MLA Style

There are two main areas of punctuation that a writer using MLA style must be aware of: the usage of the oxford comma and punctuation of titles.

Oxford comma

There are two different rules regarding how lists that end in the conjunctions “and,” “or,” or “nor.” The Oxford comma generally helps to prevent ambiguity or misunderstanding by placing a comma before the conjunction.

The Oxford comma is used as a matter of tradition and consistency.

“I had to get tea, milk, and bread.”

However, sometimes it also helps to prevent confusion.

“My heroes are my parents, my high school math teacher and Taylor Swift.”

Without the Oxford comma, one may misread this as everything after “parents” being an appositive which clarifies that this writer’s parents are their high school math teacher and Taylor Swift.

The Oxford comma helps prevent the misunderstanding that one’s parents are their high school math teacher and Taylor Swift.

“My heroes are my parents, my high school math teacher, and Taylor Swift.”

If the usage of an Oxford comma creates confusion, it can be omitted, or the sentence should be rewritten.

The guest list was quite unique, including the ambassador of Sweden, a seven-foot-tall drag queen, and a famous designer.

In this case, “a seven-foot-tall drag queen” reads like an appositive describing the “ambassador of Sweden.” No number of commas would make this statement any less confusing.

The guest list was quite unique, including the ambassador of Sweden, as well as a seven-foot-tall drag queen, and a famous designer.

Titles

In MLA style, titles are capitalized. This excludes “small” words like short prepositions (“in,” “on,” “out”) or the articles “the,” “an,” or “a” unless these words are the first word in a title.

Titles of complete works, like books, films, journals, or websites (not to be confused with webpages) are italicized.

Of Mice and Men

The New Yorker

VitalSource

Titles of shorter works like articles, TV episodes, or webpages are quoted.

“Social Connections Make Better Brains”

If the title of work appears within a longer title, punctuate it correctly.

“Dialectic of Desire and the Populist Subject in All the Kings Men”

If quotations are used within quotation marks, then use double quotes for the overall title, but single quotes for the quoted material within the title.

“’I Have Nothing to Say’: John Cage, Biopower, and the Demilitarization of Language”

In MLA style, any permanent or semi-permanent cultural artifact is considered a text. It is the stance of the MLA that texts are treated in the present tense. They exist today, even if they were produced a long time ago.

This means that we must be very careful to understand if the point of a sentence is to refer to the text, itself, or to the historical context around that text.

The Grapes of Wrath is, at its heart, a consciously created tool, crafted by Steinbeck to raise awareness of the cruel intensions of the wealthy that resulted in the Great Depression.

In the novel, the Joad family are forced off of their land in Oklahoma, which results in them living in a series of workers’ camps in California. In California, they find life to be dangerous and difficult.

Steinbeck had visited camps of migrant workers displaced by the Great Depression and wanted The Grapes of Wrath to hold as a testament of the inhuman conditions of the camps.

Critics have challenged The Grapes of Wrath as being overly sentimental when a more realistic depiction of the lives of migrant workers may have been more effective.

The first example starts in the present tense because it is about the book itself. It then must switch to the past tense, as the focus of the sentence becomes about the act of writing the novel by the author. The second example is all in present tense because it summarizes the action within the text. The third and fourth examples are both in past tense because they make arguments about the actions of real people outside of the text.

When possible, one should avoid shifts in tense. If the writing seems to be confusing or has multiple shifts in tense, then it should be edited for clarity.

In MLA style, authors are referred to by their full names or just their last names. Authors should never be referred to by first name only, unless they do so professionally, and it is well documented. Unlike some other academic styles, authors’ initials are not usually used instead of their name unless the author has chosen this.

MLA style usually does not include professional titles, unless used for clarity or emphasis. In addition, post-nominal titles (abbreviated titles after one’s name for degrees or other recognitions) are not used.

Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous I Have a Dream Speech at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963.

Doctor King gave the speech as part of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Beyoncé was already a famous musician with her group Destiny’s Child but became a super star when she went solo in 2003.

J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings, is famous for his use of constructed languages, such as Elvish, but was also a foremost scholar of Germanic languages, including Old English.

At times it may be necessary to skip source content in order to make the information more succinct.

When this is necessary, use ellipses, or three periods separated by spaces (. . .) to indicate the omission. Be very careful when deleting the skipped content that you don’t change the context or meaning of the original.

