MLA Internet citations and references

Many citations of online sources in college papers are inadequate. Here's an all-too-common example: www.hoovers.com.

　　What's missing? Lots—information about the type of online resource, a specific URL to a particular document, and data on author, title, when online material was posted, and when you retrieved it （that means when you downloaded or printed the information, not when you wrote it into your paper）. It's important to provide dates because the web is a dynamic medium, with content and web sites constantly changing.

　　References to online documents follow the same basic format as other MLA references: alphabetization by author, a title, and publication information. One difference: references to online documents typically have two dates, the date the material was posted or updated, and the date it was retrieved. Since the web is a dynamic medium with content and web sites constantly changing, it's helpful to your reader to note posting and retrieval dates.

　　What are you citing?

　　The first thing you have to decide for an online reference is whether the reference should be to an entire site or a particular document at a site. Here's the basic format for a reference to an entire web site.

　　If you are going to be citing just one portion of the site, it will be more helpful to your reader to direct him to the specific section and URL:

　　Harvey, Michael."The Process of Writing." The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2000. 1 September 2000 .

　　But if you cite several different sections from one site, then things can get a bit complicated. If the citations are to different sections of a particular document, then make the bibliographic reference to the whole document （like the first example above） and use in-text signal phrases to direct your reader more specifically:

　　In the section entitled"Style," Harvey says most college students use the passive voice too frequently.

　　"Many students use a writing style that makes clarity difficult or impossible to achieve" （Harvey"Clarity"）.

　　The author's name would point to the particular reference; the title in quotation marks would denote a section within the whole work in the reference. （Naturally, if the list of works cited has more than one work by the author, or works by other authors with the same last name, you'll have to add more specific information to the citation （see above for more help with this）.

　　But if the citations are to different documents or kinds of online material—especially with different authors—it's best to put in a separate reference for each, even if they're accessed from the same central page. Keep in mind the underlying rationale: what will make it easier for readers to find your sources for themselves?

WRONG

　　Compared to its chief online competitor, Barnes & Noble, an old company whose history goes back to 1873, Amazon.com is an upstart, having been founded in 1994 （Hoover's Online）.

　　The bibliographic entry

　　Hoover's Online. Company profiles. Hoover's Inc., 2000. 23 August 2000. .

RIGHT

　　Compared to its chief online competitor, Barnes & Noble, an old company whose history goes back to 1873, Amazon.com is an upstart, having been founded in 1994 （"Barnes & Noble";"Amazon"）.

　　The bibliographic entries

　　"Amazon.com, Inc." Company profile. Hoover's Online. Hoover's Inc., 2000. 23 August 2000. .

　　"Barnes & Noble, Inc." Company profile. Hoover's Online. Hoover's Inc., 2000. 23 August 2000. .

　　The page problem

　　One complication of online documents is that they usually lack page numbers, so it's not easy to point readers to particular passages. In order to direct readers as closely as possible to the right source passage, use whatever divisions the work is formatted in. Look for division numbers, section titles or for words like Introduction and Conclusion （see above for MLA style on quotation marks and underlining or italics for different kinds of titles）.

　　What's your source?

　　Another source of confusion with online documents is the profusion of uncontrolled copies of texts. With the way the Internet works, anyone can post any document, accurate or not, for public access. In general, make sure that if you're quoting from a text you try to track down the copyright holder or other responsible organization, rather than taking the text and URL from a personal page or other idiosyncratic source. For instance, cite government documents from the Government Printing Office's website （http://www.access.gpo.gov/） or similar source. Doing so increases the chances you'll get an accurate copy, and it reassures readers about your scholarly care. For more on online research, see the Nuts and Bolts section on Research and the Internet.

　　Elements of a reference to an online source

　　The MLA Handbook provides a detailed list of possible items to include in a reference, here listed in order of usual appearance. As the examples above show, not all the items need be included in any single reference, but this list will help you decide how to construct and order references for which you don't find examples here:

　　1.Name of author or other person responsible for the work （editor, translator, etc.）, denoted by the usual MLA abbreviation （ed., trans., etc.—see the various examples above）.

