This guide is a quick introduction to the Modern Language Association 9th edition citation style. Be sure to consult the MLA Handbook or the online MLA Style Center for detailed standards and procedures.
When you reference another source use an in-text citation in the body of your paper.
Basic Format:
(Author's Last Name(s) or "Abbreviated Title" Page Number).
I'm using...
Always include the last name(s) of the author(s) and the page of the paraphrased source, so your reader can find the full citation in the reference list.
If you're quoting the exact words of someone else, introduce the quote with an in-text citation in parentheses. Any sentence punctuation goes after the closing parenthesis.
If you're directly quoting a long passage, use a block quotation. Block quotations don't need quotation marks. Instead, indent the text as a visual cue that you are citing. The in-text citation in parentheses goes after the punctuation of the quote.
Shavers study found the following:
In-text citations differ depending on the number of authors listed for a work, and if there is a group author.
I'm citing a work with...
You only need the author's last name and page number in parentheses.
(Abrams 256)
Connect both authors' last names with "and" and the page number.
(Wegener and Petty 199)
If there are 3 or more authors use et al., which means "and others," and the page number.
(Harris et al. 20)
If the corporate name is used in a parenthetical citation, shorten the name to the shortest noun phrase. For example, the National Academy of Sciences would be shortened to the following:
(National Academy 9)
If no author is given, use the title in your signal phrase or the first word or two of the title in parentheses
Book with no author (title in italics): (Interpersonal Skills 19)
Article with no author (title in quotations): ("Prevalence of tooth loss" 201)
Include the complete citation at the end of your paper in a works cited section. Works cited are organized by the author's last name (or title in the case of no author) in alphabetic (A-Z) order. Use an hanging indent to separate each list item.
Basic Format:
Author Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. Title of Longer Work or "Title of Shorter Work." Publisher, Year. URL or DOI.
This Interactive Practice Template and Quick Guide can help with the basics of creating a works cited entry.
I'm citing a...
If accessed online or in a library database...
Check out more examples of citing online sources from the MLA Style Center.
Citing a letter, photograph, text document, graphic material, or ephemera? Consult the Gerth Archives MLA Citation Guide for Archival Materials.
The following 2019 MLA Student Paper Contest winning essays provide examples of writing in the MLA format:
1. Highlight the citaiton with your cursor.
2. Right click.
3. Select Paragraph.
4. Under Indentation, select Special and Hanging.
Microsoft Word and Google Docs have a Format Painter tool that will copy and apply basic formatting to any text!
1. Highlight the formatting you want to apply.
2. Select Format Painter.
3. Highlight the text you want to change.
Note: If using the Format Painter on the Reference List, you'll need to go back and add italics.
This guide was adapted from one created by Tessa Withorn, Carolyn Caffrey Gardner, Maggie Clarke, and Jillian Holt Eslami at CSUDH Library and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.