MLA Citation Resources

 Citing Online Reference & Subject Databases & eBooks from the GBS Library

Some basic examples for citing GBS subject and reference resources are listed below. If you you have any questions, please contact a friendly librarian. 

Click on the links below to go to a particular section:

Databases with publications from multiple original sources (includes all Gale databases & SIRS)

Single-publication databases (includes Issues & Controversies, Culturegrams, Daily Life, dictionaries & encyclopedias)

e-Books in GBS Databases (includes Gale Reference EBooks, ABC-CLIO, and Very Short Introductions)

Reprinted Article with a Different Title than the Original (Viewpoint articles in Opposing Viewpoints)

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General Guidelines for MLA Citation:

Check to see if the  database that you are using includes a recommended citation for the specific article. These are very common and are usually linked from the top and/or after the article or available by clicking cite or citation tools. 

Use the recommended citation to identify as much complete information as you can about the article. 

Edit the citation as necessary to include as many of the 9 Core Elements as are available. See examples of Sample Citations in the sections below. 

MLA requires a URL, so be sure to include it. Click on the cite or citation tools link for the stable link.​ 

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*New for MLA 9: If a URL from a database is more than 3 lines long, you can shorten it to the domain:

 

Format for a database with publications from multiple original sources (includes all Gale "in Context" databases):

Author’s last name, first name.  “Article Title.” Title of Publication (Container). Other contributors 

        (if any), version (if any), vol. (if any), Publisher (if different from the Online Subscription

        Service), Publication date, Location (Page numbers) [if any]. Online Subscription

        Service (Container 2),  Location (URL).

Format for a single-publication database:

Author’s last name, first name (if available).  “Article Title.” Title of Database/Publication (Container),

          Publisher (if available), Publication date, Location (page numbers)[if avail.],  Location (URL).

Format for for e-Books in GBS Databases:

Author’s last name, first name.  “Article Title” (if any). Title of Book (Container). Other contributors (if any),

            version (if any), vol. (if any), Publisher, Publication date, Location (Page numbers) [if

            avail.]. Online Subscription Service (Container 2), Location (URL or DOI).

Format for a Reprinted Article with a Different Title than the Original (found in Opposing Viewpoints):

According to the MLA, if a source was originally published in a form "other than the one you consulted", you may wish to include information about the prior publication. Ask your instructor for guidance. As this is an optional element, you should place it after the location at the end of the citation.

 

Author’s last name, first name. “Title of Article from Database.” Title of Publication (Container). Edited by First

          Name Last Name, version (if any), vol. (if any) Publisher, Publication date,  Title of Online Subscription

         Service (Container ), Location (URL). Originally published as “Original Article

         Title.” Original Publication Title (Original Container), Original Publisher, Original Date of

         Publication, Location (page numbers) [if avail.]