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How to Cite a Blog in MLA 9

Blog – A website with regular (and sometimes opinionated) posts that allows commentary and discussion from readers. To cite a website in MLA that’s not a blog, you’ll need to use a different citation format.

Citing a Blog Post

Mla blog post citation structure :.

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. “Title of Post.”  Blog Name,  Publisher (only include this information if it is different than the name of the blog site), date blog post was published, URL. Column or section name (if applicable).

Note: MLA 9 does not require the access date for online articles . (This is the day that the article was found and read.) However, some instructors still ask for it – double-check if your instructor requires it.

MLA Blog Post Citation Example:

Cohen, Micah. “Retirements Contributing to Largest Senate Turnover in Decades.” FiveThirtyEight , The New York Times Company, 28 Mar. 2013, fivethirtyeight.com/features/retirements-contributing-to-largest-senate-turnover-in-decades/.

MLA Blog Post In-text Citation Structure: 

(Author Last Name)

MLA Blog Post In-text Citation Example: 

Note: Blog posts are sometimes posted in a video format (known as a vlog) on websites like YouTube. In those cases, you will instead need to know how to cite a YouTube video in MLA .

MLA Formatting Guide

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• Bibliography
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• et al Usage
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• Sample Paper
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• MLA 8 Updates
• MLA 9 Updates
• View MLA Guide

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• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Website (no author)
• View all MLA Examples

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How to cite a blog post in MLA

To cite a blog post in a reference entry in MLA style 9th edition include the following elements:

• Author(s) name: Give the last name and name as presented in the source (e. g. Watson, John). For two authors, reverse only the first name, followed by ‘and’ and the second name in normal order (e. g. Watson, John, and John Watson). For three or more authors, list the first name followed by et al. (e. g. Watson, John, et al.)
• Title of the post: Titles are italicized when independent. If part of a larger source add quotation marks and do not italize.
• Title of the blog: Container titles are italicized and followed by a comma.
• Date of posting: Give the day, month and year of publication. All months, excluding June and July, are abbreviated as three letters (e.g. 9 Aug. 2019.)
• URL: Copy URL in full from your browser, include http:// or https:// and do not list URLs created by shortening services.

Here is the basic format for a reference list entry of a blog post in MLA style 9th edition:

Author(s) name . " Title of the post ." Title of the blog , Date of posting , URL .

Take a look at our works cited examples that demonstrate the MLA style guidelines in action:

A blog post with one author from a popular digital platform

Miller, Shannon . " Google's Change the Game initiative is turning girls into game developers ." Hello Giggles , 11 Dec. 2018 , hellogiggles.com/lifestyle/google-play-change-the-game-girls-gaming/ .

A blog post with one author from a science digital platform

Torres, Phil . " Why We Should Think Twice About Colonizing Space ." Nautilus , 18 Feb. 2019 , nautil.us/blog/-why-we-should-think-twice-about-colonizing-space .

This citation style guide is based on the MLA Handbook (9 th edition).

More useful guides

• MLA 8 Citation Guide: Blog and Tweets
• MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources
• MLA 8th ed. Style Guide: Web Sites, Blogs

More great BibGuru guides

• APA: how to cite a report
• AMA: how to cite a phd thesis
• MLA: how to cite a TV show episode

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How to Cite a Blog Post in MLA

Tomas elliott (ma).

• Published on 05/07/2024

Citing a blog post in MLA style is essential for academic integrity and giving credit to the original source of information. MLA format provides a standardized way to acknowledge online content, including blog posts. Here’s a detailed guide on how to cite a blog post in MLA format.

