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MLA Style 9th edition: Periodicals

This guide covers the basics of MLA Style writing, formatting, and citing.

General Citation

If your citation doesn’t include anything in this example, omit that part.

Author. Title. Title of container (self contained if book), Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publisher Date, Location (pp.). 2nd container’s title, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Pub date, Location (pp.).

Anonymous Articles

List the article title and complete the citation just like any periodical.

“Florida Makes Waves in the Pond.” Environmental World, 12 Apr. 2019, p. 31.

Integrity

Magazine Article

List the author, article title in quotations marks, and italicize the periodical title. Include the date of publication and abbreviate the month.

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

Alford, Samantha. "Lost on the Hamster Wheel." People, 19 Dec. 2005, pp. 30-31.

Review

When citing a review, list the review’s title (if available) followed by the phrase, “Review of” and the title of the work (italicize book, play, and film titles and use quotation marks for articles, poems, and short stories). Include the performance and/or publication information.

Review Author. “Title of Review.” Review of Performance Title, by Author/Director/Artist. Title of Periodical, Day Month Year, page.

Jones, Thomas Allen. “In the Hills of the South.” Review of Losing Sally, directed by Theodore Sramek and Phil Jennings. Wyan News, 10 May 2019, p. B2.

Purdue OWL-citing periodicals

Newspaper Article

Cite a newspaper article like a magazine article, but the pagination is often different in newspapers. If there’s multiple editions available for that date, list the edition after the newspaper title.

Smith, Joe. “New Hospital on Horizon.” Nashville Leader, 22 May 2022, p. A2.

For local publications or those less known, include the city name in brackets following the newspaper title.

Arnold, Phil. "Saving the City." Shady Grove Banner [Paris, AR], 21 Mar. 2014, p. A1.

An Article in a Scholarly Journal

When discussing a container, a scholarly journal can be an example. Collections of short stories or poems, a website, or a TV series can also be considered a container. Anything containing other pieces of work can be a container. Cite the author and title as normal, then include the journal title italicized. Include the volume number with the abbreviation (“vol.”) and issue number (“no.”) , separated by commas, then list the year and page numbers (if available).

Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages.

Duriez, Banna. “Religion and Racism: The Role Assuming Power.” Mental Health, Religion & Culture, vol. 14, no. 3, 2003, pp. 36-42.

Avoiding Plagiarism