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Documentation: Print Sources - Electronic Sources - Miscellaneous Research Tips
MLA Style for Reference Sources
- The first set of examples are for frequently cited literary reference sources; the second set of examples are for a variety of other reference sources.
- In some examples page numbers are listed, in others, they are not. If the reference source is treated as a signed article from a reference book, page numbers are not necessary. If the reference source is treated as an anthology, page numbers must be included. In either case, though, the page number(s) will be part of the parenthetical reference in the body of the paper. Many reference sources can be treated either way; ask you professor which way he/she prefers.
- Most of the reference sources cited in this handout contain many volumes. If only one volume is used from a multi-volume reference set, indicate that volume number after the title; do not indicate the total number of volumes in the set.
- If the reference set arranges the entries alphabetically throughout the entire set, do not include the volume number in the citation.
- Documentation instructions for this handout are based on the
examples from the Simon and Schuster Handbook for Writers,
Sixth Edition, and from the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research
Papers, Fifth Edition. In some cases, more than one
example was used to correctly set-up these examples.
- The Works Cited list must be double-spaced. Examples in this page are single-spaced in order to save space.
LITERATURE REFERENCE SOURCES
Examples are drawn from the following literary reference sources.
The first three examples are signed essays from reference sources that alphabetize throughout the entire set.
1. This is a signed essay from a multi-volume set which arranges the essays alphabetically; for that reason you do not need to cite the specific volume and page numbers.
Feast, James. "Stephen Crane." Critical Survey of
Short Fiction. Ed. Frank N.Magill. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1993.
2. This entry is from a multi-volume reference source which arranges the entries alphabetically, therefore the specific volume and pages are not included.
Gray, James, "John Steinbeck." American Writers.
Ed. Leonard Unger. New York: Scribners, 1974.
3. This is a signed article from a reference source which arranges the entries alphabetically, therefore, the specific volume and pages are not included.
Heller, Terry. "A Worn Path." Masterplots II: Short
Story Series. Ed. Frank N. Magill. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1986.
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The next two examples are unsigned essays from reference sources that do not alphabetize entries throughout the entire set.
1. This is an unsigned, short entry. Start with the title of the entry. Cite only the volume you used from this multi-volume set.
"Berendt, John." Contemporary Authors. Ed. Kathleen
J. Edgar. Vol. 146. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.
2. This is the introductory essay on Homer; no author is listed. Treat this as an unsigned article from a reference source. Page numbers are not necessary.
"Homer." Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism.
Ed. Dennis Poupard and Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale
Research, 1988.
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The next two examples are the same essay from the Dictionary
of Literary Biography, which can be treated as an entry from
an individual anthology or as a signed article in a reference book.
1. In this example, the Dictionary of Literary
Biography is not treated as a set but as an individual volume.
The example treats the essay as a work in an anthology. Page numbers
are included. This may be the preferred way to cite DLB as
the West Campus LRC does not purchase all volumes of the set; in
fact, many libraries (OPL for example) treat DLB as individual
volumes.
Wesley, Marilyn C. "Joyce Carol Oates." American Short
Story Writers Since World War II. Ed. Patrick Meanor. Detroit:
Gale Research, 1993. 241-252.
2. In this example the essay from DLB is treated as a signed
article in a reference book. Full publication information is given
for the reference book. Since the entries are not arranged alphabetically
throughout DLB, the volume number must also be given.
Wesley, Marilyn C. "Joyce Carol Oates." Dictionary
of Literary Biography. Ed. Patrick Meanor. Vol. 130. Detroit:
Gale Research, 1993.
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The next group of twenty examples are from the criticism encyclopedias published by Gale Research.
1A. This type of reference source can be cited in one of two fashions. In this first example, it is cited as a signed article from a reference source. Because the articles are not arranged alphabetically throughout the entire set, the individual volume number must be included, though no page numbers are necessary.
Atkinson, James. "Martin Luther and the Birth of Protestantism."
Literature Criticism From 1400 to 1800. Ed. James E. Person,
Jr. and Robin DuBlanc. Vol. 9. Detroit: Gale Research, 1989.
