Citation Expectations

At FCAQ, we teach research using the MLA Citation Style. MLA standardizes citations and references as well as format. Up to 6th grade our only expectation was that you include a list of references used at the end of your product, your Works Cited, but by the end of 7th grade we expect you to cite your sources completely and appropriately format your documents according to MLA's guidelines.

How to cite your sources

In MLA format there are two parts to complete citations:

In-text citations give credit to the person who created the source and let the reader know exactly what information came from which source and where in that source you found it
The Works Cited list tells your reader where you found your sources.

If citations are done correctly your reader should be able to locate the exact same source you used and easily find each piece of information in that source that you referred to.

In-text citations

There are two types of in-text citations: parenthetical and narrative. You put parenthetical citations in parentheses right after the relevant information but before the next punctuation mark. The most basic parenthetical citation is the author's last name and page number, but if there's no author listed, use the first few words of the title and if there's no page or other marked numbering system, just leave that part blank. Narrative citations include the author's last name or title in the text of your paper so all that needs to go in parentheses before the next punctuation mark is the page number if there is one. Remember both quoted and paraphrase information must include in-text citations in MLA format.

Example Parenthetical (in parentheses) citation of quoted information

The invention of the printing press made books cheaper, which “promoted literacy and the spread of ideas” (Challoner 10).

Example Narrative citation of quoted information

According to Challoner, the invention of the printing press made books cheaper, which “promoted literacy and the spread of ideas” (10).

Example Parenthetical (in parentheses) citation of paraphrased information

The invention of the printing press made books cheaper, which made it easier for more people to learn to read and share their ideas (Challoner 10).

Example Narrative citation of paraphrased information

According to Challoner, the invention of the printing press made books cheaper, which made it easier for more people to learn to read and share their ideas (10).

Works Cited List

There are three main parts to any reference that you should list at the end of your essay or project: author, title, and container. This tells you who made it, what's its name, and where it came from.

Author and Title are pretty easy, but the Container part can get tricky. See below examples of some of the basics, but if you need to cite something that's more complicated, try Scribbr's MLA Style Guide or ask a librarian for help.

Author

Who made it?

Title

What's its name?

Container

Where did it come from?

Basic MLA Reference Elements

In your MLA citation, the three core elements (author, title, and container) are separated by periods and the entries within the container are separated by commas. There are nine possible entries total:

1. Author. - Who created it?
2. Title of source. - What’s it called?
3. Title of container, - Where did it come from?
4. Other contributors, - Did anyone else edit, translate, or upload it?
5. Version, - Is it a special version? (like an eBook or the 2nd edition)
6. Number, - Are there multiple volumes in the set? (like with an encyclopedia or some professional journals)
7. Publisher, - Who paid to produce or post it?
8. Publication date, - When was it created?
9. Location. - Where did you find it? (like the URL or page numbers)

Some Special Circumstances

- If a source does not list the information for a specific entry, like an author or publication date, just skip it and continue with the next entry in the citation.
- If two entries are the same, like the title of the container and the publisher or the title of the source and the title of the container, only put the information once in the entry that comes first.
- It is possible that you have a source with two or more containers, such as an article that you found in a research database. In that case you would repeat entries 3-9 for each container.

Book Sources

Book with One Author

Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title: Subtitle. Publisher, Publication Date.

Examples:

Kurlansky, Mark. Salt: A World History. Walker, 2002.

Swartz, Stanley L. Tiburones y rayas. Dominie, 2002.

Book with Two Authors

First Author’s Last Name, First Name, and Second Author’s Name (in the regular order). Title: Subtitle. Publisher, Publication Date.

Examples:

Llewellyn, Marc, and Lee Mylne. Frommer’s Australia 2005. Wiley, 2005.

Kalman, Bobbie, y Kathryn Smithyman. El ciclo de vida de la rana. Crabtree, 2005.

Book with Three or More Authors

First Author’s Last Name, First Name, et al. Title: Subtitle. Publisher, Publication Date.

Examples:

Adams, Simon, et al. Children's History of the 20th Century. Dorling Kindersley, 1999.

Castillo, Blanca, et al. Manual de los seres fantásticos. Editorial Libsa, 2013.

A Work in a Book (Collection of Essays, Poems or Stories; Encyclopedia Articles; Dictionary Entries)

Author’s Last Name, First Name. "Title of Work." Title of Collection, edited by Editor's Name(s), Publisher, Publication Date, Page range of entry.

