Style Guides
MLA Handbook by Call Number: Reference Desk LB2369 .M53 2021ISBN: 9781603293518Publication Date: 2021-04-22
- MLA Purdue OWL GuidePurdue OWL's MLA Style Guide with examples and sample papers.
About MLA
MLA citation style was created by the Modern Language Association. It is most commonly used for citing sources in the Humanities, which includes: Art, Architecture, Literature, History, Philosophy, and etc. This style uses a template of core elements—facts common to most sources, like author, title, and publication date—that allows writers to cite any type of work, from books, e-books, and journal articles in databases to song lyrics, online images, social media posts, dissertations, and more. With this focus on source evaluation as the cornerstone of citation, MLA style promotes the skills of information and digital literacy so crucial today.
- mla.org
The general formula for any MLA citation (provided by Purdue OWL):
Author. Title. Title of container (do not list container for standalone books, e.g. novels), Other
contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher,
Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs URL or DOI). 2nd container’s title, Other contributors,
Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location, Date of Access (if applicable).
Examples
When you are citing a journal article, use the following formula (provided by Purdue OWL):
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages.
Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta
Devi's Bashai Tudu." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, vol. 15, no. 1, 1996, pp. 41-50.
When you are citing a print book, use the following formula (provided by Purdue OWL):
Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. City of Publication, Publisher, Publication Date.
*Note: the City of Publication should only be used if the book was published before 1900, if the publisher has offices in more than one country, or if the publisher is unknown in North America.
When citing an online resource like a website, use the following formula (provided by Purdue OWL):
Author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number (if available), Name of
institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if
available), DOI (preferred), otherwise include a URL or permalink. Date of access (if
applicable).
The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008,
owl.english.purdue.edu/owl. Accessed 23 Apr. 2008.
NOTE: check with your professor about including URLs
MLA in-text citations require both the author's name and page number of the quotation in parentheses at the end of the sentence, but before the period:
Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).
If you are able to work the author's name into the sentence, the in-text citation only needs to have the page number:
Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).
Citation Tools
- EndNote This link opens in a new window
This link goes to our guide with in-depth information on this powerful citation tool. Once EN is installed export, save, & organize citations in one place. Let EN atomically format citations in your paper.
