How to cite a source without an author mla

When should I use footnotes in MLA style?

In MLA style, footnotes or endnotes can be used to provide additional information that would interrupt the flow of your text.

This can be further examples or developments of ideas you only briefly discuss in the text. You can also use notes to provide additional sources or explain your citation practice.

You don’t have to use any notes at all; only use them to provide relevant information that complements your arguments or helps the reader to understand them.

How should I format the Works Cited page?

According to MLA format guidelines, the Works Cited page(s) should look like this:

  • Running head containing your surname and the page number.
  • The title, Works Cited, centered and in plain text.
  • List of sources alphabetized by the author’s surname.
  • Left-aligned.
  • Double-spaced.
  • 1-inch margins.
  • Hanging indent applied to all entries.

If you’re working on a group project and therefore need to list multiple authors for your paper, MLA recommends against including a normal header. Instead, create a separate title page.

On the title page, list each author on a separate line, followed by the other usual information from the header: Instructor, course name and number, and submission date. Then write the title halfway down the page, centered, and start the text of the paper itself on the next page.

Do I need a title page for my MLA paper?

Usually, no title page is needed in an MLA paper. A header is generally included at the top of the first page instead. The exceptions are when:

  • Your instructor requires one, or
  • Your paper is a group project

In those cases, you should use a title page instead of a header, listing the same information but on a separate page.

How do I cite a source with no date in MLA style?

When an online source (e.g. web page, blog post) doesn’t list a publication date, you should instead list an access date.

Unlike a publication date, this appears at the end of your MLA Works Cited entry, after the URL, e.g. “A Complete Guide to MLA Style.” Scribbr, www.scribbr.com/category/mla/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2021.

For offline sources with no publication date shown, don’t use an access date—just leave out the date.

How are dates formatted in MLA style?

In your MLA Works Cited list, dates are always written in day-month-year order, with the month abbreviated if it’s five or more letters long, e.g. 5 Mar. 2018.

In the main text, you’re free to use either day-month-year or month-day-year order, as long as you use one or the other consistently. Don’t abbreviate months in the main text, and use numerals for dates, e.g. 5 March 2018 or March 5, 2018.

How do I cite information from a footnote in MLA style?

Some source types, such as books and journal articles, may contain footnotes (or endnotes) with additional information. The following rules apply when citing information from a note in an MLA in-text citation:

  • To cite information from a single numbered note, write “n” after the page number, and then write the note number, e.g. (Smith 105n2)
  • To cite information from multiple numbered notes, write “nn” and include a range, e.g. (Smith 77nn1–2)
  • To cite information from an unnumbered note, write “un” after the page number, with a space in between, e.g. (Jones 250 un)

How do I cite a local newspaper in MLA?

In an MLA style Works Cited entry for a newspaper, you can cite a local newspaper in the same way as you would a national one, except that you may have to add the name of the city in square brackets to clarify what newspaper you mean, e.g. The Gazette [Montreal].

Do not add the city name in brackets if it’s already part of the newspaper’s name, e.g. Dallas Observer.

Who is listed as the author of a podcast in MLA?

It’s standard to list the podcast’s host in the author position, accompanied by the label “host,” in an MLA Works Cited entry. It’s sometimes more appropriate to use the label “narrator,” when the podcast just tells a story without any guests.

If your citation of the podcast focuses more on the contribution of someone else (e.g. a guest, the producer), they can be listed in the author position instead, with an appropriate label.

Can I cite a source quoted in another source in MLA?

MLA recommends citing the original source wherever possible, rather than the source in which it is quoted or reproduced.

If this isn’t possible, cite the secondary source and use “qtd. in” (quoted in) in your MLA in-text citation. For example: (qtd. in Smith 233)

If a source is reproduced in full within another source (e.g. an image within a PowerPoint or a poem in an article), give details of the original source first, then include details of the secondary source as a container. For example:

Picasso, Pablo. Guernica. 1937. Introduction to Art History, taught by James Wilson, 24 Sep. 2019, Duke University, Durham. Slide 7.

Do I need to give details about the album in an MLA song citation?

In an MLA song citation, you need to give some sort of container to indicate how you accessed the song. If this is a physical or downloaded album, the Works Cited entry should list the album name, distributor, year, and format.

However, if you listened to the song on a streaming service, you can just list the site as a container, including a URL. In this case, including the album details is optional; you may add this information if it is relevant to your discussion or if it will help the reader access the song.

Whom do I cite as the author of a song in MLA Style?

When citing a song in MLA style, the author is usually the main artist or group that released the song.

However, if your discussion focuses on the contributions of a specific performer, e.g. a guitarist or singer, you may list them as author, even if they are not the main artist. If you’re discussing the lyrics or composition, you may cite the songwriter or composer rather than a performer.

When should I cite a book chapter in MLA?

In MLA Style, you should cite a specific chapter or work within a book in two situations:

  • When each of the book’s chapters is written by a different author.
  • When the book is a collection of self-contained works (such as poems, plays, or short stories), even if they are all written by the same author.

If you cite multiple chapters or works from the same book, include a separate Works Cited entry for each chapter.

Are article titles italicized in MLA?

The title of an article is not italicized in MLA style, but placed in quotation marks. This applies to articles from journals, newspapers, websites, or any other publication. Use italics for the title of the source where the article was published. For example:

“A Complete Guide to MLA Citation” is published on the Scribbr website.

Use the same formatting in the Works Cited entry and when referring to the article in the text itself.

How do you write a book title in MLA?

In MLA style, book titles appear in italics, with all major words capitalized. If there is a subtitle, separate it from the main title with a colon and a space (even if no colon appears in the source). For example:

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

The format is the same in the Works Cited list and in the text itself. However, when you mention the book title in the text, you don’t have to include the subtitle.

The title of a part of a book—such as a chapter, or a short story or poem in a collection—is not italicized, but instead placed in quotation marks.

What font and size is used in MLA format?

MLA recommends using 12-point Times New Roman, since it’s easy to read and installed on every computer. Other standard fonts such as Arial or Georgia are also acceptable. If in doubt, check with your supervisor which font you should be using.

How do you cite MLA without an author?

If no author or creator is provided, start the citation with the title of the source you are citing instead. Do not use "Anonymous" as the author's name. Use the first one, two, or three main words from the title, in either italics or in "quotation marks" (the same way it is written in your Works Cited list).

How do you cite a source with no author?

Citations are placed in the context of discussion using the author's last name and date of publication. When a work has no identified author, cite in text the first few words of the article title using double quotation marks, “headline-style" capitalization, and the year.

How do you in text cite MLA a website with no author?

Citing web pages with no author or date Use a shortened version of the title in your in-text citation. The shortened title must match the first words of your Works Cited entry. “Title of Article.” Website Name, Day Month Year, URL.