MLA Style Guide

In-text Citation, Documentation, and Miscellaneous Conventions

MLA requires sources be acknowledged in two ways:

• in-text citation and

•documentation

In-text Citations• Mark uses of sources

• Used for identifying borrowed quotations, paraphrases, summaries, and ideas

• Let readers know which material is yours and which belongs to which source

In-text Citations

• Two basic styles for creating in-text citations:

Signal phraseIncludes author’s name and a verb

Page number comes in parentheses

In-text Citations

Using A Signal Phrase

Example:

Constance Hale cautions that “a metaphor has the shelf life of a fresh vegetable” (224).

In-text Citations

• Parenthetical note

In parentheses, include

Author’s surname and

page number

In-text Citations

Using a Parenthetical Note

Example:

• Be aware that metaphors have “the shelf life of a fresh vegetable” (Hale 224).

In-text Citations

• You can place in-text citations wherever you need to in order to eliminate or prevent confusion:

In-text Citations

Place an In-Text Citation Following a Sentence

• Example:Underground comix artists are not controlled by corporate interests that discourage “daring” material (Daniels, 165, 180).

In-text CitationsPlace an In-Text Citation

Following a ClauseExample:

While underground comix artists are not constrained by the conservatism of large corporations (Daniels 165), they are beholden to a different set of standards.

In-text CitationsPlace an In-Text Citation

Following a PhraseExample:

Free from the control of large corporations (Daniels 165), underground comix artists are still beholden to their readers’ standards.

In-text Citations

• Block quotations are a special case:

• Used for quotation more than four lines long

• Indented half inch from left margin

• Uses no quotation marks

• Parenthetical citation goes afterclosing punctuation

DocumentationEach in-text citation must be accompanied by a corresponding entry in a list entitled “Works Cited.” Different types of sources have different formats.

DocumentationBooks—Printed and Electronic

• Basic format:

Author’s surname, First name.

Title: Subtitle. Publisher

(shortened), date of

publication.

DocumentationBooks—Printed and Electronic

Examples:

Printed

Morrison, Toni. A Mercy. Knopf, 2008.

DocumentationBooks—Printed and ElectronicExamples: Electronic:

Wharton, Edith. The Age of Innocence.

D. Appleton, 1920. Bartleby.com. 5 July 2007.

DocumentationBooks—Printed and ElectronicExamples: E-book:

Morrison, Toni. A Mercy. Knopf, 2008. Kindle e-book file.

DocumentationBooks—Printed and ElectronicExamples: Book with an editor or

translator:Larsson, Asa. Sun Storm. Trans.

Marlaine Delargy. Delacorte, 2006.

DocumentationBooks—Printed and ElectronicExamples: One selections from an

anthology:Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily.”

Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, andDrama. Ed. Robert DiYanni. 6th ed. McGraw, 2009. 79–84.

DocumentationBooks—Printed and ElectronicExamples: Two or more selections from an

anthology:Use format for a single source and cross reference by including an entry for the anthology as well.

DocumentationBooks—Printed and ElectronicExamples:

DiYanni, Robert, editor. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 6th ed.

McGraw, 2009.

Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily.”Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, andDrama. Ed. Robert DiYanni. 6th ed. McGraw, 2009. 79–84.

DocumentationPeriodicals—Printed and Electronic

Basic format:Surname, First name. “Title.”

Journal title volume, issue,year, pages.

DocumentationPeriodicals—Printed and ElectronicExamples:

Article in a scholarly journal: printed

Cantor, Nancy, and Steve Schomberg. “WhatWe Want Students to Learn: CultivatingPlayfulness and Responsibility in a LiberalEducation.” Change, vol. 34, iss. 6, 2002, pp. 47–49.

DocumentationPeriodicals—Printed and ElectronicExamples:Article in a scholarly journal: online

database (DOI included)Cantor, Nancy, and Steve Schomberg. “What We

Want Students to Learn: Cultivating Playfulnessand Responsibility in a Liberal Education.”Change 34.6 (2002): 47–49. Academic SearchPremier, DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.02.003. Accesed 2 Dec. 2008.

DocumentationPeriodicals—Printed and ElectronicExamples:Article in a scholarly journal: online (general)

Lohnes, Sarah, and Charles Kinzer. “QuestioningAssumptions about Students’ Expectations for Technology in College Classrooms.”Innovate vol. 3, iss. 5, 2007. wwinn.net/in/article/view-60/362. Accessed 28 June 2007.

Most online magazines do not include page numbers. Include url (without https)

Miscellaneous Conventions

Note that, in MLA format style, the first word and all subsequent

key words except articles and prepositions are capitalized in book and article titles;

Miscellaneous Conventions

Note that, in MLA format style, book titles are italicized (not

underlined except in handwritten work);

Miscellaneous Conventions

Note that, in MLA format style, article titles are set off in quotation

marks;

Miscellaneous Conventions

Note that, in MLA format style, the first line of the citation goes

flush with the left margin; the second and subsequent lines are indented ½ inch;

Miscellaneous Conventions

Note that, in MLA format style, entries use double spacing;

Miscellaneous Conventions

Note that, in MLA format style, comma or period follows the in-text

citation except in block quotations; and

Miscellaneous Conventions

Note that, in MLA format style, • period goes inside quotation marks

in documentation.