“Clarkesworld, an online science fiction magazine. . ., stopped taking new submissions in 2024 because of the flood of AI-generated writing it was getting” (Nemeroff).

Also, although one may shorten a title in-text, do not shorten a title in a Works Cited entry.

In MLA style, spell out numbers that can be stated in one or two words. Always spell out a number at the beginning of a sentence or after a colon in a sentence.

“One or two examples include. . .”

“There are twenty-nine titles by. . .”

“Of the 475 publications found, only. . .”

Usually, essays written in MLA style should have a heavy focus on the thesis statement and supporting statements that back that thesis. Because of this, an MLA style essay will often have an organization that includes:

• An introduction to the topic with a clear thesis statement, usually at the end.
• The body structure based on supporting arguments for the thesis.
• A conclusion which generally should review the most relevant information and restate the thesis.

Instructors may have other guidelines in addition to these suggestions, so be sure that you understand the parameters of the assigned work.

Pages should have a one-inch margin all around the page. Lines should be double-spaced. Paragraphs should have a half-inch indent on the first line.

In MLA style, the pagination (or page number) includes the writer’s last name and is in the top right corner of the page, in the header. Your word processing program should have a tool to insert the page number. If one just types a number “1” in the header, each page will be paginated as number one.

The first page of a document in MLA style should have a heading in the top left corner. This should be in the body of the document, not the header.

The heading should include the student’s name, the instructor’s name, the course title, and the date.

It is best to check with the instructor for how they would like their name and the course title formatted. Some instructors prefer to go by a title. You certainly don’t want to misspell your instructor’s name.

Because it is an international organization, dates in MLA style use the international order of day first. The month is not stated as a numeral. However, it can be abbreviated. For example, November 8, 2025, would be 8 Nov. 2025 in MLA style.

Long quotations (four lines or longer) have a special indent called a block quote. A block quote indents the entire quotation a half inch. The purpose of this is to set the quotation off from the rest of the text so the reader clearly understands that it is a quotation.

Some word processing programs, like Microsoft Word have presets for MLA style which are often incorrect, so it is best to learn to set up your own document. For example, Word adds extra line spacing after paragraphs, even when one clicks the box in the paragraph toolbar to stop this. A writer must also make sure that paragraphs are set for zero space before and after paragraphs. 

Sample MLA style document

In MLA style, parenthetical citations appear right after the cited information. This may be at the end of a sentence of source material, in the middle of a sentence, or after a few sentences if they are all from the place in the source. It is called parenthetical citation because the source information, usually the author’s last name and the page number the specific cited information is from, is in parenthesis.

The most basic form of a parenthetical citation is a source with one author. The parenthetical citation comes after the source information. Note that there is no comma between the author’s name and no abbreviation for page number. For a quote, the parenthetical citation comes after the quotation marks, but inside the end punctuation.

“This is the trouble with principles determined to be neutral: They operate by sacrificing everything people care about to their own purity” (Fish 28).

2. Parenthetical citation of a source with two authors

The approach for two or three authors in parenthetical citation is similar to one author. Be very careful not to change the order of the authors.

SNAP rules may force some students to work more and enroll in less credit hours, which have a negative impact on degree attainment (Voorhees and Ortagus 19)

3. Parenthetical citation with three or more authors

In MLA style, if a source has three or more authors, we use the lead author’s name along with the Latin abbreviation “et al.” which indicates that there are others.

“Holding specialized training courses focused on professional ethics and increasing awareness in this field are essential strategies for improving adherence to professional ethical codes and fostering a culture of ethical excellence in nursing care” (Bordbar et al. 9).

4. Parenthetical citation of a source without page numbers

Often sources, such as web pages or other electronic media, don’t have page numbers, so the parenthetical citation would only be the Author’s last name. If content that seems to not have page numbers has a PDF link available, use the PDF so there are consistent page numbers.

According to an article from The Conversation, even when we know that AI created content is not real and being used for persuasive purposes, it still affects how we think about the world (Nemeroff).

5. Parenthetical citation for a source with no known author

It is very rare that the types of sources used for academic purposes would not have an author. If a source does not seem to have an author, look again very carefully. Also check to see if perhaps the source is an organization.

If the source does not have an author, use the title as the in-text citation. One may shorten the title as necessary, as long as it can clearly be located on the Works Cited page. Do not use “anonymous” for the author of a work with no known author.

