MLA Format & Citations

The Modern Language Association (MLA) style is a method of formatting and citation for academic writing most frequently used in English .  It describes how to set up your paper, and how to cite your sources within the text of your paper and in the source list at the end of your paper (known as the Works Cited page in MLA). 

Always be sure you are using the latest edition of the MLA and check with your teacher for any specific requirements they may have for your assignment.

Recommended MLA Resources:

• Purdue OWL MLA Formatting and Style Guide 

• MLA Formatting Checklist with Google Doc Tips (use this as you begin to write your paper and after you are done to make sure you are meeting the requirements for MLA)

In an MLA formatted research paper, there are two items created when citing a source: the in-text citation and the entry on the Works Cited page.

An in-text or parenthetical citation is how you give credit to someone else for using their work in your project and is necessary if you paraphrase or quote another person's work. The citation connects the reader to the source of the information by pointing the reader to the Works Cited page. 

MLA in-text citations are brief and consist of the author’s last name and the page number(s) listed in parentheses with a period after the closing parenthesis. 

Paraphrase
The information is in your own words but the idea belongs to the author. Put the citation at the end of the paraphrased section.

Example:
This is summarized information from multiple sections of the book. Note how single page numbers and page ranges are written and separated from each other by a comma (Flesher 22, 56-58).

Short quote
Place the quote in quotation marks and follow it with the parenthetical citation (No page number?  Just use the author.)

Example:
“Our identities are a work in progress and really up to us to define” (Cepeda 275).

Signal phrase
The in-text citation format changes slightly when you use the author's name as part of a signal phrase (words that introduce the information). Only the page number is included in the parentheses. 

Example:
Cepeda argues that "[o]ur identities are a work in progress and really up to us to define" (275). 

Whether the author name is in the in-text citation or in the signal phrase, the reader can look up that author on the Works Cited page and identify where the information came from.

Recommended resources:  Purdue OWL MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics and MLA Formatting Quotations

Every in-text citation must have a corresponding entry on the Works Cited page. Below are the basic elements you need to look for when gathering citation information from a source. If a source does not have an element, for example there is no author, skip that part and go to the next element.  Pay close attention to the punctuation within each element and that follows each element.

On the Works Cited page, each source is listed alphabetically by the author’s last name (if there is no author, then use the title of the source when determining where to place it in the source list).  The Works Cited page example below shows four sources listed alphabetically by the author’s last name - an article from a database, a book, a journal article and an article from a website. 

Recommended resources: 

Purdue OWL MLA Works Cited pages for Books, Periodicals, Electronic Sources (Web publications) and Other Common Sources.

Information about citations on this website comes from the Modern Language Association (MLA) Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 9th edition published in 2021 and Purdue University Online Writing Lab's MLA Style.