Let me paint you a picture: sophomore year of college, 2 AM, and I’m hunched over my laptop trying to cite a BuzzFeed article about Friends memes for a paper on 90s pop culture. My professor’s red pen had haunted me the previous week (“Incorrect MLA formatting – see handbook”) like some sort of academic ghost story. Spoiler: I learned the hard way. (And yes, there were literal coffee stains on my keyboard by sunrise.)
Here’s the thing – MLA website citations aren’t rocket science, but they’re sneakier than a Target clearance rack. You think you’ve got it, then BAM – no author listed, or the site’s publisher is buried like a Walgreens receipt in your junk drawer. Here’s what finally clicked for me after trial, error, and one very patient librarian:
The core formula (pretend it’s an IKEA manual, but less frustrating):
- Author: If there’s a byline (even “Staff Writer”), use it. No author? Start with the page title.
- Title: “In Quotation Marks.”
- Website Name: Italicized, baby.
- Publisher: Sometimes same as the website (like The New York Times), sometimes not (looking at you, Medium blogs).
- Date: Day-Month-Year published or last updated.
- URL: Drop the https://.
Real-life example from my meme saga:
Ludwig, David. “Why Ross’s ‘Pivot!’ Scene Still Dominates Meme Culture.” BuzzFeed, BuzzFeed Inc., 12 Nov. 2021, www.buzzfeed.com/friends-meme-pivot-ross.
But wait – what if things go missing? (Cue my 2 AM panic.)
- No author? Start with the page title.
- No date? Use “n.d.”
- No publisher? Skip it if the website name is the publisher (e.g., CNN).
Ah, the “container” concept! (This tripped me up for weeks.) If the article’s part of a bigger site – like a blog within Wired – treat Wired as the container. Think of it like a nesting doll: article inside website inside publisher.
Tools I’ve tested (and trust issues I’ve developed):
- Purdue OWL MLA Guide: My go-to lifesaver. Bookmark this like it’s your Netflix queue.
- Citation generators: Great for drafts, but double-check them like you’d check a parking meter. I once caught Citation Machine swapping a “.org” for a “.com” – chaos.
Pro tip from my red-pen era: If you’re quoting a specific section (like a chart or video clip), add a descriptor:
(Smith, “Climate Data Trends,” para. 4).
The biggest lesson? Professors care more about consistency than perfection. I once cited a tweet as a website (yes, really – MLA 8 allows it!) and survived. Formatting’s a tool, not a trap.
You’ve got this. Grab your coffee (or La Croix – no judgment), tackle each piece step-by-step, and remember: even the MLA handbook gets updates. If my goat meme paper could pass, yours will too. Just… maybe skip the 2 AM crunch. (Schwarber the goat did not approve of my all-nighter.)