800. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Museo Nacional del Prado , www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/the-family-of-carlos-iv/f47898fc-aa1c-48f6-a779-71759e417e74. Accessed 22 May 2006.
Klee, Paul. Twittering Machine . 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Artchive , www.artchive.com/artchive/K/klee/twittering_machine.jpg.html. Accessed May 2006.
If the work cited is available on the web only, then provide the name of the artist, the title of the work, and then follow the citation format for a website. If the work is posted via a username, use that username for the author.
Adams, Clifton R. “People Relax Beside a Swimming Pool at a Country Estate Near Phoenix, Arizona, 1928.” Found, National Geographic Creative, 2 June 2016, natgeofound.tumblr.com/.
An Article in a Web Magazine
Provide the author name, article name in quotation marks, title of the web magazine in italics, publisher name, publication date, URL, and the date of access.
Bernstein, Mark. “ 10 Tips on Writing the Living Web. ” A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites , 16 Aug. 2002, alistapart.com/article/writeliving. Accessed 4 May 2009.
An Article in an Online Scholarly Journal
For all online scholarly journals, provide the author(s) name(s), the name of the article in quotation marks, the title of the publication in italics, all volume and issue numbers, and the year of publication. Include a DOI if available, otherwise provide a URL or permalink to help readers locate the source.
Article in an Online-only Scholarly Journal
MLA requires a page range for articles that appear in Scholarly Journals. If the journal you are citing appears exclusively in an online format (i.e. there is no corresponding print publication) that does not make use of page numbers, indicate the URL or other location information.
Dolby, Nadine. “Research in Youth Culture and Policy: Current Conditions and Future Directions.” Social Work and Society: The International Online-Only Journal, vol. 6, no. 2, 2008, www.socwork.net/sws/article/view/60/362. Accessed 20 May 2009.
Article in an Online Scholarly Journal That Also Appears in Print
Cite articles in online scholarly journals that also appear in print as you would a scholarly journal in print, including the page range of the article . Provide the URL and the date of access.
Wheelis, Mark. “ Investigating Disease Outbreaks Under a Protocol to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. ” Emerging Infectious Diseases , vol. 6, no. 6, 2000, pp. 595-600, wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/6/6/00-0607_article. Accessed 8 Feb. 2009.
An Article from an Online Database (or Other Electronic Subscription Service)
Cite online databases (e.g. LexisNexis, ProQuest, JSTOR, ScienceDirect) and other subscription services as containers. Thus, provide the title of the database italicized before the DOI or URL. If a DOI is not provided, use the URL instead. Provide the date of access if you wish.
Alonso, Alvaro, and Julio A. Camargo. “ Toxicity of Nitrite to Three Species of Freshwater Invertebrates. ” Environmental Toxicology, vol. 21, no. 1, 3 Feb. 2006, pp. 90-94. Wiley Online Library , https://doi.org/10.1002/tox.20155. Accessed 26 May 2009.
Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England.” Historical Journal, vol. 50, no. 1, 2007, pp. 173-96. ProQuest , https://doi.org/10.1017/S0018246X06005966. Accessed 27 May 2009.
E-mail (including E-mail Interviews)
Give the author of the message, followed by the subject line in quotation marks. State to whom the message was sent with the phrase, “Received by” and the recipient’s name. Include the date the message was sent. Use standard capitalization.
Kunka, Andrew. “ Re: Modernist Literature. ” Received by John Watts, 15 Nov. 2000.
Neyhart, David. “ Re: Online Tutoring. ” Received by Joe Barbato, 1 Dec. 2016.
A Listserv, Discussion Group, or Blog Posting
Cite web postings as you would a standard web entry. Provide the author of the work, the title of the posting in quotation marks, the web site name in italics, the publisher, and the posting date. Follow with the date of access. Include screen names as author names when author name is not known. If both names are known, place the author’s name in brackets.
Author or compiler name (if available). “Posting Title.” Name of Site , Version number (if available), Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), URL. Date of access.
Salmar1515 [Sal Hernandez]. “Re: Best Strategy: Fenced Pastures vs. Max Number of Rooms?” BoardGameGeek , 29 Sept. 2008, boardgamegeek.com/thread/343929/best-strategy-fenced-pastures-vs-max-number-rooms. Accessed 5 Apr. 2009.
Begin with the user's Twitter handle in place of the author’s name. Next, place the tweet in its entirety in quotations, inserting a period after the tweet within the quotations. Include the date and time of posting, using the reader's time zone; separate the date and time with a comma and end with a period. Include the date accessed if you deem necessary.
