Citing Sources: MLA Electronic Sources

How to Cite Electronic Sources in MLA Style

This document provides a guideline for citing the most common types of electronic sources using MLA style, based on information available in the MLA Handbook, 9th edition.

Website Citations for Works Cited List

Webpage with one author:

Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Website Title, Date Published, URL.

Example:

Farris, Emily. “The Best Vegetarian Stuffing Ever.” Epicurious, 23 Sept. 2022, www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/best-vegetarian-stuffing.

Example:

Hanh, Thich Nhat. “Thich Nhat Hanh on The Practice of Mindfulness.” Lion’s Roar, 29 July 2024, www.lionsroar.com/thich-nhat-hanh-mindfulness/.

If there is no author listed, you can start with the article title:

Example:

“Beyond Machismo: Intersectional Latino Masculinities, by Aída Hurtado and Mrinal Sinha.” University of Texas Press, 2023, utpress.utexas.edu/9781477308776/.

If there are multiple authors, list them by last name, first name, first last name, and first last name.

Example:

Chou, Wen-Ying Sylvia, and Anna Gaysynsky. “Racism and Xenophobia in a Pandemic: Interactions of Online and Offline Worlds.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 111, no. 5, May 2021, pp. 773-75, ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306230.

Periodical Citations for Works Cited List

Journal article found on the web:

Author Names. “Article Title.” Journal Title, volume number, issue number, date, pages, doi link or URL.

Example:

Chou, Wen-Ying Sylvia, and Anna Gaysynsky. “Racism and Xenophobia in a Pandemic: Interactions of Online and Offline Worlds.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 111, no. 5, May 2021, pp. 773-75, ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306230.

Journal article from a library database:

Author Names. “Article Title.” Journal Title, volume number, issue number, date, pages. Database Name, doi link or URL.

Example:

Dimitrov, Dimitre, and George Krompouzous. “Beauty Perception: A Historic and Contemporary Review.” Clinics in Dermatology, vol. 41, no. 11, Jan.-Feb. 2023, pp. 33-40. Science Direct, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clindermatol.2023.02.006.

Other Non-Print Sources

Email:

Author Name. “Subject Line of Email.” Received by Person Receiving Email, Date Email Sent.

Example:

Jones, Lisa. “Walk MS.” Received by Genevieve Williams, 6 April 2024.

YouTube Video:

Author Name. “Video Title.” YouTube, uploaded by Name of Uploader (if different from Author Name), Date Uploaded, URL.

Example:

One Tree Yoga. “One Hour Warrior Flow Practice with Gabe // Align + Flow Accessible Vinyasa // OTY at Home Practice.” YouTube, 13 Aug. 2024, youtu.be/detIv-75xwY?si=BGeqbKCPEPQxh_-P

In-Text Citations

In-text citations with known author:

(Last Name Page)

Example (Narrative Citation):

Jackie Grutsch McKinney writes that “a dominant story does not remain dominant if the work it does will not benefit the tellers in some way” (65).

Example (Parenthetical Citation):

(McKinney 65).

If there is no known author, cite by the title of the article:

Example (Narrative Citation):

According to “Athlete’s Foot,” it is important to keep one’s feet clean and dry.

Example (Parenthetical Citation):

It is important to keep one’s feet clean and dry (“Athlete’s Foot”).

Citing indirect sources:

Use qtd. in to refer to the source the information was found in.

Example:

Grimm states that there are “ubiquitous mottos” that writing centers rely on (qtd. in McKinney 60).

Citing AI Resources

When citing resources created by an Artificial Intelligence generator, there will be no author. Treat the prompt used to create the text as a title, with the AI tool as the container. Include the version, creating company, and date of prompt, as well as a general URL for the tool. In-text citations should be cited with the first three words of the prompt.

MLA format: “Text of prompt” prompt. ChatGPT, Day Month version, OpenAI, Day Month Year, chat.openai.com.

MLA Works Cited entry: “Explain antibiotics” prompt. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 16 Feb. 2023, chat.openai.com.

MLA in-text citation: ("Explain antibiotics")

Paraphrasing AI example:

In-text entry:

While the green light in The Great Gatsby might be said to chiefly symbolize four main things: optimism, the unattainability of the American dream, greed, and covetousness (“Describe the symbolism”), arguably the most important—the one that ties all four themes together—is greed.

Works-Cited-List Entry:

“Describe the symbolism of the green light in the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald” prompt. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.

Quoting AI example:

Quoted in Your Prose:

When asked to describe the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby, ChatGPT provided a summary about optimism, the unattainability of the American dream, greed, and covetousness. However, when further prompted to cite the source on which that summary was based, it noted that it lacked “the ability to conduct research or cite sources independently” but that it could “provide a list of scholarly sources related to the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby” (“In 200 words”).

Works-Cited-List Entry:

“In 200 words, describe the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby” follow-up prompt to list sources. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 9 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.

For More examples of how to cite electronic sources in MLA style

Consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 9th ed., available at Bellevue University Library, or visit

MLA Formatting and Style Guide, at the OWL at Purdue website, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_general_format.html