Avoid Plagiarizing: You must cite any direct quotation, summary, or paraphrase of any idea or fact from your research. Citing sources is giving credit to the original author and publication where you found the information. Not citing sources is plagiarism and you may be subject to academic discipline.
Lend Authority to Your Paper: By referencing the work of scholars, professionals, and individuals with lived experiences around a topic, you demonstrate that your own research is based on solid, reliable information and that you are capable of critical thinking by being able to synthesize that research into your own.
Provide a Path: By citing sources, you provide the information that readers of your essay or presentation need in order to locate the same sources that you did.
Acknowledge Other's Work: Part of your research is built upon the research of other people. In the scholarship tradition in the United States, it is considered respectful and fair to give them credit for their hard work (just as you might hope someone would give you credit if they were quoting your own work!)
MLA (Modern Language Association) Style is used in Literature, Arts, and Humanities disciplines. Always consult your assignment or ask your instructor for the correct citation style to use
Basic Format:
(Author's Last Name Page number or numbers)
| Explanation | Example |
|---|---|
|
Chocolate is often viewed as a junk food, but its value as unique nutritional source should not be underestimated. In fact, a survey of early South Pole explorer diaries shows that larger chocolate rations “may have been a deciding factor between Roald Amundsen’s successful trek to the South Pole and the fatal attempt by Robert Scott” (West 110). The fact that chocolate was not seen as a frivolity, but deemed important enough staple to pack on these grueling expeditions is a testament to its value in the human diet. Also, there is the more modern comparison that M&M’s chocolate candies were chosen for military expeditions in World War II because they were an energy boosting snack that also did not easily melt (Mirrer). |
Basic Format:
(Author's Last Name Page number or numbers)
1 Author
Tina Rodriguez found that "social inclusion prevents clinical depression" (13). *use first and last name at first mention, last name only thereafter
Coauthors
3 or more Authors
Strong and others have shown that the rate of male infidelity is not dramatically different than that of female infidelity” (222). *"and colleagues" is also acceptable
2 or more works in one citation
Plays [Play name Act.Scene line#-line#]
"He was my master and I wore my life to spend upon his haters" (Antony and Cleopatra 5.1 8-9). [indicates Act 5, Scene 1, lines 8-9]
Corporate/government Author
Shorten long corporate (organization) and government names
...shortened to its initial noun phrase (Modern Language Association, 304)
[full corporate author = the Modern Language Association of America]
No Author
[full title = “Weather Patterns Wreak Havoc for Oklahoma Farmers”]
No Page Number
...Orissi dance has undergone a major revival since the 1950s (Gupta).
The 8th edition of the MLA handbook introduced one standard citation format that applies to every source type. Additionally, citations no longer indicate format. Instead, in the new MLA style, citations are built around the concept of containers. So what is a container?
A website, a book, a journal, and a newspaper are all examples of containers, because each contains content. You can have containers within containers too. It may sound complicated, but use the formula and fill in the information you have for a source and you'll soon have a citation. In the blue chart here, you can see the formula with some examples.
Below is a link to an MLA practice template that you can print and use to help you create citations.
Include as much of the following as possible:
Author. Title of Source. Title of Container, Contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication Date, Location. Date Accessed.
| Part of the Formula | Examples and Explanation |
|---|---|
| Author. | • one author: Last Name, rest of name as presented in the source. (example: Williams, Fred Laurence.) • two authors: reverse name of first author followed by a comma, then second author’s first name and then last name. (example: Cordell, Barbara, and Jane Buckle.) • more than two authors: reverse the name of the first author, follow with a comma and et al. (example: Browne, Charlene, et al.) |
| Title of Source. | • Put name of source in italics. • HOWEVER, if citing an article or only part of the source, instead put that title in quotation marks with no italics: “Article Name.” |
|
Title of Container, |
• When the source is part of a larger whole, the larger whole can be thought of as a container (example: a whole book is a container for a book chapter) • Put the title of the container in italics (if you have cited an article or part of the whole source container) |
| Contributors, | Example: edited by, |
| Version, | Example: 7th ed., |
| Number, | Any numbered sequence. Example: vol. 3, no. 7 |
| Publisher, | (however, no publisher is required for articles) |
| Publication date, | date as given on source but following this date style: 28 Jan. 2020, |
| Location. |
• Example of website: www.cnn.com (do not include http:// in the URL) |