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How Do I Cite Search Engines in MLA Style?

"Get your motor runnin'" is the first line of rock group Steppenwolf's open-road anthem of the 1970s. Today, the open road of adventure and discovery might easily be the Internet and when you get your motor runnin' on the Internet, it's a search engine you're using. Search engines help you, as a scholar, researcher or adventurer, find your way through the metaphorical alleys, highways, back roads, interstates and even dead-ends that are information on the Internet. But even if you get where you're going, you've got to be able to tell your readers how you did it. Enter MLA style. The Modern Language Association of America offers specific guidelines for citing Internet search engines parenthetically in the text of your paper and on your works cited pages.

Instructions

    • 1

      Write the last name of the author of the source followed by the author's first name separated by a comma and followed by a period. For example, write "Fowler, Frank."

    • 2

      Write the title of the source followed by a period. For example, write "Fowler, Frank. Oil Painting: A Handbook for the Use of Students and Schools." Italicize the title.

    • 3

      Write the name of the search engine used to locate your source, followed by a period. For example, write "Fowler, Frank. Oil Painting: A Handbook for the Use of Students and Schools. New York, 1885. Google Books." Italicize the name of the search engine.

    • 4

      Write the name of the search engine used to locate your source, followed by a period. For example, write "Fowler, Frank. Oil Painting: A Handbook for the Use of Students and Schools. New York, 1885. Google Books." Italicize the name of the search engine.

    • 5

      Write "Web" followed by a period to indicate the medium you are citing. For example, write "Fowler, Frank. Oil Painting: A Handbook for the Use of Students and Schools. New York, 1885. Google Books. Web."

    • 6

      Write the day, month and year you accessed your source followed by a period. For example, write "Fowler, Frank. Oil Painting: A Handbook for the Use of Students and Schools. New York, 1885. Google Books. Web. 11 April 2011."

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