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MLA Citation Guide (MLA 9th Edition): Magazine Articles

This guide will help you learn how to cite correctly in MLA style.

How Can I Tell if it's a Magazine?

Multiple magazines with covers facing out on display. Image from Flickr by Mannobhai

Photo courtesy of Flickr by Manoj Jacob. Available under a Creative Commons license.

Not sure whether your article is from a magazine? Look for these characteristics:

Popular magazines:

  • Main purpose is to entertain, sell products or promote a viewpoint.
  • Appeal to the general public.
  • Often have many photos and illustrations, as well as many advertisements.
  • Author may or may not have subject expertise.
  • Name and credentials of authors often NOT provided.
  • Articles tend to be short –less than 5 pages
  • Unlikely to have a bibliography or references list

Trade magazines:

  • Main purpose is to update and inform readers on current trends in a specific industry or trade.
  • Audience is members of a specific industry or trade or professors and students in that trade or industry
  • May have photos and numerous advertisements, but still assume that readers understand specific jargon of the profession.
  • Usually published by an association.
  • Authors are professionals working in the specific industry or trade.

Articles may also come from journals or newspapers.

Formatting

Note: For your Works Cited list, all citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

Tips

Access Date

For all content found on the Web, you must list the date you first viewed the resource. This comes last in a citation. The exception to this rule is that you do not list access dates for content found in library databases.

Authors/Editors

An author can be a person but can also be an organization, or company. These are called group or corporate authors.

Database Names

The name of the database will usually appear at the top of the search screen. Note that ProQuest and EBSCOhost are NOT database names, they are database providers. The name of the database will appear separately.

If you have used the function to search multiple databases at once and therefore do not know the individual database name, enter the name of the database provider (e.g. ProQuest) as the database.

Dates

The format of all dates is: Date Month (shortened) Year. E.g. 5 Sept. 2012.

Page Numbers

If no page number is listed, write n. pag. in the Works Cited list.

If the entire article is only one page, do not include a page number in the in-text citation.

If the article appears on non-consecutive pages (e.g., the article starts on page 5 then continues on page 12), write the first page number and a plus (+) sign. E.g., 5+

Titles

Capitalize the first letter of every important word in the title. You do not need to capitalize words such as: in, of, or an.

If there is a colon (:) in the title, include what comes after the colon (also known as the subtitle).

Magazine Article From a Library Database - One Author

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle if Any." Title of Magazine, Date of Publication, pp. page numbers. Name of Database. 

Works Cited List Example

Weinstein, Becca. "Trying Before Buying." Psychology Today, May-June 2012, pp. 46-47. ABI/INFORM Global. 
In-Text Citation Example

(Author's Last Name Page Number)

(Weinstein 46)

Magazine Article From a Library Database - Two Authors

Author's Last Name, First Name, and Second Author's First Name Last Name, and Third Author's First Name Last Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle if Any." Title of Magazine, Date of Publication, pp. Page numbers. Name of Database. 

 Note: Only the first author listed appears in "Last Name, First Name" format. Authors' names are separated by a comma. Before the last author to be listed, add the word "and."

Works Cited List Example

Bosch, James Vanden, and David Crump. "Divorce and the Congregation." Books and Culture, Mar.-Apr. 2012, p. 22. Academic OneFile. 
In-Text Citation Example

(First Author's Last Name and Second Author's Last Name Page Number)

(Bosch and Crump 22)

Magazine Article From a Library Database - Unknown Author

"Title of Article: Subtitle if Any." Title of Magazine, Date of Publication, pp. Page numbers. Name of Database. 

 Note: If the author is unknown, begin the citation with the title of the article.

Works Cited List Example

"Canned Soda?" Restaurants and Institutions, 15 Sept. 2005, p. 16. Academic OneFile. 
In-Text Citation Example

("First Word or Words of the Title" Page Number)

("Canned")

 Note: This magazine article doesn't list an author, so the first word or words of the title are included in the in-text citation in quotation marks. This article is only one page, so the page number is not included in the in-text citation.

Magazine Article From a Website

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle if Any."Title of Magazine, Date of publication, URL. Accessed access date.

Works Cited List Example

Cosh, Kolby. "Tiny Human Brains Threaten Giant Dinosaur Bones in Alberta." Macleans, 25 July 2012, www.macleans.ca/news/canada/a-blight-at-the-museum. Accessed 13 June 2016.
In-Text Citation Example

(Author's Last Name)

(Cosh)

Magazine Article in Print - One Author

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle if Any." Title of Magazine, Date of Publication, pp. Page numbers. 

Works Cited List Example

Loney, Sydney. "Family Fare." Today's Parent, Jan. 2012, pp. 59-61. 
In-Text Citation Example

(Author's Last Name Page Number)

(Loney 59)

Magazine Article in Print - Two Authors

Author's Last Name, First Name, and Second Author's First Name Last Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle if Any." Title of Magazine, Date of Publication, pp. Page numbers. 

 Note: Only the first author listed appears in "Last Name, First Name" format. Authors' names are separated by a comma. Before the last author to be listed, add the word "and."

Works Cited List Example

Ainsworth-Vincze, Cameron, and Josh Dehass. "Where Do I Belong?" Macleans, 22 Nov. 2010, pp. 58-59.
In-Text Citation Example

(First Author's Last Name and Second Author's Last Name Page Number)

(Ainsworth-Vincze and Dehass 58)

Magazine Article in Print - Unknown Author

"Title of Article: Subtitle if Any." Title of Magazine, Date of Publication, pp. Page numbers. 

Works Cited List Example

"Outsmart Your Cravings." Prevention, 30 Jan. 2008, p. 45. 
In-Text Citation Example

("First Word or Words of the Title" Page Number)

("Outsmart" 45)

Note: This magazine article doesn't list an author, so the first word or words of the title are included in the in-text citation in quotation marks.

 

In-Text Citation For Two or More Authors/Editors

Number of Authors/Editors In-Text Citation Example
Two

 (Author's Last Name and Author's Last Name Page Number)

 Example: (Case and Daristotle 57)
Three or more

 (Author's Last Name et al. Page Number)

 Example: (Case et al. 57)

How to Cite When You Have Three or More Authors

If you have three or more authors cite only the name of the first author listed with their Last Name, First Name Middle Name followed by a comma et al.

Example: Smith, James, et al.