How to Cite a Web Source in the MLA Style With No Date

When citing a source for an academic or journal paper, sometimes the date of publication simply cannot be found. This typically occurs when citing from an online source. You need to find the date the article itself was written, not just the date the site was updated; updating the site does not mean the webmaster changed that article specifically. However, if the article is on a stand-alone page and the wording is similar to "This page last updated --" that date would suffice. MLA does provide a formatting option for works without a publication date, but this type of format should ideally occur only once or twice within an MLA Works Cited (References) page.

Instructions

    • 1

      Begin creating the citation. Type the author's last name, followed by a comma, the first name and a period. It will appear as: Smith, John. If there is more than one other, type the subsequent names in normal order, e.g.: Smith, John, and Nigel Baker.

    • 2

      Format the title of the work. If a short story or poem, place in quotation marks: "Writing Online." Be sure to place the period inside the quotation marks. If citing a longer work, such as a book or journal, format in italics. Include the name of the website in italics if it's an electronic source.

    • 3

      Type the institution or organization affiliated with the publication. If a university, abbreviate with a "U." If a press, abbreviate with a "P."

    • 4

      Type "n.d." to indicate no date. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th ed.) and the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (3rd ed.) typically uses n.d. for web pages; however, if you have found a print publication that does not provide a publication date and you can't even find it after an online search, n.d. can also be used.

    • 5

      Complete the citation. Put a space after the final period on "n.d." Type the medium of publication; because the source is most likely web-based, type "Web." If a website, you will then type the date accessed -- MLA uses European-style dating in Works Cited -- followed by a period. The final citation will follow this example of formatting:

      Smith, John, and Nigel Baker. "Writing Online." Online Writing Sources.[< don't forget to italicize the website name] Wittenberg U, n.d. Web. 17 July 2011.

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