Scholarly journals are a great resource when it comes to creating a research paper. However, with MLA journal citation, you should follow a basic format starting with the authors’ names and ending with the date, pages and online address. Look scary? It’s not. Don’t let the fear of inaccurate citations stop you from using these sources by following these MLA journal citation examples.

Journal Article Format: Print

Scholarly journals are peer-reviewed and published regularly, which means these sources are current and authoritative. MLA 8 follows the container system. This system allows for flexibility in creating entries, especially for art, film and music sources. The format you should follow when citing a journal article in MLA is as follows:

Author’s Last name, First name Initial. “Title of Article: Subtitle of Article.” Title of Journal, vol.#, no.#, Year, pp. xx-xx.

Basic Format: Print In-Text Citation

For the in-text citation, simply list the author’s name and the page number in parentheses.

(Last name Page #)

Journal Article Format: Web

Citing a journal article you accessed online follows the same format, except you’d add the online address at the end. The DOI, or digital object identifier, is generally preferred when it’s available.

Author’s Last name, First name Initial. “Title of Article: Subtitle of Article.” Title of Journal, vol.#, no.#, Year, pp. xx-xx. doi:10.xxxxxxxxx.

If the DOI is not available, include the URL instead.

Author’s Last name, First name Initial. “Title of Article: Subtitle of Article.” Title of Journal, vol.#, no.#, Year, pp. xx-xx, URL.

Basic Format: Web In-Text Citation

The in-text citation for a web journal article is identical to that of a print journal article.

(Author’s Last Name Page #)

Print Journal Article Citation Examples

Refer to the examples below for how you should cite print journal articles.

Example 1 – Works Cited Print Journal Article

Pohl, Frances K. “Framing America: A Social History of American Art.” American Art, vol. 16, no.2, 2002, pp. 10-12.

Example 1 – In-Text Citation

(Pohl 11)

Example 2 – Works Cited Print Journal Article

Panofsky, Erwin. “Three Decades of Art History in the United States: Impressions of a Transplanted European.” College Art Journal, vol. 14., no.1, 1954, pp. 7-27.

Example 2 – In-Text Citation

(Panofsky 23)

Example 3 – Works Cited Print Journal Article

Corbett, David Peters, and Sarah Monks. “Anglo-American: Artistic Exchange between Britain and the USA.” Art History, vol. 34, no. 4, 2011, pp. 630-651.

Example 3 – In-Text Citation

(Corbett and Monks 633)

Online Journal Article Citation Examples

Follow these examples for how to format your MLA citation for an online journal article.

Example 1 – Works Cited Online Journal Article with DOI

Gouma-Peterson, Thalia. “Art and Social Change, U.S.A.” Art Journal, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 402-408. doi: 10.1080/00043249.1983.10792264

Example 1 – In-Text Citation

(Gouma-Peterson 403)

Example 2 – Works Cited Online Journal Article with Webpage URL

Vick, Randy M. “A Brief History of Art Therapy.” Handbook of Art Therapy, 2003, pp. 5-15. s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/34837670/