6. Parenthetical citation for a corporate or organizational source

If a source is from a business, government, or other organization, you have a choice. You can give the organization as the author, or, in the case of websites that are titled the same as the organization, you can use the title of the document or webpage. Just be sure that you are consistent in leading with the same information in your Works Cited entry.

Many of the fastest declining jobs in the next ten years include specialist manufacturing jobs (United States Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Two green energy jobs top the list of occupations with the most projected growth in the next 10 years (“Fastest Growing Occupations”).

7. Parenthetical citation for sources by authors with the same last name

If you have sources by authors with similar last names, use each author’s first and last names for the in-text citation.

Associative intervention may be an effective approach, especially for those who find it difficult to exercise regularly (Adair Johnson et al. 296).

“It seems most likely that antbears locate buried fruits of C. humifructus directly using olfaction, although we cannot exclude the possibility that they use the odour of old defaecation sites to locate sites likely to contain fruits” (Steven Johnson et al. 1232)

8. Parenthetical citation for two or more works by the same author

When citing works by the same author, use part of the title of each in the in-text citation in order to avoid confusion.

“This is the trouble with principles determined to be neutral: They operate by sacrificing everything people care about to their own purity” (Fish, The Trouble with Principle, 28).

“The diminished target is useful not only because it affords an easy victory but because it is crucial to the raising of the fears in the context of which victory seems necessary in the first place. . .” (Fish, “Truth but No Consequences,” 407).

The other way we can give in-text citation in MLA style is to use a signal phrase. A signal phrase usually uses the author’s name and comes before the cited information.

Signal phrases can be quite effective the first time a source is used as a method of introducing the source. It can also be a useful method of just breaking up multiple sentences with parenthetical citation.

Avoid using “says” or “said” in a signal phrase unless the source is a speech or interview, as print sources don’t speak.

9. Signal phrase for a work with page numbers

If the source has page numbers, you still must include parenthetical citation after the cited information.

Stanley Fish argues in his book The Trouble with Principle that “This is the trouble with principles determined to be neutral: They operate by sacrificing everything people care about to their own purity” (28).

10. Signal phrase for a work without page numbers

Often webpages and other electronic sources may not have page numbers. If this is the case, just don’t include a parenthetical citation.

Adam Nemeroff claims that even when we know that AI created content is not real and being used for persuasive purposes, it still affects how we think about the world.

11. Indirect citation (work cited in another work)

Often, we find information in a source that the source has cited from somewhere else. When this happens, you must be very careful to cite the information in such a way that the original source is clear, but the citation also leads the reader to the source where you got the information.

The best way to handle this is to use a signal phrase for the original author, but a parenthetical citation for the source. Use the phrase “cited in” or “qtd. in” to make it clear to the reader that this is an indirect citation.

Binder and Kidder report that politically active students in universities tend to gravitate toward clubs where similar ideas are forged into a singular ideology (cited in Reynolds et al. 3).

Ulbig claims that “the youngest segment of the electorate appeared to express . . . the same interpartisan distrust and anger as the general US public” (qtd. in Reynolds et al. 3).

Some other situations in researched writing may call for other variations of in-text citations.

12. Verse, such as poetry, including the Bible

If quoting verse, use a slash (/) for any line breaks. Use a double slash (//) for a stanza break. If the quotation is four lines or more, then use a block quote.

“And when the sun sets, take me to the park, / where during your nocturnal game of chess / I’ll doze off by your side in meek delight.” (Poitevin)

If the published poem includes line numbers, then you should cite these in parenthetical citation. If the poem does not include line numbers, then only use the author’s name for in-text citation. If you use the same source more than once, you should include the word “line” in the first citation for clarity. After that just give the line number, similar to a page number.

“I sit at my window this morning where the world like a passer-by stops for a moment, nods to me and goes” (Tagore line 16).

Some longer works of verse (including the Bible) have dividing elements like acts, scenes, or books. If this is the case, use a decimal to denote the larger unit and the lines. In this example, The Fairie Queen is a very long epic poem, and the selection is from the first book, first, canto, lines 84-85.

“When weening to returne, whence they did stray, / They cannot finde that path, which first was showne” (Spenser 1.1.84-5).

