MLA Style Guide
The documentation style of the Modern Language Association (MLA) is widely used in the language arts and other humanities.
The 9th edition of the Modern Language Association Handbook is available in print.
For additional help with MLA style, see the MLA Style Center.
Overview
- Place references after relevant sentences or sections as in-text citations. The end of the paper should contain a Works Cited section where there references are listed alphabetically.
- References should include as many of the following elements as can be determined, in the following order: Author. Title of source. Title of container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.
- Containers are the larger wholes in which the source is located. For example, if you want to cite a poem that is listed in a collection of poems, the individual poem is the source, while the larger collection is the container – “I Sing the Body Electric” is a poem in the collection Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.
- Italicize book and website titles. Articles from journals, magazines, or newspapers, and songs or pieces of music on an album should be in quotation marks.
- Cite a DOI (doi:) instead of a URL whenever possible. When giving a URL, copy it in full from your web browser, omitting the “https://”.
In-Text Citations
An in-text citation is a brief reference within your text that indicates the source you consulted. It should properly attribute any ideas, paraphrases, or quotations and directs readers to an entry a Works Cited section at the end of the paper where a complete reference is provided.
Summarizing
Include an in-text citation whenever you summarize the ideas of another author. An in-text citation consists of the author’s name and page number in parentheses.
Example: Imperialism is “the practice, the theory, and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan center ruling a distant territory” (Said 9).
Author’s Name in the Sentence
Include only the page number in parentheses if using the author’s name in the sentence.
Example: According to Said (9) the origins of imperialism…
Direct Quote
When directly quoting include the page number in parentheses after the quotation.
Example: According to Edward W. Said, imperialism is defined by “the practice, the theory, and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan center ruling a distant territory” (9).
Works Cited
Include the list of references to all sources you have cited at the bottom of the document under the heading “Works Cited”.
Works that you consult but do not borrow from do not need to be included as works cited. If you wish to document consulted sources, create a separate section under a heading such as “Works Consulted” at the approval of your instructor.
Print Book with One Author
Format
Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date.
Example
Brown, Brené. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way we Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. Gotham Books, 2012.
Print Journal Articles
Format
Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, Pages.
Example
Duckworth, Angela. “Self-Reports Spur Self-Reflection.” MIT Sloan Management Review, vol. 60, no. 3, 2019, pp. 14-16.
Online Journal Articles
Format
Author(s). “Title of article.” Title of Journal, Volume, Number, Date published, pages, URL.
Example
Eshet-Alkalai, Yoram. “Digital Literacy: A Conceptual Framework for Survival Skills in the Digital Era.” Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, vol. 13, no. 1, 2004, www.learntechlib.org.
WEBSITE
Format
Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number, Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), Date of resource creation (if available), URL, DOI or permalink. Date of access (if applicable).
Example
The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl. Accessed 23 Apr. 2019.
Webpage
Format
Author(s). “Title of page.” Title of site, URL. Date accessed.
If the site provides no date, specify when it was produced or published.
Example
“Narwhal.” National Geographic, www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/n/narwhal/. Accessed 6 July 2019.
Image
Format
Creator(s). Title of image. Date of composition. Location of the image, URL.
Example
Courbet, Gustave. The Calm Sea. 1869. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436005?deptids=11&ao=on&ft=*&offset=0&rpp=40&pos=24.
Questions & Help
If you have questions on this, or another, topic, contact a librarian for help!