CITATION ELEMENTS OF A BLOG POST

• Author or Screen Name: Start with the name of the author or their screen name if available. Use the real name if provided, otherwise, opt for the screen name.
• Title of Blog Post: Enclose the title of the blog post within quotation marks to distinguish it from the rest of the citation.
• Name of Blog: Italicize the name of the blog to indicate that it is a title of a standalone work.
• Blog Network/Publisher: Include the name of the blog network or publisher if it is provided. If this information is not available, you can omit this part of the citation.
• Date of Post: Format the date of the post in the following order: Day, Month, Year. For example: 7 May 2024.
• URL: Insert the URL of the blog post in the citation. Ensure that the URL is accurate and functional, allowing readers to access the source easily.

EXAMPLE CITATION FOR BLOG POST

Let’s consider the citation of a blog post authored by Denise Williams titled “5 Must-Have Accessories for Spring Fashion” from the Chic Trends Blog, a part of the Chic Trends Network. This post was published on 7 May 2024.

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Tomas Elliott is completing a PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Pennsylvania, where he has taught academic writing, research methodologies, and citation practices.

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MLA Citation Guide (MLA 9th Edition): Social Media

• Understanding Core Elements
• Formatting Appendices and Works Cited List
• Writing an Annotated Bibliography
• Academic Honesty and Citation
• In-Text Citation
• Charts, Graphs, Images, and Tables
• Class Notes and Presentations
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• In Digital Assignments
• Interviews and Emails
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• Newspaper Articles

Social Media

• Special Collections
• Videos and DVDs
• When Information Is Missing
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When referencing a general social media account, an in text citation can be provided in parenthesis. Documentation in the works-cited list is not necessary. For example: 

Prospective students seeking information about the University of Nevada, Reno can visit the University's official Twitter account (@UNevadaReno).

When specific authored content is being referenced, the source should be included in the works-cited list. Formatting guidelines for blog posts, Facebook, Podcasts, and Twitter are provided below.

Host's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Podcast Episode." Title of Overall Podcast , Episode Number if Given, Web Site Hosting If Different From Podcast Title, Day Month Year of Episode, URL of episode. Accessed Day Month Year podcast was downloaded/played.

O rton, Tyler, and Patrick  Blennerhassett . "Lessons From the Brexit."  BIV Podcast , Episode 18, Business Vancouver, 28 June 2016,  www.biv.com/article/2016/6/biv-podcast-episode-18-lessons-brexit/. Accessed 2 July 2016

Author's Last Name, First Name or Username if real name not provided. "Title of Blog Post." Name of Blog,  Blog Network/Publisher if given, Day Month Year of blog post, URL of blog post.

Naish , Darren. "If Bigfoot Were Real."  Tetrapod Zoology , Scientific American Blogs, 27  June 20 16,  blogs.scientificamerican.com/ tetrapod-zoology / if-bigfoot-were-real /.

Author Last Name, First Name or Account Name. Description of Post. Facebook ,   Day Month Year of Post, Time of Post, URL. Accessed Day Month Year post was viewed.

Rick Mercer Report. Spread the Net Challenge Winners 2016.  Facebook , 23 Mar. 2016, 9:00 a.m., www.facebook.com/rickmercerreport. Accessed 26 June 2016. 

 Note:  Facebook posts can be lengthy. Describe the post instead of reposting the complete content. To find the time of a Facebook post, hover mouse next to the date of the post over the clock icon. It may not be possible to link directly to the specific post itself.

Twitter Handle (First Name Last Name if Known). "The entire tweet word-for-word." Twitter , Day Month Year of Tweet, Time of Tweet, URL.

Sohaib Athar  [@ReallyVirtual]. "Helicopter hovering above Abbottad at 1AM is a rare event."  Twitter,   4 Jan. 2013, 3:58 p.m. twitter.com/reallyvirtual/status/64780730286358528?lang=en.

 Note : Write out the actual Tweet in the citation. Keep spelling and grammar the same as in the original, even if there are errors.  When quoting the Tweet, write [sic] in square brackets to indicate the spelling or grammatical errors are not your own. For example, if the Tweet is "It isn't you're fault the media is violent", write: "It isn't you're [sic] fault the media is violent."