Specifically, for selection from the Bible, you need to be sure that the reader knows which version of the Bible is being cited. In the first in-text citation, give the specific title, the book, chapter, and verse. Later citations from the same Bible, but different books, need to include the book with the chapter and verse. Later citations from the same book can give just chapter and verse.

“For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye
gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in” (King James Bible Mathew 25.35).

13. Drama

If a play is in prose form, cite the page number. If it is in verse, cite the act, scene, and line numbers, just as we would for any other longer work of verse.

14. Generative AI content

Just to be clear, one should be extremely careful if using generative AI content in academic work. Generative AI content may be inaccurate to the point of creating “hallucinations” of poor content based on prior mistakes created by the program. An AI program may even create sources that don’t really exist just to satisfy a prompt.

Generative AI programs are not considered an author. To complete proper in-text citation, then, one must cite the prompt used to generate the content. Because this prompt is not a title, it is not capitalized.

When prompted to create a list of characters for an adventure film with a protagonist who is a woman, Chat GPT tends to create a protagonist with a PhD and one companion with an obviously Asianic surname (“Create a list of five charac ters. . .”) which seems to be cribbed directly from the formula used for a number of Hollywood films.

Sources on a Works Cited page should be organized alphabetically. The entries should have a half-inch hanging indent. A hanging indent does not indent the first line, but all subsequent lines are indented. In many word processing programs, such as Word, it is almost impossible to create a hanging indent using tabs. One must, instead, use the paragraph toolbox and choose hanging indent from predefined settings.

Generally, the organizational pattern for a Works Cited entry is author, title, and publication information. A period is used after each “chunk” of information to show that it is completed.

The type of publication affects the punctuation of titles, and what kind of information must be included.

A print book is one of the most basic Works Cited entries. The author’s name is given last name first. This is so it matches the in-text citation, which must include the author’s last name.

1. Print book

The author is followed by the title of the book, the publisher, and year of publication. There are common abbreviations for publishers which can be found in the official MLA Handbook. The most common abbreviation for a publisher, however, is UP for University Press.

Frost, Robert. Silence in the Snowy Fields: Poems. Wesleyan UP, 1962.

2. Ebook

In MLA style, an ebook is any book which has been formatted for a specific type of reading app such as Kindle. Cite the book like a print book but add that it is an ebook after the title.

Larsen, Nella. Passing. Ebook, Open Road Media, 2025.

3. Online book

If a book is not specially formatted for an e-reader and is found on a website, then cite it like a work from a website. Keep in mind, however, that titles of books are italicized.

Tagore, Rabindranath. Stray Birds. Project Gutenberg, 2020, gutenberg. org, accessed 9 Sept. 2025.

4. Book in an edition other than the first

If a book has an edition number, it should be noted right after the title of the book. Use ordinal numbers (2nd, 3rd, etc.). Some editions have other information as well that are important, such as “expanded,” “updated,” or “portable.”

Richter, David H. The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. Shorter 3rd ed. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016.

5. Book with an editor or translator

When citing a book with an editor, we must decide what the emphasis the editor should have. In a book with an author and an editor, the author should come first. If a book does not have an author given, then we must decide if the editor is important enough to be listed in the author’s location, or if the book, itself, is of main importance and the editor is secondary.

Classic texts with no known author should emphasize the title of the work. Newer texts, or ones in which it seems that the editor has had a significant impact on the content, should give emphasis to the editor.

The same holds for a book with a translator. We must decide how major the role of translator has been in order to list them correctly.

Beowulf: A Dual-Language Edition. Edited by Howell D. Chickering, Jr. Vintage, 2006.

Thomas, Calvin, editor. An Anthology of German Literature. Project Gutenberg, 2021, gutenberg.org, accessed 12 Sept. 2025.

6. Book with multiple volumes

Often, very large books will have multiple volumes. If this is the case, designate the volume number.

Cain, William, et al. American Literature. 2nd ed. vol. 2, Pearson, 2014.

The citation for an article can vary greatly depending upon where it is published.

Keep in mind that titles of short works like articles, poems, and short stories should be quoted. Titles of longer works, like publications, should be italicized.

Use the abbreviations “vol.” for volume number, “no.” for issue number and “p.” for page. Multiple pages should use “pp.”

Do not repeat digits in page numbers. For example, pp. 2138-2179 should be pp. 2138-79.

