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Citation Guide: MLA, APA, Turabian, ASA: MLA

A guide to basic elements of citation.

What is MLA Style?

What is MLA Style?

The Modern Language Association of America (MLA) is a style of documenting sources in academic writing.  In MLA style, there are standards and rules that determine how a research paper should look and how the works cited page should be formatted. There are two parts to MLA documentation:

  1. A detailed list of Works Cited
  2. A citation within the text of the academic paper called a parenthetical or in-text citation

A Works Cited is an alphabetical list of all the sources you use to write your paper.  Works you consult during your research but do not borrow from are not included in this list.

An in-text citation includes the author(s) name, the title of the source, the quote, paraphrase, or summary of the source, and the page number.

The format for a Works Cited is all sources are listed in alphabetical order by the first word in each citation.  This can be the author's last name, or if the source does not list an author use the first word of the title.

The core elements of a Work Cited with punctuation:

  1. Author.
  2. Title of Source.
  3. Title of Container,
  4. Other Contributors,
  5. Version,
  6. Number,
  7. Publisher,
  8. Publication date,
  9. Location.

The final element in the citation should end with a period.

Works Cited Formatting:

All sources are listed alphabetically by the first word in each citation entry.

  • Title the page Works Cited and center it on the first line of the page
  • Double-space the list
  • Indent the second line of an entry either by using a hanging indent or indent the second line of each entry 5 spaces
  • Top and bottom and sides have 1" margins

In-Text (Parenthetical) citations:

The first time you refer to a source, introduce the author(s) using first and last name and the title of the source in italics, include the text you are quoting, paraphrasing or summarizing, and end the sentence with the page number in parentheses.  Place the period after the parentheses.

Michael Harvey writes in his book, The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing, that "Drawing on other people's ideas is natural and inevitable in academic writing--but you must acknowledge the borrowing" (58).

MLA tutorial