Elements in typical citations
While citation styles may differ in format and appearance, they generally all include the same elements. For each, you need the following parts or elements*:
| Articles |
Books |
| Author(s) |
Author(s) |
| Date of publication |
Date of publication |
| Title of article |
Title of book |
| Title of journal |
|
| Volume/issue |
|
| Pages |
|
| |
Publisher |
*The term "element" is used in MLA Style to refer to each part of a citation. The above citation elements are needed for print articels and books. For electronic articles from online journals or eBooks, you usually also need the URL or a DOI and the name of the database or website where you found the information.
Elements for Citing an Online Article
- Authors: R. S. Hellberg & E. Chu
- Date of publication: 2016
- Title of article: Effects of climate change on the persistence ...
- Title of the journal in which the article was published: Critical Reviews in Microbiology
- Volume of the journal: 42
- Issue of journal: 4
- Pages: 548-572
- URL or DOI
The article citation in APA format:
Hellberg, R. S., & Chu, E. (2016). Effects of climate change on the persistence and dispersal of foodborne bacterial pathogens in the outdoor environment: A review. Critical Reviews in Microbiology, 42(4), 548–572. https://doi.org/10.3109/1040841X.2014.972335
The DOI number is a digital object identifier that is sometimes included in citations. If one is included, include it in your citation.
Same citation, in MLA format:
Hellberg, Rosalee S., and Eric Chu. “Effects of Climate Change on the Persistence and Dispersal of Foodborne Bacterial Pathogens in the Outdoor Environment: A Review.” Critical Reviews in Microbiology, vol. 42, no. 4, July 2016, pp. 548-572. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3109/1040841X.2014.972335.
MLA requires a DOI (digital object identifier), permalink, or URL (in that order of preference) for online material.
As you can see, all of the elements of the citation that were included in the APA citation are included in the MLA citation. The order of the elements and some aspects of the way the elements are presented are different. One major difference is that MLA citation format requires the name of the database (called a "container" in MLA Style) from which you retrieved the journal (EBSCOhost).
Click Next to learn about citation management tools.