7. Print article in a magazine or newspaper

When citing any shorter work that is found in a publication, we need to start with the information for the specific work and then give the publication information. If a source does not have an author given, start with the title of the article.

Fleur Afshar, Melissa. “Chat Like a Bot.” Newsweek, global ed. vol. 185, no. 7, 19 Sept. 2025, pp. 44-46.

Newspapers usually don’t have volume and issue numbers. Also, pages are often numbered by section.

Huang, Raffaele, and Berber Jin. “Altman Goes on World Tour in Dash for Funds.” The Wall Street Journal. 6 Oct. 2025. B1.

8. Print article in a journal

A journal is an academic publication, usually published by a college or university, or a non-profit research or academic organization. Note that this example has a quoted element within the title of the article, so one must use single quotation marks within the double quotes that designate the title.

Carrizal-Dukes, Elvira, et al. “‘Fight Story with Story’: Counterstory as Resilient Futurity.” College English, vol. 87 no. 2, Nov. 2024, pp. 268-87.

9. Article from a website

We often find articles on websites, not in print. This means that we must give additional information. In MLA style, do not include “http:” in the web address. If a DOI (Digitial Object Identifier) number is available for the article, you can use this instead of the web address.

Nemeroff, Adam. “What is AI Slop? A Technologist Explains This New and Largely Unwelcome Form of Online Content.” The Conversation, 2 Sept. 2025, doi.org/10.64628 Accessed 5 Sept. 2025.

10. Article from an online journal

An article from an online journal often has additional information that must be included, such as volume and issue numbers. If a DOI is given for the article, you can use this instead of the URL in order to save room.

Dreezen Bowman, Rhys. “Good Intentions and Poor Collections: The Attitudes of School Librarians in one Southeastern State on Trans Material and Library Holdings.” School Library Research, vol. 27, 2024, pp. 1-34. ala.org accessed 12 Sept. 2025.

11. Article from a database

Databases are collections of articles and other materials. Often, these are
managed by third-party companies who pay to reprint work from print and online sources and then sell access to these resources. By paying for a subscription to a database, a library or individual can pay one fee for access to thousands of periodicals and other resources.

We must be sure, then, to include the database information in the citation for an article. Unlike an article from a website, the content of an article in a database is unlikely to change later, so we do not need an access date.

Johnson, Natalie K., et al. “Mindful Strides: A Brief Associative Attention Intervention to Improve Running Performance Among College Students.” Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research, vol. 30, no. 3, Sept. 2025, pp. 288– 300. EBSCOhost, doi.org/10.24839/2325-7342.JN30.3.288.

12. Work from an anthology

An anthology is a book that collects shorter works such as poetry, short fiction, or articles. A textbook may be considered an anthology if it includes shorter works written by other authors. When citing work from a textbook, be very careful to ascertain if the material is the textbook author’s original material, or anthologized work from other sources.

If the cited work is book length, like a novella or the script of a play, then italicize the title of the work, even though it is found within a book which is also italicized.

Note in this example that the title of the article contains the title of a novel, Emma, hence the novel title is italicized within the title of the article.

Booth, Wayne C. “Control of Distance in Jane Austen’s Emma.” The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. Shorter 3rd ed. Edited by David Richter, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016, pp. 570-82.

13. Multiple works from an anthology

If we have two or more works from the same anthology, the Works Cited entries are very different than one work. It is tedious to type the same book information over and over again. So, we shorten each entry and add an extra one just for the book.

The fact that the entries for the articles are incomplete and include the name of an editor makes it clear to the reader that they must find the separate entry for the book for the full information.

Note that the entries should be listed in alphabetical order, as with all Works Cited entries.

Booth, Wayne C. “Control of Distance in Jane Austen’s Emma.” Richter, pp. 570-82.

Richter, David H. The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. Shorter 3rd ed. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016.

Smith, Barbara. “Toward a Black Feminist Criticism.” Richter, pp. 945- 55.

Depending on the number of authors or what type of author a work has can change how we handle the author in the citation.

14. Work with two authors

If a work has two authors, give the lead author, last name first. Then use “and” and list the second author, first name first.

Hansen, Twyla M. and Linda M. Hasselstrom. Dirt Songs: A Plains Duet. Backwaters Press, 2011.

15. Work with three or more authors

When a work has three or more authors, then list the lead author and use the Latin abbreviation “et al.” which means there are others.

