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• To step
• Part 1 of 2: Citing a Wikipedia article in your citation
• Part 2 of 2: Citations within the text

Quoting Wikipedia can be tricky because the articles are constantly changing and the authors are anonymous. However, Wikipedia has adhered to the standard for MLA citations for years and can help you generate a correct citation. Wikipedia is not usually considered a good source for scientific papers. Consult with your publisher or teacher before basing a substantial portion of a paper on a Wikipedia article.

To step

Part 1 of 2: Citing a Wikipedia article in your citation

1. Start by listing authors who contributed to a Wikipedia article. Since Wikipedia articles are written by various volunteers, there is not one single author to quote. However, you can mention that many authors contributed to the article.
   • If you want, you can omit this citation and just start with the name of the article.
2. After this you state the name of the article in quotation marks. The title of the article is the subject of the article. For example, if you are referring to an article about blueberries, the title of the article could be "Blueberries". You should find the article title at the top of the Wikipedia page.
   • Place a period after the title, and put the title and the period together in quotation marks.
   • The citation now looks like this: Wikipedia contributors. "Blueberries."
3. List Wikipedia in italics. Wikipedia's full name is Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Put this in italics and after the title of the article, followed by a period.
   • The quote now reads: Wikipedia contributors. "Blueberries." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia..
4. List Wikipedia without italics. Wikipedia is both the website and the publisher of your article, so you should list it twice. This time, however, do not mention Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia in italics. Then place a comma (instead of a period) after this entry.
   • Now you have: Wikipedia contributors. "Blueberries." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,
5. End with the date and the word "Web". Include the date of the last revision of the page. You can find it by clicking on the "History" tab to the right of the title. The top entry is the date of the last operation.
   • Enter the day of the month first, then the month abbreviated (eg Sept, Oct, Nov), followed by a period.
   • Then you write the word "Web" followed by period.
   • Then the date again, followed by a period.
   • Example: January 11, 2017. Web. January 11, 2017.
   • Your citation now reads: Wikipedia Contributors. "Blueberries." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Jan 11, 2017. Web. January 11, 2017.
6. In some cases, please include the URLs. MLA used to require URLs to be listed, but not anymore. However, with a general topic such as "blueberries", you can include a URL at the end of your citation. In this case, within "" and ">".
   • For example, you can write: Wikipedia Contributors. "Blueberries." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Jan 11, 2017. Web. January 11, 2017. https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blauwe_bes>
7. Use the Wikipedia Citation Generator. Instead of writing all this out, you can also use Wikipedia's page quote generation tool. Go to the article you want to quote and find the "Tools" menu on the left side of the article. Click on "Quote this page". Scroll down until you see the quote in MLA format. You can copy this to your Citation.
   • You can also search for the name of your article in the "Quote this page" tool of Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Qite&page=Blauwe_bes&id=47187351

Part 2 of 2: Citations within the text

1. Place your parentheses. At the end of a sentence where you quote or paraphrase, or otherwise use information from a Wikipedia article, you should quote the article.Place parentheses before the period at the end of the sentence, but after the quotation marks, if used.
2. Place the beginning of your citation inside the parentheses. If you mention Wikipedia contributors, put them in parentheses. If you chose not to cite any of the authors, and instead started your citation with the title of the article, put that in the parentheses.
   • For example, you can write: Blueberries are a great source of nutrients (Wikipedia contributors).
   • Alternatively, you can write: Blueberries are a great source of nutrients (Blueberries).
3. Cite multiple Wikipedia articles. If you are citing more than one Wikipedia article, you can include the contributors as well as the title in parentheses.
   • You can also write: Blueberries are a great source of nutrients (Wikipedia contributors, Blueberries).