how to write the title of a short story in an essay mla

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MLA Style Guide Eighth Edition

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Title of Source. The title is usually taken from an authoritative location in the source such as the title page. It is the name of the source you are using. Capitalize the following parts of speech in a title: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, subordinating conjunctions (although, because, unless, after, until, when, where, while, etc.). Do not capitalize articles, prepositions, coordinating conjunctions, the "to" in infinitives if they appear in the middle of the title. A colon separates the title from the subtitle unless it ends in a question mark or exclamation. Titles should be italicized or enclosed in quotation marks. Titles that are independent and self-contained (e.g., books) and titles of containers (e.g., anthologies) should be italicized. Titles that are contained in larger works (e.g., short stories) should be in quotation s. Exceptions to the above rule are: 1) Scripture (Genesis, Bible, Gospels, Upanishads, Old Testament, Talmud, etc.) Titles of individualized scripture writings, however, should be italicized and treated like any other published work.(e.g. The Interlinear Bible) 2) Names of laws, acts and political documents (Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, Magna Carta, Treaty of Marseilles, etc.) 3) Musical compositions identified by form, number, and key (Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A, op. 92) 4) Series titles (Critical American Studies, Bollingen Series, etc.) 5) Conferences, seminars, workshops, and courses (MLA Annual Convention, English 110)

The title of the work follows the author and ends with a period . Mitchell, Margaret. Gone With the Wind . New York: Macmillan, 1961.

A sub-title is included after the main title . Joyce, Michael. Othermindedness: The Emergence of Network Culture. U of Michigan P, 2000. Baron, Sabrina Alcorn et al., editors. Agent of Change: Print Culture Studies after Elizabeth L. Eisenstein. U of               Massachusetts P /Center for the Book, Library of Congress, 2007.

The title of a story, poem or essay in a collection, as part of a larger whole, is placed in quotation marks . Dewar, James A., and Peng Hwa Ang. "The Cultural Consequences of Printing and the Internet." Agent of Change: Print             Culture Studies after Elizabeth L. Eisenstein. U of Massachusetts P /Center for the Book, Library of Congress,             2007, pp. 365-77. 

Independent work in a collection When a work that is normally independent (such as a novel or play) appears in a collection, the work's title remains in italics. Euripides. The Trojan Women . Ten Plays, translated by Paul Roche, New American Library, 1998, pp. 457-512.

The title of a periodical (journal, magazine, or newspaper) is in italics and the title of the article is in quotation marks. Goldman, Anne. "Questions of Transport: Reading Primo Levi Reading Dante." The Georgia Review, vol. 64, no. 1, 2010           pp. 69-88. Note: This rule applies to all media forms such as the title of a television series, an episode in a television series, a song or piece of music in an album, a posting or article on a web page. See examples below. Television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer . Created by Joss Whedon, performance by Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mutant Enemy, 1997-2003. Episode in a television series "Hush." Buffy the Vampire Slayer , created by Joss Whedon, performance by Sarah           Michelle Gellar, season 4, episode 10, Mutant Enemy, 1997-2003. Web site Hollmichel, Stefanie. So Many Books . 2003-13, somanybooksbkog.com Note: When giving a URL, omit http and https. Posting of an article on a web site Hollmichel, Stefanie. "The Reading Brain: Differences Between Digital and Print."           So Many Books, 25 April 2013, somanybooksblog.com/2013/04/25/the-reading-brain-differences-between-digital-           and-print/. A song or piece of music in an album Beyonce. "Pretty Hurts." Beyonce , Parkwood Entertainment, 2013,           www.beyonce.com/album/beyonce/?media_view=songs.

Untitled Source In the place of the title, provide a generic description of the source without italics or quotation marks. Capitalize the first word in the title and any proper nouns in it. Mackintosh, Charles Rennie. Chair of Stained Oak. 1897-1900, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Comment or review of a title in an online forum Jeane. Comment on "The Reading Brain: Differences Between Digital and Print." So Many Books, 25 Apr. 2013,            10:30 p.m., somanybooksblog.com/2013/04/25/the-reading-brain-differences-between-digital-and-            print/#comment-83030

Review of a title in an online forum Mackin, Joseph. Review of The Pleasures of Reading of an age of Distraction , by Alan Jacobs. New York Journal of Books, 2 June 2011, www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/            pleasures-reading-age-distraction.

Tweet Reproduce the full text without changing anything and enclose within quotation marks. @persiankiwi."We have report of large street battles in east and west of Tehran now. - #Iranelection." Twitter ,            23 June 2009, 11:15 a.m., twitter.com/persianwiki/status/2298106072.

E-mail message Use subject as the title. Subject is enclosed in quotation marks. Boyle, Anthony T. "Re: Utopia." Received by Daniel J. Cayhill, 21 June 1997.

Introduction, Preface, Foreword, or Afterword Capitalize the term in the works cited list but do not italicize or enclose in quotation marks. The term need not be capitalized in in-text discussion. Felstiner, John. Preface. Selected Poems and Prose of Paul Celan , by Paul Celan, translated by Felstiner              W.W. Norton, 2001, pp.xix-xxxvi.

Translations of Titles Place translations of titles for foreign works in square brackets in the works cited list. The translation appears next to the title.

Shortened titles The first time a title is mentioned in your work, it should appear in full. If the title is repeated in the work, it can be shortened to a familiar one (e.g., Skylark for Ode to a Skylark).

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MLA Short Story Citation – Format & Examples

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In academic writing , it is crucial to cite short stories properly to maintain academic integrity and avoid plagiarism . The MLA style guide (Modern Language Association) has specific formatting rules for this. In MLA , specific components such as the author’s name, the story title within quotation marks, the anthology title in italics, and other details regarding publication like the page number or range, must be included. This allows the readers to find original sources and ensures proper credit.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• 1 MLA Short Story Citation – In a Nutshell
• 2 Definition: MLA short story citation
• 3 MLA short story citation: Quoting & citing
• 4 MLA short story citation: Book
• 5 MLA short story citation: Newspaper or magazine
• 6 MLA short story citation: Online

MLA Short Story Citation – In a Nutshell

• MLA short story citation entails a proper introduction of the quoted content.
• Make sure to write the introduction in your own words.
• It is always followed up with an in-text citation in accordance with MLA guidelines
• An MLA in-text citation includes the author’s name and the page number of the quote.

Definition: MLA short story citation

The structure for MLA short story citation includes an introduction of the quote in your own words, followed by an in-text citation . The in-text citation should include the name of the author, followed by the page number from which you obtained the quote. See the format and an example of an MLA Works Cited entry below.

MLA short story citation: Quoting & citing

One key element you must consider during MLA story citation is the introduction quotation. The introduction should be done in your own words so it does not go against plagiarism regulations. After the introductory sentence, you can place a colon, then place an in-text MLA story citation immediately after.

Then the narrator speaks of his experience in first person as he refers to his background and influence: “I never saw my parents argue or have a misunderstanding in my presence.” (Andrew, 100).

Alternatively, you can integrate the quote in a different sentence. If you decide to name the author in the introductory quote, then the page number should appear in parentheses .

Andrew describes his childhood as peaceful and “without any parental conflict” (87).

Ensure to use block quote format when quoting more than four lines.

Citing the same story consecutively

When referring to the same story more than once, you do not need to include the author’s name repeatedly. However, you must clarify that you are citing the same source repeatedly. Instead of the author’s name, just add the page number in the MLA short story citation.

Andrews describes his childhood as peaceful and “without any conflict” (97). His narration includes descriptions of his father’s temperament, which is “calm and orderly” (101).

However, if you start a new paragraph or refer to a different citation, the above rule does not apply. The next MLA short story citation should include the name of the author.

MLA short story citation: Book

You can also cite a short story from a book containing a collection of stories. In this citation, you must include the author’s name, story title, book title, editor (s), year, and the page range where the short story is featured. Below are guidelines for MLA short story citation for a book source:

If the cited story is published in a collection from a single author and does not have an editor’s name, you can omit the editor from the MLA short story citation. Below is the format:

MLA short story citation: Newspaper or magazine

You must also follow MLA short story citation when referencing stories from a newspaper or magazine. In such a case, you must list the periodical’s name, publication date, and the page range where the content is sourced. Below is the MLA short story citation format for newspaper or magazine sources:

MLA short story citation: Online

When citing a short story published online, you must list the name of the website, the publication date, and the URL. If the page name is not available and the author’s name is mentioned in your sentence, then you only need a parenthetical citation .

