Citing Print Sources

This guide is divided into four sections: (journal/magazine article, newspaper article, encyclopedia article, and book or part of book and gives examples from various sources.  For guidelines on citing  electronic sources, consult our guide: Citing Electronic Sources MLA Style.

First some general guidelines:

• Alphabetize your entries based on author's last name or title of the work (if author is unknown).
  
  

• Indent 5 spaces at the beginning of every line but the first.  The spacing in this guide may vary from that because it is a web page.  

• Capitalize the major words in any title (article, book, encyclopedia, journal, magazine, etc.) 
  
  
  

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Journal/Magazine Article:

Include as many of these elements as available:

• Author followed by a period.  (If no author, begin with article title.)

• Article title in quotations followed by a period.

• Journal or Magazine name (underlined) and volume/number, pages and date followed by period.

Malamud, Margaret.  "Pyramids in Las Vegas and in Outer Space: Ancient Egypt in
         Twentieth-Century American Architecture and Film."  Journal of Popular Culture 34.1
         (Summer 2000): 31-47.  

"Minerva."  British Medical Journal (Intl. Ed.) 325.7360 (17 Aug. 2002) : 398+.   

Tapper, Jake. "The Wishy-Washy Strategy."  Salon  26 Feb. 2003.  

Uríbarri, Fátima.  "Harry Potter Engancha a 35 Millones de Lectores: Hechizados por la
          Lectura."  Epoca  10 Dec. 2000: 70.  

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Newspaper Article:

Include as many of these elements as available:

• Author followed by a period.

• Article title in quotations followed by a period.

• Newspaper name (underlined) and section, pages and date followed by period.  If pages are not consecutive, write only the first page number and a plus sign.
  

Examples: 

Gilot, Louie.  "FBI to Help Mexico Try to Solve the Killings of Juarez Women."  El Paso Times  
         22 Feb. 2003: Borderland section, 4B.  

Sedeno, David and Laurence Illiff.  "Immigration Talks Will Resume, Fox Says."  
         Dallas Morning News 5 Mar. 2002: 3A+.  

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Article from Encyclopedia or Reference Work:

Include as many of these elements as available:

• Author followed by a period.

• Article title in quotations followed by a period.

• Encyclopedia name (underlined) and date followed by period.  This is sufficient if it is a familiar, standard reference work such as general encyclopedias, almanacs, dictionaries, etc. 

• If it is lesser known or specialized encyclopedia or reference work, give the full publication information. See last entry below. 

• If the encyclopedia arranges entries alphabetically, you may omit the page numbers.
  

Cox, Rachel S.  "Home Schooling Debate."  CQ Researcher 26 July 2001: 623-642.  

"Emiliano Zapata."  Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia 1996. 

"Kohlberg, Olga Bernstein."  The New Handbook of Texas.  Ed. Ron Tyler.  6 vols.  Austin: Texas
         State Historical Association, 1996. 

Mann, Barry. "Joyce Carol Oates." Magill's Survey of American Literature. Frank N. Magill. 
        Vol. 4. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1991. 1513-1529.

Pillard, Richard.  "The Causes of Homosexuality are Probably Genetic." Homosexuality.  Ed. Mary
        Williams.  Opposing Viewpoints Series.  Greenhaven Press, 1999.  35-47.  Abridged from
         Richard Pillard.  "The Genetic Theory of Sexual Orientation."  The Harvard Gay and Lesbian
         Review  Winter 1997.  

Presley, Delma Eugene. "The Search for Hope in the Plays of Tennessee Williams," 
        Mississippi Quarterly, 25(1971):  31-43. rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism, vol. 111.
        Jeffrey W. Hunter ed. Detroit: Gale, 1999, 379-384.

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Book:

Include as many of these elements as applicable:

• Author followed by a period.  If multiple authors, put first author's last name first and then names of other authors, first names followed by last names.

• Book title (underlined) followed by a period.

• Place of publication: Publisher, and date followed by a period.

Flanagan, David.  Java in a Nutshell.  4th ed. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly, 2002.  

Hahner, Judith Edith.  Women Through Women's Eyes: Latin American Women in
        Nineteenth-century Travel Accounts.  Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, Inc., 1998. 

Kearney, Milo and Manual Medrano.  Medieval Culture and the Mexican American Borderlands. 
        College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 2001.  
     

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Any other questions?

If you have further questions, please ask a librarian at any campus Reference Desk:

Valle Verde Campus (915) 831-2442 
Transmountain Campus (915) 831-5098
Rio Grande Campus (915) 831-4019
Mission del Paso Campus (915) 831-7040
Northwest Campus (915) 831-8840

or consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers available at LB2369.G53 at any branch.  

To Library Home Page. 

To Library Home Page - Text Version. 

El Paso Community College