I am somewhat confused by the proper way of documenting a website in the mla style for a research paper. My textbook provides limited and poor information on this but demands it documented this way.

For instance
would it be correct to give the reference as

Doe, John. Topic. <website url> 2007

please correst me if this is wrong, missing components

Thanks.

You need to have the website cited in TWO places:

1. the Works Cited page that is placed after the last page of your paper, and
2. in parentheses in the text of your paper, immediately after the quotation or paraphrase.

For example, this will go on the Works Cited page with proper indentation for the second and following lines:

Du Bois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk. Chicago, 1903. Project Bartleby. Ed. Steven van Leeuwen. Dec. 1995. Columbia U. 2 Dec. 2003
<www.cc.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/dubois/>.

... and this will go immediately after the quotation or whatever:
(Du Bois)

The information in parentheses in the text needs to be as brief as possible. That's why there's a Works Cited page – for all the details of the listing.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's a good place for information on citing in MLA format:
(Broken Link Removed)

Hold your cursor over the words CITING SOURCES in the left column and then click on Electronic Sources/Internet. Many examples will show up. You will get two examples for each type of reference – one for the Works Cited page and one for the parenthetical (in-text) citation.

You can also see what a Works Cited page looks like – click on Sample Works Cited in the left column.

=)

Thanks that's great.

You're welcome! I'm glad I could help clarify the proper way of documenting a website in MLA style for your research paper. Remember to include the website in both the Works Cited page and in parentheses in the text of your paper, immediately after the quotation or paraphrase. The information in parentheses should be brief, with the detailed citation provided in the Works Cited page. It's also a good idea to refer to credible sources like the one I provided for more examples and guidance on citing sources in MLA format. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask!