Because MLA9 follows a container format in citations, any work may be cited using MLA9. This includes:
This page includes information on Images and Artwork, Lecture Notes and Slides, Dissertations and Theses, Music Sources, Digital Files, and Films/Movies/Television Shows.
For information on citing Artificial Intelligence in MLA9 format, go to this page.
For all other sources, including Podcasts, Interviews, Panel Discussions, Conference Proceedings, Multivolume Works, Introductions, Prefaces, Afterwords, and Books Published before 1900, among many others, go to the Purdue OWL MLA9 website, the MLA9 Style Center Online, or make an appointment to meet with a librarian at UNC.
A typical Works Cited page citation for an image, including photographs and images of works of art such as paintings and sculptures, includes these elements:
Creator Last, First Name. Title of Work: Capital Letters for Words in the Subtitle. Creation date. Institution and city where the work is located, website URL. Optional accessed Date Mo. Year.
Le Bas, Delaine. Delainia: 17071965 Unfolding. 2024. Tramway and Glasgow International 2024, Glasgow, https://glasgowinternational.org/programme/projects/delainia-17071965-unfolding/. Accessed 22 September 2024.
Kaur, Jasleen. Alter Altar. 2024. Tramway, Glasgowhttps://www.tramway.org/news/tramway-hosts-first-major-scottish-exhibition-from-jasleen-kaur/. Accessed 25 April 2025.
If the work cited is available on the web only, then provide the name of the artist, the title of the work, and then follow the citation format for a website. If the work is posted via a username, use that username for the author.
Adams, Clifton R. “People Relax Beside a Swimming Pool at a Country Estate Near Phoenix, Arizona, 1928.” Found, National Geographic Creative, 2 June 2016, natgeofound.tumblr.com/.
A typical Works Cited page citation for an image, including photographs and images of works of art such as paintings and sculptures, includes these elements:
Creator Last, First Name. Title of Work: Capital Letters for Words in the Subtitle. Creation date. Institution and city where the work is located, website URL. Optional accessed Date Mo. Year.
Kaur, Jasleen. Alter Altar. 2024. Tramway, Glasgow. https://www.tramway.org/news/tramway-hosts-first-major-scottish-exhibition-from-jasleen-kaur/. Accessed 25 April 2025.
El-Salahi, Ibrahim. They Always Appear. 1964. Tate Modern, London. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/el-salahi-they-always-appear-t14388. Accessed 25 April 2025.
If the medium and/or materials (e.g., oil on canvas) are important to the reference, you can include this information at the end of the entry. However, it is not required.
For photographic reproductions of artwork (e.g. images of artwork in a book), treat the book or website as a container. Remember that for a second container, the title is listed first, before the contributors. Cite the bibliographic information as above followed by the information for the source in which the photograph appears, including page or reference numbers (plate, figure, etc.).
Hokusai. "Courtesans Promenading on the Banks of the Sumida River." 1798. Hokusai, by Mathi Forrer and Edmond de Goncourt, Rizzoli, p. 57.
A typical Works Cited page citation for an academic course or an academic department includes these elements:
Instructor Last Name, First Name. Title of department, or course or catalog designation. Title of Institution, Publication Date Mo. Year, URL for website if used. Optional Accessed Date Mo. Year.
Academic course:
Smith, Jordan. English 122: College Composition. University of Northern Colorado, May 2024. https://unco.smartcatalogiq.com/en/current/undergraduate-catalog/course-descriptions/eng-english/100/eng-122/. Accessed 30 Oct. 2024.
Academic department:
Department of English. University of Northern Colorado, May 2024, https://www.unco.edu/hss/english/. Accessed 30 Oct. 2024.
Citing a dissertation or thesis is very similar to citing a peer-reviewed article a well as citing institutional research. Use the following format:
Last Name, First Name. Title of Dissertation or Thesis. Year of Publication. Name of Academic Institution Awarding the Degree if given, Type of source (PhD Dissertation or Master's thesis), Publication Number. Name of Website, Repository, or Database, URL.
Lazo, Aransas. Analyzing the Influence of Faculty Diversity on Dance Education in Texas High Schools: A Case Study of Representation inDance Programs. 2024. University of Northern Colorado, Master's Thesis, 333. UNCOpen, https://digscholarship.unco.edu/theses/333.
Note: If the dissertation or thesis is not published in a database, include the URL of the site where the document is located.
