THE BASICS OF MLA STYLE 347
The steps outlined here for compiling a list of works cited apply to
printed sources. MLA formats for citing online sources vary, but this is an
example of the basic format:Author. “Document Title.” Name of Site. Site Sponsor, date posted/revised. Medium.
Date you accessed the site.Things to remember:
• Invert the author’s name or the first author’s name.
• Italicize the name of the site.
• If the site sponsor — usually an institution or organization — isn’t clear,
check the copyright notice at the bottom of the Web page.
• MLA style uses the day-month-year format for dates in the works-cited
list.
• Notice that there’s a comma between the sponsor and the publication
date.
• In general, the medium of publication for online sources is “Web.”
• Notice that you do not need to include a URL after the date of access.
In addition to online sources, you will likely use other nonprint sources
in researching your papers. Our students, for example, regularly analyze
films, recordings, television and radio programs, paintings, and photo -
graphs. For details on how to format these sources, consult the MLA Hand-
book or go to Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL) site (http://
owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/11).■^7 Invert the author’s name, last name first. In the case of multiple
authors, only the first author’s name is inverted.■^8 Italicize the titles of books, journals, magazines, and newspapers.
Put the titles of book chapters and articles in quotation marks.
Capitalize each word in all titles except for articles, short preposi-
tions, and coordinating conjunctions.■^9 For books, list the place of publication, the name of the publisher,
and the year of publication. For chapters, list the editors of the
book, the book title, and the publication information. For articles,
list the journal title, volume and issue numbers, and the date of
publication.
10 List the relevant page numbers for articles and selections from
longer works.
11 Give the medium of publication, such as Print, Web, CD, DVD,
Film, Lecture, Performance, Radio, Television, PDF file, MP3 file,
or E-mail.19_GRE_60141_App_BRF_343_353.indd 347 10/31/14 4:48 PM