1B. In the second example, the entry is cited as a book source which was partially reprinted in a reference source. Page numbers are included in this example.
Atkinson, James. Martin Luther and the Birth of Protestantism.
Atlanta: Knox Press, 1968. Rpt. in Literature Criticism From
1400 to 1800. Ed. James E. Person, Jr. and Robin DuBlanc.
Vol. 9. Detroit: Gale Research, 1989. 139-142.
2A. This type of reference source can be cited in one of two fashions. In this example, it is cited as a signed article from a reference source. Because the articles are not arranged alphabetically throughout the entire set, the individual volume number must be included, though no page numbers are necessary.
Brower, Reuben A. "Hamlet Hero." Shakespeare Criticism.
Ed. Laurie Lanzen Harris and Mark W. Scott. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale
Research, 1984.
2B. In the second example, the source is treated as part of a book which has been reprinted in the reference source. Page numbers must be included in this format.
Brower, Reuben A. Hero and Saint: Shakespeare and the Graeco-Roman
Heroic Tradition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1971.
Rpt. in Shakespeare Criticism. Ed. Laurie Lanzen Harris and
Mark W. Scott. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Research, 1984. 259-264.
3A. This type of reference source can be cited in one of two fashions. In this example, it is cited as a signed article from a reference source. Because the articles are not arranged alphabetically throughout the entire set, the individual volume number must be included, though no page numbers are necessary.
Goslee, Nancy Moore. "Witch or Pawn: Women in Scott's Narrative
Poetry." Poetry Criticism. Ed. Jane Kelly Kosek and
Christine Slovey. Vol. 13. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.
3B. In this second example, the item is cited as an original source from an anthology which has been reprinted in a reference source. Page numbers are included in this format.
Goslee, Nancy Moore. "Witch or Pawn: Women in Scott's Narrative
Poetry." Romanticism and Feminism. Ed. Anne K. Mellor.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988. 115-136. Rpt. in Poetry
Criticism. Ed. Jane Kelly Kosek and Christine Slovey. Vol. 13.
Detroit: Gale Research, 1995. 311-321.
4A. This type of reference can be cited in one of two fashions. In this first example, it is cited as a signed article in a reference book. Because the articles are not arranged alphabetically throughout the entire set, the individual volume number must be included; page numbers are not necessary.
Jones, Madison. "A Good Man's Predicament." Short
Story Criticism. Ed. Margaret Haerens and Drew Kalasy. Vol.
23. Detroit: Gale Research, 1996.
4B. In the second example for this source, the item is first documented as its original source which was a journal article. The citation concludes with the information indicating where the source was reprinted. Page numbers must be included in this format.
Jones, Madison. "A Good Man's Predicament." The Southern
Review 20 (1984): 836-841. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism.
Ed. Margaret Haerens and Drew Kalalsy. Vol. 23. Detroit: Gale Research,
1996. 206-209.
5A. This source can be treated in one of two fashions. In the first example, it is treated as a signed article from a reference book. Because the articles are not arranged alphabetically throughout the entire set, the volume number must be included; page numbers are not necessary.
McWilliams, John P. "Red Satan: Cooper and the American Indian
Epic." Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism. Ed.
James E. Person, Jr. Vol. 54. Detroit: Gale Research, 1996.
5B. In the second example, the source is treated as an original source from an anthology which has been reprinted in the reference source. Page numbers are included in this format.
McWilliams, John P. "Red Satan: Cooper and the American Indian
Epic." James Fenimore Cooper: New Critical Essays. Ed.
Robert Clark. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1985. 143-161. Rpt. in
Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism. Ed. James E. Person,
Jr. Vol. 54. Detroit: Gale Research, 1996. 280-287.
6A. In this example, the source is treated as a signed article in a reference bok. The volume number is included but the page numbers are not necessary.
Nolan, Tom. "The Grisham Formula Revisited." Contemporary
Literary Criticism. Ed. James P. Draper. Vol. 84. Detroit:
Gale Research, 1995.