Johnson, Steven D., et al. “Antbears and Underground Melons: A Highly Specialized Seed Dispersal Mutualism Mediated by Scent.” Plants, People, Planet, vol. 7, no. 5, Sept. 2025, pp. 1225–34. EBSCOhost, doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10638.

16. Two or more works by the same author

If you have two or more works by the same author, be sure to list them alphabetically by title. After the first work, use three hyphens and a period (---.) instead of the author’s name.

Fish, Stanley. The Trouble with Principle. Harvard UP, 1999.

---. “Truth but No Consequences: Why Philosophy Doesn’t Matter.” Critical Inquiry, vol. 29, no. 3, 2003, pp. 389–417. JSTOR, doi.org/10.1086/376302. Accessed 8 Sept. 2025.

17. Work with a translator

Similar to a book with an editor, if a published work has an author and a translator, then the translator’s name must come after the title.

Poitevin, Pedro. “Self-Portrait as a Dog.” Translated by Philip Nikolayev, The Common, 26 June 2025, thecommononline.org, Accessed 8 Sept. 2025.

18. Organization or government office as author

If the office or organization that authors a document is different than the office or organization where the document is found, then give the authoring organization first. If the authoring organization or office and the office where the document is located are the same, then start with the title of the document.

In this first example, a Nebraskan who remembers their grade school lessons may wonder why the date is not 1875. However, as in many states, the constitution is updated by legislative action, voter initiatives, and legal precedence quite often.

Nebraska Constitution. Nebraska Legislature, 2024, nebraskalegislature.gov. Accessed 19 Nov. 2025.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA Knows Lightning. National Weather Service, 2009, weather.gov/ owlie/publication brochures. Accessed 19 Nov. 2025.

There are many specific sources that have variations in how they are cited. Overall, one should always stick to the basic organization: Author. Title. Publication information.

If you come across a citation situation that is not in this handbook, you can check with your instructor. The ultimate guide is the MLA Handbook, 9th edition.

19. Dissertation

A dissertation is a work of research created as part of the completion of an advanced degree, like a PhD.

The citation for a dissertation in MLA style should at least include the author, title of the dissertation, and year. Because a dissertation is a complete work, the title is italicized. You should include other information that is available. If you have located the dissertation online, include the URL.

Tran Trieu, Theresa. Adult Education: School Policies and Practices for Student Achievement. 2024. Creighton University, PhD Dissertation, researchworks.creighton.edu. Accessed 19 Nov. 2025.

20. Entire website

Usually one would use specific content from the website in their research. However, if you are completing an assignment such as an analysis of a website, then citing the entire site may be necessary. If you can find the author or editor of the website, then include this information first. If a website has a sponsoring site, then this should come after the title. Look carefully for a publication date. It may be at the bottom or top of the page, or in a menu bar.

Northeast Community College. 2025, Northeast.edu, Accessed 12 Sept. 2025.

21. Email or text message

To complete the Works Cited entry for an email or text message, treat the sender of the message as the author. For an email, use the title of the email as the title. This is another rare instance in which one has a title in quotation marks but no title of a publication in italics. Then, give a descriptor of the message and the date.

Nelson, Janet. “Help Clean Park After Fair?” Email to Community Works members. 15 Sept. 2025.

Nelson, Janet. Text message to author. 15 Sept. 2025.

22. Advertisement

Advertisements usually don’t have titles. If the title is not clear, then you need to give a description of the ad instead. Note that we don’t punctuate a description the same as a title. Include the publication or website where the ad was seen and the date. If the ad is in a print source, include the page number. If it is a web source, include the address.

Advertisement for Hermitage Artist Retreat. The New Yorker, 22 Sept. 2025, p. 19.

Advertisement for Steven King film The Long Walk. Literary Hub, 15 Sept. 2025, lithub.com.

23. Interview

A personal interview is one which you have conducted. How the interview has been conducted does not matter as long as it is verbal, not in text form. If it is in text form, then cite as an email or text message.

Because a personal interview is not a published work, do not quote or italicize it.

Nelson, Janet. Personal interview, 12 Sept. 2025.

24. Oral presentation

For a live speech or other verbal presentation, give as much detail as possible. Include the speaker, the title of presentation, and the title of the event. Because an event is not a published work, this is a rare occasion in which one will have a title of something in quotation marks and no larger publication in italics.

