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MLA 9th

Journals / periodicals

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • What is a DOI?: A DOI is a unique identifier that provides a persistent link to the location of the content, and it should be provided in the reference where it is available. This alphanumeric string is usually located on the first page with other referencing elements in both print and electronic articles. All DOIs start with a 10 followed by a full stop, but they can also be formatted as a URL. Some examples of DOIs include:

    •  doi:10.1111/jan.12128

    •   https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.12128

    •   http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jan.12128

  • In MLA 9th, you are required to format the DOIs as a URL, with "https://doi.org/" before the number e.g. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.12128
  • Use CrossRef's guest query form to help you to find an article's DOI number.

In-text citation

One author

Format

(Author's surname Page number)

Example

(Kuehn 93)


OR


Kuehn explores George Eliot's engagement with ... (93)

Two authors

Format

(Author's surname and Author's surname Page number)

Example

(Bobkowski and Smith 778)


OR


Bobkowski and Smith discuss the social media adoption of ... (778)

Three or more authors

Format

(First author's surname et al. Page number)

Example

(Hook et al. 5)


OR


Hook et al. provide a detailed description of... (5)

No author

Format

("Title of article" Page number)

Example

("The Dereliction of Diplomacy" 38)


OR


The Bolivian case numbers that "The Dereliction of Diplomacy" cites are... (38)

Tips

  • Go to Getting started > In-text citation to view detailed information on in-text citation using MLA, including other examples such as multiple authors and translators. Refer to this section to determine when to include/exclude a page(s) number, as it's not always necessary.

Journal article with a single author

Works cited

Format

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, volume, issue, year, page range of article. Database, DOI.

Example

Knopf, Kerstin. “Kangaroos, Petrol, Joints and Sacred Rocks: Australian Cinema Decolonized.” Studies in Australasian Cinema, vol. 7, no. 2-3, 2013, pp. 189-200. Taylor and Francis, https://doi.org/10.1386/sac.7.2-3.189_1.

Kafka, Ben. "The Demon of Writing: Paperwork, Public Safety, and the Reign of Terror." Representations, no. 98, 2007, pp. 1-24. ProQuest, proquest.com/scholarly-journals/demon-writing-paperwork-public-safety-reign/docview/222828324/se-2.

Gorrie, Nayuka. "White Psycho Dream Girls: On Rage and Freedom." Kill Your Darlings, July-Dec, 2019, pp. 69-76. Informit, search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.834185194609281.

Mather, Christine C. "The Political Afterlife of Eleonara Duse." Theatre Survey, vol. 45, no.1, May 2004, pp. 41-59.

Belton, John. "Painting by numbers: The Digital Intermediate." Film Quarterly, vol. 61, no. 3, spring 2008, pp.58-65.

Charney, Michael W. “Literary Culture on the Burma-Manipur Frontier in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.” Literary Cultures at the Frontiers: Literature and Identity in the Early Modern World, special issue of The Medieval History Journal, edited by Sumit Guha, vol. 14, no. 2, 2011, pp. 159-81.

Tips

  • Databases contain many articles from a range of journals. In the first example above, the name of the journal is Studies in Australasian Cinema, and it can be found in the database Taylor & Francis Online. In most instances, you will access a journal article through an online database, although you can also access them in print copies held in the library, or directly through the journal's online homepage.
  • Journals are sometimes referred to as Periodicals.
  • "vol." is an abbreviation of "volume", and "no." refers to the issue number. Not all journal articles have a volume and an issue number, some instead number all the issues in sequence.
  • Some journal articles will have a DOI (digital object identifier), which is a permanent identifier to the article (see first example). As URLs can change, it is preferable to use a DOI instead of a URL. In the MLA 9th edition, the DOI information was formatted as https://doi.org/ prefix. If the article does not have a DOI, then use the URL.
  • Not all journals include the month; if this is the case, then simply omit the information. If you do include the month, then abbreviate it to the first three letters of the name of the month (if it is more than four letters long), as shown in the fourth example. There is no need to put a comma between day, month and year, to minimise the number of commas.
  • Include the “season” if the journal uses them. Season names are not required to be capitalised, as seen in example five.
  • Some journals publish more than one series. The new series title can be included after the journal title.
  • When citing a journal article published in a special issue, include the same information you would for an article in a regular issue, adding the special issue’s title, a comma, and the phrase “special issue of” before the journal’s title, in the “Title of Container” slot, as seen in the sixth example.
  • Many PDFs found online are copies or digital versions of the original source. In such instances, add “PDF download” after the full stop that proceeds the DOI/URL.
  • When articles published in languages other than English reproduce all accents exactly as they appear in the source, whether they appear over lowercase or capital letters. The umlaut in German words should not be replaced with e ( ä,ö, ű rather than ae, oe, ue), even for initial capitals (Ŭber). But common usage must be observed for names: Götz, but Goethe.

