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MLA - Referencing Guide

Internet Content

Information

Cite documents published on the internet according to the specific guidelines for the type of document. More specific information is available for Books and Journal Articles.

• Include the protocol (http:// or https://) with DOIs

Do not include the protocol (http:// or https://) in URLs unless hyperlinking to the resource (unless using a software program such as EndNote that does not allow links without the protocol).

 Cite by title if no author or editor is given.

Additional information must be provided (depending on the type of electronic publication) to correctly identify that you accessed the document in an electronic format.

The authors' names are given as they appear on the publication you have used, i.e., use full first name where provided or first name initials where initials only are provided.

Titles are given maximal capitalisation (title case).

To determine the upload date of a TikTok video: https://bellingcat.github.io/tiktok-timestamp/

Format

Standard format for citation

Author's Surname, Given Names. "Title of the Document or Part."  Title of Internet Site or Document. Editor of site or document, Source/production information, Date of internet publication, Internet address.

 

Standard format for citation blog 

Author's Surname, Given Names [username]. "Title of Blog Post." Blog Name, Day Month Year posted, Internet address. Accessed Day Month Year viewed (if no posting date).

 

Standard format for email, SnapChat and text messages 

Author's Surname, Given Names. Details of message. Date of communication.

 

Standard format for citation podcast 

Author's Surname, Given Names. Title: Subtitle.  Publisher, Year, Internet address.

 

Standard format for citation podcast television or radio program: 

"Title of Episode." Title of Program: Subtitle, episode details, Credit (if applicable), Day month year of broadcast, Source, Internet address.

 

Standard format for social media comments 

Author's Surname, Given Names. Comment on "Title or Description."  Author of social media post [media identifier], Source, Date of post creation, internet address.

 

Standard format for social media posts 

Creator's Surname, Given Names [media identifier/handle]. "Title or Description." Source, Date of creation, internet address.

 

Standard format for citation webpage

Author's Surname, Given Names. "Webpage Title." Website Title, Publication date, Internet address. Accessed Day Month Year (if no publication date).

 

Standard format for YouTube/TED/Vimeo video:

"Title of Video." Title of Site, uploaded by Credit, Day Abbrev. Month Year of publication, internet address.

Examples

Analytics report

Google Analytics. Analytics 3.1: Water Corporation Domain Only (Excluding Internal Traffic and Bots%2Fspiders) Overview 20160701-20170630, 2017, Analytics 3.1 Water Corporation Domain Only (Excluding Internal Traffic and Bots%2FSpiders) Overview 20160701-20170630.pdf.

App / Software

Student Services Australia. Lost on Campus by StudentVIP. Version 4.2.6, 2020, Apple App Store, apps.apple.com/au/app/lost-on-campus-by-studentvip/id488598630.

Blog post

Morris, Sylvia. "Anticipating Macbeth on Film." The Shakespeare Blog, 9 June 2015, theshakespeareblog.com/2015/06/anticipating-macbeth-on-film/.

@sohnlokis. "Your Top 5." BoardGameGeek, 3 Nov. 2023, boardgamegeek.com/thread/3183481/your-top-5. Accessed 3 Nov 2023.

Blog post comment

Generalgtony. Comment on "Black England: No Wall of Separation?" Jane Austen's World, 26 Apr. 2021, 04:49 am, janeaustensworld.com/2021/04/26/black-england-no-wall-of-separation/#comments

Eeple, Mike [@mike_eeple]. Comment on "Your Top 5" BoardGameGeek, 3 Nov. 2023, boardgamegeek.com/thread/3183481/your-top-5.

Document

Australia, Department of Arts and Culture. Australian Best Practice Guide to Collecting Cultural Material, The Dept., 2015, www.arts.gov.au/publications/australian-best-practice-guide-collecting-cultural-material.

Miranti, Riyana, et al. Calling Australia Home: The Characteristics and Contributions of Australia's Migrants. National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM), 2010, media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/21/219073/natsem_10.pdf.

Document: no author

How to cite references. Murdoch University Library, 1996, www.lib.murdoch.edu.au/find/citation/.

Every Victorian has a NURSE-ON-CALL. Department of Health, State of Victoria, 2021, www.health.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-11/nurse-on-call-dl-brochure-english.pdf.

Email, Text or SnapChat message

Brown, Collette. Text message to the author. 23 Dec. 2015.

Fisher, John. Email to the author. 14 Apr. 2020.

Messingham, Penny. Email to the Copyright Council. 5 June 2018.

Zacariah, Moses. SnapChat message to the author. 4 June 2021.

Facebook page

"Creative Australia." Facebook, www.facebook.com/creative.gov.au/.  Accessed 3 Nov. 2023,

Facebook post

Royal Opera House. "A Sneak-Peek at Rehearsals for Balanchine and Robbins!" Facebook, 2 June 2021, www.facebook.com/royaloperahouse/posts/10159348688137579.

Facebook post comment

Aymerich, Mauricio. Comment on "We are Delighted to Announce Our Shortlist for the 2021 International Booker Prize." The Booker Prizes, Facebook, 23 Apr. 2021, www.facebook.com/TheBookerPrizes. 

Forum/discussion board

Writing Forums. www.writingforums.com/. Accessed 3 Nov. 2023.

