MLA 8th edition Referencing Guide
(updated Mar 2023)

Last updated: Sun, Mar 19 2023 at 09:36am

Citationsy › Style Guides › MLA 8th edition

How to do citations in MLA 8th edition style?

This is the Citationsy guide to MLA 8th edition citations, reference lists, in-text citations, and bibliographies.
The complete, comprehensive guide shows you how easy citing any source can be. Referencing books, youtube videos, websites, articles, journals, podcasts, images, videos, or music in MLA 8th edition.

Automate citations and referencing with our tool, Citationsy. It’s free to try and over 400 000 students and researchers already use it.
Click here to give it a try.

cite MLA 8th edition — Referencing Guide

How do you cite a book in the MLA 8th edition referencing style? (2023 Guide)

Books are written works or compositions that have been published, many of which might be in digital version. Here’s how to cite a book in MLA 8th edition

Here’s an example book citation in MLA 8th edition using placeholders:

Last Name, F. N. Title. Edited by Editor First Name Editor Last Name, Edition, Publisher, 2000.

So if we want to cite, for example, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou we’d do so like this:
MLA 8th edition citation:

Angelou, M. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. 1st ed., Random House, 1969.

And an in-text citation book citation in MLA 8th edition looks like this: (Angelou)

Automate citations and referencing in MLA 8th edition with our tool, Citationsy.
It’s free to try and over 400 000 students and researchers already use it.
Click here sign up

How to reference a journal article in the MLA 8th edition citation style?

How do you cite scientific papers in MLA 8th edition format?

An MLA 8th edition citation for a journal article includes the author name(s), publication year, article title, journal name, volume and issue number, page range of the article, and a DOI (if available). Here’s how

Here’s a MLA 8th edition journal citation example using placeholders:

Author1 LastnameA. F., and Author3 LastnameA. F. “Title”. Container, vol. Volume, no. Issue, Journal Name, Jan. 2000, p. pages Used. Online Database, doi:DOI.

So if we want to reference this scientific article: “Testing consumer preferences for iced-coffee: Does the drinking environment have any influence?” by C. Petit and J.M. Sieffermann in MLA 8th edition:

Petit, C., and J. Sieffermann. Testing Consumer Preferences for Iced-Coffee: Does the Drinking Environment Have Any Influence?. no. 1, Food Quality and Preference, Jan. 2007, pp. 161-72. Elsevier BV, doi:10.1016/j.foodqual.2006.05.008.

And an in-text citation would look like this: (Petit and Sieffermann)

Automate citations and referencing in MLA 8th edition with Citationsy. Get started for free

How to cite a website in a paper in MLA 8th edition style?

The basics of a reference list entry for a web page or web document in MLA 8th edition is straight forward. Here’s how

Here’s an MLA 8th edition example website reference:

Author1 LastnameA. F., and Author2 LastnameA. F. Title. Publisher, 1 Jan. 2000, https://www.example.com.

To reference the article located at this link:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/nov/05/uselections20083
on The Guardian website:

Tran, M. Barack Obama To Be America’s First Black President. The Guardian, 5 Nov. 2008, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/nov/05/uselections20083.

And an in-text citation would look like this: (Tran)

Citing websites and links in MLA 8th edition is much easier with the Citationsy Chrome Extension →
Cite MLA 8th edition with Citationsy. Get started for free

How to cite a YouTube video MLA 8th edition in 2023

Are you wondering if it’s ok to reference a YouTube video in a research paper? Here’s how to cite it in MLA 8th edition

Here’s a MLA 8th edition citation YouTube video example:

ChannelName. “Title”. YouTube, 1 Jan. 2000, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXXXXX.

So how to cite a video MLA 8th edition?

Pixar. “Pizza Clip — Inside Out”. YouTube, 3 June 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W6rntBADUQ.

And an in-text video citation would look like this: (Pixar)

How to cite a podcast using MLA 8th edition referencing style

Are you wondering if it’s ok to reference a podcast episode in a research paper? Here’s how to cite it in MLA 8th edition

It is becoming more and more common to reference podcasts in essays or other school work.
Here’s how to reference a podcast it in MLA 8th edition.

Lastname, F. Title. Publisher, 1 Jan. 2000, http://www.example.com.

Podcast referencing example in MLA 8th edition using “This American Life” episode 640:

This American Life. 640: Five Women. WBEZ Radio, 2 Mar. 2018, https://thisamericanlife.org/640/five-women.

And an in-text citation would look like this: (This American Life)

Cite podcasts in MLA 8th edition with Citationsy, a referencing app used by over 400 000 students.
Get started for free

How to cite a piece of music or a song using MLA 8th edition referencing style?

Although citing a song might seem uncommon, there’s no need to worry. We’ve got you covered for both audio recordings and written song lyrics, here’s how to cite in MLA 8th edition

An example song citation in MLA 8th edition.

Lastname, F. “Song Title”. Album, 1 Jan. 2000, http://www.example.com.

Let‘s say we want to reference “Here Comes the Sun” off The Beatles “Abbey Road” album in MLA 8th edition:

The Beatles. “Here Comes the Sun”. Abbey Road, 26 Sept. 1969, https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/here-comes-the-sun/401186200?i=401187150.

And an in-text citation would look like this: (The Beatles)

You can automate citing and referencing any source in MLA 8th edition using Citationsy.

Cite sources using the MLA 8th edition Citation Machine

Cite MLA 8th edition with Citationsy, a referencing app used by over 400 000 students. Get started for free

MLA 8th edition Referencing Guide (updated Mar 2023)