Examples:

Ambroggio, Luis A. "Aprender el inglés." Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing Up Latino in the United States, edited by Lori M. Carlson, Fawcett Books, 1994, p. 18.

"inflorescence." The American Heritage College Dictionary, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000, p. 697.

“La nutrición celular: Tipos de nutrición celular.” La Enciclopedia del Estudiante. Santillana, 2006, pp. 235-40.

E-Book

Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title: Subtitle. Ebook (or the specific reader device or service followed by edition), Publisher, Publication Date.

Examples:

Silverman, Buffy. ¿Sabes algo sobre reptiles? Ebook, Lerner Publishing Group, 2019.

Woodland, Faith. Electronics. Lightbox edition, Smartbook Media Inc., 2019.

Internet Sources

Website

Website Title. Publisher (Name of institution/organization that owns or sponsors the site), Publication Date (if available), URL.

Examples:

KidsHealth. The Nemours Foundation, 1995-2021, kidshealth.org.

Sustainable Development Goals. United Nations, www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment.

A Page on a Website

Author’s Last Name, First Name. "Webpage or Article Title." Website Title. Publisher (Name of institution/organization that owns or sponsors the site), Day Month Year Published (if available), URL.

Examples:

Solo-Josephson, Patricia. "Dehydration." KidsHealth. The Nemours Foundation, June 2017, kidshealth.org/en/kids/dehydration.html?ref=search.

"Why the SDGs Matter." Sustainable Development Goals. United Nations, www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/why-the-sdgs-matter/.

Interview Sources

Personal Interview

Interviewee's Last Name, First Name. Personal interview (You can also specify Telephone interview or Email interview). Day Month Year of Interview.

Examples:

Kirk, Leanne. Personal interview. 9 Mar. 2021.

Proaño, Estela. Entrevista personal. 6 sept. 2019.

Published Interview

Interviewee's Last Name, First Name. “Title of the interview.” (If the title is not available, write Interview by Interviewer's Name with no quotation marks) Information for the container, for example see An Article in a Magazine or Newspaper or A Page on a Website.

Examples:

Downey, Robert, Jr. Interview by Cris Ryan. ESPN, 24 Apr. 2015, www.espn.com.ec/radio/play/_/id/12755191.

Achebe, Chinua. “Un Hombre del Pueblo.” Newsweek en Español, 4 jul. 2010, p. 50.

Video Sources

A Youtube Video (or similar)

Creator's Last Name, First Name. “Video Title.” Website title, uploaded by Uploader's Name (if it's the same as the creator only list them here), Day Month Year Published, URL.

Examples:

"Do you know all 17 SDGs?" YouTube, uploaded by United Nations, 20 Apr. 2018, youtu.be/0XTBYMfZyrM.

Green, Michael. "How We Can Make the World a Better Place by 2030." YouTube, uploaded by TED Talks, 3 Nov. 2015, youtu.be/o08ykAqLOxk.

My Image Sources

A Digital Image

Creator’s Last name, First name. “Title of the digital image.” (If there's no title write a description without quotation marks) Website Title. Publisher (Name of institution/organization that owns or sponsors the site), Day Month Year Published (if available), URL.

Examples:

Awadh, Mohammed. Photograph of 9-month-old boy in Yemen. World Food Programme, 22 Jul. 2020, www.wfp.org/stories/yemen-worlds-worst-hunger-hotspot-risks-further-decline-say-un-agencies?

"Infographic, goal 1." Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations, 2020, sdgs.un.org/goals/goal1.

My Article Sources

An Article in a Magazine or Newspaper

Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title: Subtitle of Article.” Title of Magazine or Newspaper, Day Month Year of Publication, Page Numbers if in print or URL if online.

Examples:

Swing, Kelly. “Ojos que no ven: el camuflaje come estrategia.” Ecuador: terra incognita, Jul. 2010, pp. 16 - 30.

Basu, Tanya. "Malala Uses Her 18th Birthday to Highlight the Plight of Syrian Refugees." TIME, 12 Jul. 2015, time.com/3954781/malala-yousafzai-birthday-syria-refugees.

MLA Page Format

MLA Style also has very specific requirements for how the document itself should be formatted. Use this template or visit Scribbr's MLA Paper Format guide for more specific descriptions.

Scribbr MLA Format Template

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