@tombrokaw. “ SC demonstrated why all the debates are the engines of this campaign. ” Twitter, 22 Jan. 2012, 3:06 a.m., twitter.com/tombrokaw/status/160996868971704320.
@PurdueWLab. “ Spring break is around the corner, and all our locations will be open next week. ” Twitter , 5 Mar. 2012, 12:58 p.m., twitter.com/PurdueWLab/status/176728308736737282.
A YouTube Video
Video and audio sources need to be documented using the same basic guidelines for citing print sources in MLA style. Include as much descriptive information as necessary to help readers understand the type and nature of the source you are citing. If the author’s name is the same as the uploader, only cite the author once. If the author is different from the uploader, cite the author’s name before the title.
McGonigal, Jane. “Gaming and Productivity.” YouTube , uploaded by Big Think, 3 July 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkdzy9bWW3E.
“8 Hot Dog Gadgets put to the Test.” YouTube, uploaded by Crazy Russian Hacker, 6 June 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBlpjSEtELs.
A Comment on a Website or Article
List the username as the author. Use the phrase, Comment on, before the title. Use quotation marks around the article title. Name the publisher, date, time (listed on near the comment), and the URL.
Not Omniscient Enough. Comment on “ Flight Attendant Tells Passenger to ‘Shut Up’ After Argument Over Pasta. ” ABC News, 9 Jun 2016, 4:00 p.m., abcnews.go.com/US/flight-attendant-tells-passenger-shut-argument-pasta/story?id=39704050.
- Plagiarism and grammar
- Citation guides
Cite a Blog in MLA
Don't let plagiarism errors spoil your paper, consider your source's credibility. ask these questions:, contributor/author.
- Has the author written several articles on the topic, and do they have the credentials to be an expert in their field?
- Can you contact them? Do they have social media profiles?
- Have other credible individuals referenced this source or author?
- Book: What have reviews said about it?
- What do you know about the publisher/sponsor? Are they well-respected?
- Do they take responsibility for the content? Are they selective about what they publish?
- Take a look at their other content. Do these other articles generally appear credible?
- Does the author or the organization have a bias? Does bias make sense in relation to your argument?
- Is the purpose of the content to inform, entertain, or to spread an agenda? Is there commercial intent?
- Are there ads?
- When was the source published or updated? Is there a date shown?
- Does the publication date make sense in relation to the information presented to your argument?
- Does the source even have a date?
- Was it reproduced? If so, from where?
- If it was reproduced, was it done so with permission? Copyright/disclaimer included?
- Citation Machine® Plus
- Citation Guides
- Chicago Style
- Harvard Referencing
- Terms of Use
- Global Privacy Policy
- Cookie Notice
- DO NOT SELL MY INFO
Citation guides
All you need to know about citations
How to cite a blog post in MLA
To cite a blog post in a reference entry in MLA style 9th edition include the following elements:
- Author(s) name: Give the last name and name as presented in the source (e. g. Watson, John). For two authors, reverse only the first name, followed by ‘and’ and the second name in normal order (e. g. Watson, John, and John Watson). For three or more authors, list the first name followed by et al. (e. g. Watson, John, et al.)
- Title of the post: Titles are italicized when independent. If part of a larger source add quotation marks and do not italize.
- Title of the blog: Container titles are italicized and followed by a comma.
- Date of posting: Give the day, month and year of publication. All months, excluding June and July, are abbreviated as three letters (e.g. 9 Aug. 2019.)
- URL: Copy URL in full from your browser, include http:// or https:// and do not list URLs created by shortening services.
Here is the basic format for a reference list entry of a blog post in MLA style 9th edition:
Author(s) name . " Title of the post ." Title of the blog , Date of posting , URL .
Take a look at our works cited examples that demonstrate the MLA style guidelines in action:
A blog post with one author from a popular digital platform
Miller, Shannon . " Google's Change the Game initiative is turning girls into game developers ." Hello Giggles , 11 Dec. 2018 , hellogiggles.com/lifestyle/google-play-change-the-game-girls-gaming/ .
A blog post with one author from a science digital platform
Torres, Phil . " Why We Should Think Twice About Colonizing Space ." Nautilus , 18 Feb. 2019 , nautil.us/blog/-why-we-should-think-twice-about-colonizing-space .
This citation style guide is based on the MLA Handbook (9 th edition).
