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MLA 9th referencing style

A guide to using MLA 9th referencing style

One author

Reference Example
In-text

(Spacks 5)

OR

Spacks states that … (5)
Reference list

Spacks, Patricia Meyer. Privacy: Concealing the Eighteenth Century Self. U of Chicago P, 2003.

Endnote reference type Book

Two authors

Reference Example
In-text

(Moore and Belsey 45)

OR

Moore and Belsey argue that … (45)
Reference list

Moore, Jane, and Catherine Belsey. The Feminist Reader: Essays in Gender and the Politics of Literary Criticism. Macmillan, 1989.

Endnote reference type Book

More than two authors

Reference Example
Note

If there are more than two authors, list only the first author followed by the phrase et al. (Latin for "and others") in place of the subsequent authors' names.

In-text

(Boyd et al. 24)

OR

According to Boyd et al. … (24)
Reference list

Boyd, Brian, et al. Evolution, Literature, and Film: A Reader. Columbia UP, 2010.

Endnote reference type Book

No author

Reference Example
Note

When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of the author name in the in-text citation. For more about shortened titles refer to the MLA Handbook section 6.10, pp. 237-38.

In-text

(New York Public Library 6)

Reference list

New York Public Library American History Desk Reference. Macmillan, 1997.

Endnote reference type Book

Multiple works by the same author

Reference Example
Note

Include the shortened title in the in-text citation so that your reader knows which work you are referring to. In your list of works cited, list alphabetically by title.

In-text

(Palmer, Dickens 45)

(Palmer, Films 67)

Palmer notes that... (Dickens 45).

However, Palmer disputes this... (Films 67).

Reference list

Palmer, William J. Dickens and New Historicism. St. Martin's, 1997.

———. The Films of the Eighties: A Social History. Southern Illinois UP, 1993.

Endnote reference type Book

Corporate organisation or institution as author

Reference Example
Note

Otherwise known as a 'corporate author'. In text citations should be shortened to the shortest noun phrase. See In-text references for more detail.

If the organisation is the same as the publisher, do not add an author name. Only list the publisher. When citing, either write the title in the text itself or have an abbreviated form in parenthesis before the page number.

In-text

(United Nations 180)

According to the United Nations… (180)

OR

(MLA 56)

MLA Handbook notes that... (56)

Reference list

United Nations. Consequences of Rapid Population Growth in Developing Countries. Taylor and Francis, 1991.

MLA Handbook. 9th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2021.

Endnote reference type Book

Republished book

Reference Example
Note

To cite a republished book (e.g. a paperback version of a hardcover that isn't a new edition) in the reference list you may choose to give information on the original publication data before the publication information of the book you are citing.

In-text

As Butler states... (58)

OR

(Garcia Marquez 102)
Reference list

Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble. 1990. Routledge, 1999.

OR

Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. Love in the Time of Cholera. 1988. Translated by Edith Grossman, Penguin, 1989.

Endnote reference type Book

Edition of a book

Reference Example
In-text

(Duncan et al. 89-90)

OR

This is corroborated by Duncan et al. (89-90) ...
Reference list

Duncan, Randy, et al. The Power of Comics: History, Form and Culture. 2nd ed., Cambridge UP, 2007.

Endnote reference type Book

Edited book

Reference Example
In-text

(Jackson 123-4)

OR

According to Jackson... (123-4)
Reference list

Jackson, Russell, editor. The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Film. 2nd ed., Cambridge UP, 2007.

Endnote reference type Book

Single volume in a multivolume work

Reference Example
Note

If you only cite from one volume, provide only the page number in parentheses. 

In-text

(Rawling 96)

OR

According to Rawling... (96)

Reference list

Rawling, Barry H. J. "Yorkshire English." The British Isles. Edited by Tometro Hopkins and John McKenny, vol. 1 of World Englishes, Bloomsbury Academic, 2017.

Endnote reference type Book

Two or more volumes in a multivolume work

Reference Example
Note

If you cite from different volumes of a mulitvolume work, in your in-text citation include the volume number followed by a colon. Put a space after the colon, then provide the page number(s).

In-text

(Sadie 3: 45)

OR

According to Sadie (3: 45)

Reference list

Sadie, Stanley, editor. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2nd ed., Grove, 2001. 29 vols.

Endnote reference type Book

eBook/Electronic book (database)

Reference Example
Note

You may provide page number(s) for an online publication in-text if you know it appears consistently for other users. Otherwise, refer to the MLA Handbook section 6.20, p. 244 for more guidance on using stable numbered sections (e.g. chapters or sections) and eBooks.

In-text

(Huang and Rivlin 234)

OR

According to Huang and Rivlin (234)

Reference list

Huang, Alexa, and Elizabeth Rivlin. Shakespeare and the Ethics of Appropriation. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. EBL, uql.eblib.com.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=1839669.

Endnote reference type

Electronic Book

You will need to manually edit the output for this style in the plain text version of the document to italicise the database/website/platform the eBook version was accessed from and add URL if DOI not available (optional element).

Translation

Reference Example
Note

The way you cite a translated text will depend on what you wish to focus on - the work itself or the translation.

In-text

(Dostoevsky 200-01)

Dostoevsky writes... (200-01)

OR

(Coulson 200-01)

Coulson's translation...(200-01)

Reference list

Dostoevsky, Feodor. Crime and Punishment. Translated by Jessie Coulson, edited by George Gibian, Norton, 1964.

OR

Coulson, Jessie, translator. Crime and Punishment. By Feodor Dostoevsky, edited by George Gibian, Norton, 1964.

Endnote reference type

Book

You will need to manually edit the output for this style in the plain text version of the document to add the editor information and capitalise the T in "translated".