Journal article with two authors

Works cited

Format

Last Name, First Name, and First Name Last Name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, volume, issue, year, page range of article. Database, DOI.

Example

Bobkowski, Piotr, and Jessica Smith. "Social Media Divide: Characteristics of Emerging Adults Who do not use Social Network Websites." Media, Culture & Society, vol. 35, no. 6, 2013, pp. 771-81. Sage. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443713491517.

Tips

  • When a source has two authors, follow the same rules as those for books and other works. Include the names in the order they are presented in the work. Reverse the first of the names, follow it with a comma then "and", and finally give the second name in non-reversed order.

Journal article with three or more authors

Works cited

Format

Last Name, First Name, et al. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, volume, issue, year, pages. Database, DOI.

Example

Hook, Alan, et al. “A Transmedia Topology of Making a Murderer.” VIEW: Journal of European Television History and Culture, vol. 5, no. 10, 2016, pp. 1-16. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.18146/2213-0969.2016.jethc117.

Seo, Hyunjin, et al. "Teens’ Social Media Use and Collective Action." New Media & Society, vol. 16, no. 6, 2014, pp. 883-902. Sage, https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444813495162.

Tips

  • If there are three or more authors, name the first author and add et al. (which means "and others").

Journal article with corporate author

Works cited

Format

Organisation Name. “Title of Article.” Journal, volume, issue, year, page range of article. Database, DOI.

Example

"Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: Part II: Global Compact on Refugees." International Journal of Refugee Law, vol. 30, no. 4, December 2018, pp. 744-73. HeinOnline, https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/intjrl30&i=756.

MLA Ad Hoc Committee on Foreign Languages. “Foreign Languages and Higher Education: new structures for a Changed World.” Profession, 2007, pp. 234-45.

Tips

  • If a corporate author's name begins with an article - such as "A," "An," or "The" - omit this information.

Journal article with a translator

Works cited

Format

Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Translated by First Name Last Name. Journal, volume, issue, year, page range of article. Database, DOI.

Example

Barriera, Darío. “Governing the Countryside: Microsocial Analysis and Institutional Construction in Late Eighteenth-Century Río De La Plata.” Translated by Monica Biberson. Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales, vol. 73, no. 1, 2018, pp. 55–80. Cambridge Core, https://doi.org/10.1017/ahsse.2020.11.

Biberson, Monica. Translator. “Governing the Countryside: Microsocial Analysis and Institutional Construction in Late Eighteenth-Century Río De La Plata.” By Darío Biberson. Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales, vol. 73, no. 1, 2018, pp. 55–80.

Tips

  • When citing a translated article, start the citation with the original author’s name, and then include the translator’s name after the title of the article. The rest of the citation will follow the typical format for citing an article.
  • If the focus is on the translation, start the reference with the translator's name (see second example)

Journal Article with no author

Works cited

Format

"Title of Article." Title of Journal, volume, issue, year, page range of article. Database, DOI.

Example

"The Dereliction of Diplomacy." The Economist, vol. 436, no. 9207, 2020, pp. 38-40. Proquest, search.proquest.com/docview/2434244866?accountid=12528.

Tips

  • If no author's name is given for the article you are citing, begin the entry with the title of the article.
  • Insert the entry alphabetically in the 'Works cited list' ignoring the leading article (A, An, The).
  • Be wary of an article that does not list an author; it may not be a scholarly (or reliable) source.

Review published in a journal

Works cited

Format

Reviewer Last Name, First Name. "Title of Review." Review of Title, by First Name Last Name. Title of Journal, volume, issue, year, page range of article. Database, DOI.

Example

Buruma, Ian. “Fruit From Suffering: The Inner and Outer Worlds of Anne Frank’s Diary.” Review of The Collected Works, edited by Nancy Forest-Flier et al. Times Literary Supplement, no. 6072, 16 Aug. 2018, pp. 3-4.

Gillian Silverman. Review of Sentimental Readers: The Rise, Fall, And Revival Of A Disparaged Rhetoric, by Faye Halpern. Legacy, vol. 32, no. 1, 2015, pp. 135-37. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.5250/legacy.32.1.0135.

Mackin, Joseph. Review of The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction, by Alan Jacobs. New York Journal of Books, 2 June 2011, www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/pleasures-reading-age-distraction.

Jeffers, Alison. Review of Performing Exile, Performing Self: Drama, Theatre, Film, by Yana Meerzon. Theatre Research International, vol. 38, no. 1, 2013, pp. 71-72.

Tips

  • To cite a review published in an online journal, include the reviewer's name, followed by the title of the review (if there is one), followed by "Review of...", and then cite as you would a journal article.
  • Even when published in a scholarly journal, a review may not be considered a scholarly source in some disciplines.

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