What is the general format of an MLA short story citation?

The general format is as follows: Name of author, First name. “Title of Story.” Book Title , edited by Editor’s first and last name, Publisher, Year, pp. Page range

Can you cite a book chapter using MLA short story citation guidelines?

You can cite a specific chapter if each chapter has a different author or if the book is a collection of works. In this case, add separate works cited entries for each.

What should you include when citing short stories in magazines?

You must list the periodical’s name, publication date, and the page range where the content is sourced.

What are the guidelines for citing online-sourced stories?

When citing a short story that is published online, you must include the name of the website, the publication date, and the URL.

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How to Cite Short Stories in MLA

Last Updated: January 18, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff . Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 89,163 times. Learn more...

Short stories can be great resources for a literary essay or a paper for an English class. To cite a short story, you have to include an in-text citation, which will take the form of "(O'Connor 10)" and then create a citation in the Works Cited page, which will look like this: "O’Connor, Flannery. ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find.’ The Collected Stories of Flannery O’Connor. New York: FSG, 2000. 255-356. Print."

Sample Citations

Writing In-Text Citations

• For example, you may write, “In the short story 'A Good Man is Hard to Find', the Misfit character notes, ‘I found out the crime don’t matter. You can do one thing or you can do another, kill a man or take a tire off his car, because sooner or later you’re going to forget what it was you done and just be punished for it.’”

‘She was a talker, wasn't she?’ Bobby Lee said, sliding down the ditch with a yodel. ’She would of been a good woman,’ The Misfit said, ‘if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.’ ‘Some fun!’ Bobby Lee said. ‘Shut up, Bobby Lee,’ The Misfit said. ‘It's no real pleasure in life.’

• For example, you may write, “In the short story 'A Good Man is Hard to Find,' the Misfit character notes, ‘I found out the crime don’t matter. You can do one thing or you can do another, kill a man or take a tire off his car, because sooner or later you’re going to forget what it was you done and just be punished for it’ (O’Connor 10).”

‘She was a talker, wasn't she?’ Bobby Lee said, sliding down the ditch with a yodel. ’She would of been a good woman,’ The Misfit said, ‘if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.’ ‘Some fun!’ Bobby Lee said. ‘Shut up, Bobby Lee,’ The Misfit said. ‘It's no real pleasure in life’(O'Connor 23)."

• For example, you may write a citation such as: “(O’Connor 23)” or “(Gaitskill 12).”

Creating a Citation for the Works Cited Page

• For example, you may write, “O’Connor, Flannery” or “Erdrich, Louise, and Diaz, Junot.”

• For example, you may write, “O’Connor, Flannery. ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find.’ The Collected Stories of Flannery O’Connor. ” or “Erdrich, Louise. ‘The Flower.’ The Best American Short Stories 2016. ”

• For example, you may write, “Erdrich, Louise. ‘The Flower.’ The Best American Short Stories 2016, Ed. by Junot Diaz.”

• For example, you may write, “O’Connor, Flannery. ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find.’ The Collected Stories of Flannery O’Connor. New York: FSG, 2000.” Or you may write, “Erdrich, Louise. ‘The Flower.’ The Best American Short Stories 2016, Ed. by Junot Diaz, New York: Harper Collins, 2016.”

• For example, you may write, “Gaitskill, Mary. ‘Something Better Than This.’ Fictionaut.'"

• For example, you may write, “Erdrich, Louise. ‘The Flower.’ The Best American Short Stories 2016, Ed. by Junot Diaz, New York: Harper Collins, 2016. 324-414.”

• For example, you may write, “O’Connor, Flannery. ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find.’ The Collected Stories of Flannery O’Connor. New York: FSG, 2000. 255-356. Print.”
• Or you may write, “Gaitskill, Mary. ‘Something Better Than This.’ Fictionaut. Web. 12 December 2017.”

Community Q&A

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://penandthepad.com/cite-short-story-mla-format-1134.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/quotation_marks/quotation_marks_with_fiction.html
• ↑ https://otis.libguides.com/mla_citations/books#s-lg-box-15872775
• ↑ https://penandthepad.com/cite-short-story-anthology-8558144.html
• ↑ https://warren.libguides.com/c.php?g=1062317&p=7724336
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_page_books.html

About This Article

Citing a short story can be a great way to strengthen your paper. To do an in-text citation, include the author’s last name and the page number in parentheses after the quoted text. For example, if you’re citing from page 10 of O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” you would follow your quote with (O’Connor 10). Always place the period in the sentence after your citation. On your works cited page, you need to provide a more detailed citation. It should begin with the author’s last and first names, with a comma separating them. Then, add the title of the story in quotation marks, the name of the anthology in italics, the place of publication, the publisher’s name, and the date of publication. A completed citation may look like, “O’Connor, Flannery. 'A Good Man is hard to Find.' The Collected Stories of Flannery O’Connor. New York: FSG, 2000.” To see some additional examples of MLA citations, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / How to Format the Source Title in an MLA 8 Citation

How to Format the Source Title in an MLA 8 Citation

Cite in MLA automatically using EasyBib’s citation generator.

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Remember that MLA 8 standardizes the citation formatting, making it easier to cite your sources. The following is a guide to citing different types of titles using MLA 8. If you are looking for information on how to format the title of your own paper, see this guide on creating an MLA title page .

How to Cite Book Titles in MLA 8

When citing book titles using the MLA 8 format, always enter the full title, in italics, followed by a period.  

The citation format is as follows:

Last Name, First Name. Italicized Title . Publisher, Publication Year.

The full citation might look like this:

Sparks, Nicholas. The Notebook. Warner Books, 1996.

If there is a subtitle, place it after the title, using a colon to separate them.  The subtitle should also be in italics.

Last Name, First Name. Italicized Title : SubTitle. Publisher,

Publication Year.

Weiland, K.M. Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an

Outstanding Story. PenForASword, 2013.

If the source is part of a larger work, such as an essay, chapter, short story, or poem, place the title in quotation marks, making sure to put a period at the end of the title. Follow it with the title of the larger work, in italics, with a comma at the end.  

Last Name, First Name. “Title.” Italicized Larger Work Title, Editor first 

and last name, Publisher, Publication Year, Page Numbers.

Langer, A.J. “Lessons in Friendships.” Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul:

101 Stories of Life, Love and Learning, edited by Jack Canfield, et al.,

Simon & Schuster, 1997, pp. 56-62.

How to Cite Periodical Titles in MLA 8

When citing periodicals in MLA 8, place the title of the article in quotes, with a period at the end of the title. The italicized title of the periodical follows, along with a comma.

Last Name, First Name. “Title of the Article.” Periodical Title,  

Publication Year, Page Numbers.

Barack, Lauren. “Y is for Yoga: Libraries Embrace the Practice to

Ease Stress and Promote Literacy.” The School Library Journal,

January 2015, pp. 23-28.

How to Cite Television Shows in MLA 8

If you’re citing a television show, place the title of the episode first, followed by a period. The title of the series follows in italics, along with a comma.

“Title of the Episode.” Title of the Series, Author of the show,

Season Number, Episode Number, Network, Air Date.

“Dunder Mifflin Infinity.” The Office, written by Michael Schur,

season 4, episode 3, NBC, 2007.

How to Cite Websites in MLA 8

These days, much of our information comes from digital resources such as websites. When citing websites, place the title of the article in quotation marks, with a period at the end of the title. Follow with the name of the website in italics, followed by a comma, and ending with the website URL.  

“Title of the Article.” Name of the Website, Publication date, URL.

“MLA Format: Everything You Need to Know Here.” EasyBib, 25 July 2021,

https://www.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides/mla-format/ .

How to Cite Songs in MLA 8

If you need to cite a song, place the title of the song in quotation marks, with a period at the end of the title.  Follow with the title of the album in italics, with a comma at the end.

Last Name, First Name. “Song Title.” Album Title, Record Company, Release Year.

Sinatra, Frank. “Summer Wind.” Strangers in the Night, Reprise, 1966.

How to Cite Untitled Works in MLA 8

If a source doesn’t have a title, include the creator of the source and a brief description. Do not italicize or place this information in quotation marks.

Last Name, First Name. Description of the work. Year, Location of the Work, City, State.

Johnson, Sarah. Painting of a horse. 1984, Bronx, NY.

