• 2-minute read
• 15th August 2018

MLA Referencing – How to Cite a Newspaper Article

Using MLA referencing in a college paper? Found an interesting newspaper article that you want to cite but not sure how? Then you’re in exactly the right place! In this post, we look at how to format in-text citations and references for newspaper articles in MLA referencing.

In-Text Citations

As with other source types, an MLA citation for a newspaper article should include the author’s surname and a page number for the specific part of the text cited:

We discovered the artifact on an island in the Aegean Sea (Jones 32).

Keep in mind that some newspapers are divided into sections with their own numbering. These should be used in place of a standard page number reference if applicable.

Should you cite a newspaper article with no named author, you can use either an organizational author (e.g., the name of the newspaper) or a shortened version of the article title in citations instead.

The key is to make whatever you use in citations the first piece of information given for the source in the Works Cited list at the end of your document.

Works Cited: Print Newspaper Article

In the Works Cited list, the format for a print newspaper article is as follows:

Surname, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Newspaper, Day Month and Year of Publication, page number(s).

In practice, then, a reference for a newspaper article would look like this:

Jones, Indiana. “Long Lost Biblical Ark Discovered in Mediterranean.” The Paramount Times, 12 June 1981, p. 32.

Works Cited: Online Newspaper Article

When citing an article found online, you should give a URL in place of page numbers. For example, we would reference an online version of the article above as follows:

Jones, Indiana. “Long Lost Biblical Ark Discovered in Mediterranean.” The Paramount Times, 12 June 1981, www.paramountimes.org/stories/06121981/lost-ark-discovered.html.

If your school or lecturer requires it, you may want to add a date of access, too. This refers to the most recent date you accessed the article online and goes after the URL.