This document provides guidelines for citing sources and formatting a research paper using the MLA (Modern Language Association) style, as required by the JCP. For submitting an article in the JCP,  authors must follow the MLA Citation Style. For more specific details, our authors may consult the MLA Handbook at https://style.mla.org/.

• The JCP recommends that authors should use the British spellings (-ise instead of -ize).
• With in-text citations, authors’ last name and page number will be placed within parentheses. If authors’ last name has already been mentioned, only the page number will be placed within the parentheses.
• To provide additional information, please use footnotes.

Below are the core essentials of MLA referencing style.

1. Book Citation:

Basic Template:  Name of author or editor. Title of the Book. Publisher name, Year published.

Print Book (one author)

Chomsky, Noam. Understanding Power. Penguin Books India, 2003.

Book (Two or Three Authors)

Poole, Elizabeth, and John E. Richardson. Muslims and the News Media. I.B.Tauris, 2006.

Ashcroft, Bill, et al. The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures. Routledge, 2003.

Book (More than Three Authors)

Ellis, David B. et al. Becoming a Master Student. Houghton Mifflin, 2006.

Book (Corporate Author)

American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM5. 5th Ed. American Psychiatric Association, 2013.

Book with no author

American Heritage Dictionary for Learners of English. Houghton, 2002.

Book, Chapters and Works in Anthologies with an Author

Brant, Beth. “Coyote Learns a New Trick.” An Anthology of Canadian Native Literature in English, edited by Daniel David Moses and Terry Goldie, Oxford UP, 1992, pp. 148-150.

Book from a Website

Seton, Ernest Thompson. The Trail of the Sandhill Stag. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1914. Project Gutenberg, www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32319. Accessed 14 Jan. 2018.

2. Periodical/ Article Citation (in print)

Basic Template: 

Name of author or editor (if given). “Title of the Article.” Publication title, Volume, Number (if applicable), Date Month Year: Page number.

Journal Article

O’Connell, Lisa, and Jennifer Wawrzinek. “Catalysts of Change: Colonial Transformations of Anglo-European Literary Culture in the Long Eighteenth Century.” Postcolonial Studies, vol. 23, no. 3, 2020, pp. 257-267.

Magazine or Newspaper Article

Carroll, Aaron E. “Sorry, There’s Nothing Magical About Breakfast.” New York Times, 23 May 2016: C8.

Newspaper/Magazine, Article – No Author (Print)

“The Decade of the Spy.” Newsweek 7 Mar. 1994, pp. 26–27.

“Oval Distinguished for Innovative Design.” The Vancouver Sun, 16 May 2009, p. A14.

3. Referring Online Sources

Online Book, Basic Template:  

Name of author or editor. Title of the Book. Database or sponsor. Publisher name, Year published.

E-Book

Poe, Edgar Allan. The Murders in the Rue Morgue. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), Generic NL Freebook Publisher, 1993.

Magazine Article from a Library Database

Zirin, Dave. “Time for the NCAA to Pay.” The Progressive, Jun. 2014, pp. 42. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mth&AN=96327384&site=ehost-live

Journal Article Basic Template:  

Name of author or editor. “Title of the Article.” Publication Title Volume Number, Issue Number, year of publication, page numbers. Database. URL or DOI

Journal Article from a Library Database

Washington, Myra. “The Post-Racial Mystique: Media and Race in the Twenty-First Century.” Black Scholar, vol. 46, no. 2, 2016, pp. 66-69. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. tinyurl.com/z3zblco

Newspaper Article from a Library Database

Smith, Barbara S. “Reframing the Conversation on Growing Old.” Sarasota Herald Tribune [Sarasota, FL], 12 May 2015, pp. E.8. ProQuest Newsstand. tinyurl.com/zq4mlrl

Encyclopedia Article from a Library Database

Howard, Lillie. “Zora Neale Hurston.” Dictionary of Literary Biography: Afro-American Writers from the Harlem Renaissance to 1940, edited by Trudier Harris. Gale, 1987. Literature Resource Center. tinyurl.com/jg4hrbd.

Website Basic Template:

Name of author or editor (if given). “Title of Work.” Title of Website. Publisher or container of site, day month and year of publication – use n.d. if no date is available. URL. Date Accessed.

Website

Anders, Charlie J. “Prince Was One of the Greatest Fantasy Storytellers of All Time.” i09.com. Gizmodo, 21 Apr. 2016. io9.gizmodo.com/prince-is-not-dead-1772302841. Accessed 6 May 2016.

4. Miscellaneous Citations

Lecture, Speech, Reading

Obama, Barack Hussein. “Obama Presidential Address.” Presidential Inauguration of the United States of America. Washington D.C. 24 Feb. 2009.

Encyclopedia or Dictionary Entry, (Print) with an Author

Lewisohn, Leonard. “Sufism.” Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Donald Borchert, 2nd ed., vol. 9, Thomson Gale, 2006, pp. 300-314.

Encyclopedia or Dictionary Entry, (Print) without an Author

“Mystic.” Oxford Concise Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by Elizabeth Knowles, Oxford UP, 2003, p. 349.

Blog Post

Minchilli, Elizabeth. “Eating Outside in Rome.” Elizabeth Minchilli in Rome, 13 April 2016, www.elizabethminchilliinrome.com/2016/04/eating-outside-rome/. Accessed 18 July 2016.

Video from a website

Griggs, Ben. “A Day in the Life of a Librarian.” YouTube, 1 Oct. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mcn-B7X7HwQ. Accessed 9 Oct. 2017.

Editorial

“Death of a Writer.” Editorial. New York Times 20 Apr. 1994, late ed.: A18.

Letter to the Editor

Ozick, Cynthia. Letter. Partisan Review 57 (1990): 493–94.

Dissertation or thesis (Unpublished)

Boyle, Anthony T. “The Epistemological Evolution of Renaissance Utopian Literature, 1516 – 1657.” Diss. New York U, 1983. Print.

Unpublished Conference paper

Langley, Dawn. Global Warming or Global Meltdown? Global Environmental Summit, May 2008, Zurich, Switzerland. Unpublished conference paper. Northwestern University Library, Evanston, 2008. Print.

Please Note: For further guidance on formatting your research paper according to MLA style, you may get help from the following web resources:

Online MLA guide created by Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab:

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html

Online Mendeley MLA 8 Citation Guide provided by Elsevier:

https://www.mendeley.com/guides/mla-citation-guide

MLA Format: Everything You Need to Know (developed by www.easybib.com):

https://www.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides/mla-format/