Use the following template or our MLA Citation Generator to cite an email. For help with other source types, like books, PDFs, or websites, check out our other guides. To have your reference list or bibliography automatically made for you, try our free citation generator.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
Author Surname, Author Forename. E-mail to Recipient. Date sent.
Charney, Thalia. E-mail to John Smith. 12 May 2014.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
(Author Surname)
Certified organic coffee is grown without synthetic pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers. This benefits the ecosystem and the environment by protecting water quality and improving soil fertility and farm sustainability. Many of the coffees Starbucks buys are grown using organic methods but are not certified as such. To become certified, farms must submit to three years of soil testing followed by annual testing to retain certification as organic producers. Due to the cost and lengthy process, many farmers don't pursue certification, although their coffee is grown using traditional methods and without the use of herbicides and pesticides. Organically grown coffee that is not certified is sometimes called "passive organic," (Charney).
According to the MLA standards, an email is classified as personal communication and should be cited as such in the “Works Cited” section. When a reference is made to the same source within the text, the last name of the author is sufficient for an in-text citation.
Format
(Last Name)
Example
(Evans)
As per the MLA 9 Handbook, a works cited list entry for an email follows the format below.
Format
Author Last Name, First Name. E-mail to Recipient Name. Day Month Year.
Example
Fresner, Thalia. E-mail to Executive Committee. 22 Jan. 2022.
O’Brien, Conan. E-mail to Jimmy Fallon. 5 May 2021.