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MLA Citation Guide: Government Documents

This guide is intended to help you cite your sources in the Modern Language Association's style. It covers citing within the text and the references section.

Information Needed

  • Author
  • Date
    • n.d. if no date is given
  • Title of work
  • Report number
  • Location of publisher
  • Publisher
  • Agency Name

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Government Document in Print

Author. Title. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. Print.

U.S. Department of Justice. Correctional statistics in the U.S., 1992. Washington, CD: Government Printing Office, 1992. Print

Document on an Agency Website

Agency. Title. By Author. Date Published. Web. Date Retrieved

United States. Dept. of Justice. Prosecuting Gangs: A National Assessment. By Claire Johnson, Barbara Webster, and Edward Connors. Feb. 1995. Web. 29 June 2008.

ERIC Document

Author(s). "Title of the Document." (Date of publication): Page Numbers. Microform. Document number.

Miller, A. Christine, and Lorraine Cross. "Moving from I to Us: The Power of Action Research to Improve Students' Writing Performance." (2001): 1-25. Microform. ED452555.

Patent

Inventor/author. Name of Patent.  Labeled Patent or Application Number. Patent Office. Issue Date.

Foerch, Renate, et al. Modification of Polymer Surfaces by Two-Step Reactions. United States Patent US 5,147,678. United States Patent and Trademark Office. 15 Sept. 1992.

Federal Regulation

Name of Act, Title of Source Title #, Pt. # Year ed.

"Application for Temporary Certificates in Cases of Emergency." Code of Federal Regulations Title 18, Pt. 157.17, 1995 ed.

Print Guides

Citing Items Without an Author

If an article, book or other resource does not have an identifiable author, move the title to the first element and keep everything else in the same place.

APA Book:

Title. Date. Place of Publication: Publisher.

MLA Book:

Title. Place of Publication: Publisher. Date. Format.

Chicago Author-Date Book:

Title. Year. Place of Publication: Publisher.

Citing Items Without a Date

If a publication does not have a date, use the abbreviation n.d. for no date.