MLA citation style

A guide to citing sources using MLA Style, 9th edition

General rules

Month names longer than four letters used in journal and magazine citations should be abbreviated: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.

Article citations from online sources should include a DOI (preferred) proceeded by “https://doi.org/” or a URL. For URLs you can omit the “http://" or "https://" from the web address.

Web pages or documents on a website

When listing page URLs, you can omit the “http://" or "https://" from the web address.

Citation format:

Author. "Title of Page/Document." Name of Website, Publisher/s, day Mon. year, URL.

Sample Works Cited entry:

Dunn, William, and Linda West. "Newfoundland Joins Confederation: A Brief History of Newfoundland." Canada: A Country by Consent, Artistic Productions, 2011, www.canadahistoryproject.ca/1949/1949-02-nfld-history.html.

If the website title and the publisher are the same, you can leave out the publisher (see section 5.54):

O’Dell, Lauren. “The Stiles Cove Path from Start to Finish.” Destination St. John’s, 25 June 2021, destinationstjohns.com/stiles-cove-path-from-start-to-finish/.

If an organization is both the author and publisher, skip the author and begin the entry with the work’s title (see section 5.19):

“From Garden to Classroom: Activity and Resource Guide.” Memorial University, MUN Botanical Garden / NSERC, Nov. 2011, www.mun.ca/botgarden/learn/fromgardentoclassroom.pdf.

Web pages with no author

If no author is available, begin with the title instead.

Sample Works Cited entry:

“The History of the Northern Cod Fishery: Atlantic Fishing Methods.” Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation, 1996, www.cdli.ca/cod/history6.htm.

Web pages with no date

Use the date you accessed it instead. Date of access goes at the end of the entry.

Sample Works Cited entry:

"Hiking Etiquette.” East Coast Trail, www.gov.nl.ca/tcar/files/creat_exp_toolkit.pdf. Accessed 26 July 2021.