Archival document: how to cite in MLA (8th ed.)?

Create a spot-on reference in MLA 8 and 9

Select a source type:

Book Website Journal article Video (online)

Archival document Blog post Book Book chapter Complete reference Conference paper Copyright certificate Court case Dictionary Dictionary entry Disc Dissertation / Thesis Encyclopedia Encyclopedia article Extended abstract of dissertation Image Journal article Law / Act Newspaper article Patent Podcast Preprint Press release Religious text Report Social media post Software Standard Video (online) Video game Website

Basic rules

For citing an archival document in works cited in accordance with MLA Style (8th ed.), the following data should be given: author(s) (if applicable), title of the document, date of the document, title of the archive, location of the archive (city, country), and data on where the document is located in the archive (collection, call number, box, etc.). For an archival document accessible online, its URL address and date of access should also be given at the end of the reference.

The official name of the archive may include the information on its location (city, country, etc.). In this case, such elements are not given in the reference for the second time.

How to cite in a bibliography

For referencing, use this template:

Author(s). Document Title. Document date. Archive, City, Country, Document location in the archive, URL. Accessed date of access.

See in more detail about how to cite authors in this article.

Examples of references in a list of works cited:

GVN [Government of Vietnam] Force: Weekly Strength Report December 1972. National Archives at College Park, Classified Organizational History Files, 1959 - ca. 1974, Records of the U.S. Army, Pacific, 1945 - 1984, box 336.

Eisenhower, Dwight D. Letter to John Beaulieu. 24 Oct. 1956. Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, KS, White House Central Files (Eisenhower Administration), 1953 - 1961, container 725, catalog.archives.gov/id/594355. Accessed 12 Aug. 2020.