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Full references in MLA

Learn how to format full references in MLA style. Follow correct order, punctuation, and layout to cite sources accurately in your academic work.

In MLA, every source you cite should be in a reference list at the end of your work. Only include the sources you have cited.

The rules of MLA determine:

  • which elements are included (e.g. author, title, publisher)
  • the order in which the elements appear
  • punctuation (e.g. full stops, commas, colons, etc.)
  • use of capital letters
  • font format (e.g. italics).

Ensure you are following the template precisely, including the punctuation, spaces, capital letters and font format, as these form part of the style.

Elements of an MLA reference

  • This identifies the creator or principal contributor of the source.
  • It could be a person or it could be a group (organisation or government).
  • Some sources may have more than one author.
Author format Instructions Example
One author Give the author’s family name plus the given name(s) or initials as shown on the source. Speed, Lesley. 
Two authors
  • Name both authors. Give the first author with the family name first; other authors with given name first.
  • Separate by commas, join the last author by ‘and’.
 Currie, Dawn H., and Deirdre M. Kelly. 
Three or more authors Use the first listed author’s name followed by 'et al.' in italics. Luckman, Susan, et al. 
Group author (Government or organisation)
  • Give the name of the group.
  • Give the government name in front of agency name (where applicable).
  • Use common abbreviations (e.g., ‘Dept.’).

Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Victoria. Dept. of Treasury and Finance. 

Australian Library and Information Association

This is the full title of the source in the words and spelling of the source.

Title format Instructions Example
Basic
  • Give the title in italics.
  • Separate title and subtitle by a colon.
  • Use headline capitalisation, i.e., give initial capitals to the first, last and principal words of the title and the subtitle.

Grosvenor, Chris. “Secret Origins: The Disavowal of the Comics Medium within the Promotional Rhetoric of Film Trailers.” Adaptation: The Journal of Literature on Screen Studies, vol. 17, no. 1, 2024, pp. 52–75. 

Speed, Lesley. Clueless: American Youth in the 1990s. Routledge, 2018. https://researchonline.federation.edu.au/
No title Give a brief descriptive title in your own words. No italics or quotation marks. Jensen, Paul. R. Wartime Navy Reminiscences. Liberty Press . . .
Part of a larger work If source is part of a larger work, give title of part in quotation marks before title of larger work. Taber, Nancy. “Detectives and Bail Bonds ‘Persons’ as Fairy Tale Heroines: A Feminist Antimilitarist Analysis of Grimm and Once Upon a Time.” Gender Forum, no. 44, 2013, www.genderforum.org/index.php?id=731.

  • Include the information for the form you used.
  • For sources published only online, give the publisher/sponsor of the website. Place of publication is not needed.
  • This information can usually be found with the copyright information.

Place of publication

For books, except in special situations, the city of publication should only be used if the:

  • book was published before 1900
  • publisher has offices in more than one country
  • publisher is unknown outside North America.

Publisher names

  • Publishers’ names are now given in full, except that business words like Company (Co.) are dropped and, for academic presses, the abbreviations U, P, and UP are still used (97).
  • A forward slash (/) now separates the names of co-publishers (108).
  • The kinds of publications that don’t require a publisher’s name are defined (42).
  • When an organisation is both author and publisher of a work, the organisation’s name is now given only once, usually as the publisher (25). No author is stated.
Publisher format Instructions Example
Place of publication For books, except in special situations (51), the city of publication should only be used if the book was published before 1900, if the publisher has offices in more than one country, or if the publisher is unknown outside North America. Speed, Lesley. Clueless: American Youth in the 1990s. Routledge, 2018. https://researchonline.federation.edu.au/
The source is published only online Give name of publisher/sponsor after the website name. Taber, Nancy. “Detectives and Bail Bonds ‘Persons’ as Fairy Tale Hero/ines: A Feminist Antimilitarist Analysis of Grimm and Once Upon a Time.” Gender Forum, no. 44, 2013, www.genderforum.org/index.php?id=731.

Publication year/date

  • This identifies the year or specific date the source was made available in the version you accessed. Use the copyright year/date if this is shown.
  • For online sources, use the year or specific date the content was created (for a page or document) or the date of posting (for a post).
Year/date format Instructions Example
Basic book Add year after publisher details for books Arnavas, Francesca. Uncanny Fairy Tales: Hybrid Wonders in the Mirror. Routledge, 2024. Taylor  & Francis, www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003403449/uncanny-fairy-tales-francesca-arnavas
Basic journal Add year after issue details Foreman, Jeffrey R., et al. “The Role of Imagination in Consumers' Processing of Visual Metaphors in Prescription Drug Advertising.” Health Marketing Quarterly, vol. 36, no. 3, 2019, pp. 169–185. Taylor & Francis, https://doi.org/10.1080/07359683.2019.1618006.
Sources with specific publication dates Add month (abbreviate if long) and day “Budget to link school spending to outcomes.” The Australian [Sydney] 2 May 2016, 23.
No year/date Use ‘n.d.’ (stands for ‘no date’) if no year/date can be found on the source. Gardiner, Ian T. Life in Rural Australia. Phoenix, n.d.