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Research & Writing Process

A walk-through on the entire research process. Includes tips and examples to help you decipher your assignment, make a research plan, choose a topic, find your sources, and write your papers.

MLA Citation Style Formats and Examples

An Article in a Web Magazine

Format
Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Periodical, Publisher, Publication Date, URL. Date of access.

Example
Whitbrook, James. "Steven Universe Tells Us That the Answer to All Our Questions Is Love-But It's Also Fandom." Io9, Gawker, 11 Jan. 2016, io9.gizmodo.com/steven-universe-tells-us-that-the-answer-to-all-our-que-1752311132. 12 Jan. 2016. 

A Database Article with DOI

Format
Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Periodical, volume number, issue number, Year of Publication, pp. pages. Database Name, DOI or URL. Date of access.

Example
Weigel, David. “The Horrible Truth About Super-Science.” Reason, vol. 39, no. 3, July 2007, pp. 54–59. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=25340945&site=ehost-live.  12 Oct. 2019.

A Database Article without DOI

Format
Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Periodical, volume number, issue number, Year of Publication, pp. pages. Database Name, DOI or URL. Date of access.

Example
Bulfin, Ailise. "The Natural Catastrophe In Late Victorian Popular Fiction: 'How Will The World End?'." Critical Survey, vol. 27, no. 2 2015, pp. 81-101. Academic Search Complete. doi:10.3167/cs.2015.270207. 12 Sept. 2016.

A Book by a Single Author

Format
Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date.

Example
Lowder, James. Beyond the Wall Exploring George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, From A Game of Thrones to A Dance with Dragons. BenBella, 2012.

A Book with Two Authors

Format
Last Name, First Name and First Name, Last Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date.

Example
Gaiman, Neil, and Yoshitaka Amano. The Dream Hunters. Titan, 2000.

A Book with Three or More Authors

Format
Last Name, First Name, et al. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date.

Example
Burns, Robert, et al. Poetry. T.C. and E.C. Jack, 1896. 

Book with No Author

Format
Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication. 

Example
The Encyclopedia Americana. International ed. Grolier, 1990.

Citing an Entire Website

Format
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.

Example
CNNMoney. Cable News Network, money.cnn.com. 05 June 2015.

Citing a Page on a Website

Format
Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). "Title of Article." 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.

Example
"Dragon Age RPG | The Official Dragon Age Tabletop Roleplaying Game." Dragon Age RPG, greenronin.com/dragonagerpg. 05 June 2015.

Format
@Twitter Username. "Text of Entire Tweet." Twitter, Date of Tweet, Time of Tweet, Tweet URL.

Example
@LeVostreGC. "Ther nys no partye lyke an Unexpected Partye, by cause an Unexpected Partye doth leade to a lengthye journeye to the Lonelye Mountayne." 5 January 2016, 11:49 AM, twitter.com/LeVostreGC/status/684461734879313920

If you wish to quote from a source within the source you are using, you must show that you are quoting from an indirect source.  This is done by writing "qtd. in" in from of the in-text citation.  

Example
Smith argues that Palpatine "addresses the Senate in tones that make us think of the kind of promises that Octavian would have made on receiving extraordinary powers designed to safeguard the Republic" (qtd. in Charles 284).