How to Cite Email Messages in MLA 8

When citing email messages in MLA 8, the subject of the email is the title. Place the title in quotation marks, with a period at the end of the subject.

Sender Last Name, Sender First Name. “Subject of the Email.” Receiver First Name and Last Name, Date Sent.

Morgan, Michael. “Re: Meeting this Afternoon.” Received by Michele Kirschenbaum, 18 April 2016.

Including Titles in In-Text Citations

According to MLA 8 guidelines, in-text citations should include the author’s surname and the page number, formatted as (Smith 12). Therefore, it is not usually necessary to include the title in your in-text citation.

However, there are some situations where you would need to include the title in your in-text citation, for example, if the source you are citing does not have an author listed. In that case, you would replace the author’s name with the title of the source, formatted the same way as in the full bibliography citation (i.e., if the title in the full citation is in quotation marks, it should be in quotation marks in the in-text citation). If the title is long, it can be shortened as needed.

Full citation:

“Annotated Bibliography Format & Examples” EasyBib, 7 July 2022,

https://www.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides/citation-basics/annotated-bibliographies/ .

In-text citation:

( “ Annotated Bibliography ” )

For more information, see this guide on MLA in-text citations .

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How to use Titles in the MLA Style

Hannah berry (ph.d.).

• Published on 11/24/2023
• Updated on 12/12/2023

This article aims to provide a detailed guide of MLA title guidelines, offering insights into the effective use of titles in sources such as books , webpages , journals , and articles. By delving into the systematic application of title case, lowercase usage, and specific exceptions.

• Title Case : Capitalize the first, last, and major words, including those following hyphens and after a colon in subtitles.
• Lowercase Rules: Keep prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions in lowercase, except capitalize ‘A’ if it’s the first word.
• Connecting Words: Maintain lowercase for common connecting words, ensuring a consistent appearance in the MLA style.
• Subtitle Exception: Capitalize the first word in a subtitle for consistency in MLA title formatting.

UNDERSTANDING TITLE CASE IN THE MLA STYLE

Title case in the MLA style follows specific rules. Start with the capitalization of the first word of the title, the last word, and all principle words including those that follow hyphens in compound terms such as nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, subordinating conjunctions.

Refer to the MLA format page for formatting guidelines to use for different types of titles and and use the MLA citation generator to create citations. Explore a range of features offered by TypeCite’s citation machine , including cite journals in APA , as well as APA book citations  and APA webpage generator .

RULE FOR CAPITALIZING SUBTITLES

When a subtitle is introduced by a colon, question mark, full stop, em dash, or exclamation mark, the first word is also capitalized.

HOW TO USE LOWERCASE FOR MINOR WORDS

Following MLA title rules means keeping prepositions and coordinating conjunctions, often classified as minor words in lowercase. Words such as ‘a’, ‘an’, and ‘the’ are always written in lowercase. This also applies to common connecting words like ‘and’ and ‘but’. 

One thing to remember is that the word ‘a’ is written in lowercase unless it is the first word of the title.

This includes terms such as ‘and’, ‘to’, ‘for’, ‘in’, ‘at’, ‘on’, ‘of’, ‘with’, ‘but’, ‘against’, ‘between’, ‘nor’, ‘so’, ‘yet’, ‘if’, ‘by’, ‘off’, ‘per’, ‘up’, and ‘via’. This practice underscores the commitment to a standardized and consistent appearance of titles in accordance with the MLA style.

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Through a nuanced understanding of title case usage, including the capitalization of major words and the consistent rendering of minor words in lowercase, writers contribute to the overall clarity and uniformity expected in scholarly discourse.

Hannah Berry has lectured at several colleges and teaches at the WEA. Besides publishing extensively, she has taught citation skills and written multiple style guides.

Learn how to cite in MLA

• Journal Article in Another Language in MLA
• How to Format Quotation Marks in MLA
• How to Cite Chapter in Edited Book in MLA
• How to Format Italics in MLA
• Introduction, Preface or Foreword in MLA
• How to Format Numbers in MLA
• How to Format Lists in MLA
• How to Cite Multivolume Works in MLA
• How to Format Works Cited List in MLA
• How to Format DOIs and URLs in MLA
• How to Cite Republished Book in MLA
• How to Cite Reddit in MLA
• MLA Capitalization in Foreign Languages
• Cite Book in Another Language in MLA
• How to Format Headers in MLA
• How to Cite Instagram in MLA
• How to Format Abbreviations in MLA
• How to Cite Translated Book in MLA
• How to Format Fonts in MLA
• How to Cite E-Book in MLA
• How to Format Headings in MLA
• How to Use Line Spacing & Margins in MLA
• How to Cite a Book With Editor in MLA
• How to Cite an Online Journal in MLA
• How to Cite a Journal Article in MLA
• How to Cite Facebook in MLA
• How to Cite ChatGPT in MLA
• MLA In-Text Citation Examples
• How to Cite a Book in MLA
• How to Cite X in MLA
• How to Format Dates in the MLA Style
• How to Cite a Website in the MLA Format
• How to Format Various MLA Contributors
• How to Cite a Webpage in the MLA Format
• How to Cite YouTube Videos in MLA
• How to Cite MLA Social Media Citations

How to Write a Book Title in MLA Formatting

by Joe Bunting | 0 comments

You're writing a paper for school and suddenly you stop in the middle of the sentence. You have to write a book title, but you don't how to format it. How do you format a book title in MLA style? Good news: you're in the write place (sorry, I had to).

In this post, we'll talk about MLA style and formatting, whether it's appropriate for your project, and most importantly, how to write a book title in MLA style.

What Is MLA?

MLA stands for Modern Language Association, a society primarily based in the United States but with international standing, that has a mission to “strengthen the study and teaching of language and literature”. Founded in the late 1800s by an American novelist and professor, MLA publishes a set of resources used by students and teachers, including the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers .

The MLA handbook is one of the main style manuals for students and scholars in the world, especially for anyone studying literature, film, or theater.

Should You Format Based on MLA Style?

If you're writing a paper for a class in literature, theater, or film, absolutely use MLA style. Outside of that, it depends. Here are the most frequent style guides associated with various disciplines:

• Literature, Film, Theater:   MLA
• Psychology:   APA
• Science (Physics, Biology, Chemistry): CSE or APA
• Journalism:   AP
• Mathematics:   AMA
• Publishing:   Chicago

You can find a full list of international style guides here .

Now that you know if you should be using MLA style, how do you format a book title with it?

How to Format a Book Title in MLA Style: Example

In MLA style, book titles are italicized, as so:

Henry Thorough argues in Walden  that the best life is lived in deliberate simplicity so as to discover what life truly is about.

In fact, most style guides, including MLA and   Chicago style, require book titles to be italicized , not underlined.

If the book title has a subtitle, the subtitle should be italicized as well and separated by a colon to be formatted correctly for MLA style, as in:

Natural History of the Intellect: the last lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson

Should You Underline Book Titles in MLA Style?

If you are using MLA style, you should not underline book titles. Instead, italicize the titles.

However, AP style, the guide used by journalists, suggests putting titles in quotation marks, not italicization.

Still, I wouldn't recommend underlining a book's title. In fact, I couldn't find a single style guide that requires book titles to be underlined, but if you know of one that does, let me know in the comments!

Which style guide do you use most? MLA? Chicago? APA? AP? Or do you just write based on your own rules?!  Let me know in the comments .

Let's cement this formatting lesson in our minds by putting it to use right away with the following writing exercise .

What are your favorite books of all time? Write about what you love about them and why they are your favorites for fifteen minutes . Make sure to use the correct formatting for each title!

When your time is up, post your practice in the comments section . And if you post, please be sure to read a few practices by other writers and share your feedback with them.

Happy writing!

Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

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How Do You Write the Title of a Book in MLA Style?

Have you read “ Italics and Underlining: Titles of Books ,” an article we published on TheWordCounter.com in May? 

Take a look at the previous sentence. In it, we’ve made use of the Modern Language Association’s guidelines for writing titles. Because the article is a part of a whole, meaning it’s a small part of a larger website , its title should be put in quotation marks. The larger work, the website, must be italicized. 

To take a step back, it’s important to understand that many different style guides exist, and they all give advice about how to format your writing, address grammar concerns, and provide information about the source material you use. Within the context of academic writing, often a teacher will give an assignment and specify which style guide you should use. Similarly—if you’re planning to publish your writing—journals, publishing companies, and editors may have strong preferences about formatting. At other times, you may be able to select a style guide based on your own preferences. 

