American Community School Library Media Center

MLA Bibliography Guidelines

MLA Bibliography Format Examples

     MLA Formats for Middle and High School

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The ACS guidelines and format documents are based upon the 7th edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, published in 2008. Refer to the handbook for further information, including any examples we do not include in our guidelines.

The most important goal of a bibliography is to give credit to the sources you use. This is essential to avoid any risk of plagiarism. People who read your work may also want to find out more about the topic – your bibliography can point them in the right direction.

There are some significant changes to the newest edition of the MLA handbook, but the basic principles are still the same. Your bibliography should answer the “Who, What, Where, Why and When” for teachers and others who want to learn more about your sources.

Who created the material – the author or artist
What is the name of the material – the title of the specific work
Where was the material published – city of publication or web page URL address
Why was the material published – list the publisher who decided to share the information
When was the material published – year or specific date of publication

Here’s a summary of the most important changes in MLA format:

Don’t underline titles for large works: such as books, magazines and web sites – put these titles in italics. You should still put specific articles and web pages in quotes

Identify the publication format – the most common formats are:
            Print – for books, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets
            Web – for materials you find on the Internet, including online periodicals
            DVD – for movies and documentaries you watch from a DVD disc
            Personal interview – this one should be obvious

The URL address is not mandatory for web pages
            You should include the URL, however, if it’s an important key to find your material

No more skipping the publisher or date of publication – this includes Internet sources
            Use N.p. when you can’t identify the publisher
            Use n.d. when you can’t identify the publication date
            You can still skip the author, if no specific author can be identified