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How to Cite an Online Encyclopedia

The changing nature of information technology and the increasing use of Internet sources by students and researchers has meant that new citation rules are being developed. Familiarity with these rules is important when writing a paper. More and more students are discovering that online encyclopedias are useful when doing general background research for essays and assignments. To use online encyclopedias in your research, you also must be able to correctly cite an article from an online encyclopedia in a parenthetical citation and a list of works cited in MLA style.

Instructions

    • 1

      Create a works cited page using standard MLA style. Add a page break at the end of your paper and center the title "Works Cited" at the top of the new page.

    • 2

      Skipping a line, list the author of the encyclopedia article. Start with the author’s last name and separate it from the author's first name with a comma. Place a period at the end of the entry. For example: Schloss, Rosalyn.

    • 3

      List the title of the encyclopedia article in quotation marks. Place a period at the end of the entry. For example: Schloss, Rosalyn. “Mozambique”.

    • 4

      List the the title of the encyclopedia, and version number (if available) after the title of the article. Italicize the title of the encyclopedia.
      For example: Schloss, Rosalyn. "Mozambique". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010.

    • 5

      List the remaining publishing information, including page numbers (if available), place of access in italics, date of access and URL.
      For example: Schloss, Rosalyn. "Mozambique". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 25 Jun. 2010 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/395363/Mozambique>

    • 6

      Double-space your works cited list and indent the second line of your entry.

    • 7

      To create a parenthetical citation in the body your work, include the name of the author (if available) and page number(s) in parentheses after the material to be cited. If there is no author or page number, include the title of the article instead. For example: Unfortunately, “by the 18th century, slaves had become an increasingly important part of Mozambique’s overall export trade from the East African coast” (“Mozambique”).

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