Complete citations included at the end of your paper need to give readers enough information about your sources so readers can track them down.
Look at the following MLA citations and note the elements usually required when writing complete citations.
Be sure to keep track of this information as you gather your sources during the research process. You'll need it later when you write your paper.
You can also use online tools like EasyBib, Citation Machine, or KnightCite to produce your citations.
Need more? See Resources for UCLA Students.
| Format | Citation |
|---|---|
| Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Book, Publisher, Date of Publication. | Schulenberg, Richard. Legal Aspects of the Music Industry: An Insider's View, Billboard Books, 1999. |
| Format | Citation |
|---|---|
| Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume and Issue Numbers, Year of Publication, Page Numbers. | Leyson, Andrew. "Time-Space and Digital Compression: Software Formats, Musical Networks, and the Reorganization of the Music Industry." Environment and Planning A, vol. 33, 2001, pp. 49-77. |
| Format | Citation |
|---|---|
| Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine, Month of Publication (abbreviated except for May, June & July) Year of Publication, Page Numbers. | Wilby, Dave. "File Sharing: Whether You're a Fan of Freely Distributed Digital Music or Paid-For Services Managed by the Music Industry, It's Worth Knowing How File Sharing Works." Internet Magazine, July 2003, p. 41. |
| Format | Citation |
|---|---|
| Author's/Creator's Last Name, First Name (if given). "Title of Page." Title of Site, Name of Organization or Sponsor Associated with the Site, Date of Posting/Revision. Web Address/ | Hill, Erica. "Cyber Rights...and Wrongs." CNN.com, Cable News Network, 6 Aug. 2003., www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/08/06/hln.wired.cyber.rights/index.html. |
Some styles have specific citation rules for each type of thing you might cite—books, articles, films, television shows, email, live speeches, etc. Others, like MLA, provide a general citation structure which you can adapt to any content. Whichever method is used, the point is to a) give credit to the source of the ideas and evidence used in your paper and b) provide enough information for your readers to find the original source.
So a sentence in my paper would look like this:
| In Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode 9, "The Puppet," writers Des Hotel and Batali demonstrate that research has become a vital and routine first step Buffy and her friends take when defending the world from supernatural evil doers, even if they do so begrudgingly as Xander's comment illustrates, "Once again I'm banished to the demon section of the card catalog." |
And I'd include this in my list of complete citations at the end of the paper:
| "The Puppet." Buffy the Vampire Slayer, written by Rob Des Hotel and Dean Batali, directed by Ellen S. Pressman, Twentieth Century Fox / WB, 5 May 1997. |
Check the appropriate style manual for details on how to cite other works.
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