Points to Remember About MLA Citation Format prepared by Karin Durán, Ph.D.
MLA (Modern Language Association)
Authors in Works Cited or Bibliography
- Last name and fully spelled out first name
- Maintain order of names as found in the source being cited
- Give names of up to 3 authors
Example: Duran, Karin, Solis, Jacqueline, and Lampert, Lynn.
- If there are more than 3 authors, use the first author and then [et al.] in place
of the other authors.
Example: Duran, Karin, [et al.].
Authors in an in-text (parenthetical) citation
- List the last names of all authors, up to 3 for in-text reference
Example: (Duran, Solis, and Lampert 24)
Titles
Books
- Use uppercase for all the major words and proper nouns.
- Italicize the full title
Chapter titles
- Use uppercase for all the major words and proper nouns.
- Use quotations marks around the chapter title
Internet sites
- Use uppercase for all the major words and proper nouns.
- Italicize web site title, use quotations marks for titles of sites within sites (like chapter within a book)
Journal titles
- Use uppercase for all the major words and proper nouns.
-Italicize periodical titles
Article titles
- Use uppercase for all the major words and proper nouns.
- Use quotation marks for article title
Date of publication
Books
Follows place of publication and publisher’s name and is followed by a period
Journals
Follows volume and issue number or periodical title if volume and issue number are not given or known
Internet sites
- Publication dates are often not available or may be labeled:
Last modified on
Updated on
- Date of access/retrieval is always required and follows other publication information and precedes web address for “surface web” sites
Indenting and Spacing
- Indent 5 spaces for all the lines after the first line in each citation.
- Double space between and within each reference
- When the quotation you take from a source is more than 4 lines long, create a long/block quote by indenting 10 spaces from the left margin and continue to double-space within the quote.