For the purpose of this article, let’s assume that you’ve been assigned (or have chosen to write) a short essay in MLA format. If that’s the case, what do you need to know about writing titles?

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Works Cited

To begin, you’ll need to include a Works Cited section for your essay, as long as you have source material that you’re planning to quote or paraphrase. Let’s begin by looking at a standard citation for a book in MLA format. 

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

Notice that the title of the book is italicized. 

You would also use italics for other forms of media cited in their entirety: 

• News publications
• Anthologies

When you write the title, remember that the rules for capitalizing can be tricky. For MLA, title case requires that you capitalize the first word of the title and any subtitles, capitalize all principal words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns), and capitalize all the words that contain four letters or more. If you use a hyphenated word, be sure to capitalize the second part that comes after the hyphen. When the title has a subtitle, be sure to include a colon and a space between the main title and the subtitle. 

To review, here are a few fictional titles, along with the proper title case for MLA style:

• New York in the Spring: A Guide to Snacking
• Hot-Headedness and Anger From a Toddler’s Perspective
• The Unofficial Grammar Bible

In-Text Citations

For an in-text citation, you would simply follow your quotation or paraphrase with a parenthetical notation. Provide the reader with the author’s last name and the page number. This way, if the reader wants to review the source material that you used, he or she can find the book in the Works Cited section of your essay, and then look at the referenced page directly. 

When you use a parenthetical citation in this manner, you do not necessarily need to write the title of the book in your prose. That said, it is common to include the title of the book in your research paper or essay, especially the first time you refer to the book, in order to provide additional context for the quotation or paraphrase. If you include the author’s name in your prose, there is no need to repeat it in the in-text citation. 

Here are examples of both styles of in-text citation. 

• As Rick Hawthorne explains in Coordinating Conjunctions for Fun , “Grammar can be amazing” (75).
• According to a prominent linguistics professor, “Grammar can be amazing” (Hawthorne 75). 

In the examples above, you can see that including the title of the book may add context, but it is not necessary when you provide the in-text citation. If you choose to include the title, you should use the same title case and formatting that you use in the Works Cited section of your paper. 

What Titles Need Quotation Marks?

As a general rule, the titles that require quotation marks involve a partial work. For example, a chapter in a book only makes up part of a larger work. 

Based on the MLA handbook, we’ve created a list of media that fits into the “part of a whole” classification. Next to those titles, we’ve listed examples of the complete works, written in all capital letters. 

• Book chapters | BOOK TITLE
• Web pages | WEBSITE NAME
• News, magazine, and journal articles | NEWSPAPER, MAGAZINE, or JOURNAL TITLE
• TV episodes | TV SHOW TITLE
• Songs | ALBUM TITLE
• Short stories | ANTHOLOGY TITLE
• Poems | ANTHOLOGY TITLE
• Online videos | WEBSITE NAME

Of the items in the list above, the first set of titles should be written within a pair of quotation marks. The capitalized set of titles should be written with italics. 

Special Circumstances

There are a few situations that necessitate special rules. 

• When a work has no author, the title should be used in the place of the author’s last name for the in-text citation. Do not include subtitles in the in-text citation. If the full title is long, you may abbreviate it by dropping articles and prepositions, but you must maintain the first word as it’s alphabetized in your Works Cited. 
• When you quote or paraphrase from a chapter in an anthology or reference book, be sure to include the chapter title in your Works Cited list, between the author’s name and the name of the full work. 
• Add the English translation of a foreign-language title in brackets in your Works Cited, and add it in parentheses in your prose.
•  Although the following words and phrases describe parts of a work, they should not be confused with unique titles: preface, introduction, works cited, appendix, scene, stanza, chapter, bibliography, act, index. Since they are not titles, section names do not need to be put in quotations. 
• Musical compositions, laws, and religious scripture do not receive the same treatment as other titles. When in doubt, refer to the Modern Language Association for special exceptions. 
• When you come across a title within a title, use quotation marks or italics as normal. Quotes within quotes employ single quotes, and italics within italics revert back to non-italicized text. For example, if you have the title of a poem that appears within the title of a chapter, you would use single quotation marks within double quotation marks: “Understanding Whitman’s ‘Song of Myself'”. 
• For a title that ends in a question mark, there’s no need to add a colon before the subtitle. 
• According to the 8th edition of the MLA guidelines, you no longer need to include the city of publication for books published after 1900. For an older book, your citation should include that information.
• https://irsc.libguides.com/mla/intextexamples#
• https://www.scribbr.com/mla/titles/
• https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_general_format.html
• https://www.mla.org/MLA-Style
• ​ https://libguides.css.edu/c.php?g=41682&p=265033

Kari Lisa Johnson

I’m an award-winning playwright with a penchant for wordplay. After earning a perfect score on the Writing SAT, I worked my way through Brown University by moonlighting as a Kaplan Test Prep tutor. I received a BA with honors in Literary Arts (Playwriting)—which gave me the opportunity to study under Pulitzer Prize-winner Paula Vogel. In my previous roles as new media producer with Rosetta Stone, director of marketing for global ventures with The Juilliard School, and vice president of digital strategy with Up & Coming Media, I helped develop the voice for international brands. From my home office in Maui, Hawaii, I currently work on freelance and ghostwriting projects.

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How do I shorten a long title?

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 .

Extremely long titles and conventional titles usually condensed may be shortened in your prose and in your works-cited list.   

Extremely Long Titles

Some works, particularly older ones, have very long titles, such as this treatise by the seventeenth-century English physician John Bulwer:

Philocophus; or, The Deafe and Dumbe Mans Friend, Exhibiting the Philosophical Verity of That Subtile Art, Which May Enable One with an Observant Eie to Have What Any Man Speaks by the Moving of His Lips

To shorten the title of a long work in your writing or in your works-cited-list entry, include the beginning words of the title up to at least the first noun. Thus, Bulwer’s title can be shortened to

Philocophus

If, however, a work has an alternative title, as does Bulwer’s, it may be beneficial to include it—again, up to the first noun:

Philocophus; or, The Deafe and Dumbe Mans Friend

In some cases, shortening to the first noun in a works-cited-list entry will result in a title that is too vague. For example, the following title

Some Thoughts concerning the Present Revival of Religion in New-England, and the Way in Which It Ought to Be Acknowledged and Promoted, Humbly Offered to the Publick, in a Treatise on That Subject, in Five Parts

is best shortened to

Some Thoughts concerning the Present Revival of Religion in New-England

Some Thoughts

In your prose, after you refer to the works by the titles used in the works-cited list, it is acceptable to use Philocophus and Some Thoughts on subsequent mention.

Punctuation with Shortened Titles

In the works-cited-list entry, add an ellipsis after the first part of the title. If a period is needed, insert the period before the ellipsis.

Bulwer, John.  Philocophus; or, The Deafe and Dumbe Mans Friend. . . .      Humphrey Mosely, 1648.

If a comma is needed, as it would be when the long title is the title of a container, insert it after the ellipsis:

Smith, Ann. Introduction. Philocophus; or, The Deafe and Dumbe Mans Friend . . .  , Humphrey Mosely, 1648, pp. x-xxi.

Conventional Titles

Some titles may be known by their short forms. For example, let’s say an edition of Shakespeare’s works prints the following title:

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

It can be shortened in your works-cited-list entry and prose thus:

MLA Style Guide, 8th & 9th Editions: Title of source

• Works Cited entries: What to Include
• Title of source
• Title of container
• Contributors
• Publication date
• Supplemental Elements
• Book with Personal Author(s)
• Book with Organization as Author
• Book with Editor(s)
• Parts of Books
• Government Publication
• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Multivolume Works
• Newspaper Article
• Other Formats
• Websites, Social Media, and Email
• About In-text Citations
• In-text Examples
• How to Paraphrase and Quote
• Citing Poetry
• Formatting Your MLA Paper
• Formatting Your Works Cited List
• MLA Annotated Bibliography
• MLA 9th Edition Quick Guide
• Submit Your Paper for MLA Style Review

Title of source (Works Cited)

The title of source is the second core element in the Works Cited entry. In general, the title of a work is taken from the title page of the publication.

