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Click on the tabs at the top of the page to see examples of MLA citations for a variety of formats. MLA Handbook, 8th edition has made a significant shift from a fixed set of rules to a system based on general principles. These new principles can be used with any type source and they allow writers to create streamlined and more useful citations.The Handbook still includes citation examples, but the examples are organized by the elements of this template:

1. Author
2. Title of source
3. Title of container
4. Other contributors
5. Version
6. Number
7. Publisher
8. Publication date
9. Location

Changes from MLA 7th ed.

If you are looking for the MLA 7th edition LibGuide, click here.

Here are a few of the notable changes in the works-cited-list entries from the seventh edition:

1. The recommended list of abbreviations is much shorter (96-97); words such as editor, edited by, translator, and review of are not abbreviated.

2. If a source has three or more authors, only the first is listed, followed by et al. (22). The term "author" is used broadly and the writer has the flexibility to deciding if a translator, performer, etc. should be emphasized and used in the "author" position with the actual author being listed as an "other contributor." Use the form of the author's name given on the source.

3. Pages are listed as p. or pp., but not in-text citations (46).

4. City of publication is no longer listed unless there is a special situation (51).

5. Periodicals are now identified with "vol. 35, no. 3" instead of "35.3." (39-40).

6. Include the full date information (month, day, or season) along with the year (45).

7. URLs are included without http:// or https:// and no angle brackets are used (48, 110).

8. The use of DOIs are encouraged (110).

9. Citing the date a website was accessed is now optional (53).

10. Placeholders such as n.d. (no date) are no longer used. If facts are missing and reliable information can be found, include it in brackets (2.6.1).

11. Publishers' names are no longer shortened, except words like "Company" are dropped. University Press is still abbreviated UP (97).

12. If there are two distinct publishers (not subsidiaries of another listed), separate the names with a forward slash (/) (108). 

13. Publisher's names may be omitted for a variety of publication types (42).

14. If an organization is the author and publisher of a work, the organization's name is given only once, usually as the publisher (25). The author's name is not included.

15. The works-cited list should use hanging indents with the second and subsequent lines of each entry having an indention of half and inch from the left margin. If creating a hanging indent is difficult (such as when creating web pages), leave extra space between entries to serve the same purpose (2.7).

16. Capitalize every important word in the title as described in section 1.2.1.