More useful guides
- MLA 8 Citation Guide: Blog and Tweets
- MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources
- MLA 8th ed. Style Guide: Web Sites, Blogs
More great BibGuru guides
- APA: how to cite a report
- AMA: how to cite a phd thesis
- MLA: how to cite a TV show episode
Automatic citations in seconds
Citation generators
Alternative to.
- NoodleTools
- Getting started
From our blog
- 📚 How to write a book report
- 📝 APA Running Head
- 📑 How to study for a test
- [email protected]
- Phone Number 844.684.0456 (Hours)
- Shapiro Library
- SNHU Library Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ: How do I cite a blog in MLA style?
- 42 Access/Remote Access
- 6 Accessibility
- 11 Building/Facilities
- 8 Career/Job Information
- 30 Catalog/Print Books
- 33 Circulation
- 118 Citing Sources
- 20 Copyright/Plagiarism
- 333 Databases
- 26 Directions/Location
- 11 Faculty Resources/Needs
- 23 Global Campus Specific
- 12 Hours/Contacts
- 19 Innovation Lab & Makerspace/3D Printing
- 23 Interlibrary Loan
- 63 IT/Computer/Printing Support
- 3 Library Instruction
- 1 Mobile Services
- 11 Multimedia
- 23 Periodicals
- 22 Policies
- 2 RefWorks/Citation Managers
- 8 Research Guides (LibGuides)
- 203 Research Help
- 4 Social Media
- 24 University Services
- 3 Workshops/Events
- 60 Writing & Presentation Help
Answered By: Jennifer Harris Last Updated: Aug 19, 2022 Views: 1807
General format.
Author. Blog . Publisher (omit if same as blog name), Date, URL.
For Example
Atwood, Jeff. Coding Horror . blog.codinghorror.com/ .
D'Costa, Krystal. Anthropology in Practice . Scientific American, blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/ .
Web Accessibility Blog . Equidox, equidox.co/equidox-accessibility-blog/ .
In-Text Citation
Parenthetical Citation
(D'Costa)
Citation in Prose
Jeff Atwood, a software developer who co-founded Stack Overflow, writes about coding and human factors in his blog Coding Horror .
Equidox, a company that creates software that makes PDF documents accessible, has the Web Accessibility Blog that....
Author (if present). “Post Title.” Blog , Publisher (omit if same as blog name), Date, URL.
Atwood, Jeff. "There is no longer any such thing as Computer Security." Coding Horror , 21 Sept. 2018, blog.codinghorror.com/there-is-no-longer-any-such-thing-as-computer-security/ .
D'Costa, Krystal. "Who are the Indigenous People That Columbus Met?" Anthropology in Practice , Scientific American, 12 Oct. 2018, blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/who-are-the-indigenous-people-that-columbus-met/ .
Atwood, a software developer, argues that cybersecurity doesn't exist anymore...
D'Costa argues that...
More Information
- MLA Guide (Shapiro Library)
- MLA Style Center (MLA)
Further Help
This information is intended to be a guideline, not expert advice. Please be sure to speak to your professor about the appropriate way to cite sources in your class assignments and projects.
Campus Students
To access Academic Support, visit your Brightspace course and select “Tutoring and Mentoring” from the Academic Support pulldown menu.
Online Students
To access help with citations and more, visit the Academic Support via modules in Brightspace:
- Academic Support Overview: Getting Help with your Schoolwork This link opens in a new window
- Share on Facebook
Was this helpful? Yes 3 No 1
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are a self-serve option for users to search and find answers to their questions.
Use the search box above to type your question to search for an answer or browse existing FAQs by group, topic, etc.
Tell Me More
Link to Question Form
Submit a Question
Related FAQs
What citation style should I use for my personal blog?
Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook . For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook .
Using MLA style for your personal blog has several advantages:
- MLA style is reader friendly . It uses in-text citations and avoids bibliographic notes, so the reader won’t have to switch between your prose and notes that appear elsewhere (usually at the bottom of the page but sometimes in online contexts along the side or in hover text).
- MLA style is focused on people and their work . MLA in-text citations also foreground the humanistic aspects of sources, keying to the author of a work and, when needed for clarity, the title (instead of the date).
- MLA style is streamlined . Citations are kept to a minimum, and all the reference material is collected in one place: the works-cited list.
- MLA style allows you to cite any type of source . There are no special rules for different publication formats, just a basic set of principles you can use to cite any source. This is ideal if you want to blog about a range of subjects.
Whatever citation style you choose for your blog, good luck with your project!
