MLA Citation Guide: Master Academic Referencing

Navigating the intricacies of academic writing can be challenging, and one of the most crucial aspects is proper citation. The Modern Language Association (MLA) style is a widely recognized citation format, particularly in the humanities. Mastering MLA citation is essential for students and researchers to acknowledge sources, avoid plagiarism, and present credible, scholarly work. This comprehensive MLA citation guide is designed to demystify the rules and help you format your academic papers perfectly.

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Understanding MLA Citation Style

What is MLA?

MLA stands for the Modern Language Association, an organization dedicated to the study and teaching of language and literature. The MLA Handbook, currently in its 9th edition (published in 2021), provides the guidelines for this citation style. It is predominantly used in disciplines such as English studies, foreign languages and literatures, literary criticism, comparative literature, and cultural studies.

The primary purpose of MLA style is to ensure consistency and clarity in academic writing, making it easier for readers to understand and trace the sources used in a research paper. It emphasizes brevity and authorial attribution directly within the text.

Why is MLA Citation Crucial for Academic Success?

Proper citation is more than just a formatting requirement; it's a cornerstone of academic integrity. Here’s why mastering MLA citation is vital:

1. Acknowledging Sources: It gives credit to the original authors whose ideas, research, or words you have incorporated into your work. This is a fundamental aspect of ethical scholarship.
2. Avoiding Plagiarism: Failing to cite sources correctly, whether intentionally or unintentionally, can lead to plagiarism, which has serious academic consequences. Our Avoiding Plagiarism: A Student's Guide offers more in-depth advice on this critical topic.
3. Establishing Credibility: Properly citing sources demonstrates that your work is well-researched and grounded in existing scholarship. It shows your reader that you have engaged with relevant literature and can support your arguments with evidence.
4. Enabling Readers to Trace Sources: Accurate citations allow your readers to locate the original sources you consulted. This facilitates further research and allows others to verify your interpretations.
5. Participating in Scholarly Conversation: Citation is a way of showing how your work fits into the broader academic dialogue on a particular topic.

Core Components of MLA Style (9th Edition)

The MLA style primarily involves two key components for citing sources:

1. In-Text Citations: Brief parenthetical citations within the body of your paper that direct readers to the full citation in the Works Cited list.
2. Works Cited Page: An alphabetized list at the end of your paper that provides complete bibliographical information for every source cited in your text.

Beyond these, MLA also provides guidelines for the overall formatting of your paper.

MLA In-Text Citations: A Detailed Look

MLA in-text citations are designed to be concise and unobtrusive. The standard format is the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the information was taken, enclosed in parentheses.

(Author Last Name PageNumber)

Example:

Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).

Key Principles for In-Text Citations:

• Placement: The parenthetical citation should be placed at the end of the sentence or clause where the cited material appears, before the period or other punctuation mark.
• Author's Name in Text: If you mention the author's name in your sentence, you only need to include the page number in the parentheses.
  • Example: Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).
• No Author: If a source has no known author, use a shortened version of the source's title (italicized if a book/website, in quotation marks if an article/webpage) in place of the author's name, followed by the page number if available.
  • Example: The impact of climate change is becoming increasingly evident ("Global Warming Effects" 12).
• Two Authors: List both authors' last names, joined by "and."
  • Example: (Smith and Jones 45)
• Three or More Authors: List the first author's last name followed by "et al." (which means "and others").
  • Example: (Johnson et al. 78)
• Corporate Author: If the author is an organization or corporation, use its name. If the name is long, you can shorten it in the parenthetical citation, provided it's clear.
  • Example: (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs 15) or (UN Dept. of Economic and Social Affairs 15).
• Citing Multiple Works by the Same Author: If your Works Cited list includes more than one work by the same author, include a shortened title of the work in your in-text citation to distinguish between them.
  • Example: (Austen, Pride and Prejudice 55) and (Austen, Sense and Sensibility 102).
• Citing Different Authors with the Same Last Name: If you cite works by different authors who share the same last name, include each author's first initial (or full first name if initials are also the same) in the in-text citation.
  • Example: (A. Smith 23) and (C. Smith 47).
• Citing Multivolume Works: If you are citing from a multivolume work and your Works Cited entry indicates the total number of volumes, include the volume number followed by a colon and then the page number.
  • Example: (Wellek 2: 1-10)
  • If you are citing only one volume of a multivolume work and your Works Cited entry is for that specific volume, you only need the page number in the parenthetical citation.
• Citing Literary Works:
  • Plays: Cite by act, scene, and line numbers, using periods to separate them. (e.g., Shakespeare, Hamlet 3.1.56-58).
  • Poems: For poems with line numbers, cite the line numbers. For longer poems divided into parts (e.g., cantos, books), include these as well. (e.g., Milton, Paradise Lost 9.10-12). For short poems without line numbers, you can cite the page number from the anthology.
• Citing Sources Without Page Numbers (e.g., Web Pages, Online Videos): If a source does not have page numbers but is divided into numbered paragraphs, sections, or time stamps, you can use these.
  • Example: (Smith, par. 4) or (National Geographic, 00:03:15-00:03:20).
  • If there are no numbered divisions, cite only the author's name (or title). The reader will then find the source in the Works Cited list.
  • Example: (Chan)
• Indirect Sources (Quoting a Source Cited in Another Source): When you quote or paraphrase material that is itself a quotation, indicate this using "qtd. in" (quoted in).
  • Example: Samuel Johnson admitted that he "was not accustomed to abstract thinking" (qtd. in Boswell 250).
  • It's always best to find the original source if possible.

