How to Cite a Periodical Using MLA Style

When writing a term paper or working on a longer term research project, it is important to keep track of your sources of information so that you can credit them for contributing to your own original conclusions. While historically such credit has been given via footnotes, more recent forms of citation actually occur within the text of a paper in abbreviated form and refer a reader to a more detailed reference at the end of the document. One of the most popular forms of this type of citation is MLA style, which allows a writer to use a noninvasive parenthetical note in the text that directs a reader to a resource reference on a "Works Cited" page. MLA is especially popular in undergraduate classrooms where the process of citing references may be a new experience.

Things You'll Need

  • Name of the author of the article
  • Name of the periodical
  • Title of the article
  • Date of publication
  • Pages of the article
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Instructions

    • 1

      List the name of the author, followed by a period. The author's name should be listed last name, first name, middle initial. If you do not have all this information, then use just the last name and the first initial. If your author's name is Jody Lesdian Penkoes, then your citation should read, so far: Penkoes, Jody L.

    • 2

      Follow the author's name with the title of the article in quotation marks and another period. The period should be within the quotation marks. If Ms. Penkoes' article was titled "Listing to the Right: A Study of Changeling Democratic Values," then your citation should look like this: Penkoes, Jody L. "Listing to the Right: A Study of Changeling Democratic Values."

    • 3

      Add the name of the periodical. This should be italicized if possible. If your word processor will not support this type of formatting, then use an underscore to indicate that the title should be underlined. If the name of the periodical is "Political Metamorphoses," then your reference, thus far, should look like this: Penkoes, Jody L. "Listing to the Right: A Study of Changeling Democratic Values." _Political Metamorphoses_ (Please note that eHow text can not support italics or underlines; do not be confused by lack of both in our example.) There is no punctuation following the title of the periodical.

    • 4

      Follow the title with the day, month and year of publication and a semi colon. If the magazine is published monthly or yearly, it may not have a day. If this is the case, then leave that number out. You can abbreviate the months in the traditional fashion. If the magazine was published December 8, 2006, then your citation should look like this: Penkoes, Jody L. "Listing to the Right: A Study of Changeling Democratic Values." _Political Metamorphoses_ 8 Dec. 2006:

    • 5

      Finish with the page numbers of the article and a period. If the article was on pages 12 to 26, then your finished citation should look like this: Penkoes, Jody L. "Listing to the Right: A Study of Changeling Democratic Values." _Political Metamorphoses_ 8 Dec. 2006: pp. 12-26.

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