• Capitalize all principal words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.). Do not capitalize articles, prepositions, or conjunctions when they fall in the middle of a title.
• Separate a subtitle with a colon and a space.
• Italicize titles if the source is self-contained and independent. Titles of books, plays, films, periodicals, databases, and websites are italicized.
• Place titles in quotation marks if the source is part of a larger work. Articles, essays, chapters, poems, webpages, songs, and speeches are placed in quotation marks.
• Example of a journal article title which includes the title of a book: "Unbearable Weight of Authenticity: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God and Theory of 'Touristic Reading'."
• Example of a journal article title which includes the title of a short story: "Individualism in O'Connor's 'A Good Man is Hard to Find'."

Danticat, Edwidge.  Brother, I'm Dying.   Knopf , 2007.  

Chapter title in a book or anthology : 

Howard, Rebecca Moore. “Avoiding Sentence Fragments.” Writing Matters: A Handbook for Writing and Research, 2nd ed., McGraw Hill, 2014, pp. 600-10.

Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers:

Houtman, Eveline. “Mind-Blowing: Fostering Self-Regulated Learning in Information Literacy Instruction.” Communications in Information Literacy, vol. 9, no. 1, 2015, pp. 6-18. www.comminfolit.org/index.php?journal=cil&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=v9i1p6&path%5B%5D=203​.

Meade, Rita.  "It's Not Too Late to Advocate."  S crewy Decimal,  1 June 2016, www.screwydecimal.com/2016/06/its-not-too-late-to-advocate.html.

Entire Website:

Meade, Rita. Screwy Decimal .   2010-16, www.screwydecimal.com/.

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• Last Updated: Jan 23, 2024 11:37 AM
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• Formatting Guides

How to Cite a Short Story in MLA: Fast Way to Cite Your Favourite Stories

• Speech Topics
• Basics of Essay Writing
• Essay Topics
• Other Essays
• Main Academic Essays
• Research Paper Topics
• Basics of Research Paper Writing
• Miscellaneous
• Chicago/ Turabian
• Data & Statistics
• Methodology
• Admission Writing Tips
• Admission Advice
• Other Guides
• Student Life
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• Basics of Research Process
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• Dissertation & Thesis Guides

Table of contents

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When writing an academic essay, you can use various sources of information, inclusding short stories. 

To cite a short story in MLA format in your Works Cited, include the author's name, title of the short story in quotation marks, title of the collection or anthology in italics, name(s) of the editor(s), publisher, and year of publication. In-text, include the author's last name and page number(s) in parentheses after the quotation or paraphrased information. If the short story was accessed online, add the URL and date of access to the Works Cited entry.

There are several versions of short story citations depending on the source it is retrieved from.  Keep reading this article by our  college essay service  to see general structure for each citation along with practical examples.

Why Do You Need a Short Story MLA Citation?

Short story MLA citation is pretty useful! This material contains a brief and accurate plot with in-depth quotations and ideas that you can cite. But often, students ask themselves if they actually should include them cited within their work. And we absolutely encourage you to take advantage of it and provide an accurate citation of short stories. Each humanities work is rendered by MLA style specifically created for citation within this area. Additionally, it provides particular format rules each student should stick to.

MLA Short Story Citation: Printed Edition

MLA citation for short story involves entry elements incorporated within Works Cited and in-text citation. Short stories are typically gathered in a printed book or journal that should be cited too. Accordingly, such information as author and editor names, published date, title, and book/ journal title is presented within Works Cited. Keep following the next sections and learn applicable formulas.

How to Cite a Short Story in a Book in MLA

MLA citation short story in book discloses the principles of citing it from a book collection containing print information. Thus, more than a tale's title should be provided in the reference list and somehow within a text of paper. The general formula of bibliography is as follows:

If your story is not short and it is a Shakespeare masterpiece, for example, do not worry. Go to our library and find a blog about MLA citing Shakespeare . 

How to MLA Cite a Short Story in a Journal

On the other hand, such a source is often searched in journals, and you should provide a short story from a journal in MLA. An entry structure is quite the same with a difference in Journal Title. Thus, the general format looks like this:

If you need to cite journal article MLA , follow another guide. We prepared a special blog that will help you with this kind of citation.

MLA Citation for Short Story: Online Edition

Many sources are available in the network environment, and you can cite a short story online MLA. It is very convenient as you mustn't go to libraries and look for printed books. This way, the formula is different in some entry elements like website name and URL address. Accordingly, the general structure takes the following look:

It is a good idea to cite an interview in your work. Fortunately, we have a special well-detailed blog. It explains  how to cite an interview MLA .

Final Thoughts on Citing a Short Story in MLA

Whatever relevant information you find for your writing, now you know how to cite a short story MLA. You shouldn't limit yourself in sources because you don't know how to deal with a citation. Our article is created for you to succeed in your academic performance and help to provide quality work. MLA style is perfect for writing essays and citing short stories you find necessary to include within your paperwork. 

Check out our essay writing website for worthy insights! Our academic assistants will help you with anything, from simple advice to writing essays for you.

Emma Flores knows all about formatting standards. She shares with StudyCrumb readers tips on creating academic papers that will meet high-quality standards.

You may also like

MLA Citation Guide

• Capitalization and Styling for Titles
• In-Text Citations
• Sample Papers

Capitalization of Titles in MLA

Capitalizing titles.

When you are writing the title of a work in an MLA-formatted paper, the rules can appear confusing. However, they are simple once you get used to working with them. If the title on the cover and title page do not match, use the one from the title page. You will probably capitalize most of the words in the title.

Here is what you capitalize:

• The first and last word of the title
• Verbs and adverbs
• Nouns and pronouns
• Subordinating conjunctions (for example, as , because , if )

Here is what you don't capitalize:

• a, an, and, but, nor, the, so, to, yet
• prepositions (words like as, between, or in )

If you are not sure what part of speech a word is, online dictionaries such as Merriam-Webster will tell you.

Note : There are two exception to the capitalization rules. First, capitalize any word if it's the last word in the title. For example, you would write the book title Island Between with between capitalized even though it's a preposition. The second exception is that you capitalize anything that follows a colon. Here is an example: Citations: A Study of Good Practices . Normally, you wouldn't capitalize a , but in this case you would.

If you would like more information on capitalizing titles, check out page 54 of the MLA Handbook, Ninth Edition . It is available in the library with the call number LB 2369 .M52 2021.

Capitalizing Quotes

According to MLA style, how you capitalize words in quotes depends upon the context.

Quotes in Text

Whenever you quote a text, you may need to change the capitalization used in the quote. If your sentence before the quote uses a word like says , states , writes , etc., you will want to capitalize the first word you quote. If you do change a lower case word to upper case, put the capitalized letter in brackets. This tells your reader that you changed the text a little. Here is an example:

Original sentence: Cats are affectionate, and dogs are playful.

Example one: Smith says "Cats are affectionate."

Example two: Smith says "[D]ogs are affectionate."

If your sentence uses a word that isn't says , writes , etc., you will want to make the first word of the quote lower case, unless it is a proper noun like someone's name. Here is an example:

Example one: Smith's research determined that "[c]ats are affectionate."

Example two: Smith noted that "dogs are affectionate."

Block Quotes

The first word of block quotes are always capitalized, and brackets used if you have to change the first word from lower case to capitalized.

If you would like more information on capitalization in quotes, check out page 268 of the MLA Handbook, Ninth Edition . It is available in the library with the call number LB 2369 .M52 2021.

Styling Titles in MLA

How to style a title in mla.

When using the MLA citation method, there are two different ways to style titles you write in your text. They will be either italicized or in quotation marks. As a general rule, complete works (like a book, play, or movie) would be italicized, but works that appear inside another work (such as a short story that appears in an anthology of stories, or an article from a scholarly journal) will be put in quotation marks. Here is an example:

Smith's short story "The Happy Dog" first appeared in his book of collected stories Dog and Cat Tales .

There are exceptions, however. If a work would normally be italicized, but appears inside another work, it stays italicized. For example, a publisher may print a collection of short novels or plays inside one large book. Because novels and plays are normally italicized, they stay italicized even though they're part of a larger work.

Here is a brief list of what is italicized, and what is put in quotation marks:

If you would like more information on styling titles, check out page 66 of the MLA Handbook, Ninth Edition . It is available in the library with the call number LB 2369 .M52 2021.

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MLA Works Cited Page: Books

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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.

When you are gathering book sources, be sure to make note of the following bibliographic items: the author name(s), other contributors such as translators or editors, the book’s title, editions of the book, the publication date, the publisher, and the pagination.