The MLA Works Cited Page: A Comprehensive Guide

The Works Cited page is a crucial element of your research paper. It provides your readers with all the information they need to locate and consult the sources you've used.

Formatting the Works Cited Page:

1. Title: Center the title "Works Cited" (without quotation marks, italics, or bolding) one inch from the top of a new page.
2. Alphabetization: Arrange entries alphabetically by the author's last name. If there is no author, alphabetize by the first significant word of the title (ignoring "A," "An," or "The").
3. Spacing: Double-space the entire Works Cited page, both within and between entries.
4. Hanging Indent: The first line of each entry should be flush with the left margin. Subsequent lines of the same entry should be indented by 0.5 inches (a hanging indent).

The Nine Core Elements of an MLA Works Cited Entry:

MLA 9th edition emphasizes a template of core elements that should be included in each Works Cited entry if available and relevant. These elements are presented in a specific order and followed by specific punctuation.

1. Author. (Followed by a period)
2. Title of Source. (Followed by a period. Italicize titles of larger works like books and websites; use quotation marks for titles of shorter works like articles and web pages.)
3. Title of Container, (Followed by a comma. A container is the larger work that holds the source, e.g., a journal for an article, a website for a webpage, a collection for an essay.)
4. Other Contributors, (Followed by a comma. E.g., editors, translators.)
5. Version, (Followed by a comma. E.g., edition, revised ed.)
6. Number, (Followed by a comma. E.g., volume and issue numbers for journals.)
7. Publisher, (Followed by a comma. The organization responsible for making the source available.)
8. Publication Date, (Followed by a comma. For online sources, include the date of access if the source is likely to change or if no publication date is available.)
9. Location. (Followed by a period. E.g., page numbers, URL, DOI, permalink.)

Not all sources will have all nine elements. Include only the elements that are relevant to the source you are citing.

Examples of Common Works Cited Entries:

Below are examples for various source types. Remember to use a hanging indent for each entry on your actual Works Cited page.

Books:

• Book with One Author:

  Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Year.

  Example: Jacobs, Alan. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. Oxford UP, 2011.

• Book with Two Authors:

  Last Name, First Name, and First Name Last Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Year.

  Example: Dorris, Michael, and Louise Erdrich. The Crown of Columbus. HarperCollins Publishers, 1999.

• Book with Three or More Authors:

  Last Name, First Name, et al. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Year.

  Example: Bordo, Susan, et al. Gender/Body/Knowledge: Feminist Reconstructions of Being and Knowing. Rutgers UP, 1989.

• Book with an Editor (No Author):

  Editor Last Name, First Name, editor. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Year.

  Example: Holland, Merlin, and Rupert Hart-Davis, editors. The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde. Henry Holt, 2000.

• Book with an Author and an Editor:

  Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Edited by Editor First Name Last Name, Publisher, Publication Year.

  Example: Woolf, Virginia. To the Lighthouse. Edited by Margaret Drabble, Oxford UP, 2008.

