I once spent twenty minutes hunting for an author on a blog about knitting. The page was just a picture of a cat wearing a tiny sweater. Finally, I realized the “author” was literally the site’s URL. I felt like a detective who solved a case where the culprit was a lamp. Mystery solved.
Now I laugh about it. But back then, I almost emailed my professor to say, “The cat is the source.” Don’t be that person. Just use the title, and move on with your life.
Final Nod to Sanity
Remember, MLA is a guideline, not a trap. If the website has no author, just use the title in quotation marks (for an article) or italics (for a whole site). It’s like using a nickname because you forgot someone’s real name. Everyone still knows who you mean.
So next time you find that perfect online fact with no author, don’t panic. Just smile, nod, and cite the title. Your paper will be fine. And you’ll save your energy for more important things—like deciding whether that cat sweater was really necessary.