If the thesis or dissertation has not yet been published, cite with as much information as you have, using the following format:
Last Name, First Name. Title of Dissertation or Thesis. Name of Academic Institution Awarding the Degree if given, Type of source such as Unpublished PhD Dissertation or Master’s Thesis.
Lazo, Aransas. Analyzing the Influence of Faculty Diversity on Dance Education in Texas High Schools: A Case Study of Representation in Dance Programs. University of Northern Colorado, Unpublished Master's Thesis.
For a full music score, cite with the composer's name first, the title in italics, the translator if there is one, the publisher, and the publication date. If you refer to specific measure numbers in your writing, include those in the in-text citation with the word "measures" in front of the measures range (measures 275-93) or the abbreviation mm. if you are frequently citing measures from one work (mm. 275-93) ... (mm. 145-67).
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. The Marriage of Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro). Dover Publications, 1979.
Spotify and other streaming citations include the digital address of the track, along with the artist, title, publisher, and publication date.
Morris, Rae. “Skin.” Cold, Atlantic Records, 2014. Spotify, open.spotify.com/track/0OPES3Tw5r86O6fudK8gxi.
Like streaming service citations, online albums are cited by artist name, track title in quotation marks if you are citing a single track, the album title in italics, publisher, and publication date, followed by the digital address of the album.
Beyoncé. “Pray You Catch Me.” Lemonade, Parkwood Entertainment, 2016, www.beyonce.com/album/lemonade-visual-album/.
Like chapters in a book, CDs are cited by artist name, track title in quotation marks if you are citing a single track, the album title in italics, publisher, and publication date.
Nirvana. "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Nevermind, Geffen, 1991.
Determine the type of work to cite (e.g., article, image, sound recording) and cite with as much information as you have, including artist or author, the title of the work, the container if there is one (journal, book, project, and so forth), the publisher and publication date, the file type if that is needed to describe the item, and a digital address if the work has one.
End the entry with the name of the digital format (e.g., PDF, JPEG file, Microsoft Word file, MP3). If the work does not follow traditional parameters for citation, give the author’s name, the name of the work, the date of creation, and the location.
Beethoven, Ludwig van. Moonlight Sonata. Crownstar, 2006.
Smith, George. “Pax Americana: Strife in a Time of Peace.” 2005. Microsoft Word file.
Council of Writing Program Administrators, National Council of Teachers of English, and National Writing Project. Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing. CWPA, NCTE, and NWP, 2011, wpacouncil.org/files/framework-for-success-postsecondary-writing.pdf.
Bentley, Phyllis. “Yorkshire and the Novelist.” The Kenyon Review, vol. 30, no. 4, 1968, pp. 509-22. JSTOR, www.jstor.org.iii/stable/4334841.
List films by their title. Include the name of the director, the film studio or distributor, and the release year. If relevant, list performer names after the director's name.
Parasite. Directed by Bong Joon Ho, performances by Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jong, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam, Jang Hye-jin, Park Myung-hoon, and Lee Jung-eun, CJ Entertainment, 2019.
To emphasize specific performers or directors, begin the citation with the name of the desired performer or director, followed by the appropriate title for that person.
Bong Joon Ho, director. Parasite. CJ Entertainment, 2019.
Cite recorded television episodes like films (see above). Begin with the episode name in quotation marks. Follow with the series name in italics. When the title of the collection of recordings is different than the original series (e.g., the show Friends is in DVD release under the title Friends: The Complete Sixth Season), list the title that would help researchers to locate the recording. Give the distributor name followed by the date of distribution.
"The One Where Chandler Can't Cry." Friends: The Complete Sixth Season, written by Andrew Reich and Ted Cohen, directed by Kevin Bright, Warner Brothers, 2004.
Broadcast TV or Radio Program
Begin with the title of the episode in quotation marks. Provide the name of the series or program in italics. Also include the network name, call letters of the station if there is a broadcast station, followed by the date of broadcast and city if there is one.
"The Theater and Its Double." Euphoria. HBO, 20 Feb. 2022.
Generally, when citing a specific episode, follow the format below.
“Beyond the Sea.” Black Mirror, Season 6,Eepisode 3, Netflix, 15 June 2023. Netflix, www.netflix.com/watch/70264888.
When citing the entire series of a TV show, use the following format.
Brooker, Charlie, creator. Black Mirror, Season 6. Broke & Bones, 2023.