• Translation:

  Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Translated by Translator First Name Last Name, Publisher, Publication Year.

  Example: Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Translated by Stanley Corngold, Bantam Classics, 1972.

• Edition Other Than the First:

  Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Edition number ed., Publisher, Publication Year.

  Example: Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. 4th ed., Longman, 2000.

• Work in an Anthology or Collection (e.g., an essay, short story, or poem):

  Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Work." Title of Anthology, edited by Editor First Name Last Name, Publisher, Publication Year, pp. Page-Numbers.

  Example: Kincaid, Jamaica. "Girl." The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories, edited by Tobias Wolff, Vintage Books, 1994, pp. 306-07.

• Multivolume Work (citing the entire work):

  Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Work. Number of vols., Publisher, Publication Year.

  Example: Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. An Aesthetic Education in the Era of Globalization. 2 vols., Harvard UP, 2012.

• Multivolume Work (citing a single volume):

  Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Work. Vol. number, Publisher, Publication Year.

  Example: Churchill, Winston S. The Age of Revolution. Vol. 3 of A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Dodd, Mead, 1957.

• E-book (from a website or platform like Kindle):

  Author Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date. Name of E-reader/Platform, URL or DOI.

  Example: Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Penguin Classics, 2008. Kindle ed.

  Example: Gaither, Carl C., and Alma E. Cavazos-Gaither. Statistically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations. CRC Press, 1996. Google Books, books.google.com/books?id=12345.

Periodicals (Journals, Magazines, Newspapers):

• Article in a Scholarly Journal (Print):

  Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, vol. VolumeNumber, no. IssueNumber, Publication Date, pp. Page-Numbers.

  Example: Williams, Linda. "Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess." Film Quarterly, vol. 44, no. 4, Summer 1991, pp. 2-13.

• Article in a Scholarly Journal (Online Database, e.g., JSTOR, ProQuest):

  Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, vol. VolumeNumber, no. IssueNumber, Publication Date, pp. Page-Numbers. Name of Database, DOI or Permalink or URL.

  Example: Goldman, Anne. "Questions of Transport: Reading Primo Levi Reading Dante." The Georgia Review, vol. 64, no. 1, Spring 2010, pp. 69-88. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41403188.

• Article in a Scholarly Journal (Website, not a database):

  Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal, vol. VolumeNumber, no. IssueNumber, Publication Date, URL.

  Example: Behrens, Richard. "Memory and Emotion in the Composition Process." Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, vol. 18, no. 1, Fall 2013, kairos.technorhetoric.net/18.1/praxis/behrens/index.html.

• Article in a Magazine (Print):

  Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine, Day Month Year, pp. Page-Numbers.

  Example: McEvoy, Dermot. "Little Books, Big Success." Publishers Weekly, 30 Oct. 2006, pp. 26-28.

• Article in a Magazine (Online):

  Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Magazine, Day Month Year, URL.

  Example: Bilger, Burkhard. "The Height Gap." The New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2004, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/04/05/the-height-gap.

• Article in a Newspaper (Print):

  Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Newspaper, Day Month Year, SectionPage.

  Example: Krugman, Paul. "Fear of a Chinese Planet." The New York Times, 23 Mar. 2012, p. A31.

• Article in a Newspaper (Online):

  Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Newspaper, Day Month Year, URL.

  Example: Tommasini, Anthony. "A Feminist Look at Sophocles." The New York Times, 18 Feb. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/02/18/arts/music/elektra-review-manhattan-school-of-music.html.

• Review:

  Reviewer Last Name, First Name. Review of Title of Work Reviewed, by Author/Director/Artist First Name Last Name. Title of Periodical, Day Month Year, URL or pp. Page-Numbers.

  Example: Seitz, Matt Zoller. Review of The Grand Budapest Hotel, directed by Wes Anderson. RogerEbert.com, 6 Mar. 2014, www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-grand-budapest-hotel-2014.

Websites and Online Sources:

When citing online sources, try to find as much information as possible. If a publication date isn't available, include the date you accessed the material.

• Entire Website:

  Author or Sponsoring Organization. Title of Website. Publication Date (if available), URL. Date of access (optional, but recommended if content might change).

  Example: The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl. Accessed 20 May 2023.

