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University of Iowa

University Libraries

Citation Help: Web Pages and Social Media

MLA Citation Examples: Web Pages & Social Media

The 8th edition of the MLA Handbook recommends using the following core elements in every citation. If elements are missing from the source, they should be omitted from the citation.

Important Elements

  • Author.
  • Title of source.
  • Title of container,
  • Other contributors,
  • Version,
  • Number,
  • Publisher,
  • Publication date
  • Location.

For online sources:

  • Include the URL (without http:// or https://). Angle brackets are not used around it.
  • Use DOIs (digital object identifiers) when possible.
  • Citing the date when an online work was consulted is optional.
  • Placeholders for unknown information like n.d. (“no date”) are no longer used.

Website with author

Author Last, First. Title of Website. Website Owner, Year, Stable URL.

Kraizer, Sherryll. Safe Child. Coalition for Children, 2008, www.safechild.org.

Web page with no author

"Title of Web page." Title of Website, Date day Mon. year, Stable URL.

"Several Injured in Wrong-Way Crash on FDR: NYPD." NBCNewYork.com, 13 Nov. 2014, www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NYC-FDR-Drive-East-Side-Highway-Wrong-Way-Crash-Traffic-Jam-282538721.html.

​Blog Post

Author Last, First. (username if applicable). "Title of Post." Title of Blog, Date day Mon. year, Stable URL.

Whitehead, Tiffany. (librariantiff). "Interacting with Non-Fiction Text." Mighty Little Librarian, 27 Oct. 2015, http://www.mightylittlelibrarian.com/?p=1328.

YouTube Video

Creator. "Title of Video." YouTube, Date, Stable URL.

Iowa Women's Basketball. "University of Iowa Campus All-Access Tour." YouTube, 21 Aug. 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeJ3u6SGb7M.

Facebook Post

Post Author. "Title of Post." Facebook, Date day Mon. year, stable URL.

TIME. "Angela Merkel is TIME's 2015 Person of the Year." Facebook, 9 Dec. 2015, www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=angela%20merkel%20is%20time%27s%202015%20person%20of%20the%20year

Some examples courtesy of Penn State University Libraries

Ask a Librarian

Librarians are available to help you with your questions. Please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions you might have regarding citation styles, citation management, etc.

Ask a question below or contact your subject specialist librarian for more help!

Useful Resources for MLA Citation