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Citing Sources

MLA Citation Style

Overview

The MLA (Modern Language Association) citation style is used in humanities disciplines such as English and composition, cultural and religious studies, and language arts. In addition to rules regarding the formatting of citations, the MLA style also provides guidelines for grammar, punctuation, page layout, and bias-free language.


Page Contents:

MLA Formatting Conventions

These general rules apply to MLA formatted notes and bibliographies:

  • Author names are spelled out completely.
  • The first letters of the main words of all titles are capitalized. 
  • Titles of books and periodicals are italicized.
  • Titles of articles and chapters are put in quotation marks.
  • Full dates appear in day month year format, e.g. 29 Oct. 2022.
  • MLA favors abbreviations where possible with most elements except names of people:
    • Months spelled with more than 4 letters are abbreviated to 3 letters with a period (e.g. Dec.)
    • The words University and Press in publisher names are replaced with initials. Cambridge University Press becomes Cambridge UP and University of Minnesota Press becomes U of Minnesota P (no periods).
    • Page and pages respectively become p. and pp. (with periods).
    • Edition and editor become ed. (with period).

The MLA Container System of Citing

MLA uses the concept of containers to construct citations. The container system is based on the idea that each source is part of a larger whole. Using this system, all elements that are present in a source are included in the citation; elements that do not exist are skipped. This method allows you to focus on including all the necessary element of a citation while eliminating the need to worry about what kind of source you are using. MLA citations are ordered as follows:

Author The creator of the work. May be an individual, a group of individuals, or an organization.
Title of Source The title of the work you are citing.
Title of Container The resource that is made up of smaller elements including the source. For example, a book is a container for a chapter, a journal is a container for an article, a website is a container for an individual page.
Contributor Other individuals who helped to produce the source, such as an editor, translator, illustrator, director, narrator.
Version Used when a container has been released in multiple forms, such as different editions or a "director's cut." 
Number Used when the container is part of a numbered sequence, such as a journal's volume and issue numbers, a book in a multivolume set, the season and episode numbers of a television series.
Publisher The entity that produces the container, such as a book publisher or media organization.
Publication Date The date that the source was produced. May be an exact date, month and year only, or year only.
Location The exact position of the source, such as page numbers, URL, DOI, performance venue, or other identifying codes.

More information about MLA's container system can be found at the MLA Style Center.

MLA Works Cited Page

The works cited page, also known as a bibliography, is a stylized list of all the resources you consulted for your project. The list is formatted based on the MLA container system. A works cited page normally appears at the end of your project, allowing your readers to locate and independently consult sources that you cite. Each source you use in your project must be included in your works cited list, whether you directly quote from it, paraphrase it, or are merely informed by it.  

General Rules for an MLA works cited page:

  • Entries are alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each work.
  • Second and all subsequent lines of each citation are always indented using a half-inch hanging indent. This means that the first line of each reference entry is flush with the left margins and subsequent lines are indented by 0.5 inch.  See these steps for creating a hanging indent in Google docs.
  • The bibliography starts on a separate page at the end of the project.
  • Do not number or bullet the works cited list, and do not use headings or separate the entries by source type. 

Click here for an example of a professional bibliography from vol. 46, number 1 of the journal Studies in 20th and 21st Century Literature.

Following are individual examples of the basic citation formats, created using the container system, for the most commonly used types of sources. 

MLA In-Text Citation Samples

When you paraphrase or directly quote a work in your paper, MLA format requires the use of in-text citations. Direct quotes are set off by quotation marks within the text. Author's name, publication date, and pages are included as illustrated:

Citation Variation Citation Sample
Direct quotation with author's name as part of the narrative. In Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).
Direct quotation with fully parenthetical citation.

Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).
Paraphrase or summary Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).

MLA Resources