Forum post

kittymama. "What Are 3 Things You Wish You Knew." Writing Forums, 1 Nov. 2023, www.writingforums.com/threads/what-are-3-things-you-wish-you-knew.206560/. Accessed 3 Nov.2023.

Forum post comment

Veith, Rod. "If You Have Proof of Purchase Then You Should be at Little Risk as Long as You Paid Fair Market Value." LawAnswers, 1 Feb. 2023, www.lawanswers.com.au/threads/i-bought-a-car-with-a-false-signature.24578/.

Game

Persson, Mark and Jens Bergensten. Minecraft. Mojang Synergies AB, 2011, minecraft.net/en-us/.

Government publication: Australian Bureau of Statistics document

Australian Bureau of Statistics. "Literature and Print Media." Arts and Culture in Australia: A Statistical Overview (cat. no. 4172.0). ABS, 2014, www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4172.0main+features142014.

Government publication: Government department

Western Australia, Office of Multicultural Interests. Language Services Policy 2014 and Guidelines. OMI, 2014, www.omi.wa.gov.au/resources/publications/Languages/Language_Services_Policy_2014.pdf.

Instagram post

Atwood, Margaret [@therealmargaretatwood]. Photo of Songs for Murdered Sisters cover. Instagram, 17 Mar. 2021, www.instagram.com/p/CMfPNo-LMG1/.

Instagram post comment

Roblwood. Comment on "It’s Weird Going Back and Looking at Scripts..." Tim Minchin [@timminchin], Instagram, 28 July 2020, www.instagram.com/p/CDK9YzBn9Mr/.

Legislation: Commonwealth

Screen Australia Act 2008 (Cth). www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2008A00012.

Legislation: State

Library Board of Western Australia Act 1951 (WA). www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/prod/filestore.nsf/FileURL/mrdoc_25612.pdf/$FILE/Library Board of Western Australia Act 1951 - [04-f0-04].pdf?OpenElement.

Podcast

Miller, Toby. Australian Citizenship, 1912: A Model for the World?, 2013 Sir Walter Murdoch Lecture. Murdoch University, 2013, our.murdoch.edu.au/University-Secretarys-Office/University-history/Lectures-and-speeches/Sir-Walter-Murdoch-Memorial-Lecture-Series/.

Podcast radio program

“Black Hole Stellar Feeding Frenzy.” StarStuff, reported by Stuart Gary, 23 Dec. 2007, ABC News Radio, www.abc.net.au/science/audio/2015/12/02/4363828.htm?topic=space.

Podcast television program

“Bad Borders.” VICE, season 1, episode 2, HBO, 2016, SBS OnDemand, www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/program/vice.

"Elizabeth Taylor." A Life in Ten Pictures, season 1, episode 2, BBC, 2021, ABC iview, iview.abc.net.au/video/ZW2819A002S00.

Online poem

Nesbit, E. "Marching Song." Ballads and Lyrics of Socialism. London, 1908. Victorian Women Writers Project, edited by Perry Willett, e-book ed., Indiana U., May 2000, webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/vwwp/view?docId=VAB7021&chunk.id=d1e720&brand=vwwp&doc.view=0&anchor.id=#VAB7021-004.

TikTok video

Parafina, Archie [@nursearchie]. "How to Become a Registered Nurse in Australia as an Internationally Qualified Nurse?" TikTok, 27 Oct. 2023, www.tiktok.com/@nurse.archie/video/7294458669238897921.

TikTok video - no title

Upper Canada Animal Hospital [@ucahteam]. "A few things that are toxic to dogs ...", 19 May 2023, TikTok, www.tiktok.com/@ucahteam/video/7234865897565867269?lang=en.

Webpage

Cagliostro, Dino. "Depression: Tell Me All I Need to Know About Depression." Psycom, 12 Sept. 2023, www.psycom.net/depression.

Website

Jane Austen Society of North America. Austen on Film, 24 Aug. 2015, www.jasna.org/info/about_austen.html.

Rushdie, Salman. Salman Rushdie Official Author Site, 2017, www.salmanrushdie.com/.

University of Virginia, Institute for Advanced Technologies in the Humanities. The World of Dante, 1996-2017, www.worldofdante.org/index.html.

X Post / Tweet

Maiden, Samantha [@samanthamaiden]. "To be a good journalist, in my opinion, you need to be a completely obsessive, detail person. I don’t know who did this but whoever they are they are a very good journalist." Twitter, 30 Mar. 2021, twitter.com/samanthamaiden/status/1376801907713314818.

YouTube/TED/Vimeo video

"Medieval Helpdesk with English Subtitles." YouTube, uploaded by NRK, 26 Feb. 2007, www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ.

"3 Ways to Fix a Broken News Industry." TED, uploaded by Lara Setrakian, Jan. 2017, www.ted.com/talks/lara_setrakian_3_ways_to_fix_a_ broken_news_industry#t-521404.

YouTube comment

Kirk, James. Comment on "Medieval Helpdesk with English Subtitles." YouTube, 12 Feb. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ.


See the All Examples page for examples of in-text and reference list entries for specific resources such as articles, books, and web pages.

Information Required

Below is a guide to what information you may need to record when citing an electronic document:

name of author(s) if given

year or date of publication (or date site was created or updated)

title of document

title of web site or database

pages, sections or paragraphs (if given)

database name (if appropriate)

internet address (if appropriate)