MLA Citation Style

MLA Citation Style

The MLA (Modern Language Association) citation style is commonly used when writing papers and citing sources related to liberal arts and humanities. Liberal arts is an umbrella term that consists of a wide range of fields including humanities and formal sciences.  Formal sciences cover subjects such as mathematics and biology, while social sciences comprise subjects like history and geography. Humanities encompass subjects, including English and literature, religion, philosophy, among others. Many other disciplines and schools have also adopted the MLA citation style.

In-text citations

In-text citation using the MLA format follows the author-page method using parenthetical citations. Therefore, whenever you quote or paraphrase another writer’s information or idea, you must cite their source in parenthesis. Normally, the citation appears at the end of the sentence just before the period. However, there are other instances where it is sensible and practical to use the parenthesis in a different part within the sentence. The author’s name can appear in parenthesis or elsewhere in the sentence, but the page number must always be in parenthesis and not in the text of the sentence. Example:

(Smith, 145) or,

Smith stated that “…” (145)

When citing a work by multiple authors, list the author’s last names either in the text or in parenthesis as follows:

(Mitchell, Thomson, and Smith 178)

For more than three authors, only the surname of the first author is listed, followed by ‘et al.’.

Example:

(Smith et al. 123)

If the author is not given, only a shortened version of the title is listed in place of the author. The title must be italicized and be within quotation marks.

Works Cited

Works cited appears at the end of the paper in a new page. It lists all the sources used to gather the information. All the entries should be double spaced and arranged alphabetically by the first element, which is the author’s surname or the title of the book where the author is not given. If any entry extends to a second line, the line should be entered with a hanging indent. Other punctuation marks such as commas and periods are also strictly observed. The format should be as follows:

Authors name(s). “Tittle of the source”. Title of Container, other contributors, version numbers, publisher, publication date, location.

However, the most important components include the author’s name, source title, and date of publication. Others details vary depending on the source type.

Example:

Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method. University of California Press, 1966.

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