How to Cite an Article in MLA Style
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This short presentation breaks down the parts of simple article citations in MLA style.
These are the parts for a magazine or newspaper article:
The author's last name, a comma, then the author's first name, and a period.
The title of the article and a period inside quotation marks.
The title of the magazine or newspaper in italic type or underlined, and a period.
The publication date and a colon.
The page numbers and a period.
The medium of publication and a period.
For an article from a scholarly journal, replace the publication date with the volume and issue numbers, with a period between them.
Then include the publication year in parenthesis.
If you used a full text article from a research database, include the name of the database and a period after the page numbers.
Also include the date you viewed the article and a period at the very end.
Most of the information you need for a citation can be found on the magazine cover and on the first page of the article.
If you are using a research database to find articles (such as Ebscohost, Proquest, or LexisNexis) you can find this information in the online record.
With information from either the magazine itself or a database record, you can use the basic citation format to write a citation for this article.
The last part, "medium of publication" is print if you used an actual paper magazine.
The medium is web if you viewed the article from a research database.
And you will also include the name of the database and the date you viewed it.
This is just one example of an article citation. There are special rules for different kinds of articles found in print and online.
You can find more information and examples of MLA format online. Use the "links" tab to see our recommended sites.
The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers is the ultimate source to all of the guidelines for MLA style. Copies are available in the library.