The 8 th  edition of 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.

Please note these changes in the new edition:

• Commas are used instead of periods between Publisher, Publication Date, and Pagination.
• Medium is no longer necessary.
• Containers are now a part of the MLA process. Commas should be used after container titles.
• DOIs should be used instead of URLS when available.
• Use the term “Accessed” instead of listing the date or the abbreviation, “n.d."

Below is the general format for any citation:

Author. Title. Title of container (do not list container for standalone books, e.g. novels), Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs URL or DOI). 2 nd  container’s title, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location, Date of Access (if applicable).

Basic Book Format

The author’s name or a book with a single author's name appears in last name, first name format. The basic form for a book citation is:

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

* Note: the City of Publication should only be used if the book was published before 1900, if the publisher has offices in more than one country, or if the publisher is unknown in North America.

Book with One Author

Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science . Penguin, 1987.

Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House . MacMurray, 1999.

Book with More Than One Author

When a book has two authors, order the authors in the same way they are presented in the book. Start by listing the first name that appears on the book in last name, first name format; subsequent author names appear in normal order (first name last name format).

Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring . Allyn and Bacon, 2000.

If there are three or more authors, list only the first author followed by the phrase et al. (Latin for "and others") in place of the subsequent authors' names. (Note that there is a period after “al” in “et al.” Also note that there is never a period after the “et” in “et al.”).

Wysocki, Anne Frances, et al. Writing New Media: Theory and Applications for Expanding the Teaching of Composition . Utah State UP, 2004.

Two or More Books by the Same Author

List works alphabetically by title. (Remember to ignore articles like A, An, and The.) Provide the author’s name in last name, first name format for the first entry only. For each subsequent entry by the same author, use three hyphens and a period.

Palmer, William J. Dickens and New Historicism . St. Martin's, 1997.

---. The Films of the Eighties: A Social History . Southern Illinois UP, 1993.

Book by a Corporate Author or Organization

A corporate author may include a commission, a committee, a government agency, or a group that does not identify individual members on the title page.

List the names of corporate authors in the place where an author’s name typically appears at the beginning of the entry.

American Allergy Association. Allergies in Children . Random House, 1998.

When the author and publisher are the same, skip the author, and list the title first. Then, list the corporate author only as the publisher.

Fair Housing—Fair Lending. Aspen Law & Business, 1985.

Book with No Author

List by title of the book. Incorporate these entries alphabetically just as you would with works that include an author name. For example, the following entry might appear between entries of works written by Dean, Shaun and Forsythe, Jonathan.

Encyclopedia of Indiana . Somerset, 1993.

Remember that for an in-text (parenthetical) citation of a book with no author, you should provide the name of the work in the signal phrase and the page number in parentheses. You may also use a shortened version of the title of the book accompanied by the page number. For more information see the In-text Citations for Print Sources with No Known Author section of In-text Citations: The Basics .

A Translated Book

If you want to emphasize the work rather than the translator, cite as you would any other book. Add “translated by” and follow with the name(s) of the translator(s).

Foucault, Michel. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason . Translated by Richard Howard, Vintage-Random House, 1988.

If you want to focus on the translation, list the translator as the author. In place of the author’s name, the translator’s name appears. His or her name is followed by the label, “translator.” If the author of the book does not appear in the title of the book, include the name, with a “By” after the title of the book and before the publisher. Note that this type of citation is less common and should only be used for papers or writing in which translation plays a central role.

Howard, Richard, translator. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason . By Michel Foucault, Vintage-Random House, 1988.

Republished Book

Books may be republished due to popularity without becoming a new edition. New editions are typically revisions of the original work. For books that originally appeared at an earlier date and that have been republished at a later one, insert the original publication date before the publication information.

For books that are new editions (i.e. different from the first or other editions of the book), see An Edition of a Book below.

Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble . 1990. Routledge, 1999.

Erdrich, Louise. Love Medicine . 1984. Perennial-Harper, 1993.

An Edition of a Book

There are two types of editions in book publishing: a book that has been published more than once in different editions and a book that is prepared by someone other than the author (typically an editor).

A Subsequent Edition

Cite the book as you normally would, but add the number of the edition after the title.

Crowley, Sharon, and Debra Hawhee. Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students . 3rd ed., Pearson, 2004.

A Work Prepared by an Editor

Cite the book as you normally would, but add the editor after the title with the label "edited by."

Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre,  edited by Margaret Smith, Oxford UP, 1998.

Note that the format for citing sources with important contributors with editor-like roles follows the same basic template:

...adapted by John Doe...

Finally, in the event that the source features a contributor that cannot be described with a past-tense verb and the word "by" (e.g., "edited by"), you may instead use a noun followed by a comma, like so:

...guest editor, Jane Smith...

Anthology or Collection (e.g. Collection of Essays)

To cite the entire anthology or collection, list by editor(s) followed by a comma and "editor" or, for multiple editors, "editors." This sort of entry is somewhat rare. If you are citing a particular piece within an anthology or collection (more common), see A Work in an Anthology, Reference, or Collection below.

Hill, Charles A., and Marguerite Helmers, editors. Defining Visual Rhetorics . Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004.

Peterson, Nancy J., editor. Toni Morrison: Critical and Theoretical Approaches . Johns Hopkins UP, 1997.

A Work in an Anthology, Reference, or Collection

Works may include an essay in an edited collection or anthology, or a chapter of a book. The basic form is for this sort of citation is as follows:

Last name, First name. "Title of Essay." Title of Collection , edited by Editor's Name(s), Publisher, Year, Page range of entry.

Some examples:

Harris, Muriel. "Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers." A Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers One to One , edited by Ben Rafoth, Heinemann, 2000, pp. 24-34.

Swanson, Gunnar. "Graphic Design Education as a Liberal Art: Design and Knowledge in the University and The 'Real World.'" The Education of a Graphic Designer , edited by Steven Heller, Allworth Press, 1998, pp. 13-24.

Note on Cross-referencing Several Items from One Anthology: If you cite more than one essay from the same edited collection, MLA indicates you may cross-reference within your works cited list in order to avoid writing out the publishing information for each separate essay. You should consider this option if you have several references from a single text. To do so, include a separate entry for the entire collection listed by the editor's name as below:

Rose, Shirley K, and Irwin Weiser, editors. The Writing Program Administrator as Researcher . Heinemann, 1999.

Then, for each individual essay from the collection, list the author's name in last name, first name format, the title of the essay, the editor's last name, and the page range:

L'Eplattenier, Barbara. "Finding Ourselves in the Past: An Argument for Historical Work on WPAs." Rose and Weiser, pp. 131-40.

Peeples, Tim. "'Seeing' the WPA With/Through Postmodern Mapping." Rose and Weiser, pp. 153-67.

Please note: When cross-referencing items in the works cited list, alphabetical order should be maintained for the entire list.

Poem or Short Story Examples :

Burns, Robert. "Red, Red Rose." 100 Best-Loved Poems, edited by Philip Smith, Dover, 1995, p. 26.

Kincaid, Jamaica. "Girl." The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories , edited by Tobias Wolff, Vintage, 1994, pp. 306-07.

If the specific literary work is part of the author's own collection (all of the works have the same author), then there will be no editor to reference:

Whitman, Walt. "I Sing the Body Electric." Selected Poems, Dover, 1991, pp. 12-19.

Carter, Angela. "The Tiger's Bride." Burning Your Boats: The Collected Stories, Penguin, 1995, pp. 154-69.

Article in a Reference Book (e.g. Encyclopedias, Dictionaries)

For entries in encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference works, cite the entry name as you would any other work in a collection but do not include the publisher information. Also, if the reference book is organized alphabetically, as most are, do not list the volume or the page number of the article or item.

"Ideology." The American Heritage Dictionary.  3rd ed. 1997. 

A Multivolume Work

When citing only one volume of a multivolume work, include the volume number after the work's title, or after the work's editor or translator.

Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria . Translated by H. E. Butler, vol. 2, Loeb-Harvard UP, 1980.

When citing more than one volume of a multivolume work, cite the total number of volumes in the work. Also, be sure in your in-text citation to provide both the volume number and page number(s) ( see "Citing Multivolume Works" on our in-text citations resource .)

Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria . Translated by H. E. Butler, Loeb-Harvard UP, 1980. 4 vols.

If the volume you are using has its own title, cite the book without referring to the other volumes as if it were an independent publication.

