Beyond this libguide and its contents, the following links are other trusted sites on MLA.
The Purdue Online Writing Lab [OWL]
A fantastic resource for research projects. See their MLA page of additional tips and examples.
The MLA style center offers online support to users of MLA and anyone interested in research, writing and editing.
| Source Type | Where to Look |
| Book | outside cover, title page |
| Journal Article | detailed record, first page of the article |
| Newspaper or magazine article | first page of the article, end of the article, front of the newspaper or magazine |
| Website | URL, "About" page, "Home" Page |
| DVD | outside cover, opening credits |
| Film or television episode | opening credits |
| YouTube video | credits underneath the video |
Are you citing a portion of a work, like a chapter or preface?
Each entry should contain the author, title, and publication details of the source.
Are there containers?
A source can have two containers.
Some sources are complete in themselves. They are not part of a larger container. A print novel is an example of a source that stands alone and is not part of any container. It is its own container so the title of the novel is placed in Core Element 3: Title of source is italicized, and followed by a period.
If the work you are citing is part of a larger whole, like a chapter in a book, then the book containing the chapter is the container. The chapter is Core Element 2: Title of source and the book is Core Element 3: Title of container. The book chapter title is in quotation marks and followed by a period. The book title is italicized and followed by a comma.
Some sources are part of two containers. If you are citing a journal article you obtained through a database, for example you will need to use two containers in your citation. The article is contained in the journal, making the journal the first container. The journal is contained in a database, making the database the second container. List the pertinent core elements for the first container (e.g. journal) followed by the pertinent core elements from title of container through again for the second container (e.g. database.
