MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION (MLA)

This handout is adapted from the Seventh Edition of the
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (2009).

There are two components for MLA source documentation: 1) a Works Cited page after the text of the document giving the publication information for your sources and 2) in-text parenthetical citations that refer to the Works Cited page so that your readers know which information comes from which source. In essence, these two elements work together as a matching tool.

The Works Citedpage is an alphabetical and specifically formatted list of sources citedin the text. The purpose of having a Works Cited page in an MLA document is so others can clearly see and access what sources you use in your text. The validity of your own work will be affected by the entries on your Works Cited page. For example, if you use sources published several decades ago, your research may be outdated, or if you use sources created by people who are not considered to be leaders in the field, your work will have less authority. Conversely, using the most recent research and publications from authors who are experts and citing this information correctly will allow your readers to know that you are a credible author.

Section 1: Creating a Works Cited Page

List sources alphabetically by the author’s last name. If the author of a source is unknown, alphabetize the source by the first majorword of the title (ignore the articles “A,” “An,” and “The”). Begin the list of Works Cited after the text of your paper on a new page. Continue the consecutive page numbering and last name at the top of the page.

Sample Works Cited Entries

It is important to note that although the examples listed below are single spaced to save space, you must double space your Works Cited page entries.

Printed Sources

BOOKS BY ONE AUTHOR

Winterowd, Walter. Contemporary Rhetoric: A Conceptual Background. New York: Harcourt, 1992. Print.

SUBSEQUENT BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR (arrange by date)

---. A Dictionary of Modern Politics.Philadelphia: Taylor & Francis, 1985. Print.

---. A Dictionary of Human Rights. London: Europa, 2004. Print.

BOOKS BY TWO OR THREE AUTHORS

Witte, Stephen P. and Lester Faigley. Evaluating College Writing Programs. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois UP, 1983. Print.

Appleby, Jason, Leslie Hunt, and Michael Jacob. Telling the Truth about History. New York: Norton, 1984.Print.

MORE THAN THREE AUTHORS

Picton, Todd, et al. Auditory Cortical Activity in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment. New York: Norton, 2004. Print.

BOOKS WITH AN EDITOR

James, Henry. Portrait of a Lady. Ed. Leon Edel. Boston: Houghton, 1963. Print.

ARTICLE IN A JOURNAL

Snell, Mark. “Anger in the Classroom.”Education Today13.2 (1983): 43-47. Print.

ARTICLE IN A MAGAZINE

Van Biema, Dexter. “Parodies Regained.”Time21Mar.1994: 46-48. Print.

ARTICLE IN A NEWSPAPER

Lohr, Stacie. “HealthcareTechnology is a Promise Unfinanced.”New York Times 3 Dec. 2004, late ed.: C5. Print.

PERSONAL INTERVIEWS

Wright, Terra. Personal interview. 21 Mar. 2007.

Wright, Terra. Email interview. 21 Mar. 2007.

Wright, Terra.Telephone interview. 21 Mar. 2007.

Electronic Sources

MLA no longer requires URLs for electronic sources.

ARTICLE IN AN ONLINE JOURNAL

Veerman, Penelope. “Religion and Children’s Rights.”International Journal of Children’s Rights 7.4 (1999):385-93. Project Muse. Web. 7 Dec. 2012.

ARTICLE IN AN ONLINE REFERENCE WORK

“Anthropomorphism.” OED. 2nd ed. 2012. Web. 8 Mar. 2012.

ONLINE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

Cohen, Nathan.“Wikipedia Looks Hard at Its Culture.”New York Times,30 Aug.2009. Web. 11 Oct. 2012.

ONLINE BOOK

Abbott, Jacob. Rollo in Paris.Boston, 1854.Projectgutenberg.org. Project Gutenberg, 2007. Web. 31 Jan. 2012.

GOVERNMENT WEBSITE

U.S. Department of Education.“Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2007-12.”U.S. Department of Education.ED, 2007. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.

Section 2: Citing Sources within the Text

When quoting and/or paraphrasing another person’s work, you must give that person credit; failure to cite is plagiarism. The citations in the body of the paper are often called parenthetical citationsor in-text citations. In MLA, always include author and page number. As discussed at the beginning of this handout, parenthetical citations mustcorrespond to theWorks Cited pageso that the reader may see where you found specific information.

PARENTHETICAL CITATION EXAMPLES:

Printed Sources

AUTHOR NAMED IN A SIGNAL PHRASE

Jones argues that television’s initial role as educator has now become eclipsed by its role as entertainer (544).

As Murray explains, “looking at the raw material, the writer may choose to be greatly concerned with the reader or may choose not to” (80).

AUTHOR NOT NAMED IN A SIGNAL PHRASE

The recent hysteria regarding “Mad Cow Disease” now seems to have been largely

unwarranted (Rubles 7).

TWO OR THREE AUTHORS

“If a writer sees immediate benefits from tutoring, he will be more likely to attend further sessions” (Meyer and Smith 23).

“If a writer sees immediate benefits from tutoring, he will be more likely to attend further sessions” (Meyer, Smith, and Rubles 23).

MORE THAN THREE AUTHORS

As Brashears et al. demonstrated, advances in audio recording procedures now make personal recording possible for the amateur musician(486-88).

CORPORATE OR GROUP AUTHOR

According to the U.S. Department of Education, “no plans have been made beyond 2012” (9).

UNKNOWN AUTHOR

Use the title or its first few words if the author is unknown.

Home computer ownership may be more strongly linked to education level rather than income (“Home Computers” 19).

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