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Cite a blog in MLA style

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Use the following template or our MLA Citation Generator to cite a blog entry. For help with other source types, like books, PDFs, or websites, check out our other guides. To have your reference list or bibliography automatically made for you, try our free citation generator .

Reference list

Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.

In-text citation

Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.

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Cite a Blog in MLA

Don't let plagiarism errors spoil your paper, consider your source's credibility. ask these questions:, contributor/author.

• Has the author written several articles on the topic, and do they have the credentials to be an expert in their field?
• Can you contact them? Do they have social media profiles?
• Have other credible individuals referenced this source or author?
• Book: What have reviews said about it?
• What do you know about the publisher/sponsor? Are they well-respected?
• Do they take responsibility for the content? Are they selective about what they publish?
• Take a look at their other content. Do these other articles generally appear credible?
• Does the author or the organization have a bias? Does bias make sense in relation to your argument?
• Is the purpose of the content to inform, entertain, or to spread an agenda? Is there commercial intent?
• Are there ads?
• When was the source published or updated? Is there a date shown?
• Does the publication date make sense in relation to the information presented to your argument?
• Does the source even have a date?
• Was it reproduced? If so, from where?
• If it was reproduced, was it done so with permission? Copyright/disclaimer included?
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How do I cite a blog post in MLA?

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Author or Screen Name. "Title of Blog Post."  Name of Blog , Blog Network/Publisher if given, date of post, URL. Accessed day month year.

Meinholz, Greg. "In Jordan Love We Trust."  Packers Talk Blog , 12  May 2023, packerstalk.com/2023/05/12/in-jordan-love-we-trust/. Accessed 15 June 2023.

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MLA Citation Style, 9th Edition: Blog Post

• In-Text References
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• Lecture or Presentation
• Thesis or Dissertation
• Indirect Source
• Government Document
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Blog Post - Example

In-Text:       

Works Cited:

NOTE: For sources with no page numbers, such as blog postings, it is preferable to include the author's name in the text and omit a parenthetical reference altogether.

A date of access at the end of the citation is optional.

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Home General Guidelines     In-Text Reference     Works Cited Books     One Author or Editor     Multiple Authors or Editors     Author and Editor     Author and Translator     Organization as Author     Anonymous Work     Chapter from an Edited Work     Introduction, Preface, Foreword, or Afterword     Multivolume Work     Edition Other than the First     Dictionary or Encyclopedia     E-Book Articles     Journal Article     Magazine Article     Newspaper Article     Book Review Websites     Basic Webpage     Blog Post     Tweet Audiovisual Media     Video Recording     Sound Recording     YouTube Video Other Sources     Interview or Personal Communication     Lecture or Presentation     Thesis or Dissertation     Scripture     Indirect Source     Government Document Plagiarism

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MLA 8 Citation Guide

• TITLE of SOURCE
• TITLE of CONTAINER
• OTHER CONTRIBUTORS
• PUBLICATION DATE
• Works Cited
• Journal Article with One Author
• Journal Article with 2 Authors
• Journal Article with 3 or more Authors
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• One Author or Editor
• Two Authors or Editors
• Three or More Authors
• Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
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Blog and Tweets

Editor, screen name, author, or compiler name (if available). “Posting Title.”  Name of Site , Version number (if available), Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), URL. Date of access.

Salmar1515 [Sal Hernandez]. “Re: Best Strategy: Fenced Pastures vs. Max Number of Rooms?” BoardGameGeek, 29 Sept. 2008, boardgamegeek.com/thread/343929/best-strategy-fenced-pastures-vs-max-number-rooms . Accessed 5 Apr. 2018.

@tombrokaw. "SC demonstrated why all the debates are the engines of this campaign."  Twitter,  22 Jan. 2018, 3:06 a.m., twitter.com/tombrokaw/status/160996868971704320.