6B. In the second example for this source, cite the original source
as a newspaper article which was reprinted in a reference source.
Page numbers are included in this example. Underline both Wall
Street Journal and Contemporary Literary Criticism.
Nolan, Tom. "The Grisham Formula Revisited." Wall
Street Journal 12 March 1993: A6. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary
Criticism. Ed. James P. Draper. Vol. 84. Detroit: Gale Research,
1995. 197-198.
7A. This type of reference can be cited in one of two fashions. In the first example, it is treated as a signed article from a reference source. Because the articles are not arranged alphabetically throughout the entire set, the volume number must be included; the page numbers are not necessary.
Peters, Erskine. "Some Tragic Propensities of Ourselves: The
Occasion of Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have Considered
Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf." Drama Criticism.
Ed. Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale Research, 1993.
7B. In the second example for this source, it is treated as a journal article which was reprinted in a reference source. Page numbers must be included.
Peters, Erskine. "Some Tragic Propensities of Ourselves: The
Occasion of Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have Considered
Suicide/ When the Rainbow is Enuf." Journal of Ethnic Studies
6(1978): 79-85. Rpt. in Drama Criticism. Ed. Lawrence J.
Trudeau. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale Research, 1993. 481-484.
8A. This type of reference source can be cited in one of two fashions. In this example, it is cited as a signed article in a reference book. Full publication information is given for the reference book; since the articles are not arranged alphabetically, the individual volume number must be given.
Prescott, Peter S. "Murky Maneuvers in a Lethal Law Firm."
Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. James P. Draper.
Vol. 84. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.
8B. In the second example for this source, the original source, which was a magazine article, is cited completely. The citation concludes with the information indicating where the source was reprinted. The page numbers must be included in this format.
Prescott, Peter S. "Murky Maneuvers in a Lethal Law Firm."
Newsweek 25 Feb. 1991: 63. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary
Criticism. Ed. James P. Draper. Vol. 84. Detroit: Gale Research,
1995. 191-192.
9A. This reference source can be treated in one of two fashions. In the first example, it is treated as a signed article from a reference source. Because the articles are not arranged alphabetically throughout the entire set, the volume number must be given; page numbers are not necessary.
Wolff, Hope Nash. "Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Heroic Life."
Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. Ed. Jelena O.
Krstovic. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale Research, 1989.
9B. In the second example, the source is treated as a journal article which has been reprinted in a reference source. Page numbers must be included.
Wolff, Hope Nash. "Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Heroic Life."
Journal of the American Oriental Society 89(1969): 392- 398.
Rpt. in Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. Ed.
Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale Research, 1989. 328-331.
10A. This type of reference source can be treated in one of two fashions. The first example is treated as a signed article in a reference source. Because the articles are not arranged alphabetically throughout the entire set, the volume number must be included. Page numbers are not necessary.
Zwerdling, Alex. "Orwell and the Left." Twentieth
Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Paula Kepos and Dennis
Poupard. Vol. 31. Detroit: Gale Research, 1989.
10B. In the second example, the source is treated as book which has been partially reprinted in a reference source. Page numbers must be included.
Zwerdling, Alex. Orwell and the Left. New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1974. Rpt. in Twentieth Century Literary Criticism.
Ed. Paula Kepos and Dennis Poupard. Vol. 31. Detroit: Gale Research,
1989. 200-202.
11A.The entries from Short Stories for Students can be cited in one of two fashions. In addition this reference series includes original research as well as reprinted information. The first example is for an original essay written for the series.
Korb, Rena. "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"
Short Stories for Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson. Vol.
1. Detroit: Gale, 1997.
11B. In the next two examples the same entry is treated differently. In the first example it is cited as a signed article from a reference source. Because the entries are not arranged alphabetically throughout the entire set, the individual volume number must be included, though no page numbers are necessary.
Tierce, Mike and John Michael Crafton. "Where Are You Going,
Where Have You Been?" Short Stories for Students. Ed.
Kathleen Wilson. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1997.
