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Citations - MLA Style: Citing Periodical Articles from Databases

Resources for MLA (Modern Language Association) style, with examples of how to cite materials from Chemeketa's databases.

Tips

  • For most academic journals, only the year is necessary for the citation of an article
  • Article titles should have the significant words capitalized
  • Don't capitalize articles (a, an, the) or prepositions (of, for, etc.)
  • Journal (magazine, etc.) titles have the main words capitalized and appear in italic type
  • MLA Handbook, 9th ed., sec. 593, states, "If the DOI is not preceded by http:// or https:// in your source, precede the DOI in your entry with the following: https://doi.org/"
  • Very long URLS (over three lines) can be shortened; see MLA Handbook, 9th ed., sec. 5.97

Articles from Most Databases

Magazine Articles (examples)

        Example from one of the Gale databases:

Thurston, Peter. "Conflict Along the Amazon." Time, vol. 97, 

      no. 1,  12 Apr. 2007, pp. 32-33. General OneFile,  go

     .galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=ITOF&u=oregon_chemeke

      &authCount=1.

        Example from CQ Researcher:

Jost, Kenneth. "Sentencing Debates." The CQ Researcher, vol. 

      14, no. 49, 5 Nov. 2004, pp. 925-948. CQ Researcher, 

      library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher./cqresrre2004110500.

Note: In CQ Researcher, you can find the appropriate information for citing an article by clicking the "CiteNow!" link, then clicking on "MLA Style" in the resulting popup window.

Journal Articles (examples)

Give the volume and issue number. Only the year is needed for the article date.

Give the DOI rather than the URL, if available. Examples:

Fredericks, Samuel. "Cognitive Ergonomics and Desk 

      Design." Journal of Ergonomic Research, vol. 25 no.3, 

      2008, pp. 535-541. Business Economics & Theory, chemeketa

      .idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps.
McMaster, Kristen L., et. al., "Peer-Assisted Learning  

      Strategies: A 'Tier 1' Approach to Promoting 

      English Learners' Response to Intervention." 

      Exceptional Children, vol. 74 no.2, 2008, pp. 

      194-214. Education Research Complete, 

      https://doi.org/10.1177/001440290807400204.
Brausch, Amy M., and Jennifer J. Muehlenkamp. "Body Image  

     and Suicidal Ideation in Adolescents." Body Image, vol. 

     4 no.2, 2007, pp. 207-212. ScienceDirect Health and 

     Life Sciences Collection, https://doi.org/2048/10.1016/S2007

     -1523(14)72005-1.

Newspaper Articles (examples)

Article in ProQuest News Databases

Pollack, Andrew. "In Midwest, Flutters May Be Far Fewer." 

      New York Times, 12 Jul., 2011. ProQuest, search.proquest

      .com/docview/875910883?accountid=136425.

The Same Article on the New York Times Web Site

Pollack, Andrew.  "In Midwest, Flutters May Be Far Fewer."  

      The New York Times, 11 Jul. 2011. The New York 

      Times, nyti.ms/1Hm7hOl.

Article on Infotrac Newsstand, a Gale Database

"Sign on for Worker Safety." Toronto Star, 29 Jun. 

      2021, p. A14. Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/

      apps/doc/A666721389/STND?u=oregon_chemeke&sid=bookmark

      -STND&xid=ef9d40be.

Articles from Literature Resource Center

Articles reprinted in Gale reference books

picture of citation information from literature resource center, showing the abbreviation Rpt.

These reprints can be recognized by the statement that begins "Rpt. in" underneath other citation information:

Palmer, James W. "From Owl Creek to La Riviere du Hibou: The 

      Film Adaptation of Bierce's 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek  

      Bridge'." Southern Humanities Review, vol. 11 no.4, 

      1977, pp. 363-71. Short Story Criticism, vol. 72. 
      
      Edited by Joseph Palmisano. Gale, 2004. Literature 

      Resource Center, chemeketa.idm.oclc.org/

      login?url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps.

Articles taken directly from journals

Journal articles show the title of the journal followed by a volume and issue number, with a date in parentheses. There is no "Rpt." statement:

Samide, Daniel E. "Anatomy of a Classic: Ambrose Bierce 
 
      Cleverly Used Some Key Literary Tools in Crafting His 
      
      Civil War Tale 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge'."
      
      The Writer, vol. 118 no.5, 2005, p. 42. Literature 
      
      Resource Center, chemeketa.idm.oclc.org/

      login?url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps.