Research Starter - ENGL 308: Composition Theory

The author is the person, persons, or organization responsible for the creation of the work.

One Author:

• Last name, First name.

  • Smith, Mary R.

  • Thomas, George.

Two Authors:

• Last name, First name of first author listed followed by a comma and the second author's name listed First name Last name.

  • Smith, Mary R., and Samuel C. Turner.

  • Fry, Bob, and Elizabeth Duncan.

Three or More Authors:

• Last name, First name of only the first author listed followed by the phrase et al.

  • Brown, Katherine G., et al.

  • Green, Doug, et al.

Corporate Author:

• Institution, Corporation, Organization, or Agency listed as the author.

  • Lee University.

  • Tennessee Department of Health.

• If the organization is also responsible for the publication of the work, list the organization as the publisher only; do not list as the author.

No Author Listed:

• If not author information is available, skip this element and go to the title of the work.

The title of the source should always be included.

• List the complete title, using the exact words listed in the source, including subtitles.

• Standardize the punctuation and capitalization of the title and subtitle, regardless of how it is listed in the work.

If no title is available, you must list a concise description as the title.

• Todd, Elizabeth G. Diary Entry.

Should the title be placed in "Quotation Marks" or should the title be placed In Itlialcs?

• • Works that are stand-alone works should have the title placed In Italics.
  • What is a stand-alone work?
    • Anything that is not part of a larger work.
      • A Book
      • A Website
      • A Television Series
      • A Film
  • Works that are part of a greater whole should be placed in "Quotation Marks."
    • What is a work that is part of a greater whole?
      • "A Chapter in a Book"
      • "An Essay, Short Story, or Poem in a Book"
      • "An Article in a Journal, Newspaper, or Magazine"
      • "An Article or Posting on a Website"
      • "A Specific Episode of a Television Series"
      • "A Specific Song from an Album"

Containers can be thought of as holders of information.  Where did you access the information being cited?

For works that are parts of a greater whole, such as a chapter in a book or an article in a journal, the greater whole is considered the container.  

Also, there are instances when you will have a second container, such as a chapter in a book that was accessed online through the HathiTrust Digital Library or an article in a journal that was accessed through the library's JSTOR database. 

In these instances, the second container must also be listed in your citation. The second container's information will be listed at the very end of your citation.   

In addition to the author, list the names of other people who contributed to the creation of your work and whose work played an important part in your research or whose participation in important to identifying the work. 

Here are some examples of contributors that you may need to mention.  Provide the description of the contributor's role followed by the contributor's name or names. Please see page 151 and 152 of the ninth edition MLA Handbook for more information about formatting contributor information.

• translated by

• edited by

• adapted by

• directed by

• illustrated by

• introduction by

• narrated by

• performance by

Some contributors roles are better described by simply stated the name of the role, such as general editor.  You may also list more than one contributing role if it is important to your research and the identification of the work. 

Some works have been released in multiple forms.  If your work identifies itself as a particular version or edition, include this information in your citation.

Here are just a few examples of Version:

• New International Version

• 9th ed.

• Revised ed.

• director's cut

The number element should be included for any work that is part of a numbered sequence. This would include such items as:

• one volume of a set of books

• the volume and issue number of a journal

• the season and episode number of a television series  

For journal articles, include the prefix vol. for the volume number and the prefix no. for the issue number.  

The publisher is the organization responsible for making the work available to the public.

• For Books, this is the publisher that should be listed on the title page or copyright page.
• For Television and Film, the publisher is the studio, company, distributor, or network that produced or broadcast the work.
• For Websites, the institution responsible for the creating the website's content should be listed.
• For Plays, list the theatre company that put on the play.
• For a Government Publication, list the agency or department responsible for printing or producing the document.

For the following publications, DO NOT include a publisher:

• Journals
• Periodicals
• Magazines
• Any work where the individual author or editor is the publisher (does not apply to corporate authors)
• Any website where the publisher name is the same as the title of the website
• Any website that simply acts as a host to content but is not actually responsible for publishing the content

Always include the date your source was published.

Publication date refers to the following, depending on source type:

• Publication Date 
• Air Date
• Release Date
• Posted Date

The definition of location depends upon the source type.

• Print Resources - page number (p.) or page range (pp.)
• Online Resources - URL
  • DOI number
  • Stable URL or Permalink