What is MLA Style?

The Modern Language Association (MLA) developed a style guide for academic writing. It provides a standardized way to document a writer’s source materials.

MLA provides guidelines for the creation of a bibliography (called a “Works Cited” page) and the corresponding parenthetical (within the text) citation.

Why is it Important to Cite Sources?

As a writer, it is your responsibility to give proper credit to your sources. It is also very important that you give this credit in accordance with MLA style. If you fail to give proper credit to a source, you have committed plagiarism.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as your own. If you have not given proper credit to your sources, you have committed plagiarism. Any idea or fact that you received from a source needs to be cited. Any idea or fact that is common knowledge does not need to be cited.

What is Parenthetical Citation?

Parenthetical citation is when a writer quotes information from a source. Parenthetical or “in-text” citation allows your reader to know from what source each idea/fact came.

Direct Quote—a quote in which the author uses words from a source exactly as they were written. A direct quote is indicated by putting the words in quotation marks (“ ”).

Indirect Quote—a quote in which an author paraphrases, or puts into his/her own words, an idea from a source.

Works Cited

A Works Cited page is a listing of all of the sources you cited in the body of your paper.

• It is always going to be the last page of your paper or essay

• Each entry must be complete and accurate

• Each entry reads like one long sentence

• The sources are listed alphabetically by the first word or name of the entry. This first word or name should be what you use in your parenthetical citation.

Format of your sources for your Works Cited page

Works Cited Example