11C. In this example the entry is first cited as its original source which was a journal article. The citation concludes with information indicating where the source was reprinted. Page numbers must be included in this format.
Tierce, Mike and John Michael Crafton. "Connie's Tambourine
Man: A New Reading of Arnold Friend." Studies in Short Fiction
22(1985): 219-224. Rpt. in Short Stories for Students. Ed.
Kathleen Wilson. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 269-272.
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This example is for an interview from Contemporary Authors New Revision.
1. This source is first treated as an interview. It is then treated as a signed article in a reference book.
Walker, Alice. Interview with Jean W. Ross. Contemporary Authors
New Revision. Ed. Hal May and James G. Lesniak. Vol. 27.
Detroit: Gale Research, 1989.
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SELECTED NON-LITERARY REFERENCE SOURCES
This is a signed article from a multi-volume reference source. Full publication information should be given. The entries are not in alphabetical order so the individual volume number must be indicated.
Burstein, Stanley M. "Greek Class Structures and Relations."
Civilization of the Ancient Mediterranean: Greece and Rome.
Ed. Michael Grant and Rachel Ketzinger. Vol. 1. New York: Scribners,
1988.
This can be treated as an unsigned article in a reference book. Since the set is not commonly known, all publication information must be given.
"Favre, Brett." Current Biography Yearbook: 1996.
Ed. Judith Graham. New York: Wilson, 1996.
This source from the Hot Topics Tables should be treated as a selection from an anthology.
Genelin, Michael. "Tough Laws Should Target Gangs." Gangs:
Opposing Viewpoints. Ed. David Bender and Bruno Leone. San
Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. 112-119.
This source from the Hot Topics Tables should be treated as a book, in this case by one author.
Hamilton, Neil A. Militias in America: A Reference Handbook.
Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1996.
This source from the Hot Topics Tables should be treated as a selection from an anthology.
Houppert, Karen and Jennifer Gonnerman. "Sexual Harassment
by Politicians Should be Condemned." Politicians and Ethics:
Current Controversies. Ed. David Bender and Bruno Leone.
San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. 127-133.
Treat this popular source as a weekly magazine.
Jost, Kenneth. "Independent Counsels." CQ Researcher
21 Feb. 1997: 147-167.
This is a signed article from a reference source which arranges all entries alphabetically throughout the set, therefore, no volume number is necessary.
Kirshner, Julius. "Medici." Dictionary of the Middle
Ages. Ed. Joseph R. Strayer. New York: Scribners, 1987.
This is a dictionary entry from a standard reference source; no publication information is necessary.
"Language." The Random House Dictionary of the English
Language. 1967.
Treat a verse from the Bible as a selection from a collection.
"Luke 3.13." Holy Bible. Iowa Falls: World Bible
Publishers, 1986.
This is a signed article from a reference souce which arranges all entries alphabetically throughout the set, therefore, no volume number is necessary.
MacIntyre, Alasdair. "Kierkegaard, Soren Aabye." Encyclopedia
of Philosophy. Ed. Paul Edwards. New York: Macmillan,
1967.
This is an article by two authors. The entries in the reference set are arranged alphabetically throughout, therefore, no volume number is necessary.
Medhurst, R.G. and M.R. Barrington. "Mediums." Man,
Myth and Magic. Ed. Richard Cavendish. New York: Marshall
Cavendish, 1995.
This is a signed article from a familiar reference source, therefore no publication information is necessary. The entries are arranged alphabetically throughout the set. The author's name is abbreviated at the end of the article (B.R.N.). You must find the full name; in most encyclopedias this information will be in the index volume or the first volume of the set.
Nanda, B.R. "Gandhi." The New Encyclopedia Britannica:
Macropaedia. 15th ed. 1997.
This is a government publication. In almost all instances government documents are published in Washington by the Government Printing Office which is commonly abbreviated as GPO.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Statistical Abstract of the United
States: 1996. Washington: GPO, 1996.
If you have any question about these examples, or other sources from the Reference Collection, please ask a librarian or your professor for help.
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