@PurdueWLab. "Spring break is around the corner, and all our locations will be open next week."  Twitter , 5 Mar. 2017, 12:58 p.m., twitter.com/PurdueWLab/status/176728308736737282.

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Generate accurate citations in MLA format automatically, with MyBib!

😕 What is an MLA Citation Generator?

An MLA citation generator is a software tool designed to automatically create academic citations in the Modern Language Association (MLA) citation format. The generator will take information such as document titles, author, and URLs as in input, and output fully formatted citations that can be inserted into the Works Cited page of an MLA-compliant academic paper.

The citations on a Works Cited page show the external sources that were used to write the main body of the academic paper, either directly as references and quotes, or indirectly as ideas.

👩‍🎓 Who uses an MLA Citation Generator?

MLA style is most often used by middle school and high school students in preparation for transition to college and further education. Ironically, MLA style is not actually used all that often beyond middle and high school, with APA (American Psychological Association) style being the favored style at colleges across the country.

It is also important at this level to learn why it's critical to cite sources, not just how to cite them.

🙌 Why should I use a Citation Generator?

Writing citations manually is time consuming and error prone. Automating this process with a citation generator is easy, straightforward, and gives accurate results. It's also easier to keep citations organized and in the correct order.

The Works Cited page contributes to the overall grade of a paper, so it is important to produce accurately formatted citations that follow the guidelines in the official MLA Handbook .

⚙️ How do I use MyBib's MLA Citation Generator?

It's super easy to create MLA style citations with our MLA Citation Generator. Scroll back up to the generator at the top of the page and select the type of source you're citing. Books, journal articles, and webpages are all examples of the types of sources our generator can cite automatically. Then either search for the source, or enter the details manually in the citation form.

The generator will produce a formatted MLA citation that can be copied and pasted directly into your document, or saved to MyBib as part of your overall Works Cited page (which can be downloaded fully later!).

MyBib supports the following for MLA style:

Daniel is a qualified librarian, former teacher, and citation expert. He has been contributing to MyBib since 2018.

How do I alphabetize a works-cited-list entry that begins with a hashtag or another symbol?

The MLA recommends that writers should “ignore symbols when alphabetizing” (“How”). This includes hashtags. Thus, if an entry begins with a hashtag or another symbol, start alphabetizing with the first letter that appears in the entry. The following provides examples:

Works Cited @AP. “ It’s been four years since the #MeToo movement took over social media. . . .”  X , 15 Oct. 2021, https://twitter.com/AP/status/1449019990741590025 . “#MeToo Poll: Many in US More Willing to Call Out Misconduct.” Associated Press , 15 Oct. 2021, https://apnews.com/article/sexual-misconduct-metoo-79688da3a0c3519d2a76b5b6e6b23ba7 . “#MeToo Protest in Amsterdam after Allegations at TV Show.” Associated Press , 29 Jan. 2022, https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-business-arts-and-entertainment-netherlands-amsterdam-4bb589aae061e534b1a47ac453e9d85f .

“How Do I Alphabetize Tweets in My Works-Cited List?” MLA Style Center , 26 Jan. 2018, https://style.mla.org/alphabetizing-tweets/ .

a post with bibliography

July 12, 2023

2023   ·   formatting   bib     ·   sample-posts  

This post shows how to add bibliography to simple blog posts. We support every citation style that jekyll-scholar does. That means simple citation like (missing reference), multiple citations like (missing reference), long references like (missing reference) or also quotes:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing. (missing reference)

If you would like something more academic, check the distill style post .

giscus comments misconfigured > Please follow instructions at http://giscus.app and update your giscus configuration. {: .block-danger }

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MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics

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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.

Guidelines for referring to the works of others in your text using MLA style are covered throughout the  MLA Handbook  and in chapter 7 of the  MLA Style Manual . Both books provide extensive examples, so it's a good idea to consult them if you want to become even more familiar with MLA guidelines or if you have a particular reference question.

