To cite in the 8{th} edition of the Modern Language Association’s (MLA 8) citation style, it is helpful to know basic information about your source, including author name(s), the title of the source and/or article, publication date, and page numbers (if applicable).

This guide will show you in-text citations and full reference examples in the MLA 8 style for the following source types:

• Website

• Book

• Journal article

• Online newspaper article

If you wish to easily cite in MLA 8, check out the Chegg Writing citation generator.

Formatting citations in MLA 8 style

The MLA 8 citation style has two parts:

• In-text citation numbers

• Works cited list

In-text citations

When you cite information from a source in your work, you need to include an in-text citation. Include a page number when possible. Here are a few in-text citation templates:

• Author Last Name

• (Author Last Name)

• (Author Last Name Page#)

• Author Last Name (Page#)

Citation examples:

• Bernardino noted that. . . .

• . . . (Bernardino).

• (Torres 47)

• Torres (47)

Every in-text citation should correspond to a source in the reference list.

Works cited list

Place a list of all your sources at the end of your paper and title it “Works Cited.” Works cited entries are usually listed alphabetically by the author’s last name (the first word shown in the reference list entry). The page should be double-spaced. For each reference list entry, any lines after the first should be indented (hanging indent).

Example of a Works Cited list:

Works Cited List

Overbye, Dennis. “The Webb Telescope is Just Getting Started.” The New York Times, 27 Dec. 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/12/27/science/astronomy-webb-telescope.html. Accessed 1 Jan. 2023.

Rieppel, Lukas. “Bringing Dinosaurs Back to Life: Exhibiting Prehistory at the American Museum of Natural History.” Isis, vol. 103, no. 3, 2012, pp. 460–90. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/667969.

Schempp, Donna. “When Caregiving Ends.” Family Caregiver Alliance, 2022. www.caregiver.org/resource/when-caregiving-ends/. Accessed 26 Dec. 2022.

Weatherford, Jack. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Broadway Books, 2004.

Citing a basic website page in MLA 8 style

Include as much information as you can and omit information that doesn’t exist. The webpage title is in title case, as is the publisher.

Parenthetical in-text citation template and examples:

(Author’s Surname)

(Schempp)

Reference list entry template and examples:

Citing a print book in MLA 8 style

Parenthetical in-text citation template and examples:

(Author’s Surname)

(Weatherford)

Reference list entry template and examples:

Citing an online journal article in MLA 8 style

Parenthetical in-text citation template and examples:

(Author’s Surname)

(Rieppel)

Reference list entry template and examples:

Citing an online newspaper article in MLA 8 style

Parenthetical in-text citation template and examples:

(Artist Surname, Publication Year)

(Overbye)

Reference list entry template and examples:

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