• Page on a Website or Short Work from a Website:

  Author Last Name, First Name (if available). "Title of Page or Work." Title of Website, Publisher or Sponsoring Organization (if different from website title), Publication Date or Last Updated Date, URL.

  Example: Lundman, Susan. "How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow, Demand Media, www.ehow.com/how_10727_make-vegetarian-chili.html. Accessed 6 July 2023.

  (Note: If the publisher is essentially the same as the website title, omit the publisher.)

• Blog Post:

  Author Last Name, First Name (or Username). "Title of Blog Post." Title of Blog (if distinct from author), Publisher (if any), Date of Post, URL.

  Example: Brown, Brené. "The Midlife Unraveling." Brené Brown, 10 Jan. 2018, brenebrown.com/blog/2018/01/10/the-midlife-unraveling/.

  (When planning your research, consider creating a structured approach; our guide on How to Write a Research Paper Outline can be very helpful.)

• Online Video (e.g., YouTube):

  Uploader/Creator Last Name, First Name (or Username). "Title of Video." Title of Website (e.g., YouTube), uploaded by Uploader Name (if different from author), Date of Upload, URL.

  Example: CrashCourse. "The Persians & Greeks: Crash Course World History #5." YouTube, uploaded by CrashCourse, 23 Feb. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-mkVSasZIM.

• Social Media Post (e.g., Twitter, Instagram, Facebook):

  Author's Handle or Name (@Username). "Full text of the post or a description." Platform Name, Day Month Year, Time of Post, URL.

  Example: @MLAstyle. "Word of the Day: 'serendipity' - the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way." Twitter, 15 May 2023, 10:30 a.m., twitter.com/MLAstyle/status/1234567890.

  (Note: For very long posts, you can provide a descriptive title or the beginning of the post in quotation marks.)

• Email (Personal Communication):

  Sender Last Name, First Name. "Subject Line of Email." Received by Recipient First Name Last Name, Date of Email.

  Example: Smith, John. "Re: Research Questions." Received by Jane Doe, 12 Apr. 2023.

  (Note: Personal communications like emails are often mentioned in-text rather than in the Works Cited list, e.g., "In an email to the author on April 12, 2023, John Smith confirmed...")

Other Common Sources:

• Film or Video Recording:

  Title of Film. Directed by Director First Name Last Name, performances by Key Actor 1, Key Actor 2, Distributor, Release Year.

  Example: Pulp Fiction. Directed by Quentin Tarantino, performances by John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Miramax, 1994.

  If you are focusing on a particular person's contribution (e.g., director, performer):

  Tarantino, Quentin, director. Pulp Fiction. Miramax, 1994.

• Television Episode:

  "Title of Episode." Title of Series, created by Creator First Name Last Name, season SeasonNumber, episode EpisodeNumber, Production Company/Distributor, Original Air Date.

  Example: "The Constant." Lost, created by J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, and Jeffrey Lieber, season 4, episode 5, ABC Studios, 28 Feb. 2008.

• Sound Recording (Song or Album):

  Artist Name. "Title of Song." Title of Album, Record Label, Year of Release.

  Example: Beyoncé. "Formation." Lemonade, Parkwood Entertainment, 2016.

  For an entire album:

  Dylan, Bob. Blonde on Blonde. Columbia Records, 1966.

• Interview (Personal, Unpublished):

  Interviewee Last Name, First Name. Personal interview. Date of Interview.

  Example: Smith, Jane. Personal interview. 10 Oct. 2023.

• Interview (Published):

  Interviewee Last Name, First Name. Interview by Interviewer First Name Last Name. Title of Publication/Program, Date, URL or Page Numbers.

  Example: Morrison, Toni. Interview by Elissa Schappell. The Paris Review, no. 128, Fall 1993, www.theparisreview.org/interviews/1888/toni-morrison-the-art-of-fiction-no-134.

• Lecture, Speech, or Presentation:

  Speaker Last Name, First Name. "Title of Presentation." Sponsoring Organization or Event, Location, Date. Description (e.g., Lecture, Keynote Address).

  Example: Atwood, Margaret. "Spotty-Handed Villainesses." The Massey Lectures, University of Toronto, Toronto, 29 Oct. 1994. Lecture.

