Welcome to the mini tutorial on MLA Citation Style!
This guide will give you an overview of MLA citation style and will help you learn to use this format to avoid unintentional plagiarism.
The page to the right of this guide is the library's citation guide. This is where we will find information and resources on how to cite in MLA format.
To find this citation guide after you finish this tutorial in the future, you would:
If the citation guide does not appear to the right of the screen in this tutorial, please click this link.
What is MLA Style?
MLA (Modern Language Association) developed this style for citing sources within scholarly writing. The MLA is a national professional organization for those who study language and literature. MLA style is typically used in research papers within the Humanities.
The authoritative resource for MLA style is the MLA Handbook (8th edition). You can access this book in the reference section on the first floor of the CSI library. You can also consult the library's Citing Sources guide (the webpage you are currently on).
The call number used to locate the MLA Handbook is listed on the Citing Sources Guide underneath the "MLA Style" heading. What is the call number?
Let's take a look at why format matters.
Why do Citations Matter?
Citing is an important part of the research process because:
What are some reasons why it's important to cite your sources in your papers?
MLA Style: General Format Overview
MLA style includes standards for the format of citations, the overall formatting of research papers, and stylistic conventions (abbreviations, quotations, etc).
Here are some general guidelines for MLA papers:
Paper Example
Here is an example of the opening of a paper in MLA style (click the image to enlarge):
"Sample Papers in MLA Style." The MLA Style Center, 14 Aug. 2018, https://style.mla.org/sample-papers/.
In-Text Citations:
Now let's take a look at citations that are within the text.
What Needs to be Cited?
Whenever you quote, paraphrase, summarize, or otherwise refer to the work of another, you must cite the source using either a parenthetical citation, footnote, or endnote.
This includes:
This is commonly done with a parenthetical citation at the end of a sentence with the author's name and the associated page number(s).
Let's look at a few examples of this:
It is only considered plagiarism if you include a direct quote from an outside source without a citation.
The final page of an MLA-formatted paper should be the Works Cited page. This is the page where all of the outside sources that are referenced in the paper are listed.
Here are some general formatting instructions:
Let's look at this example of a Works Cited page:
Let's learn a bit more about the components of a citation.
One of the most common resources that you will likely cite is a scholarly journal article. Here is the basic format of a scholarly article, according to MLA format:
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages.
Notice that the citation has the article title in quotations and the journal title in italics. This helps the reader to identify the source clearly.
_________________________________
Now let's look at another common resource: Books:
Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. City of Publication, Publisher, Publication Date.
(*The city of publication is not always required)
Do you notice any patterns among these two citations?
We have gone through the basics of MLA format. You are almost done with this mini-tutorial and should now have a basic understanding of MLA format and avoiding plagiarism. For more comprehensive information, please continue to explore to the library's Citing Sources webpage (the page you navigated to for this tutorial).
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact a librarian.
Now let's test your knowledge to see what you've learned from this tutorial with a short quiz:
Please take this short quiz to test your skills.
At the end of the quiz:
A). either print the results, or grab a screenshot, or take a photo of your results
or...
B). Enter your professor's email address or enter your own and forward your results to your professor. Multiple emails will not work even though it says it does!
When do you need to cite your source?
What is the best definition of plagiarism
Why is it necessary to cite your sources?
What is included in your Works Cited page?
Which of the elements of this citation is the title of a book?
Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. Penguin, 1987.
Please enter your name and email address to retrieve a copy of your completed quiz.
You can enter multiple email addresses separated by commas. If you are doing this for a class, you may need to enter your instructor's email address also.