Now Read On : the home page >> Bibliography, citation & reference >> The Elements of a Citation >> Online journals
 

The Elements of a Citation (MLA style)

How does each piece of information help us?

 

introduction

from a book from a journal / magazine / newspaper from a website from an online journal
   

putting it all together

more citation tips  

Citations from an online journal/ magazine:

Chandler, Clay.  “Inside the Great Firewall of China.”  Fortune 153:4 (6 March 2006): 148+.  SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source.  Robert College Library.  3 January 2007.  <http://www.sirs.com/>.  The actual URL is <http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SRES-0-2909&artno=0000249959&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N>.  Fortunately, these huge URLs returned from database searches - and especially subscription database searches - are shortened to the URL of the database itself.  This is in part because these URLs are just too long to type into the address bar without mistakes;  very often, the URL is not static - it may be different for a different searcher, or a search from a different computer, or a search on a different day.  In practice, the searcher just needs access to the database, and then can search for the title.

Piper, Paul S. Better Read That Again: Web Hoaxes and Misinformation.  Searcher 8:8  (September 2002). 2 January 2004. <http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/sep00/piper.htm>.  The basic pattern for an online magazine is: Author last, First. "Title of Article." Magazine Title volume: number (date): page/s.  Date of access. <URL>.

Seenan, Gerard.  Pharmacy of False Fortunes: Address of Shop in Thurso Given to Victims of Nigerian Scam.  The Guardian  17 December 2003. 16 May 2004. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/spam/story/0,13427,1108530,00.html>. The basic pattern for an online newspaper is: Author last, First. "Title of Article." Newspaper Title date.   Date of access. <URL>.

Ulfelder, Steve. “Lies, Damn Lies and the Internet.” Computerworld 31:28 (14 July 1997): 75(2). Infotrac General Reference Center Gold. Thomson Gale. Robert College Library.  3 January 2007.  <http://infotrac.london.galegroup.com/>. The basic pattern for an online subscription database is: Author last, First. "Title of Article." Magazine Title volume: number (date): page/s. Database. Database Publisher. Library. Date of access. <URL>.

Suggestion:  if you have access to a print copy AND an online copy, prefer the print copy: it is more permanent (and easier to cite), and it remains more accessible.  However, do check that both copies are identical: sometimes there are differences!

Element Example How does the element help us?
The author/s Chandler, Clay.
Piper, Paul S.
Seenan, Gerard.

Ulfelder, Steve.
Last name first (of the first-named author).
Listed in alphabetical order, to make it easy to find the name you are looking for.
The author gets the credit for the words or ideas you have used.
The article title. “Inside the Great Firewall of China.”
Better Read That Again: Web Hoaxes and Misinformation.
Pharmacy of False Fortunes: Address of Shop in Thurso Given to Victims of Nigerian Scam.
“Lies, Damn Lies and the Internet.”
The titles (and any subtitles) are shown inside inverted commas. The title is needed, because many authors have written lots of articles, papers and essays;  you need to know which has been used here.
The journal/ magazine. Fortune
Searcher
The Guardian

Computerworld
The title of the journal or magazine is shown in italics. (Some teachers prefer that titles be underlined. Check with your teacher.)
 
Edition details. 153:4
8:8


31:28
We need to know which issue of the journal or magazine; some use volume and issue numbers, some use issue numbers only, some give the date of publication.  Show all the information you can find.
The date. (6 March 2006):
(September 2002).
17 December 2003.
(14 July 1997):
We need to know which issue of the journal or magazine; some use volume and issue numbers, some use issue numbers only, some give the date of publication.  Show all the information you can find.

The date is often very important: it places the article in a historical context.

The page numbers 148+.


75(2).
The page number/s of the original articles are not always given.  Articles in electronic journals (for which there is no print edition) have no page number at all.  If the page number is given, use it so that a reader who has access to the print edition can find the page more easily.

Page numbers indicate the length of the article, and this too may be useful information.

Name of database. Publisher. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source.


Infotrac General Reference Center Gold
. Thomson Gale.
It can be important to know which subscription database was used to retreive the article - so that someone else can find it (and you can find it again if you need to!).
Date of access. 3 January 2007.
2 January 2004.
16 May 2004.

3 January 2007.
As with web pages, the date you found the article can be as important as the date it was published.
Library (or other). Robert College Library.


Robert College Library.
Online databases again:  different libraries subscribe to different databases (and some do not subscribe to any at all).  Anyone trying to retrieve a particular article may find it easiser if they know which library you used.
URL of online journal. <http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/sep00/
piper.htm>.
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/spam/
story/0,13427,1108530,00.html>.
The URL should point to the page on which you found the article so that anyone else can also find it.
URL of database. <http://www.sirs.com/>.
<http://infotrac.london.galegroup.com/>.
On the other hand, the URLs of pages in databases can be so long (or change so often) that they are meaningless.  The URL of the database itself is enough.

 

introduction

from a book from a journal / magazine / newspaper from a website from an online journal
   

putting it all together

more citation tips  

 

Now Read On home
Return to Now read On Home Page
To the top of this page
to the top
 

John Royce, BA, MLib, MCLIP
Library Director, Robert College
Arnavutköy, TR-34345 Istanbul, Turkey.

The URL of this page is http://www.read2live.com/elementsonline.html
It was last revised on 13 January 2007.