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Database Articles: MLA Style (7th ed.)

The following examples apply to documents found in:

Literature Criticism Online
(includes Contemporary Literary Criticism, Poetry Criticism, and Short Story Criticism)

Where appropriate, substitute the information for your particular document and your actual access date. For more on how to use this guide and what to include in your citations, go to the MLA 7th edition main page.

NOTE 1: Literature Criticism Online includes the electronic version of two different print book series—Contemporary Literary Criticism and Short Story Criticism. The examples below apply to the online version of essays found in either series.

NOTE 2: Essays in these series typically consist of a general introduction to the topic and then a number of reprinted critical articles on the topic written by various literary critics. If you are citing something from the introductory material, cite the entire essay as in the first example below. If you want to cite something only from one of the reprinted critical articles, it is preferable to find the article in the source in which it originally appeared, and to use that version for citing purposes. If this is not possible, however, use the second example below to cite the individual article as it appears in this online version.

NOTE 3: A “Source Citation” listing for essays appearing in Literature Criticism Online may be found at the bottom of each screen. While you may use this listing to get basic citation information for your document (see first example below), it does not reflect correct MLA citation style and should not be taken as such. The citation information listed at the top of the screen refers only to the print version of the series.



"AUTHOR OVERVIEW," "WORK OVERVIEW," OR "TOPIC OVERVIEW"

Documents in this database are printed out in PDF (page image) format, so if you have only a printout of your article, you may need to access the article online in order to find the information needed to follow the example below. Most of this will appear in the “Source Citation” information that appears at the bottom of the screen when you have pulled up your essay; make sure to follow the citation example below for correct MLA citation style.

Author(s) of Article (if listed). “Complete Title of Article.” Name of Print
  Book Source. Editor(s) of Print Book Source. Volume Number of Print Book
  Source. Place of Publication of Print Book Source: Publisher of Print Book
  Source, Year of Publication of Print Book Source. Page(s) Where Article
  Appears in Print Book Source. Literature Criticism Online. Web. Date of
  Access.
   
“Shirley Jackson, 1919-1965.” Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Roger Matuz,
  Cathy Falk, and Mary K. Gillis. Vol. 60. Detroit: Gale, 1990. 209-38. Literature
  Criticism Online. Web. 10 Jan. 2008.

 
Helpful Tip #5:
When no writer is listed for your article, begin your citation with the title of the article.



REPRINTED CRITICAL ARTICLE CONTAINED IN AN "OVERVIEW" ESSAY

List each different critical article as a separate citation, even if they all come from the same “overview” essay. The original source citation information appears at the beginning or the end of each critical article, so you should see this on your printout, as well as the “book” pages on which your article begins and ends. You may, however, need to go online to access the “Source Citation” information for the entire “overview” essay. Note that the title of the “overview” essay does not appear in your citation for a reprinted critical article, and the pages listed after the print volume information are only those on which the individual critical article appears.

Use this format if the article was originally published in an academic journal (and is not a book review):

Author(s) of Article (if listed). “Title of Article As It Originally Appeared in Journal."
  Name of Journal Volume.Issue (Publication Year): Pages(s) Where Article
  Appeared in Journal. Rpt. in Name of Print Book Source. Editor(s) of Print
  Book Source. Volume Number of Print Book Source. Place of Publication of
  Print Book Source: Publisher of Print Book Source, Year of Publication of
  Print Book Source. Page(s) Where Article Appears in Print Book Source.
  Literature Criticism Online. Web. Date of Access.
   
Tangherlini, Timothy R. “ ‘Who Ya Gonna Call?’: Ministers and the Mediation of
  Ghostly Threat in Danish Legend Tradition.” Western Folklore 57.2-3 (1998):
  153-78. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 58. Detroit:
  Gale, 2003. 68-80. Literature Criticism Online. Web. 11 Jan. 2008.

