Author.

The examples found in the MLA section are based on the manual MLA Handbook, 9th ed., 2021. Click on the section of your choice to learn how to format author names in your Works Cited list.

Format

Last Name, First Name.

  • Note that you end the author element with a period.

Example:

Piper, Karen.

Freitag, Andre R.

Format

Last Name 1, First Name 1, and First Name 2 Last Name 2.

  • The first author’s name is written in the order of Last Name, First Name followed by a comma and the word and. The second author’s name is listed normally (First Name Last Name). Place a period at the end of the element.

Example:

Cross, Gary S., and Robert N. Proctor.

Format

Last Name, First Name, et al.

  • Reverse the names of the first author followed by a comma and et al. (meaning “and others”). End the author element with a period.

Example:

Chasek, Pamela S., et al.

Format

  • Use the name of the organization as the author. However, if the organization is both the author and the publisher, start your entry with the title of the source and include the organization’s name as the publisher.

Examples:

United Nations Human Settlements Project. The Challenge of Slums : Global Report on Human Settlements 2003. Earthscan, 2003. ProQuest Ebook Central, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/champlaincollege-ebooks/reader.action?docID=430203&ppg=1.

Alternative Federal Budget 2016: Time to Move On. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Mar. 2016. ProQuest Ebook Central, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/champlaincollege-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4462315.

Format

First Name, Last Name, label.

  • This format is for sources with important, named contributors but no clearly identified authors.
  • If citing a whole work of edited essays, start the entry with the editor’s name followed by the label editor. If the source has more than one editor follow the same rules as for multiple authors and use the plural form of the label: editors. 
  • Media sources such as film and music are often created by many individuals taking on various roles. If you are writing about a particular director, musician, actress, etc. you may begin the citation with the person’s name (Last Name, First Name) followed by a comma and a descriptive label. If you are focusing on the work as a whole, use the No author format instead.

Examples:

Hallett, Martin, and Barbara Karasek, editors.

Glazier, Lynn, director.

Format

  • Pseudonyms or online usernames are entered as a regular author’s name.
  • If you know both the author’s real name and their online username, you may enter the username in square brackets after the real name. Only do this if the username and real name are different (e.g. Brewis, Michael H. [hbomberguy]).

Examples:

Vagabonding. “Cambodian Genocide – Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.” YouTube, 6 Aug. 2007. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-SI8RF6wDE&ab_channel=Vagabonding.

Format

  • Start the entry with the title of the source.

Format

  • If you are citing multiple works by the same author or specific group of authors, only provide their names for the first source attributed to them in your Works Cited list.
  • In all entries after the first one, replace all author names with 3 hyphens.

Examples:

Kaur, Rupi. Home Body. Simon & Schuster Canada, 2020.

—. Milk and Honey. Andrey McMeel Publishing, 2015.

—. The Sun and her Flowers. Simon & Schuster Canada, 2017.