Bibliographic Formats

Bibliographic Formats

The following citation formats are based on the Modern Language Association (MLA) style for documenting the information sources used for a research assignment. Most of the examples below were taken from Power Tools written by Joyce Kasman Valenza and published by the American Library Association.

General Guidelines

1. The title of your bibliography should be Bibliography, or References, or Works Cited.

2. The list of citations should be in alphabetical order based on the author’s last name (or title if no author is listed).

3. You should double space your entire list.

4. The first line of a citation should begin at the left margin. All other lines are indented 5 spaces.

See the example at the end of this page.

Book Citation Formats

One author:

Author’s last name, author’s first name. Title of book. City of publication: name of publisher, copyright date.

Morgan, Martin. Women of the Prairie. New York: Random House, 1978.

Multiple Citations by the same author:

Small, Chris. Please, Help Me Carry My Keys! Topeka: Rand, 1993.

---. Don’t Measure a Chemist by Her Size. New York: Feminist, 1993.

More than one author:

First author’s last name, first author’s first name, and Second author’s name in regular order. Title of book. City of publication: name of publisher, copyright date.

Jordan, Sandra, and Mike L. Angelo. What’s Under the Paint. Rome: Easel Books, 1929.

Corporate Author:

Organization’s name. Title of book. City of publication: name of publisher, copyright date.

Wissahickon Home Economics Department. Cooking with Spice. New York: Scribners, 1993.

Editor:

Editor’s last name, editor’s first name, ed. Title of book. City of publication: name of publisher, copyright date.

Valenza, Joyce, ed. Bagels and Books: An Anthology. Brooklyn, New York: Random House, 1991.

Work in an Anthology:

Author’s last name, author’s first name. “Title of work.” Title of book. Ed. Editor’s name. City of publication: name of publisher, copyright date. Pages.

Smith, James. “The Physics of Sushi.” The Fabulous Physics Paper. Ed. Samuel Klein. Rome, Georgia: Cambridge UP, 1954. 46-59.

Edition other than the first:

Author’s last name, author’s first name. Title of book. Edition number. City of publication: name of publisher, copyright date.

Peters, Michael. Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Keeping Your Classroom Neat and Clean. 4^th ed. Philadelphia: Lysol, 1995.

Encyclopedia Citation Formats

Signed Article:

Author’s last name, author’s first name. “Title of article.” Title of encyclopedia. Encyclopedia edition.

Chiappini, Luciano. “Este, House of.” Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia. 1974 ed.

Unsigned Article:

“Title of article.” Title of encyclopedia. Encyclopedia edition.

“Florida, The Sunshine State.” The World Book Encyclopedia. 1987 ed.

Journals and Periodicals Citation Formats

Article in a Journal with continuous pagination:

Author’s last name, author’s first name. “Title of article.” Title of magazine Issue number(year): Page numbers.

Skater, Andrew. “Rollerblading on a Secondary Level.” Secondary Education 54(1990): 113-25.

Article from a Monthly or Bimonthly Periodical:

Author’s last name, author’s first name. “Title of article.” Title of magazine Date of Issue: Page numbers.

Ramsey, Pamela. “Where’s My Smiley Face?” MacWorld Sept. 1997: 86-94.

Article from a Weekly or Biweekly Periodical:

Author’s last name, author’s first name. “Title of article.” Title of magazine Date of Issue: Page numbers.

Henry, Mary Ann. “Announcing Bus Changes with Flair.” Time 4 July 1991: 71-76.

Newspaper Citation Formats

Signed Article:

Author’s last name, author’s first name. “Title of article.” Title of newspaper Date of Issue: Page number.

Le Batard, Dan. “Judges Disgraced Skating’s Beauty.” The Miami Hearld 13 Feb. 2002: A1.

Unsigned Article:

“Title of article.” Title of newspaper Date of Issue: Page number.

"U.S. Troops Capture Chief Aide to Warlord." The Hartford Courant 22 Sept. 1993: A5.

Facts on File Citation Format

“Title of article.” Title of source Date of Issue: Page number.

“Berger’s Greatest Speeches.” Facts On File World News Digest 3 Sept. 1998: 535.

Personal or Telephone Interview Citation Format

Interviewee’s last name, Interviewee’s first name. Personal interview. Date.

Craig, John. Personal interview. 23 Sept. 1994.

Electronic Sources Citation Formats

CD-ROMs Non-periodical:

Author’s last name, author’s first name (if given). “Title of Part of Work.” Title of Product. Edition or release (if given). Publication medium (CD-ROM). City of publication: name of publisher, copyright date.

Wallechinsky, David. “Olympic Games.” World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia. 3.20b. CD-ROM. Chicago: World Book, 1996.

CD-ROMs Periodical:

Author’s last name, author’s first name (if given). “Title of Article.” Title of Journal or Newspaper publication information for printed source. Title of database. Publication medium (CD-ROM). Name of Vendor. Electronic publication date.

Nethead, Jane. “Email Rules.” New York Times 15 November 1995, late ed.: B3. New York Time Ondisc. CD-ROM. UMI-ProQuest. Jan. 1996.

SIRS Researcher Reprint:

Author’s last name, author’s first name (if given). “Title of Article.” Original Source date: pages. SIRS Volume. Editor. Year. Article number. SIRS Researcher. CD-ROM. Boca Raton: SIRS, date.

Calvin, Michael. “Surfing the Web.” Futurist Sept.-Oct. 1995: 20-27. Earth Science. Ed. Eleanor Goldstein. 1995. Art. 25. SIRS Researcher. CD-ROM. Boca Raton: SIRS, 1995.

World Wide Web:

Author’s last name, author’s first name (if given). “Title of Page or Document.” Title of Site or Larger Work (if applicable). Date of document. Online. Available http://address/filename. Date of access.

Cassutto, George. “Social Studies and the World Wide Web.” 8 June 1996. Online. Available http://www.fred.net.nhhs/html3/article3.htm. 25 Sept. 1996.

“Graf Has Look of a Champion.” ESPNET SportsZone. 29 Aug. 1996. Online. Available http://www.espn.com/gen/top/0108716001.html. 30 Aug. 1996.

Online Encyclopedia:

Author’s last name, author’s first name (if given). “Title of Article.” Title of Reference Work. Online. Title of the Database or Online Service. Date of access.

Cook, Sarah Gibbard. “Berlin, Germany.” Compton’s Living Encyclopedia. Online. America Online. 27 Aug. 1997.

Gopher:

Author’s last name, author’s first name (if given). “Title of Document or File.” Date of publication (if available). Online. Available gopher: address, path. Date of access.

Allen, Gary. “Grants for Math and Science Education.” 8 Nov. 1996. Online. Available gopher: enc.org/Professional Development Resources. 20 Dec. 1997.

Listserv:

Author’s last name, author’s first name. “Subject of Message.” Date of post. Online posting. Name of listserv@E-mail address of list. Date of access.

Bookman, Emily. “Re: Bulletin Board Ideas.” 5 Nov. 1997. Online posting. LM_NET@listserv.syr.edu. 20 Nov. 1997.

Usenet Newsgroup:

Author’s last name, author’s first name. “Title of Item.” Date of post. Online posting. Newsgroup name. Usenet. Date of access.

Brown, Carol. “Stress and Test Taking.” 8 Mar. 1997. Online posting. K12.ed.research. Usenet. 28 Mar. 1997.

Journal Material from a Computer Service or Online Database:

Author’s last name, author’s first name. “Title of Article.” Periodical Title Date of print publication (if available). Edition (if any): pages. Database Name (if any). Online. Name of computer service. Date of access.

Keizer, Gregg. “Write the Perfect Paper.” Family PC Sept. 1996. Online. America Online. 25 Nov. 1996.

Miller, Larry. “Setting up a Home Office.” New York Times 16 Aug. 1996: A03. Online. ProQuest Direct. 7 Dec. 1996.

Below is a sample of what a “Works Cited,” or Bibliography should look like.