MLA Citation Guide (MLA 9th Edition): Social Media
- Getting Started
- Books, eBooks & Pamphlets
- Business Reports from Library Databases
- Encyclopedias & Dictionaries
- Government Documents
- Images, Charts, Graphs, Maps & Tables
- Interviews and Emails (Personal Communications)
- Journal Articles
- Magazine Articles
- Newspaper Articles
- Religious Texts
- Social Media
- Videos & DVDs
- When Information Is Missing
- Works Quoted in Another Source
- In-Text Citation
- Works Cited List & Sample Paper
- Annotated Bibliography
- Citation Software
Access Date
For all content found on the Web, you must list the date you first viewed the resource. This comes last in a citation. The exception to this rule is that you do not list access dates for content found in library databases.
A username can be provided in place of a real name. If both username and real name are provided, put the user name first with the real name following in brackets.
Creator information may often be found under a section called "About" for some types of social media, however this is not always standard.
The format of all dates is: Date Month (shortened) Year. E.g. 5 Sept. 2012.
If no date is given, leave that information out of the citation.
Note : For your Works Cited list, all citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent.
A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.
Author's Last Name, First Name or Username if real name not provided. "Title of Blog Post." Name of Blog, Blog Network/Publisher if given, Day Month Year of blog post, URL of blog post. Accessed Day Month Year blog was visited.
Host's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Podcast Episode." Title of Overall Podcast , Episode Number if Given, Web Site Hosting If Different From Podcast Title, Day Month Year of Episode, URL of episode. Accessed Day Month Year podcast was downloaded/played.
Streaming Video From a Website (YouTube, Vimeo, Hulu, etc.) - Known Author
Last Name, First Name of video creator or Username of Creator. "Title of Video." Title of the Hosting Website , Day Month Year of Publication, URL of video. Accessed Day Month Year video was viewed.
Streaming Video From a Library Database (Films on Demand)
"Title of Video." Publisher/Production Company, Date. Title of Library Database.
Twitter (Tweets)
Twitter Handle (First Name Last Name if Known). "The entire tweet word-for-word." Twitter , Day Month Year of Tweet, Time of Tweet, URL.
"Title of Entry." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Day Month Year entry was last modified, Time entry was last modified, URL of entry. Accessed Day Month Year Wikipedia entry was last viewed.
Note : The date and time the article was last modified appears at the bottom of each Wikipedia article.
Wikipedia may not be considered an acceptable source for a college or university assignment. Be sure to evaluate the content carefully and check your assignment.
Author Last Name, First Name or Account Name. Description of Post. Facebook , Day Month Year of Post, Time of Post, URL. Accessed Day Month Year post was viewed.
- << Previous: Religious Texts
- Next: Videos & DVDs >>
- Last Updated: Dec 7, 2022 10:58 AM
- URL: https://libguides.orangecoastcollege.edu/mla
MLA 8th ed. Style Guide: Home
- Art, Photography, Music
- Business Resources
- Dissertations, Theses
- Emails, Social Media
- Film, Television, Video
- Journal, Newspaper, & Magazine Articles
- Legal Sources
- Parenthetical (in-text) Citations
- Web Sites, Blogs
- Need more help?
About this Site
Use Tabs for Navigation
Click on the tabs at the top of the page to see examples of MLA citations for a variety of formats. MLA Handbook , 8th edition has made a significant shift from a fixed set of rules to a system based on general principles. These new principles can be used with any type source and they allow writers to create streamlined and more useful citations.The Handbook still includes citation examples, but the examples are organized by the elements of this template :
1. Author 2. Title of source 3. Title of container 4. Other contributors 5. Version 6. Number 7. Publisher 8. Publication date 9. Location
Changes from MLA 7th ed.
If you are looking for the MLA 7th edition LibGuide , click here .
Here are a few of the notable changes in the works-cited-list entries from the seventh edition :
1. The recommended list of abbreviations is much shorter (96-97); words such as editor , edited by , translator , and review of are not abbreviated.
2. If a source has three or more authors, only the first is listed, followed by et al. (22). The term "author" is used broadly and the writer has the flexibility to deciding if a translator, performer, etc. should be emphasized and used in the "author" position with the actual author being listed as an "other contributor." Use the form of the author's name given on the source.