Basic in-text citation rules

In MLA Style, referring to the works of others in your text is done using parenthetical citations . This method involves providing relevant source information in parentheses whenever a sentence uses a quotation or paraphrase. Usually, the simplest way to do this is to put all of the source information in parentheses at the end of the sentence (i.e., just before the period). However, as the examples below will illustrate, there are situations where it makes sense to put the parenthetical elsewhere in the sentence, or even to leave information out.

General Guidelines

• The source information required in a parenthetical citation depends (1) upon the source medium (e.g. print, web, DVD) and (2) upon the source’s entry on the Works Cited page.
• Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on the Works Cited page. More specifically, whatever signal word or phrase you provide to your readers in the text must be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of the corresponding entry on the Works Cited page.

In-text citations: Author-page style

MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. For example:

Both citations in the examples above, (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tell readers that the information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by an author named Wordsworth. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works Cited page, where, under the name of Wordsworth, they would find the following information:

Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads . Oxford UP, 1967.

In-text citations for print sources with known author

For print sources like books, magazines, scholarly journal articles, and newspapers, provide a signal word or phrase (usually the author’s last name) and a page number. If you provide the signal word/phrase in the sentence, you do not need to include it in the parenthetical citation.

These examples must correspond to an entry that begins with Burke, which will be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of an entry on the Works Cited page:

Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method . University of California Press, 1966.

In-text citations for print sources by a corporate author

When a source has a corporate author, it is acceptable to use the name of the corporation followed by the page number for the in-text citation. You should also use abbreviations (e.g., nat'l for national) where appropriate, so as to avoid interrupting the flow of reading with overly long parenthetical citations.

In-text citations for sources with non-standard labeling systems

If a source uses a labeling or numbering system other than page numbers, such as a script or poetry, precede the citation with said label. When citing a poem, for instance, the parenthetical would begin with the word “line”, and then the line number or range. For example, the examination of William Blake’s poem “The Tyger” would be cited as such:

The speaker makes an ardent call for the exploration of the connection between the violence of nature and the divinity of creation. “In what distant deeps or skies. / Burnt the fire of thine eyes," they ask in reference to the tiger as they attempt to reconcile their intimidation with their relationship to creationism (lines 5-6).

Longer labels, such as chapters (ch.) and scenes (sc.), should be abbreviated.

In-text citations for print sources with no known author

When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name, following these guidelines.

Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work (such as an article) or italicize it if it's a longer work (e.g. plays, books, television shows, entire Web sites) and provide a page number if it is available.

Titles longer than a standard noun phrase should be shortened into a noun phrase by excluding articles. For example, To the Lighthouse would be shortened to Lighthouse .

If the title cannot be easily shortened into a noun phrase, the title should be cut after the first clause, phrase, or punctuation:

In this example, since the reader does not know the author of the article, an abbreviated title appears in the parenthetical citation, and the full title of the article appears first at the left-hand margin of its respective entry on the Works Cited page. Thus, the writer includes the title in quotation marks as the signal phrase in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader directly to the source on the Works Cited page. The Works Cited entry appears as follows:

"The Impact of Global Warming in North America." Global Warming: Early Signs . 1999. www.climatehotmap.org/. Accessed 23 Mar. 2009.

If the title of the work begins with a quotation mark, such as a title that refers to another work, that quote or quoted title can be used as the shortened title. The single quotation marks must be included in the parenthetical, rather than the double quotation.

Parenthetical citations and Works Cited pages, used in conjunction, allow readers to know which sources you consulted in writing your essay, so that they can either verify your interpretation of the sources or use them in their own scholarly work.

