MLA documentation style

(pdf)

Each academic discipline has its own expectations for style and documentation. Often, these disciplines rely on a broad system of guidelines that are determined by professional organizations in the field. In literature and composition fields, the standard style is MLA (Modern Language Association).
 

MLA DOCUMENTATION relies on a combination of IN-TEXT CITATIONS (author and page number) and a WORKS CITED PAGE (full bibliographic information). MLA does not typically use endnotes or footnotes; however, some scholars make use of the Chicago Manual guidelines in order to include these items. (See Quicktip on Chicago Documentation Style)

IN-TEXT CITATIONS FOLLOW QUOTED OR PARAPHRASED INFORMATION. They generally require the author's last name and the page number from which the cited information comes (unless the author's name is clear, in which case a page number is all that is required). No comma is placed between the author name and page number, and the period appears after the citation (except for long direct quotes, which are indented). Beyond these guidelines, adjustments need to be made for internet material (generally doesn't use page numbers; use a title if there is no author), two books by the same author (use the titles), or two authors with the same last name (use a first initial in addition to the last name).

Standard entry:
“A fully dressed woman walked out of the water” (Morrison 50).

With name in signal phrase:
Morrison's narrator tells us “[a] fully dressed woman walked out of the water” (50).

Internet source, no author:
“The Center for Writing helps all University of Minnesota undergraduate students who want to improve their writing abilities” (Center for Writing).

Two books by same author:
“The things they carried were largely determined by necessity” (The Things They Carried 2).

Two authors with same last name:
“The greatest challenge was getting the right sample materials” (R. Jones 17).
 

A WORKS CITED PAGE SHOULD FOLLOW YOUR PAPER. Here, you will list all the resources you have used in your paper, arranged alphabetically by author's last name, or the first important word of a title if an author is unassigned. MLA uses the “hanging indent” style, meaning that the first line of each entry is justified with the left margin while all subsequent lines are indented five spaces. The whole list is double-spaced. Every important word (with the exception of articles, unless they start the title) is capitalized; in addition, the full first and last name of all authors are required. With multiple authors, only the first name is arranged “last name, first name”; all subsequent names are arranged “first name last name.” For guidelines on citing a specific kind of source, see below, or consult an up-to-date handbook.

SAMPLES OF WORKS CITED ENTRIES
(** In the following citations, the titles that appear in italics would actually be underlined. Additionally, all lines but the first would be indented 5 spaces. See pdf version for correct examples.**)

Article in an Anthology:            

Baym, Nina. “The Madwoman and Her Languages.”Feminisms: An Anthology of Literary Theory and Criticism. Ed. Robyn R. Warhol and Diane Price Herndl. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 1991. 154-67.

Edited Anthology:                     

Bizzell, Patricia, and Bruce Herzberg, eds. The Rhetorical Tradition: Readings from Classical Times to the Present. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1988.

World Wide Website:                

Middleton, Ken. American Women's History: A Research Guide. 1 June 2003. MTSU Library. 26 June 2003 <http://frank.mtsu.edu/kmiddlet/
history/women.html>.

Book:                                        

Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Plume, 1987.

Translation:                              

Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina. Trans. Joel Carmichael. Toronto: Bantam Books, 1960.

Newspaper Article:                  

Valdez, Marybeth. “Return to Sender: The Mail-Order Bride Business in the Philippines.” Philippine Review 18 May 1995: 5+.

Journal Article:                         

Young, Art. “Writing Across and Against the Curriculum.” College Composition and Communication 54.3 (2003): 472-85.

For more information:

Gibaldi, Joseph. The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: MLA of America, 2003.

Hacker, Diana. A Writer's Reference. 5th ed.
Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003.

Modern Language Association official website.