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ICS MLA Citation and Referencing Guide

MLA 8th edition

General Guidelines

  • Your list of references should begin on a separate page, with the title "Works Cited".

  • Arrange entries alphabetically, using the last name of the author. If no author is given, alphabetize by the title, eliminating any initial A, An, or The.

  • Begin each entry at the left margin. Indent the following lines one-half inch from the left margin.

  • Double-space within each entry, and between each entry.

  • Follow carefully the punctuation and capitalization in the examples.

  • If no author or creator is provided, start the citation with the title/name of the item you are citing instead. Note: an author/creator won't necessarily be a person's name. It may be an organization or corporation, for example, Health Canada or a username on a site such as YouTube.

  • If no date is provided, skip that information. It's recommended that you add the date you accessed the work at the end of the citation.

  • Page numbers may not be provided for some items, such as online materials. If this is the case leave the page numbers out of the citation.

  • Shorten the name of the publishing company by eliminating articles (A, An, or The), business abbreviations (Co., Inc., Ltd.), and descriptive words (Books, House, Press). However, when citing a University Press, add the abbreviation "UP" (Ohio State UP). If the publisher’s name is the name of one or more persons, cite the first surname only (Abrams).