MLA 8

MLA 8 (Modern Language Association) Quick Style Reference

• NEVER USE EASYBIB! It is horrible!!
• Best resource online is Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab): https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
• 1” margins at top, bottom, and sides
• Double space every line throughout the paper. No single spacing at all. No triple, 1.5, or quadruple spacing.
• Font and size is the same throughout the paper, including titles, heading, Works Cited title, etc.

Sample Works Cited

Works Cited

Authorlastname, Authorfirstname. “Article Title in Quotation Marks.” Website Title in Italics.Website

Publisher. Date or year published (example: 15 Mar. 2017), Website URL without http://

(example: www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-QddLcds2U). Date you accessed the website

(example: 16 Mar. 2017).

Works Cited Directions

• If no author, leave it out. Start with the article title instead.
• If no publisher, type n.p. in its place.
• If no date of publication, type n.d. in its place.
• Research databases offer works cited entries ALREADY FORMATTED! Use them.
• Put entries in alphabetical order according to first word of each entry.
• Hanging indent: On Google Docs, go to 2nd line. Hit ENTER, then TAB. Repeat for each line of the works cited entry. Each first line of each entry should be aligned left.
• Special types of works cited entries appear in the Purdue OWL website. Refer to it for correct formatting.

Embedding Quotes

Quotes help build credibility for your paper. You should use quotes at every opportunity. Do not just paraphrase in order to avoid quoting sources. It weakens your argument, creates opportunities for error, and significantly increases your susceptibility to plagiarism. Direct quotes show you know what you are doing. paraphrasing is a weak and even cowardly stylistic choice.

How to Embed quotes. Take the most important part of the quote, usually a part of a single sentence, but sometimes a few parts of a few different sentences. Write a sentence of your own into which you can put the quote or quotes. Make sure your sentence makes the quote(s) fit grammatically.

Example:

Often, critics find problems with supply-side economics, but sometimes “quote quote quote quote quote quote” take over, making "quote quote quote" a viable option (Creswell).

Only the "quote quote quotes" in quotation marks are from other sources here. The rest is made up of the student's own words.

Notice that the parenthetical citation at the end includes ONLY the author's last name. If this was from a printed source, you would also include the page number. Example: (Creswell 17).

If there is no author listed in the source, use the first three words of the ARTICLE TITLE, NOT THE WEBSITE TITLE instead of the missing Author's last name. Example: ("Supply-Side Economic"). If the 3rd word is an insignificant word such as "a, if, of, the," etc. leave it out and just use the first 2 words.

Notice also that the period comes AFTER THE PARENTHETICAL CITATION, not before it. The idea is that you include the source as a part of the sentence.