3. Pages are listed as p. or pp., but not in-text citations (46).
4. City of publication is no longer listed unless there is a special situation (51).
5. Periodicals are now identified with "vol. 35, no. 3" instead of "35.3." (39-40).
6. Include the full date information (month, day, or season) along with the year (45).
7. URLs are included without http:// or https:// and no angle brackets are used (48, 110).
8. The use of DOIs are encouraged (110).
9. Citing the date a website was accessed is now optional (53).
10. Placeholders such as n.d. (no date) are no longer used. If facts are missing and reliable information can be found, include it in brackets (2.6.1).
11. Publishers' names are no longer shortened, except words like "Company" are dropped. University Press is still abbreviated UP (97).
12. If there are two distinct publishers (not subsidiaries of another listed), separate the names with a forward slash (/) (108).
13. Publisher's names may be omitted for a variety of publication types (42).
14. If an organization is the author and publisher of a work, the organization's name is given only once, usually as the publisher (25). The author's name is not included.
15. The works-cited list should use hanging indents with the second and subsequent lines of each entry having an indention of half and inch from the left margin. If creating a hanging indent is difficult (such as when creating web pages), leave extra space between entries to serve the same purpose (2.7).
16. Capitalize every important word in the title as described in section 1.2.1.
Questions? Ask.
- Next: Art, Photography, Music >>
- Last Updated: Sep 1, 2021 12:15 PM
- URL: https://guides.zsr.wfu.edu/mla8
- Hofstra University
MLA Citation Guide: 8th Edition
- Works Cited Lists
- Articles in Print Periodicals
- Government Publications
- Electronic Books
- Articles in Digital Periodicals
- Other Digital Resources: Blogs, Tweets, YouTube Videos
- In-Text Citations
Professor of Library Services
About MLA Citation
The Modern Language Association (MLA) Citation Format is the preferred citation format for the humanities (literature, philosophy, arts, sometimes history). There are two primary reasons for citing your sources:
1. Citations provide information that readers need to identify and locate the sources you use in your research
2. You must give credit to the people who wrote or created the sources you used in your project. Doing so ensures that you do not commit plagiarism.
The MLA style provides extensive specific guidelines for researching and formatting your paper. This guide shows you the format for creating Works Cited Lists and parenthetical in-text citations.
This guide is based on the 8th edition of the MLA Handbook . Those of you who are familiar with previous editions will notice some changes, such as
- With certain exceptions (books published before 1900 and different editions of a book published by the same company), the location of the publisher is not listed.
- You will notice that there are some abbreviations in the names of publishers (e.g., UP instead of University Press).
- In a departure from the 7th edition, the medium of a work is no longer listed (print, web, etc.)
- DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) are preferred to URLs.
- The main purpose of MLA 8th edition is to help the reader identify the sources in your Works Cited List. Therefore, the inclusion of some information lis left to the discretion of the writer. For example, MLA 7 required you to always provide the access date for any electronic source, whether it is an article found in a library database or an open Internet site. In MLA 8, access dates are provided if the writer believes they will assist the reader to locate the source.
This is a guide to some of the more commonly used types of sources. For complete guides to MLA formatting--or for anything that is not included here--you should consult the following book:
- Next: Works Cited Lists >>
- Last Updated: Feb 10, 2023 2:02 PM
- URL: https://libguides.hofstra.edu/mla8
This site is compliant with the W3C-WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY Hempstead, NY 11549-1000 (516) 463-6600 © 2000-2009 Hofstra University
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
MLA Blog Post Citation Structure: ... Author's Last Name, Author's First Name. “Title of Post.” Blog Name, Publisher (only include this information if it is
Blog and Tweets ... Works Cited List: Editor, screen name, author, or compiler name (if available). “Posting Title.” Name of Site, Version number
A Listserv, Discussion Group, or Blog Posting ... Cite web postings as you would a standard web entry. Provide the author of the work, the title of the posting in
Cite sources in APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, and Harvard for free. ... Scan your paper for plagiarism mistakes; Get help for 7,000+ citation styles
How to cite a blog post in MLA · Author(s) name: Give the last name and name as presented in the source (e. g. Watson, John). · Title of the post: Titles are
Author (if present). “Post Title.” Blog , Publisher (omit if same as blog name), Date, URL. For Example.
MLA style is reader friendly. It uses in-text citations and avoids bibliographic notes, so the reader won't have to switch between your prose
Author's Last Name, First Name or Username if real name not provided. "Title of Blog Post." Name of Blog, Blog Network/Publisher if given
Essential Elements. In general, a citation for information found on the Web should include the following: Author's name (see Corporate Authors)
Provide the author's name, the title of the post in quotation marks, the title of the entire site in italics, the publisher, the URL (without