MLA Paper Formatting Guidelines

Beyond citations, MLA style also dictates the overall format of your research paper. Consistency in formatting enhances readability and professionalism.

• Margins: One-inch margins on all sides (top, bottom, left, right).
• Font: Use a legible font (e.g., Times New Roman) in a standard size (e.g., 12-point). Avoid script or decorative fonts.
• Spacing: Double-space the entire paper, including the heading, title, body text, quotes, and Works Cited page.
• Heading (First Page): In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the course name and number, and the date – all double-spaced on separate lines.

  Your Name
  Instructor's Name
  Course Number
  Date
  

• Title: Center your paper's title on the line below the heading. Do not italicize, bold, underline, or put your title in quotation marks (unless it includes the title of another work). Capitalize words in the title according to standard title capitalization rules.
• Running Head (Header): In the upper right-hand corner of every page, include your last name followed by a space and the page number. This should be 0.5 inches from the top margin. Most word processors can automatically create this header.
• Paragraph Indentation: Indent the first line of each paragraph by 0.5 inches (usually one Tab key press).
• Block Quotes: For quotations longer than four lines of prose or three lines of poetry, indent the entire quote 0.5 inches from the left margin. Do not use quotation marks. The parenthetical citation comes after the period for block quotes.
• Tables and Illustrations: Label tables ("Table 1," "Table 2," etc.) and figures ("Fig. 1," "Fig. 2," etc.). Provide a caption for each. Place them as close as possible to the text they illustrate.

Common MLA Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Even with a good MLA citation guide, errors can occur. Being aware of common pitfalls can help you avoid them:

• Incorrect Punctuation: Pay close attention to periods, commas, and colons in Works Cited entries.
• Inconsistent Formatting: Ensure all entries follow the same structural rules.
• Missing Information: Try to find all relevant core elements for each source.
• Errors in In-Text Citations: Mismatching author names or page numbers with the Works Cited list.
• Forgetting the Hanging Indent: This is a very common formatting error on the Works Cited page.
• Incorrectly Formatting Titles: Remembering when to use italics (for longer works like books, journals, websites) versus quotation marks (for shorter works like articles, chapters, webpages).
• Omitting URLs or DOIs: For online sources, these are crucial for location. Prefer DOIs when available.
• Incorrectly Alphabetizing the Works Cited Page: Remember to alphabetize by the first word of the entry (author's last name or title).

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MLA 9th Edition: Key Aspects

The MLA 9th edition continues the principles of the 8th edition, emphasizing a flexible, container-based approach to citation. Key takeaways include:

• Emphasis on Containers: The concept of "containers" (the larger works that hold your source) remains central. A source might have multiple containers (e.g., an article in a journal found in a database).
• Flexibility: MLA acknowledges that not all sources fit neatly into predefined categories. The nine core elements provide a framework to build citations for diverse source types.
• URLs and DOIs: While URLs are generally recommended for web sources, DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) are preferred when available for scholarly journal articles, as they are more stable.
• Inclusive Language: The handbook encourages the use of inclusive and bias-free language.
• Pseudonyms and Online Usernames: Provides clearer guidance on citing works by authors using pseudonyms or online usernames.

When to Use MLA vs. Other Styles

While this is an MLA citation guide, it's important to know that other citation styles exist. The choice of style usually depends on your academic discipline or your instructor's preference.

• MLA: Primarily used in the humanities (literature, languages, cultural studies).
• APA (American Psychological Association): Common in social sciences (psychology, education, sociology, communication). If you need guidance on this, check out our APA Citation Style Guide.
• Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) / Turabian: Used in history, art history, and some other humanities and social science disciplines. Offers two systems: Notes and Bibliography, and Author-Date.
• IEEE: Used in engineering and computer science.

Always confirm with your instructor which citation style is required for your assignment.

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Conclusion: The Path to MLA Mastery

Properly using the MLA citation style is a hallmark of a well-educated student and a responsible researcher. It demonstrates your respect for intellectual property, your engagement with scholarly conversations, and your attention to academic rigor. This MLA citation guide provides a robust foundation for understanding and implementing these crucial academic conventions.

Remember that consistency and accuracy are key. Refer to the latest MLA Handbook for the most authoritative and detailed information. With practice, MLA citation will become a more intuitive part of your writing process.

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