MLA Citations: Cite Web Sources

Core Elements

Text Sources

Video Sources

Title of Source: Place the title of a web page/article from a website in quotation marks. For tweets, use the tweet itself for the title of source and place in quotation marks.

Title of Container: Italicize the name of websites.

• The British Museum,
• Gizmodo,

Other Contributors: Include the name or username of contributors who have uploaded content, such as a video.

• uploaded by CinemaSins,
• uploaded by KidCudiVEVO,

Publisher: Omit the publisher name if it is the same as the website or if it hosts content that users create or upload (YouTube).

Publication Date: For web articles, include the most recent date/update. If a web source, such as an online article or comments, indicate a time, include that information along with the date.

• 17 Sept. 2016,
• 18 Oct. 2016, 8:37 a.m.,

Location: For online sources, the URL indicates location. Look to see if the site offers a permalink, a stable URL. Do not use a URL shortener, and omit http:// or https:// from the link. If the URL is extremely long, more than three full lines in your citation, shorten it by removing the information after the file extension (.edu, .gov, .org, .com, or .net).

• boingboing.net/2016/10/18/everything-belongs-to-the-futu.html.
• www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2016/cb16-ff20.html.

Optional Elements: It is optional to include the Date of Access as part of the citation. If the online source provides no publication date, it is helpful to include a date of access. Date of Access is placed at the end of the citation.

• Accessed 10 Mar. 2016.

Author. Title of source. Title of container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location. Title of 2nd container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location. Optional elements.