Citing your sources is a necessary part of any research paper or project. This element serves both to give credit to the researchers and authors whose work informed yours, as well as to preserve academic integrity. Any source that provided you with ideas or information that you have included in your work and which are not considered common knowledge must be included, including websites. If you are a student faced with creating an MLA website citation for the first time, you may be confused about where to begin. This guide is here to answer all of your questions and take the guesswork out of creating an MLA citation for websites. The is not associated with this guide. All of the information, however, is based on the MLA Handbook, Eighth Edition as well as the MLA website, and is presented as guidance for students writing in this style. If you are looking for help with , our reference library can provide you with guidance for this and. If one of the elements does not apply, students may omit it. Optional items may also be included when necessary. In addition to the optional details discussed below, a list of additional optional components can be found on the MLA website. To learn more about the Modern Language Association and find additional resources for students, read about or check out this site for. Changes to MLA Citation for Websites in Eighth Edition Previously, students and researchers creating an MLA website citation were not required to include the URL. When creating an MLA 8 citation for a website, however, it is recommended that you include the URL unless your teacher instructs you otherwise. Even though web pages and URLs can be taken down or changed, it is still possible to learn about the source from the information seen in the URL. Additionally, If you are creating a citation that will be read on a digital device, it is helpful to make the URL clickable so that readers can directly access the source themselves. Whether you include a URL, permalink, or DOI, this information should be included in the location portion of your citation. Another change with the eighth edition that impacts how to cite a website in MLA is the removal of the date the website was accessed. While you may still find it useful to include this information or your teacher may request it, it is no longer a mandatory piece of your citation. Should you choose to add this optional information, you may list it after the URL in the following manner: Accessed Day Month Year. For an overview of additional formatting changes in the eighth edition, including resources to help with writing an , check out the rest of EasyBib. The title of the web page or article is placed in quotation marks, with a period before the end quotation. The title of the website is written in italics followed by a comma. If the name of the publisher differs from the name of the website, include it after the title. Immediately following the publisher is the date that the page or article was published, or posted. Finally, end with the URL, permalink, or DOI. Unless the website includes numbered paragraphs or sections, you should not include any additional information. For the website used in the example above, the in-text citation would be written as follows: McNary. To learn more about formatting an , be sure to check out the rest of EasyBib. The first name should be formatted in reverse order as was done for a single author. The second name, however, is written as First Name Last Name and is followed by a period, as demonstrated in the template that follows: Last name, First name of Author 1, and First Name Last Name of Author 2. Wadhwa, Vivek, and Alex Salkever. The first name is listed in reverse order and is followed by a comma and et al. MLA 8 Citation for Websites with No Author Sometimes, websites do not state who wrote the information on the page. When no author is listed, you may omit the author information from the MLA citation for the website and begin, instead, with the title. The in-text citation for a website without an author is noted with the first word or words in the title in parentheses, followed by a period. Unless the website includes numbered paragraphs or sections, you should not include any additional information. For the website used in the example above, the in-text citation would be written as: Southern. How to cite a website in MLA 8 Without a Formal Title When citing a web page that does not include a formal title, it is acceptable to include a description of the page. Do not place the description in italics or quotation marks. Follow the description with the name of the website. General Information on the New York Mets. MLA 8 Website Citation: Social Media In an increasingly digital world, social media platforms have become one of the most popular sources students turn to when writing a research paper. When citing social media in your work, follow the same format as an MLA citation for a website. After this, in quotations, you should enter the full text of the tweet, including any hashtags. The publisher, Twitter, is then listed in italics, followed by the date in Day, Month, Year format and the time the tweet was posted. Finally, include a URL to the tweet followed by a period. In quotations, list the title of the photo, if it is given. If there is no title, write a brief description of the picture but do not place it in italics or quotation marks. The publisher, Instagram, is then listed in italics. Any other contributors such as the photographer, if it is not the same as the account holder are then listed, after which you will add the date and URL. Instagram, Other contributors, Date photo was published in Day Month Year format, URL. In quotations, list the title of the post, if it is given. If there is no title, write a brief description of the post but do not place it in italics or quotation marks. The publisher, Facebook, is then listed in italics, after which you will add the date, time posted, and URL. Author Last Name, First Name or Account Name. Facebook, Day Month Year of Post, Time Stamp, URL. Optional Accessed Day Month Year. Loner Goats Become Stallmates and Fall in Love. Facebook, 25 June 2018, 9:55 p. Accessed 26 June 2018. To indicate that you are citing a comment, follow the name with a period and then the words Comment on, followed by the title of the source for example, the name of the article in quotation marks. This is then followed by the title of the website in italics, and the publisher, if applicable. The date and time stamp are then listed, followed by the URL, permalink, or DOI.