　　2.Title of short work （article, essay, etc.） in a larger database or work, in quotation marks.

　　3.Title of a book or other self-standing document, in italics or underlined.

　　4.Name of editor, translator, etc. of a book （unless used earlier）, following usual MLA formats.

　　5.Publication information for a print version.

　　6.Title of the web site, database, periodical, or scholarly project, etc. （italicized or underlined）; or for untitled and untitleable sites, a descriptive term like Home page.

　　7.Name of editor or person responsible for the web site, database, periodical, or scholarly project, etc.

　　8.Version number （if not part of the title）; or volume or issue number.

　　9.Most recent date of posting or updating.

　　10.Name of the organization（s） responsible for or associated with the web site.

　　11.Retrieval date （date you retrieved the information）, in the format 1 Jan. 2000.

　　12.URL （in angle brackets and underlined）.

　　Here are the types of sources detailed below:

1. Private or personal web site
2. Organizational or corporate web site
3. Online book
4. Article in an online journal or magazine
5. Newspaper article
6. Government publication
7. Short work in larger work or database
8. Other web materials
9. Forum or conference posting

　　1. Private or personal web site

　　Citation. As usual.

　　Reference

　　Cunningham, Leah."My Mahir Shrine!!" Personal web page. N.d. 17 July 2000

　　2. Organizational or corporate web site

　　Citation. Cite by author or short title.

　　Reference

　　APSANET. The American Political Science Association Online. American Political Science Association. 2000. 1 Aug. 2000 .

　　Ford Motor Company. 23 Aug. 2000. Ford Motor Company. 23 Aug. 2000 .

　　Hoover's Online. 23 Aug. 2000. Hoover's, Inc. 23 Aug. 2000 .

　　As noted earlier, don't be too quick to give a corporate web site as the URL for specific documents. If you cite several documents or pages emanating from an organization's web site, it's almost always more useful and workable to provide a reference for each separate text.

　　3. Online book

　　Citation. As usual.

　　Reference

　　Jewett, Sarah Orne. The Country of the Pointed Firs. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin [c1910]; Bartleby.com, 1999. 15 August 2000. .

　　4. Article in an online journal or magazine

　　Citation. As usual.

　　Reference

　　Edelstein, David."Pols on Film." Slate Magazine. 18 Aug. 2000. 20 Aug. 2000 .

　　5. Newspaper article

　　Citation. As usual.

　　Reference

　　Dowd, Maureen."Stop That Canoodling!" New York Times on the Web 20 Aug. 2000. 20 Aug. 2000 .

　　Other types of texts—editorials, letters to the editor, reviews, and so on, parallel the traditional citation with the inclusion of online information （most importantly retrieval date and URL） instead of page information.

　　6. Government publication

　　Citation. By author, as usual. But see above for the complexities of citing government publications.

　　Reference. See above for more help formatting references to government publications.

　　United States. Securities and Exchange Commission."Commission Staff Issues Accounting Bulletin on Revenue Recognition." Press Release. 3 Dec. 1999. 17 July 2000 .

　　7. Short work in larger work or database

　　Citation. As usual—by author or, if necessary, short title.

　　Reference

　　"Cuckoo Song." The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250?900. Ed. Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch. Oxford: Clarendon, 1919. Bartleby.com, 1999. 16 August 2000. .

　　8. Other web materials

　　Citation. As usual—by author or, if necessary, short title.

　　Reference. When possible put a descriptive phrase after the title （e.g., chart, MP3, video, photograph, map）.

　　"Microstrategy, Inc." Chart. Washington Post 20 August 2000. 20 August 2000 .

　　9. Forum or conference posting

　　Citation. As usual.

　　Reference

　　Jensen, William."Re: Question About Grading Essays." Online posting. 17 April 2000. BMGT 110 Value-added Conference. University of Maryland University College. 18 July 2000