How to Cite a Government Publication in MLA Format

Basic Information

• If the author of the publication is known, cite the name. Otherwise begin with the respective Government, then the agencies and the sub agencies that serve as the departmental author. For parliamentary papers, please include the number of the session paper, when the hearing was determined and/or a resolution was passed. Papers belonging to the United States Government are normally published by the national Government printing office, which MLA will ordinarily abbreviate as GPO.

—United States. Cong. Select Committee on the Levees of the Mississippi River. Memorial of the Chamber of Commerce of New Orleans, La., Asking that the National Government Assume the Construction and Care of the Levees of the Mississippi River. 42nd Cong., 3rd Session. Washington: GPO, 2010. Print.