MLA Citation Style

On the MLA template of core element, a container is a work that contains another work. In the example below, the website Guernica contains the short story “Carrot Legs”; the website name appears in the Title of Container element.

Chou, Elaine Hsieh. “Carrot Legs.” Guernica, 12 Sept. 2019, www.guernicamag.com/carrot-legs/.

Examples of containers are shown in the following list:

• A periodical, such as a journal, magazine, or newspaper, is the container of an article published in it.
• A print anthology is the container of an essay, poem, or short story published in it.
• A website or database can be the container of a post, a comment, a review, a song or audio file, a video or film, an image, a digitized essay or book, or other media published or aggregated on it.
• A vinyl album or CD is the container of a song.
• Television series, podcasts, and radio programs are the containers of individual episodes.
• An art exhibit is the container of an artwork featured in it.

From MLA Handbook, 9th ed., Ch. 5.31 Title of Container: What It Is

Journals are containers for journal articles. Titles of journal articles should be put in quotations, while the name of the journal should be italicized. 

Ex. Gonzalez, Monica Marie. “Preparing Teacher Candidates for the Instruction of English Language Learners.” Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research, vol. 18, no. 2, fall 2016. ERIC, eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1152320.

*Please see the MLA Handbook, 9th Ed. for specific guidelines.