Author-page citation for classic and literary works with multiple editions

Page numbers are always required, but additional citation information can help literary scholars, who may have a different edition of a classic work, like Marx and Engels's  The Communist Manifesto . In such cases, give the page number of your edition (making sure the edition is listed in your Works Cited page, of course) followed by a semicolon, and then the appropriate abbreviations for volume (vol.), book (bk.), part (pt.), chapter (ch.), section (sec.), or paragraph (par.). For example:

Author-page citation for works in an anthology, periodical, or collection

When you cite a work that appears inside a larger source (for instance, an article in a periodical or an essay in a collection), cite the author of the  internal source (i.e., the article or essay). For example, to cite Albert Einstein's article "A Brief Outline of the Theory of Relativity," which was published in  Nature  in 1921, you might write something like this:

See also our page on documenting periodicals in the Works Cited .

Citing authors with same last names

Sometimes more information is necessary to identify the source from which a quotation is taken. For instance, if two or more authors have the same last name, provide both authors' first initials (or even the authors' full name if different authors share initials) in your citation. For example:

Citing a work by multiple authors

For a source with two authors, list the authors’ last names in the text or in the parenthetical citation:

Corresponding Works Cited entry:

Best, David, and Sharon Marcus. “Surface Reading: An Introduction.” Representations , vol. 108, no. 1, Fall 2009, pp. 1-21. JSTOR, doi:10.1525/rep.2009.108.1.1

For a source with three or more authors, list only the first author’s last name, and replace the additional names with et al.

Franck, Caroline, et al. “Agricultural Subsidies and the American Obesity Epidemic.” American Journal of Preventative Medicine , vol. 45, no. 3, Sept. 2013, pp. 327-333.

Citing multiple works by the same author

If you cite more than one work by an author, include a shortened title for the particular work from which you are quoting to distinguish it from the others. Put short titles of books in italics and short titles of articles in quotation marks.

Citing two articles by the same author :

Citing two books by the same author :

Additionally, if the author's name is not mentioned in the sentence, format your citation with the author's name followed by a comma, followed by a shortened title of the work, and, when appropriate, the page number(s):

Citing multivolume works

If you cite from different volumes of a multivolume work, always include the volume number followed by a colon. Put a space after the colon, then provide the page number(s). (If you only cite from one volume, provide only the page number in parentheses.)

Citing the Bible

In your first parenthetical citation, you want to make clear which Bible you're using (and underline or italicize the title), as each version varies in its translation, followed by book (do not italicize or underline), chapter, and verse. For example:

If future references employ the same edition of the Bible you’re using, list only the book, chapter, and verse in the parenthetical citation:

John of Patmos echoes this passage when describing his vision (Rev. 4.6-8).

Citing indirect sources

Sometimes you may have to use an indirect source. An indirect source is a source cited within another source. For such indirect quotations, use "qtd. in" to indicate the source you actually consulted. For example:

Note that, in most cases, a responsible researcher will attempt to find the original source, rather than citing an indirect source.

Citing transcripts, plays, or screenplays

Sources that take the form of a dialogue involving two or more participants have special guidelines for their quotation and citation. Each line of dialogue should begin with the speaker's name written in all capitals and indented half an inch. A period follows the name (e.g., JAMES.) . After the period, write the dialogue. Each successive line after the first should receive an additional indentation. When another person begins speaking, start a new line with that person's name indented only half an inch. Repeat this pattern each time the speaker changes. You can include stage directions in the quote if they appear in the original source.

Conclude with a parenthetical that explains where to find the excerpt in the source. Usually, the author and title of the source can be given in a signal phrase before quoting the excerpt, so the concluding parenthetical will often just contain location information like page numbers or act/scene indicators.

Here is an example from O'Neill's  The Iceman Cometh.

WILLIE. (Pleadingly) Give me a drink, Rocky. Harry said it was all right. God, I need a drink.

ROCKY. Den grab it. It's right under your nose.

WILLIE. (Avidly) Thanks. (He takes the bottle with both twitching hands and tilts it to his lips and gulps down the whiskey in big swallows.) (1.1)

Citing non-print or sources from the Internet

With more and more scholarly work published on the Internet, you may have to cite sources you found in digital environments. While many sources on the Internet should not be used for scholarly work (reference the OWL's  Evaluating Sources of Information  resource), some Web sources are perfectly acceptable for research. When creating in-text citations for electronic, film, or Internet sources, remember that your citation must reference the source on your Works Cited page.

Sometimes writers are confused with how to craft parenthetical citations for electronic sources because of the absence of page numbers. However, these sorts of entries often do not require a page number in the parenthetical citation. For electronic and Internet sources, follow the following guidelines:

• Include in the text the first item that appears in the Work Cited entry that corresponds to the citation (e.g. author name, article name, website name, film name).
• Do not provide paragraph numbers or page numbers based on your Web browser’s print preview function.
• Unless you must list the Web site name in the signal phrase in order to get the reader to the appropriate entry, do not include URLs in-text. Only provide partial URLs such as when the name of the site includes, for example, a domain name, like  CNN.com  or  Forbes.com,  as opposed to writing out http://www.cnn.com or http://www.forbes.com.

Miscellaneous non-print sources

Two types of non-print sources you may encounter are films and lectures/presentations:

In the two examples above “Herzog” (a film’s director) and “Yates” (a presentor) lead the reader to the first item in each citation’s respective entry on the Works Cited page:

Herzog, Werner, dir. Fitzcarraldo . Perf. Klaus Kinski. Filmverlag der Autoren, 1982.

Yates, Jane. "Invention in Rhetoric and Composition." Gaps Addressed: Future Work in Rhetoric and Composition, CCCC, Palmer House Hilton, 2002. Address.

Electronic sources

Electronic sources may include web pages and online news or magazine articles:

In the first example (an online magazine article), the writer has chosen not to include the author name in-text; however, two entries from the same author appear in the Works Cited. Thus, the writer includes both the author’s last name and the article title in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader to the appropriate entry on the Works Cited page (see below).

In the second example (a web page), a parenthetical citation is not necessary because the page does not list an author, and the title of the article, “MLA Formatting and Style Guide,” is used as a signal phrase within the sentence. If the title of the article was not named in the sentence, an abbreviated version would appear in a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence. Both corresponding Works Cited entries are as follows:

Taylor, Rumsey. "Fitzcarraldo." Slant , 13 Jun. 2003, www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/fitzcarraldo/. Accessed 29 Sep. 2009. 

"MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL , 2 Aug. 2016, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/. Accessed 2 April 2018.

Multiple citations

To cite multiple sources in the same parenthetical reference, separate the citations by a semi-colon:

Time-based media sources

When creating in-text citations for media that has a runtime, such as a movie or podcast, include the range of hours, minutes and seconds you plan to reference. For example: (00:02:15-00:02:35).

When a citation is not needed

Common sense and ethics should determine your need for documenting sources. You do not need to give sources for familiar proverbs, well-known quotations, or common knowledge (For example, it is expected that U.S. citizens know that George Washington was the first President.). Remember that citing sources is a rhetorical task, and, as such, can vary based on your audience. If you’re writing for an expert audience of a scholarly journal, for example, you may need to deal with expectations of what constitutes “common knowledge” that differ from common norms.

Other Sources

The MLA Handbook describes how to cite many different kinds of authors and content creators. However, you may occasionally encounter a source or author category that the handbook does not describe, making the best way to proceed can be unclear.

In these cases, it's typically acceptable to apply the general principles of MLA citation to the new kind of source in a way that's consistent and sensible. A good way to do this is to simply use the standard MLA directions for a type of source that resembles the source you want to cite.

You may also want to investigate whether a third-party organization has provided directions for how to cite this kind of source. For example, Norquest College provides guidelines for citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers⁠ —an author category that does not appear in the MLA Handbook . In cases like this, however, it's a good idea to ask your instructor or supervisor whether using third-party citation guidelines might present problems.