Answered By: Vicki Sciuk
Last Updated: Sep 13, 2021     Views: 1037

Many times you will find government reports, or reports from organizations, that do not have individual author names. To create an MLA reference if an organization or government agency is both the author and the publisher of a work, the handbook advises beginning the works-cited entry with the title of the report, in italics. Then put the agency/organization in the publisher slot (National Endowment for the Arts, in the example), followed by the date and URL. Here's an example:

Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America. National Endowment for the Arts, June 2004, www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/ReadingAtRisk.pdf 


Here's a screenshot of a title page from a different report, which is credited to a division of a government agency. The MLA Style Center says that when a report was written by a division or committee of a larger organization, list the division or committee as the author, and list the organization as the publisher. See the citation for this report below the title page:
Cover of report

Here's the Works Cited entry (full citation):

Division of Violence Prevention. Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs):  Leveraging the Best Available Evidence. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019, www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/preventingACES.pdf

The in-text citation would be either:

  • After the quote, paraphrase or summary you are citing, put the agency and page number in parentheses:
    (Division of Violence Prevention 11).    or
  • Refer to the agency in the text you are writing, and just put the page number in parentheses:
    "According to a report from the Division of Violence Prevention of the CDC (11), ACEs ...."

Berkeley's CAS (Center for Academic Success) can help students with all writing & citing questions. Their Writing & Citing Guide has an MLA Workshop and brochure to help you anytime:
https://berkeleycollege.libguides.com/Writing/writing/MLA

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