MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources (Web Publications)

MLA lists electronic sources as Web Publications.

Important Note on the Use of URLs in MLA

MLA no longer requires the use of URLs in MLA citations. Because Web addresses are not static (i.e., they change often)
and because documents sometimes appear in multiple places on the Web (e.g., on multiple databases), MLA explains that
most readers can find electronic sources via title or author searches in Internet Search Engines.

For instructors or editors who still wish to require the use of URLs, MLA suggests that the URL appear in angle brackets
after the date of access. Break URLs only after slashes.

Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. S. H. Butcher. The Internet Classics Archive. Web Atomic and Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, 13 Sept. 2007. Web. 4 Nov. 2008. ‹http://classics.mit.edu/›.

Abbreviations Commonly Used with Electronic Sources

 n.p.  - to indicate that neither a publisher nor a sponsor name has been provided.

n.d.  - when the Web page does not provide a publication date.

n. pag. - when an entry requires that you provide a page but no pages are provided in the source (as in the case of an
online-only scholarly journal or a work that appears in an online-only anthology)

Basic Style for Citations of Electronic Sources (Including Online Databases)

Not every Web page will provide all of the following information. However, collect as much of the following information as
possible both for citations and for research notes:

 Author and/or editor names (if available)

 Article name in quotation marks (if applicable)
 Title of the Website, project, or book in italics. (Remember that some Print publications have Web publications
with slightly different names. They may, for example, include the additional information or otherwise modified
information, like domain names [e.g. .com or .net].)
 Any version numbers available, including revisions, posting dates, volumes, or issue numbers.
 Publisher information, including the publisher name and publishing date.
 Take note of any page numbers (if available).
 Medium of publication.
 Date you accessed the material.
 URL (if required, or for your own personal reference; MLA does not require a URL).

Citing an Entire Web Site

Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number. Name of institution/organization
affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication.
Date of access.

Example :

The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008. Web. 23 Apr. 2008.

Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory. Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003. Web. 10 May 2006.

Course or Department Websites

Name of Instructor. Title of the Course (or the school catalog designation for the course). Department. School name,
publishing date. Medium. Date of Access.

Example :
 Felluga, Dino. Survey of the Literature of England. Purdue U, Aug. 2006. Web. 31 May 2007.
English Department. Purdue U, 20 Apr. 2009. Web. 14 May 2009.

A Page on a Web Site

Author Last name, First name. “Title of Page/Document.” Name of institution/organization affiliated with site, date it
was created. Medium. Date you accessed it.

Example :

Lundman, Susan. "How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 6 July 2015.

Example (No Author) :

"Athelete's Foot - Topic Overview." WebMD. WebMD, 25 September 2014. Web. 6 July 2015.
 

An Image (Including a Painting, Sculpture, or Photograph)

Example:

Artist’s name. The work of art italicized. Date of creation. The institution and city where the work is housed. Name of
the Website. Medium of publication. Date of access.
Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Museo National del Prado. Web.
22 May 2006.
Klee, Paul. Twittering Machine. 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York.The Artchive. Web. 22 May 2006.

If the work is cited on the web only:

brandychloe. "Great Horned Owl Family." Photograph. Webshots. American Greetings, 22 May 2006. Web. 5 Nov.
2009.

An Article in a Web Magazine

Author name. “Article name.” Title of the Web magazine. Publisher name, publication date. Medium of publication.
Date of access.

Example:

Bernstein, Mark. "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web." A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites. A List Apart Mag.,
16 Aug. 2002. Web. 4 May 2009.

An Article in an Online Scholarly Journal

For all online scholarly journals, provide the author(s) name(s), the name of the article in quotation marks, the title of the
publication in italics, all volume and issue numbers, and the year of publication.

Article in an Online-only Scholarly Journal

Example :

Dolby, Nadine. “Research in Youth Culture and Policy: Current Conditions and Future Directions.” Social Work and
Society: The International Online-Only Journal 6.2 (2008): n. pag. Web. 20 May 2009.

Article in an Online Scholarly Journal That Also Appears in Print

Example:

Wheelis, Mark. "Investigating Disease Outbreaks Under a Protocol to the Biological and Toxin Weapons
Convention." Emerging Infectious Diseases 6.6 (2000): 595-600. Web. 8 Feb. 2009.

An Article from an Online Database (or Other Electronic Subscription Service)

Note: Previous editions of the MLA Style Manual required information about the subscribing institution (name and
location). This information is no longer required by MLA.

Example:

Junge, Wolfgang, and Nathan Nelson. “Nature's Rotary Electromotors.”Science 29 Apr. 2005: 642-44. Science Online.
Web. 5 Mar. 2009.
Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England.” Historical Journal 50.1 (2007): 173-
96. ProQuest. Web. 27 May 2009.

E-mail (including E-mail Interviews)

Author. “Subject Line.” Message to whom message was sent. Date the message was sent, and the medium of
publication.

Example:

Kunka, Andrew. "Re: Modernist Literature." Message to the author. 15 Nov. 2000. E-mail.
Neyhart, David. "Re: Online Tutoring." Message to Joe Barbato. 1 Dec. 2000. E-mail.

A Listserv, Discussion Group, or Blog Posting

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). Medium of
publication. Date of access.

Example :

Salmar1515 [Sal Hernandez]. “Re: Best Strategy: Fenced Pastures vs. Max Number of Rooms?” BoardGameGeek.
BoardGameGeek, 29 Sept. 2008. Web. 5 Apr. 2009.

A Tweet

User's name (Twitter username). “The tweet in its entirety in quotations.” Date, time of posting using the reader's time
zone. Tweet.

Example:

Brokaw, Tom (tombrokaw). "SC demonstrated why all the debates are the engines of this campaign." 22 Jan. 2012,
3:06 a.m. Tweet.

Purdue Writing Lab (PurdueWLab). "Spring break is around the corner, and all our locations will be open next
week." 5 Mar. 2012, 12:58 p.m. Tweet.

YouTube Videos

The MLA does not currently prescribe a citation style for YouTube videos. Based on MLA standards for other media
formats, we feel that the following format is the most acceptable for citing YouTube videos:

Author’s Name or Poster’s Username. “Title of Image or Video.” Media Type

Text. Name of Website. Name of Website’s Publisher, date of posting. Medium. date retrieved.

Example:

Shimabukuro, Jake. "Ukulele Weeps by Jake Shimabukuro." Online video clip.

YouTube. YouTube, 22 Apr. 2006. Web. 9 Sept. 2010.