Use this format if the article was originally published in a journal, magazine, or newspaper and is a review of a writer’s work (a “book review”):

Author(s) of Article (if listed). “Title of Article As It Originally Appeared in Journal,
  Magazine, or Newspaper (if given)." Rev. of Name of Book Being Reviewed,  
  by Author of Book Being Reviewed. Name of Journal, Magazine, or
  Newspaper Volume.Issue of Journal (Publication Year) OR Date of Magazine 
  or Newspaper: Pages(s) Where Article Appeared in Journal, Magazine, or
  Newspaper. Rpt. in Name of Print Book Source. Editor(s) of Print Book
  Source. Volume Number of Print Book Source. Place of Publication of Print
  Book Source: Publisher of Print Book Source, Year of Publication of Print
  Book Source. Page(s) Where Article Appears in Print Book Source.
  Literature Criticism Online. Web. Date of Access.

 

 

Strouse, Jean. “Indifferent Luck and Hungry Gods.” Rev. of Continental Drift,

 

by Russell Banks. New York Times Book Review 24 Mar. 1985: 11-12. Rpt.

 

in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Daniel G. Marowski, Roger Matuz,

 

and Jane E. Neidhardt. Vol. 37. Detroit: Gale, 1986. 28-29. Literature

 

Criticism Online. Web. 11 Mar. 2008.

Helpful Tip #6:
Review articles are not generally considered “critical” articles, even though they often contain critical information on a writer’s work. If your instructor has told you to find a “critical” article on a particular author or work, you should check to see if a review article will meet the requirements of the assignment.

Use this format if the article was originally published in a book of literary criticism containing essays written by several different people (this kind of book will likely have an editor):

Author(s) of Article (if listed). “Title of Article As It Appeared in Original Book.”
  Name of Original Book. Editor(s) of Original Book. Place of Publication
  of Original Book: Publisher of Original Book, Year of Publication of Original
  Book. Page(s) Where Article Appeared in Original Book. Rpt. in Name of
  Print Book Source. Editor(s) of Print Book Source. Volume Number of Print
  Book Source. Place of Publication of Print Book Source: Publisher of
  Print Book Source, Year of Publication of Print Book Source. Page(s)
  Where Article Appears in Print Book Source. Literature Criticism Online.
  Web. Date of Access.
   
Scott, Carolyn D. “The Witch at the Corner: Notes on Graham Greene’s Mythology.”
  Graham Greene: Some Critical Considerations. Ed. Robert O. Evans.
  Lexington: U of Kentucky P, 1963. 231-44. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism.
  Ed. Anna Sheets. Vol. 29. Detroit: Gale, 1998. 190-94. Literature Criticism
  Online. Web. 11 Mar. 2008.
   

Use this format if the article is an excerpt (selection) from what was originally published as a book of literary criticism written by one person. Note that in the case of a reprinted excerpt (that appears under a title different from the original), the publication information for the original book source is listed second instead of first as above:

Author(s) of Article (if listed). “Title of Article As It Appears in Print Book Source.”
  Name of Print Book Source. Editor(s) of Print Book Source. Volume Number
  of Print Book Source. Place of Publication of Print Book Source: Publisher of
  Print Book Source, Year of Publication of Print Book Source. Page(s) Where
  Article Appears in Print Book Source. Excerpt from Name of Original Book. 
  By Last Name of Author of Original Book. Place of Publication of Original
  Book: Publisher of Original Book, Year of Publication of Original Book.
  Page(s) Where Excerpt Appeared in Original Book. Literature Criticism
  Online. Web. Date of Access.
   
Stabb, Martin S. “Jorge Luis Borges, 1899- .” Contemporary Literary Criticism.
  Ed. Sharon R. Gunton. Vol. 19. Detroit: Gale, 1981. 44-45. Excerpt
  from Jorge Luis Borges. By Stabb. N.p.: Twayne, 1970. N. pag.
  Literature Criticism Online. Web. 10 Mar. 2008.
   

Helpful Tip #7:
Sometimes the original print publication information listed for an article or an excerpt reproduced in an online database is not complete. In this case you are to list only the information given, using the abbreviations below in place of where the missing information would be placed in your citation.

n.p. No place of publication given
n.p. No publisher given
n.d. No date of publication given
n. pag.    No pagination given

Note in the example above that the first letter of the abbreviation is capitalized when it is being used as the first element of a citation “part.” For a color-coded breakdown of the various parts of a citation, see the MLA 7th edition main page.

Go back to the MLA 7th edition main page.