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Citations Guide: MLA Citation

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CITATIONS 

MLA Handbook

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Containers

The eight edition of the MLA Handbook refers to containers which is the larger whole in which the source is located. For example, a article is contained in a journal. The article is the source, and the journal is the container. You will also encounter sources with two containers. An example of this is articles found in databases. The article is contained within a journal, which is contained within a database. When citing items with two containers, the core elements of the first container are listed first followed by the additional elements for the second container.

Locations

The location of an item refers to where the item can be found. For an article in a print journal, the location would be the page numbers within the journal. However, articles accessed electronically have two locations, the location within the journal, and the location within the database. The article's page numbers represent its location within a journal and the article's location within the database is represented by the DOI (Digital Object Identifier). If DOI is not available, use the item's stable/permanent URL.

Examples

 

 

 

The MLA Handbook also has recommendations on how to format a paper. Check the below links for more information.

Attributions:

Adapted from guides by Loras College and USC Aiken Gregg-Graniteville Library