MLA stands for Modern Language Association. Their guidelines on scholarly documentation are most often used by scholars and
students working in the study of the humanitites. Guidelines are published in MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers and the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly
Publishing.
MLA Handbook by
Relied on by generations of writers, the MLA Handbookis published by the Modern Language Association and is the only official, authorized book on MLA style. The new, ninth edition builds on the MLA's unique approach to documenting sources using a template of core elements--facts, common to most sources, like author, title, and publication date--that allows writers to cite any type of work, from books, e-books, and journal articles in databases to song lyrics, online images, social media posts, dissertations, and more. With this focus on source evaluation as the cornerstone of citation, MLA style promotes the skills of information and digital literacy so crucial today. The many new and updated chapters make this edition the comprehensive, go-to resource for writers of research papers, and anyone citing sources, from business writers, technical writers, and freelance writers and editors to student writers and the teachers and librarians working with them. Intended for a variety of classroom contexts--middle school, high school, and college courses in composition, communication, literature, language arts, film, media studies, digital humanities, and related fields--the ninth edition of the MLA Handbookoffers *New chapters on grammar, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, numbers, italics, abbreviations, and principles of inclusive language *Guidelines on setting up research papers in MLA format with updated advice on headings, lists, and title pages for group project *Revised, comprehensive, step-by-step instructions for creating a list of works cited in MLA format that are easier to learn and use than ever before *A new appendix with hundreds of example works-cited-list entries by publication format, including websites, YouTubevideos, interviews, and more *Detailed examples of how to find publication information for a variety of sources *Newly revised explanations of in-text citations, including comprehensive advice on how to cite multiple authors of a single work *Detailed guidance on footnotes and endnotes *Instructions on quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing, and avoiding plagiarism *A sample essay in MLA format *Annotated bibliography examples *Numbered sections throughout for quick navigation *Advanced tips for professional writers and scholars
Print sources that you find on the shelves in the library won't have DOI (Digital Object Identifiers) or URLs for you to list in their citations. That's okay, just list the information you have about the source's publication.
When you access a source online, be sure to include information about where you found it. If the article has a DOI, include this. If not, or if it is a source for which a DOI does not apply (eBooks or Websites), list the URL.
Look for a stable or permanent URL to list with your citations for articles and books you find in library databases, as the URL generated in your address bar doesn't always work a few hours or days later.
These examples follow the 8th edition of MLA style guidelines released in 2016.
Your in-text citations for paraphrased or directly quoted information should include the author and page number. Your in-text citation should go inside the period at the end of your sentence.
(Last Name Page Number).
Important information is often contained in your syllabus (Jones 42).
“Assigned readings can be found in Blackboard” (Jones 43).
When you use information from other sources, you must cite it. However, the author’s name isn’t required to be in parenthetical citations (in parenthesis, like this!). You can instead use a signal phrase where you introduce the author in your own words before presenting the borrowed information. When you do this in MLA, the page number should still be in parenthesis and should be placed after the borrowed idea at a natural pause.
Jones explains, “assigned readings can be found in Blackboard” (42).
If you don’t have a page number, as you might not if you’re citing a web source, simply provide the author’s last name. If your source has marked paragraph numbers, use those instead and preface them with par.
When your source doesn’t have an author, use the title of the source in your in-text citation. If the title is long, shorten it in a way that makes sense. Titles of short works, like poems, articles or websites, should be in quotation marks. Titles of longer works, like books, should be italicized.
Author(s). "Article Title." Journal Title, vol and issue numbers, Publication Date, pp. pages of article. If accessed online include: Database, doi: DOI.
Smith, Lee and Anna White. "Feminist Iconogrophy in Modern Literature." Modern Culture, vol. 10, no. 3, Spring 2000, pp. 11-23. JSTOR, doi: 10.1353/pmc2010.0021.
Author(s). “Article Title.” Newspaper Title, Publication Date, URL for Online OR pp. page numbers for print.
Ahmed, Azam. “Hurrican Matthew Pummels Haiti with Fierce Winds and Rain.” The Star-Ledger [Newark], 4 Oct. 2016, 2A+.
Author(s). Book Title: And Subtitle. Publisher, Publication Date.
Bailey, Tim S., Stewart McPherson and Alastair Robertson. Carnivorous Plants of Britain and Ireland: A Retrospective Study. Redfern Natural History Productions, 2016.
Author(s). “Chapter Title.” Book Title, edited by Editor(s), Publisher, Publication Date, pp. pages of chapter.
Bazin, Richard. “Toward Double Reading.” The Future of the Book, edited by Geoffrey Rustworth, U Michigan P, 1998, pp. 143-58.
Before you cite your website, make sure its not one of the following:
These types of sources need to be cited primarly as their format type, while mentioning that they were found online. Websites, on the otherhand, are primarly cited as being websites.
Author(s). “Page Title.” Website Title, Publication Date, URL.
American Philosophy Society. “Voltaire.” Philosophy for Beginners, www.philosophy101.com/ voltaire.html. Accessed 12 Mar. 2016.
PDF handout made by Grafton Library. These handouts are also available in print by the reference desk.
List authors as ordered in your source. Reverse the first author’s name for alphabetizing (Last name, then first name separated by a comma). If multiple authors, separate names with commas and connect the second to last and last author’s names with and. Sec. 2.7.1
Capitalize the first word, the last word and all principal words of the title. Basically everything but words like; a, an, and, as, against, between, but, for, in, nor, of, or, the, to, so, yet, or to. Sec. 1.2
If an article in a journal or newspaper appears on nonconsecutive pages, include the first page number and a +. Sec. 2.5.1
For Regional newspapers only: include City and state abbreviation in brackets after the title. Sec. 2.6.1
Book, Journal, Newspaper and Website titles are italicized.
Omit co, corp, inc and ltd. For academic presses University Press should be abbreviated. Sec 1.6.3
When you can’t find a Publication Date, include the date you accessed the source. p. 53
Sometimes an author isn’t a person. They might be an organization, instead. If the Author is also the publisher, only list them as the Publisher and don’t list an author.
Title your list of citations: Works Cited. Use a 1/2 inch hanging indent and double space your citations.