MLA Style: Writing & Citation

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Not sure whether your article is from a magazine? Look for these characteristics:

Popular magazines:

• Main purpose is to entertain, sell products or promote a viewpoint.
• Appeal to the general public.
• Often have many photos and illustrations, as well as many advertisements.
• Author may or may not have subject expertise.
• Name and credentials of authors often NOT provided.
• Articles tend to be short –less than 5 pages
• Unlikely to have a bibliography or references list

Trade magazines:

• Main purpose is to update and inform readers on current trends in a specific industry or trade.
• Audience is members of a specific industry or trade or professors and students in that trade or industry
• May have photos and numerous advertisements, but still assume that readers understand specific jargon of the profession.
• Usually published by an association.
• Authors are professionals working in the specific industry or trade.

Articles may also come from journals or newspapers.

Works Cited List:

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle if Any." Title of Magazine, Date of Publication, page range. Name of Database. 

Weinstein, Becca. "Trying Before Buying." Psychology Today, May-June 2012, pp. 46-47. ABI/INFORM Global. 

In-Text Citation:             

(Author's Last Name Page Number)

(Weinstein 46)

*Note: MLA Handbook, 9th ed. advises the use of a permalink, or stable URL (this is a web address that will always be the same) if available, instead of the address in your web browser. Most permalinks provide a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) over a URL when available. If a DOI is not available, use the URL in its place. 

Works Cited List:

Author's Last Name, First Name, and Second Author's First Name Last Name, and Third Author's First Name Last Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle." Title of Magazine, Date of Publication, page range. Name of Database. URL or permalink

Bosch, James Vanden, and David Crump. "Divorce and the Congregation." Books and Culture, Mar.-Apr. 2012, p. 22. Academic OneFile. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A282837661/AONE?u=gvltec_main&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=2b72c381

In-Text Citation:

(First Author's Last Name and Second Author's Last Name Page Number)

(Bosch and Crump 22)

 *Note: Only the first author listed appears in "Last Name, First Name" format. Authors' names are separated by a comma. Before the last author to be listed, type out the word "and", do not use an ampersand (&). 

Works Cited List:

"Title of Article: Subtitle." Title of Magazine, Date of Publication, page range. Name of Database. URL or permalink

"Canned Soda?" Restaurants and Institutions, 15 Sept. 2005, p. 16. Academic OneFile. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A136563518/AONE?u=gvltec_main&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=52960f1d

In-Text Citation:

("First Word or Words of the Title" Page Number)

("Canned")

 *Note: If the author is unknown, begin the citation with the title of the article.

* Note: This magazine article doesn't list an author, so the first word or words of the title are included in the in-text citation in quotation marks. This article is only one page, so the page number is not included in the in-text citation.

Works Cited List:

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle." Title of Magazine, Date of publication, URL. Access date.

Cosh, Kolby. "Tiny Human Brains Threaten Giant Dinosaur Bones in Alberta." Macleans, 25 July 2012, www.macleans.ca/news/canada/a-blight-at-the-museum. Accessed 13 June 2016.

In-Text Citation:             

(Author's Last Name)

(Cosh)

Works Cited List:

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle." Title of Magazine, Date of Publication, page range. 

Loney, Sydney. "Family Fare." Today's Parent, Jan. 2012, pp. 59-61. 

In-Text Citation:             

(Author's Last Name Page Number)

(Loney 59)

Works Cited List:

Author's Last Name, First Name, and Second Author's First Name Last Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle." Title of Magazine, Date of Publication, page range. 

Ainsworth-Vincze, Cameron, and Josh Dehass. "Where Do I Belong?" Macleans, 22 Nov. 2010, pp. 58-59.

In-Text Citation:             

(First Author's Last Name and Second Author's Last Name Page Number)

(Ainsworth-Vincze and Dehass 58)

 *Note: Only the first author listed appears in "Last Name, First Name" format. Authors' names are separated by a comma. Type out the word "and” between authors’ names,  don't use an ampersand (&). 

Works Cited List:

"Title of Article: Subtitle." Title of Magazine, Date of Publication, page range. 

"Outsmart Your Cravings." Prevention, 30 Jan. 2008, p. 45. 

In-Text Citation: 

("First Word or Words of the Title" Page Number)

("Outsmart" 45)

*Note: This magazine article doesn't list an author, so the first word or words of the title are included in the in-text citation in quotation marks.

If you are citing a work with three or more authors, cite only the name of the first author listed (Last Name, First Name, Middle Initial) followed by a comma, and the term 'et al' ("and others").

Example: Smith, James, et al.

Access Date

For all content found on the Web, you must list the date you first viewed the resource. This comes last in a citation. The exception to this rule is that you do not list access date for content found in library databases.

Authors/Editors

An author can be a person but can also be an organization, or company. These are called group or corporate authors.

Database Names

The name of the database will usually appear at the top of the search screen. Note that ProQuest and EBSCOhost are NOT database names, they are database providers. The name of the database will appear separately.

If you have used the function to search multiple databases at once and therefore do not know the individual database name, enter the name of the database provider (e.g. ProQuest) as the database.

Dates

The format of all dates is: Date Month (shortened) Year. E.g. 5 Sept. 2012.

Page Numbers

If no page number is listed, write n. pag. in the Works Cited list.

If the entire article is only one page, do not include a page number in the in-text citation.

If the article appears on non-consecutive pages (e.g., the article starts on page 5 then continues on page 12), write the first page number and a plus (+) sign. E.g., 5+

Titles

Capitalize the first letter of every important word in the title. You do not need to capitalize words such as: in, of, or an.

If there is a colon (:) in the title, include what comes after the colon (also known as the subtitle).