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MLA Citations: Core Elements - Publisher & Publication Date

Publisher

Publisher

The publisher is the company or organization responsible for the production and/or marketing of the source. 

  • When the source is a book, the publisher can be found on the title or copyright page.

Weir, Andy. The Martian. Broadway Books, 2011.

  • When working with a film or television series, cite the organization responsible for it.  Multiple companies often work on different parts of the production – only cite the most important.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Produced by Peter Jackson et al., directed by Jackson, New Line Cinema, 2001.

  • When your source is a website, look at the bottom of the homepage; there is often a copyright notice, which will tell you the publisher.

"Archive Stories" The Teenie Harris Archive, Carnegie Museum of Art, http://teenie.cmoa.org/ArchiveStories.aspx.

A publisher's name may be omitted if the publisher is the same as the container (such as newspapers), a work published by its author or editor, or a website whose title is the same as the publisher. 

Note: It is no longer necessary to state the publisher's location.  

Publication Date

Publication Date

Many publications (primarily online) hold more than one publication date.  You should cite the one that is most relevant to your use of the source.  This will usually be the most recent date. 

You should write the date as you find it on the source.  If it includes the day, month, and year, then you should as well.  Abbreviate the names of months or not by using the style found in your source.