*** MLA lists electronic sources as Web Publications. Thus, when including the medium of publication for electronic sources, list the medium as Web.

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/Aristotle/poetics.html>.

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

Here are some common features you should try and find before citing electronic sources in MLA style. Not every Web page will provide all of the following information. However, collect as much of the following information as possible both for your citations and for your research notes:

• Author, compiler, director, editor, narrator, performer, or translator (if available)
• Title of the Work (in italics if the work is independent; in quotation marks if the work is part of a larger work)
• Title of the overall Web site in italics (if the web site title is distinct from title of the work)
• Any version or edition numbers available, including revisions, posting dates, volumes, or issue numbers.
• Publisher or sponsor of the site: if not available, use N.p.
• Date of publication (day, month, and year, as available); if nothing is available, use n.d.
• Medium of publication (Web, E-mail, PDF, etc.)
• Date of access (day, month, and year)
• URL (if required, or for your own personal reference)

Each item is followed by a period except the publisher or sponsor, which is followed by a comma.  Untitled works may be identified by a genre label (e.g. Home page, Introduction, Online Posting), neither italicized nor enclosed in quotation marks, in the place where the title goes.  If not otherwise recorded in the entry, the name of a creator of the overall Web site, such as its editor, may be listed following the title of the site.  If you cannot find some of this information, cite what is available.

Entire Website

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

Examples:

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

Eaves, Morris, Robert Essick, and Joseph Viscomi, eds. The William Blake Archive. Lib. of Cong., 8 May 2008. Web. 15 May 2008.

Page or Document from a Website

For an individual page on a Web site, list the author or alias if known, followed by the information covered above for entire Web sites. Remember to use n.p. if no publisher name is available and n.d. if not publishing date is given.

Name of author. "Title of the page." Website title. Date of publication or last update. Sponsor of the site (if not named as the author or given as the title). Medium of publication. Date of access.

Examples:

"How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow.com. eHow, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2009.

Lessing, Lawrence. “Free Debates: More Republicans Call on RNC.” Lessig 2.0. N.p., 4 May 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.

“The Scientists Speak.” Editorial. New York Times. New York Times, 20 Nov. 2007. Web. 9 May 2007.

“Verb Tenses.” Chart. The OWL at Purdue. Purdue U Online Writing Lab, 2001. Web. 15 May 2008.

Yager, Susan, narr. “The Former Age.” By Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer Metapage. Ed. Mark E. Allen et al. U of North Carolina, 13 Feb. 2007. Web. 30 Nov. 2007.

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

Cite articles from online databases (e.g. EBSCOhost, Student Resource Center Gold, CQ Researcher, World Book Web, etc.) and other subscription services just as you would print sources. Since these articles usually come from periodicals, cite the original periodical information first, then add the database information.  Be sure to consult the appropriate sections of the MLA manual for periodical citations.  In addition to this information, provide the title of the database italicized, the medium of publication, and the date of access.

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.

Examples:

"Atlantic Slave Trade." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. History: Government and Politics. Detroit: Gale, 2009. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 7 Sept. 2010.

Brown, Lester R. “Draining Our Future: The Growing Shortage of Freshwater.” Futurist. 42.3 (May/Jun. 2008): 16-22. Student Research Center. EBSCOhost. Web. 17 Aug. 2009.

Cavendish, Richard. "The Visigoths sack Rome: August 25th, 410." History Today 60.8 (2010): 8. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 7 Sept. 2010.

Hatch, David. "Drug Company Ethics." CQ Researcher. Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 13.22 (2003): 521-544. CQ Researcher Online. Web. 2 April 2007.

"Hamlet." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2010. Web.  7 Sept. 2010.

Lander, Jesse M. "Shakespeare, William." World Book Student. World Book, 2009. Web. 17 Aug. 2009.

Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England.” Historical Journal. 50.1(2007): 173-96. ProQuest. Web.
27 May 2009.

Mirzaei, Parham A., and Fariborz Haghighat. "Approaches to study Urban Heat Island – Abilities and Limitations." Building & Environment 45.10 (2010): 2192-2201. GreenFILE. EBSCO. Web. 7 Sept. 2010.

Waters, Claire Ruth. “Two Lines in Hamlet (Q2).” Explicator. 68.2(Apr./Jun. 2010): 80-83. Literary Referenece Center Plus. EBSCO. Web. 07 Aug. 2010.

A Digital File (Including documents, images, music, etc.)

Digital files can exist independently from the Web or a published disc. Examples are a PDF file stored on your computer, a document created by a peer using a word processor, a scanned image you received as an e-mail attachment, and a sound recording formatted for playing on a digital audio player. In general, determine the kind of work you are citing (e.g., a book, a typescript, a photograph, a sound recording), and follow the relevant guidelines for formatting the entry in the works-cited list. In the place reserved for the medium of publication, record the digital file format, followed by the word file—PDF file, Microsoft Word file, JPEG file, MP3 file, XML file, and so on—neither italicized (except for titles of software programs) nor enclosed in quotation marks. The file type is usually indicated by the extension at the end of the file name, after a period: OurCulturalCommonwealth.pdf. If you cannot identify the file type, use Digital file.

Examples:

American Council of Learned Societies. Commission on Cyberinfrastructure for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Our Cultural Commonwealth. New York: ACLS, 2006. PDF file.

Cortez, Juan. “Border Crossing in Chicano Narrative.” 2007. Microsoft Word file.

Delano, Jack. At the Vermont State Fair. 1941. Lib. of Cong., Washington. JPEG file.

Hudson, Jennifer, perf. “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.” Dreamgirls: Music from the Motion Picture. Sony BMG, 2006. MP3 file.

E-mail (including E-mail Interviews)

Give the author of the message, followed by the subject line in quotation marks. State to whom the message was sent, the date the message was sent, and the medium of publication.

Examples:

Kunka, Andrew. "Re: Modernist Literature." Message to the author. 15 Nov. 2008. E-mail.

Neyhart, David. "Re: Online Tutoring." Message to Joe Barbato. 1 Dec. 2007. E-mail.

A Listserve, Discussion Group, or Blog Posting

Cite Web postings as you would a standard Web entry. Provide the author of the work, the title of the posting in quotation marks, the Web site name in italics, the publisher, and the posting date. Follow with the medium of publication and the date of access. Include screen names as author names when author name is not known. If both names are known, place the author’s name in brackets. Remember if the publisher of the site is unknown, use the abbreviation n.p.

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. Web.