Also include the date and location of the presentation.

Barret, Sara. “President’s Address.” Northeast All Employee In-Service, 12 Aug. 2025, Lifelong Learning Center, Northeast Community College, Norfolk, NE.

25. Presentation on Zoom or other virtual platform

If a video is a recording that has been located on a website, then cite it using the guidelines for any content on a website, starting with the presenter’s name, title of the video, title of the website, date of the video, address, and access date.

When citing a live presentation or conference on a video platform like Zoom in which there is not a saved video available, the format is quite similar to an interview. Include the name of the presenter. If there is no presenter, or if there were multiple presenters, then start with the title of the presentation. After the title, give the organizing or hosting group, if possible. Then give the date and the descriptor “online” just so it is clear that this was not a face-to-face event.

Nelson, Janet. “Leading Community Groups.” Community Works, 15 Sept. 2025, online.

“Workgroup: Plan for Fair Cleanup.” Community Works, 15 Sept. 2025, online.

26. Generative AI content

If generative AI content must be used in your work, then it must be cited correctly. It is the stance of the MLA (and most other academic organizations) that an AI tool is not an author, so the first item in the Works Cited entry must be the prompt used to generate the work cited. Note that this is a quotation, not a title, so it is not capitalized like a title.

For clarity, also include the word “prompt.” Then give the AI tool used, the version, the publisher of the AI tool, the date the content was created, and a link.

“Create a list of five characters for an adventure film. The main character should be a woman.” prompt. Chat GPT, GPT-5, Open AI, 15 Sept. 2025. chatgpt.com/ s/t 68c85b197f188191bfe34688b113bb28.

27. Movie

For a cinematic film or movie, one may choose to emphasize a specific director or actor, if the situation warrants such. Otherwise, start the citation with the title of the film and give the director’s name after the title. You may also include the primary actors after the director’s name. Then give the title of the primary production studio and release year.

Here. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, performed by Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany, and Kelly Reilly, Miramax, 2024.

Hitchcock, Alfred. Psycho. Paramount, 1960.

28. Podcast

How you cite a podcast largely depends on how you access it. If you have accessed the episode on an app such as Apple Podcasts or Spotify, then the information available may be quite different than the information if you access the podcast on the web. Podcasts often do not have the author listed, but, instead, list the narrator or host (if there are interviews).

In this first example, the podcast Lore has a separate series titled Lore Legends which makes citation a bit complex. We need to cite the narrator, the title of the episode, the title of the podcast, date of the episode, the sponsoring podcast title, and the address online.

Mahnke, Aaron, narrator. “Legends 62: The Little Things.” Lore Legends, 15 Sept. 2025, Lore, lorepodcast.com/episodes

This example is from Apple Podcasts. It is an ongoing series operated by National Public Radio (NPR). This series does not have numbered episodes. Instead, they are titled by their main guest.

Sagal, Peter, host. “WWDTM: Bob Costas.” Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, Apple Podcasts app, 13 Sept. 2025, NPR.

29. Letter to an editor

In addition to local newspapers publishing letters written to the publication, national newspapers, magazines, and academic journals also often publish letters written to the publication by readers.

Start with the writer’s name. Then give the descriptor “letter.” Then follow with the title of the publication and any other available publication information.

Brown, Kevin. Letter. The Athens News. 7 Jan. 2013, p. 4.

30. Social media post

In general, posts on social media are cited like other media found online. However, one must decide when and how to cite a user’s “handle,” and what to do about a title.

If a user’s real name is unknown, then start the citation with their username. If the user’s real name is very similar to their handle, especially if the person is well-known, then you can just use their name and omit the username. If a user is not well known and/or their handle is much different than their name, then cite their real name first, followed by their handle.

If a social media platform has titles for posts, then list this after the author. If there is no title, the first line of a post can be used in place of the title. Note, however, that this is a quotation, not a title, so it is not capitalized. If a post has no title and is a visual element like a photo, then a description can be used in place of the title.

Finish with the title of the social media platform and the date posted. If you accessed the social media post online (as opposed to in an app) end the citation with the address for the post.

[Weekly Noodle]. “R/Books: Books That Started Strong but Ended Up Losing You?” Reddit, 17, Sept. 2025.

Visiting Writer’s Series. “Visiting Writers Series Presents: Northeast Community College Showcase!” Facebook, 13 Sept. 2025.