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Research Guides

INI100: The City Where Movies Are Made

OWL Purdue Citation Guides

Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University

These OWL resources will help you learn how to use the citation and format style for Modern Language Association (MLA), Chicago Manual of Style (CMS), and American Psychological Association (APA).

Citation Style Comparison Chart 

  • Take a look at this PDF with a side-by-side comparison of APA, MLA, and CMS styles.
  • To find a specific example of a citation, use the search function (Command + F for Mac, Control + F for PC) and type in the type of example you need, e.g., "Book," "Three or More Authors," "Journal Article," etc.
  • Chart created by Justin King Rademaekers.

Citation Manuals

General Guidelines [MLA]

General Guidelines (Source: Purdue OWL) 

  • Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper.
  • Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman). Whatever font you choose, MLA recommends that the regular and italics type styles contrast enough that they are recognizable one from another. The font size should be 12 pt.
  • Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks (unless otherwise instructed by your instructor).
  • Set the margins of your document to 1 inch on all sides.
  • Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin. MLA recommends that you use the Tab key as opposed to pushing the Space Bar five times.
  • Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. (Note: Your instructor may ask that you omit the number on your first page. Always follow your instructor's guidelines.)
  • Use italics throughout your essay for the titles of longer works and, only when absolutely necessary, providing emphasis.
  • If you have any endnotes, include them on a separate page before your Works Cited page. Entitle the section Notes (centered, unformatted).

For more information, please refer to Purdue OWL's website. 

You can also take a look at Purdue OWL's Citation Style Chart (a side-by-side comparison of the three most widely used citation styles (MLA, APA, & Chicago). 

Books [MLA Style]

Book with Author(s):  

  • Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. City of Publication, Publisher, Publication Date.  

  • Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. Penguin, 1987.

  • Scroll down to "Basic book format" heading. 

Book with Editor(s):  

  • Rose, Shirley K., and Irwin Weiser, editors. The Writing Program Administrator as  

Researcher. Heinemann, 1999. 

Dictionary/Encyclopedia:  

 

 

Chapter in a Book [MLA Style]

Single Chapter in Book with Editor(s), known as an Anthology:  

  • Last name, First name. "Title of Essay." Title of Collection, edited by Editor's Name(s), Publisher,  

Year, Page range of entry. 

Articles [MLA Style]

Scholarly Articles:  

 

Newspapers 

  • Brubaker, Bill. "New Health Center Targets County's Uninsured Patients." Washington Post, 24 May 2007,  

p. LZ01. 

 

Magazines: 

  • Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical, Day Month Year, pages. 

  • Scroll down to "Article in a Magazine" heading. 

 

Review: 

  • Review Author. "Title of Review (if there is one)." Review of Performance Title, by  

Author/Director/Artist. Title of Periodical, Day Month Year, page. 

 

Interviews 

Websites [MLA Style]

Websites 

  • The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008,  

owl.english.purdue.edu/owl. Accessed 23 Apr. 2008. 

A/V: Film, TV, Online Streaming, Podcast [MLA Style]

 Films:  

  • Lucas, George, director. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Twentieth Century Fox, 1977. 

  • Scroll down to "Films or Movies" heading. 

 

Television: 

  • "The Blessing Way." The X-Files. Fox, WXIA, Atlanta, 19 Jul. 1998. 

 

Online Streaming Platforms - Netflix, Hulu, Google Play:  

  • “94 Meetings.” Parks and Recreation, season 2, episode 21, NBC, 29 Apr.  

2010. Netflix, www.netflix.com/watch/70152031. 

 

Podcast:  

  • “Best of Not My Job Musicians.” Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! from NPR, 4 June 2016,  

www.npr.org/podcasts/344098539/wait-wait-don-t-tell-me. 

Video Games [MLA Style]

Video Games 

  • Pac-Man. Windows PC version, Namco Networks, 2009.

 

Learn more from ​MLA's online guide "How to Cite a Videogame"

 

Microfilm [MLA Style]

Microfilm:

Sutherlin, Robert N. “Organize Your Stock Associations.” Rocky Mountain Husbandman 5 June  

1879: 2. Microform. Work Progress Administration for the Livestock Industry 36 (1942): Reel 1, Microfilm 250.  

 

Example of Citation Format

[author, by last name.] [“article title.”] [original publication title] [original publication date: page  

number.] [medium.] [collection title volume number] [(collection year):] [specific microform information (such as reel, fiche, number, etc.).] 

Check out Yale Center for Teaching and Learning's website: "Citing Miscellanous Sources"  Microfilm: Microfilm and Microfiche  

Social Media [MLA Style]

Social Media:

Tweet: 

  • @tombrokaw. "SC demonstrated why all the debates are the engines of this campaign." Twitter, 22 Jan.  

2012, 3:06 a.m., twitter.com/tombrokaw/status/160996868971704320. 

YouTube Video:

  •  “8 Hot Dog Gadgets put to the Test.” YouTube, uploaded by Crazy Russian Hacker, 6 June 2016,  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBlpjSEtELs. 

Comment on Website or Online Article:

  • Not Omniscent Enough. Comment on "Flight Attendant Tells Passenger to ‘Shut Up’ After Argument After  

Pasta." ABC News, 9 Jun 2016, 4:00 p.m., abcnews.go.com/US/flight-attendant-tells-passenger-shut-argument-pasta/story?id=39704050. 

 

Lecture Notes [MLA Style]

Lecture Notes:  

  • Stein, Bob. “Reading and Writing in the Digital Era.” Discovering Digital Dimensions, Computers and  

Writing Conference, 23 May 2003, Union Club Hotel, West Lafayette, IN. Keynote Address.