Churchill, Winston S. The Age of Revolution . Dodd, 1957.

An Introduction, Preface, Foreword, or Afterword

When citing an introduction, a preface, a foreword, or an afterword, write the name of the author(s) of the piece you are citing. Then give the name of the part being cited, which should not be italicized or enclosed in quotation marks; in italics, provide the name of the work and the name of the author of the introduction/preface/foreword/afterword. Finish the citation with the details of publication and page range.

Farrell, Thomas B. Introduction. Norms of Rhetorical Culture , by Farrell, Yale UP, 1993, pp. 1-13.

If the writer of the piece is different from the author of the complete work , then write the full name of the principal work's author after the word "By." For example, if you were to cite Hugh Dalziel Duncan’s introduction of Kenneth Burke’s book Permanence and Change, you would write the entry as follows:

Duncan, Hugh Dalziel. Introduction. Permanence and Change: An Anatomy of Purpose, by Kenneth Burke, 1935, 3rd ed., U of California P, 1984, pp. xiii-xliv.

Book Published Before 1900

Original copies of books published before 1900 are usually defined by their place of publication rather than the publisher. Unless you are using a newer edition, cite the city of publication where you would normally cite the publisher.

Thoreau, Henry David. Excursions . Boston, 1863.

Italicize “The Bible” and follow it with the version you are using. Remember that your in-text (parenthetical citation) should include the name of the specific edition of the Bible, followed by an abbreviation of the book, the chapter and verse(s). (See Citing the Bible at In-Text Citations: The Basics .)

The Bible. Authorized King James Version , Oxford UP, 1998.

The Bible. The New Oxford Annotated Version , 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2001.

The New Jerusalem Bible. Edited by Susan Jones, Doubleday, 1985.

A Government Publication

Cite the author of the publication if the author is identified. Otherwise, start with the name of the national government, followed by the agency (including any subdivisions or agencies) that serves as the organizational author. For congressional documents, be sure to include the number of the Congress and the session when the hearing was held or resolution passed as well as the report number. US government documents are typically published by the Government Printing Office.

United States, Congress, Senate, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearing on the Geopolitics of Oil . Government Printing Office, 2007. 110th Congress, 1st session, Senate Report 111-8.

United States, Government Accountability Office. Climate Change: EPA and DOE Should Do More to Encourage Progress Under Two Voluntary Programs . Government Printing Office, 2006.

Cite the title and publication information for the pamphlet just as you would a book without an author. Pamphlets and promotional materials commonly feature corporate authors (commissions, committees, or other groups that does not provide individual group member names). If the pamphlet you are citing has no author, cite as directed below. If your pamphlet has an author or a corporate author, put the name of the author (last name, first name format) or corporate author in the place where the author name typically appears at the beginning of the entry. (See also Books by a Corporate Author or Organization above.)

Women's Health: Problems of the Digestive System . American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2006.

Your Rights Under California Welfare Programs . California Department of Social Services, 2007.

Dissertations and Master's Theses

Dissertations and master's theses may be used as sources whether published or not. Unlike previous editions, MLA 8 specifies no difference in style for published/unpublished works.

The main elements of a dissertation citation are the same as those for a book: author name(s), title (italicized) , and publication date. Conclude with an indication of the document type (e.g., "PhD dissertation"). The degree-granting institution may be included before the document type (though this is not required). If the dissertation was accessed through an online repository, include it as the second container after all the other elements.

Bishop, Karen Lynn. Documenting Institutional Identity: Strategic Writing in the IUPUI Comprehensive Campaign . 2002. Purdue University, PhD dissertation.

Bile, Jeffrey. Ecology, Feminism, and a Revised Critical Rhetoric: Toward a Dialectical Partnership . 2005. Ohio University, PhD dissertation.

Mitchell, Mark. The Impact of Product Quality Reducing Events on the Value of Brand-Name Capital: Evidence from Airline Crashes and the 1982 Tylenol Poisonings.  1987. PhD dissertation.  ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.

List the names of corporate authors in the place where an author’s name typically appears at the beginning of the entry if the author and publisher are not the same.

Fair Housing—Fair Lending. Aspen Law & Business, 1985.

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Frequently asked questions

How do you write a book title in mla.

In MLA style , book titles appear in italics, with all major words capitalized. If there is a subtitle, separate it from the main title with a colon and a space (even if no colon appears in the source). For example:

The format is the same in the Works Cited list and in the text itself. However, when you mention the book title in the text, you don’t have to include the subtitle.

The title of a part of a book—such as a chapter, or a short story or poem in a collection—is not italicized, but instead placed in quotation marks.

Frequently asked questions: MLA Style

In MLA style , footnotes or endnotes can be used to provide additional information that would interrupt the flow of your text.

This can be further examples or developments of ideas you only briefly discuss in the text. You can also use notes to provide additional sources or explain your citation practice.

You don’t have to use any notes at all; only use them to provide relevant information that complements your arguments or helps the reader to understand them.

No, you should use parenthetical MLA in-text citations to cite sources. Footnotes or endnotes can be used to add extra information that doesn’t fit into your main text, but they’re not needed for citations.

If you need to cite a lot of sources at the same point in the text, though, placing these citations in a note can be a good way to avoid cluttering your text.

According to MLA format guidelines, the Works Cited page(s) should look like this:

• Running head containing your surname and the page number.
• The title, Works Cited, centered and in plain text.
• List of sources alphabetized by the author’s surname.
• Left-aligned.
• Double-spaced.
• 1-inch margins.
• Hanging indent applied to all entries.

The MLA Works Cited lists every source that you cited in your paper. Each entry contains the author , title , and publication details of the source.

No, in an MLA annotated bibliography , you can write short phrases instead of full sentences to keep your annotations concise. You can still choose to use full sentences instead, though.

Use full sentences in your annotations if your instructor requires you to, and always use full sentences in the main text of your paper .

If you’re working on a group project and therefore need to list multiple authors for your paper , MLA recommends against including a normal header . Instead, create a separate title page .

On the title page, list each author on a separate line, followed by the other usual information from the header: Instructor, course name and number, and submission date. Then write the title halfway down the page, centered, and start the text of the paper itself on the next page.

Usually, no title page is needed in an MLA paper . A header is generally included at the top of the first page instead. The exceptions are when:

• Your instructor requires one, or
• Your paper is a group project

In those cases, you should use a title page instead of a header, listing the same information but on a separate page.

When an online source (e.g. web page , blog post) doesn’t list a publication date , you should instead list an access date .

Unlike a publication date, this appears at the end of your MLA Works Cited entry, after the URL, e.g. “A Complete Guide to MLA Style.” Scribbr , www.scribbr.com/category/mla/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2021 .

For offline sources with no publication date shown, don’t use an access date—just leave out the date.

The level of detail you provide in a publication date in your Works Cited list depends on the type of source and the information available. Generally, follow the lead of the source—if it gives the full date, give the full date; if it gives just the year, so should you.

Books usually list the year, whereas web pages tend to give a full date. For journal articles , give the year, month and year, or season and year, depending on what information is available. Check our citation examples if you’re unsure about a particular source type.

In an MLA Works Cited list , the names of months with five or more letters are abbreviated to the first three letters, followed by a period. For example, abbreviate Feb., Mar., Apr., but not June, July.

In the main text, month names should never be abbreviated.

In your MLA Works Cited list , dates are always written in day-month-year order, with the month abbreviated if it’s five or more letters long, e.g. 5 Mar. 2018.

In the main text, you’re free to use either day-month-year or month-day-year order, as long as you use one or the other consistently. Don’t abbreviate months in the main text, and use numerals for dates, e.g. 5 March 2018 or March 5, 2018.

In most standard dictionaries , no author is given for either the overall dictionary or the individual entries, so no author should be listed in your MLA citations.

Instead, start your Works Cited entry and your MLA in-text citation with the title of the entry you’re citing (i.e. the word that’s being defined), in quotation marks.

If you cite a specialist dictionary that does list an author and/or overall editor, these should be listed in the same way as they would for other citations of books or book chapters .

Some source types, such as books and journal articles , may contain footnotes (or endnotes) with additional information. The following rules apply when citing information from a note in an MLA in-text citation :

• To cite information from a single numbered note, write “n” after the page number, and then write the note number, e.g. (Smith 105n2)
• To cite information from multiple numbered notes, write “nn” and include a range, e.g. (Smith 77nn1–2)
• To cite information from an unnumbered note, write “un” after the page number, with a space in between, e.g. (Jones 250 un)

If you cite multiple Shakespeare plays throughout your paper, the MLA in-text citation begins with an abbreviated version of the title (as shown here ), e.g. ( Oth. 1.2.4). Each play should have its own  Works Cited entry (even if they all come from the same collection).

If you cite only one Shakespeare play in your paper, you should include a Works Cited entry for that play, and your in-text citations should start with the author’s name , e.g. (Shakespeare 1.1.4).

No, do not use page numbers in your MLA in-text citations of Shakespeare plays . Instead, specify the act, scene, and line numbers of the quoted material, separated by periods, e.g. (Shakespeare 3.2.20–25).

This makes it easier for the reader to find the relevant passage in any edition of the text.

When an article (e.g. in a newspaper ) appears on non-consecutive pages (e.g. starting on page 1 and continuing on page 6), you should use “pp.” in your Works Cited entry, since it’s on multiple pages, but MLA recommends just listing the first page followed by a plus sign, e.g. pp. 1+.

In an MLA style Works Cited entry for a newspaper , you can cite a local newspaper in the same way as you would a national one, except that you may have to add the name of the city in square brackets to clarify what newspaper you mean, e.g. The Gazette [Montreal].

Do not add the city name in brackets if it’s already part of the newspaper’s name, e.g. Dallas Observer .

MLA doesn’t require you to list an author for a TV show . If your citation doesn’t focus on a particular contributor, just start your Works Cited entry with the title of the episode or series, and use this (shortened if necessary) in your MLA in-text citation .

If you focus on a particular contributor (e.g. the writer or director, a particular actor), you can list them in the author position , along with a label identifying their role.

It’s standard to list the podcast’s host in the author position , accompanied by the label “host,” in an MLA Works Cited entry. It’s sometimes more appropriate to use the label “narrator,” when the podcast just tells a story without any guests.

If your citation of the podcast focuses more on the contribution of someone else (e.g. a guest, the producer), they can be listed in the author position instead, with an appropriate label.

MLA recommends citing the original source wherever possible, rather than the source in which it is quoted or reproduced.

If this isn’t possible, cite the secondary source and use “qtd. in” (quoted in) in your MLA in-text citation . For example: (qtd. in Smith 233)

If a source is reproduced in full within another source (e.g. an image within a PowerPoint  or a poem in an article ), give details of the original source first, then include details of the secondary source as a container. For example:

When you want to cite a PowerPoint or lecture notes from a lecture you viewed in person in MLA , check whether they can also be accessed online ; if so, this is the best version to cite, as it allows the reader to access the source.

If the material is not available online, use the details of where and when the presentation took place.

In an MLA song citation , you need to give some sort of container to indicate how you accessed the song. If this is a physical or downloaded album, the Works Cited entry should list the album name, distributor, year, and format.

However, if you listened to the song on a streaming service, you can just list the site as a container, including a URL. In this case, including the album details is optional; you may add this information if it is relevant to your discussion or if it will help the reader access the song.

When citing a song in MLA style , the author is usually the main artist or group that released the song.

However, if your discussion focuses on the contributions of a specific performer, e.g. a guitarist or singer, you may list them as author, even if they are not the main artist. If you’re discussing the lyrics or composition, you may cite the songwriter or composer rather than a performer.

When a source has no title , this part of your MLA reference is replaced with a description of the source, in plain text (no italics or quotation marks, sentence-case capitalization).

Whenever you refer to an image created by someone else in your text, you should include a citation leading the reader to the image you’re discussing.

If you include the image directly in your text as a figure , the details of the source appear in the figure’s caption. If you don’t, just include an MLA in-text citation wherever you mention the image, and an entry in the Works Cited list giving full details.

In MLA Style , you should cite a specific chapter or work within a book in two situations:

• When each of the book’s chapters is written by a different author.
• When the book is a collection of self-contained works (such as poems , plays , or short stories ), even if they are all written by the same author.

If you cite multiple chapters or works from the same book, include a separate Works Cited entry for each chapter.

If a source has no author, start the MLA Works Cited entry with the source title . Use a shortened version of the title in your MLA in-text citation .

If a source has no page numbers, you can use an alternative locator (e.g. a chapter number, or a timestamp for a video or audio source) to identify the relevant passage in your in-text citation. If the source has no numbered divisions, cite only the author’s name (or the title).

If you already named the author or title in your sentence, and there is no locator available, you don’t need a parenthetical citation:

• Rajaram  argues that representations of migration are shaped by “cultural, political, and ideological interests.”
• The homepage of The Correspondent describes it as “a movement for radically different news.”

If a source has two authors, name both authors in your MLA in-text citation and Works Cited entry. If there are three or more authors, name only the first author, followed by et al.

You must include an MLA in-text citation every time you quote or paraphrase from a source (e.g. a book , movie , website , or article ).

MLA Style  is the second most used citation style (after APA ). It is mainly used by students and researchers in humanities fields such as literature, languages, and philosophy.

If information about your source is not available, you can either leave it out of the MLA citation or replace it with something else, depending on the type of information.

• No author : Start with the source title.
• No title : Provide a description of the source.
• No date : Provide an access date for online sources; omit for other sources.

A standard MLA Works Cited entry  is structured as follows:

Only include information that is available for and relevant to your source.

Yes. MLA style uses title case, which means that all principal words (nouns, pronouns , verbs, adjectives , adverbs , and some conjunctions ) are capitalized.

This applies to titles of sources as well as the title of, and subheadings in, your paper. Use MLA capitalization style even when the original source title uses different capitalization .

The title of an article is not italicized in MLA style , but placed in quotation marks. This applies to articles from journals , newspapers , websites , or any other publication. Use italics for the title of the source where the article was published. For example:

Use the same formatting in the Works Cited entry and when referring to the article in the text itself.

In MLA style citations , format a DOI as a link, including “https://doi.org/” at the start and then the unique numerical code of the article.

DOIs are used mainly when citing journal articles in MLA .

The MLA Handbook is currently in its 9th edition , published in 2021.

This quick guide to MLA style  explains the latest guidelines for citing sources and formatting papers according to MLA.

The fastest and most accurate way to create MLA citations is by using Scribbr’s MLA Citation Generator .

Search by book title, page URL, or journal DOI to automatically generate flawless citations, or cite manually using the simple citation forms.

MLA recommends using 12-point Times New Roman , since it’s easy to read and installed on every computer. Other standard fonts such as Arial or Georgia are also acceptable. If in doubt, check with your supervisor which font you should be using.

To create a correctly formatted block quote in Microsoft Word, follow these steps:

• Hit Enter at the beginning and end of the quote.
• Highlight the quote and select the Layout menu.
• On the Indent tab, change the left indent to 0.5″.

Do not put quotation marks around the quote, and make sure to include an MLA in-text citation after the period at the end.

To format a block quote in MLA:

• Introduce the quote with a colon and set it on a new line.
• Indent the whole quote 0.5 inches from the left margin.
• Place the MLA in-text citation after the period at the end of the block quote.

Then continue your text on a new line (not indented).

In MLA style , if you quote more than four lines from a source, use MLA block quote formatting .

If you are quoting poetry , use block quote formatting for any quote longer than three lines.

An MLA in-text citation should always include the author’s last name, either in the introductory text or in parentheses after a quote .

If line numbers or page numbers are included in the original source, add these to the citation.

If you are discussing multiple poems by the same author, make sure to also mention the title of the poem (shortened if necessary). The title goes in quotation marks .

In the list of Works Cited , start with the poet’s name and the poem’s title in quotation marks. The rest of the citation depends on where the poem was published.

If you read the poem in a book or anthology, follow the format of an MLA book chapter citation . If you accessed the poem online, follow the format of an MLA website citation .

Only use line numbers in an MLA in-text citation if the lines are numbered in the original source. If so, write “lines” in the first citation of the poem , and only the numbers in subsequent citations.

If there are no line numbers in the source, you can use page numbers instead. If the poem appears on only one page of a book (or on a website ), don’t include a number in the citation.

To quote poetry in MLA style , introduce the quote and use quotation marks as you would for any other source quotation .

If the quote includes line breaks, mark these using a forward slash with a space on either side. Use two slashes to indicate a stanza break.

If the quote is longer than three lines, set them off from the main text as an MLA block quote . Reproduce the line breaks, punctuation, and formatting of the original.

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