Modern Languages Association of America or MLA Format is the most com

Welcome to this topic entitled MLA Format. Modern Languages Association of America or MLA Format is the most commonly used bibliographic and in-text citation formats for research papers and studies concerning languages, education, arts and other professional endeavors in the fields of Liberal Arts, Humanities, Languages, Literatures, Education, Psychology, Communication, Media, Business and myriads of other related and allied academic endeavors. As student researchers, it is extremely necessary to give credit (cite) to other people’s ideas, creations, and information (sources) used within your academic work, and, through your in-text citations and Works Cited list at the end of your academic work, to direct your readers to your sources.

Intended learning outcomes

At the completion of this topic, you should be able to:

learn the basic principles and guidelines on MLA Format and citation rules;
give credit (cite) other people’s ideas, creations, and information (sources) used within your academic work; and
submit an annotated bibliography of 5 foreign literatures, 5 foreign studies as well as 5 local literatures and 5 local studies which are related to your approved research titles.

This topic is an excerpt from the MLA Handbook 8th Edition. It offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page. Needless to say, you will be given the instructions on how to cite properly your sources in order to avoid the prevalent academic offense called plagiarism.

How to avoid plagiarism in the MLA Format?

When you write and submit essays, term papers, and any other written assignments (as in all academic work), you must identify (i.e., reference, document, cite) all quotations, paraphrases, ideas, and images from other people’s work. You must name the original author or source and surround quoted material with quotation marks or set it in a block format as described in this topic.

Plagiarism involves copying any material and submitting it as your own is an academic offense. Plagiarism may result in failure on the assignment and, in some cases, failure from this research course.

General MLA Format Guidelines

The guiding principles of the MLA Format include the following basic principles, namely:

The need to include common features (e.g., author, title) found in most sources in a citation.
There is more than one correct way to create a citation for a source.
Citations should be useful for readers by giving enough information to locate the source.
Your list of references should begin on a separate page, with the title “Works Cited.”
Arrange entries alphabetically, using the last name of the author.
If no author is given, alphabetize by the title, eliminating any initial A, An, or The.
Begin each entry at the left margin. Use the hanging indention the following lines one-half inch from the left margin. You can easily do this in your Microsoft Word by selecting your bibliographic entry, right clicking it, then clicking the paragraph… in the pop-up dialog, select the drop down list entitled “special,” then select “hanging.”
Double-space within each entry, and between each entry.
Follow carefully the punctuation, underlining, and capitalization presented in the subsequent examples herein.
Shorten the name of the publishing company by eliminating articles (A, An, or The), business abbreviations (Co., Inc., Ltd.), and descriptive words (Books, House, Press). However, when citing a University Press, add the abbreviation “UP” (University of the Philippines UP).
If the publisher’s name is the name of one or more persons, cite the first surname only (Andres).

True MLA format demands that only sources actually referenced in the body of the report or essay be included in the Works Cited list at the end of your paper (“MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers” 126). For more information, see the MLA Handbook 8th Edition, Modern Language Association of America, 2016 or visit the MLA Format website www.style.mla.org.

Introduction to MLA Format

In-text citation in MLA Format involves citing your sources within the body of your academic written output. This is very much different from the page on which you will list all the resources you have consulted and borrowed things from. We call this page, Works Cited page, which is found at the end of your document. However, your in-text citations and Works Cited list should correlate. Now, we will discuss first how to do in-text citations by laying down the basic rules and following it up with a pertinent example. So, off we go!

MLA Format In-text citation

Before we discuss the specific rules, always remember that MLA Format involves a hanging indention format. Now, the in-text citation include two parts:

the surname of the author(s), but sometimes a title, whichever is the first element in your Works Cited list, and
the page number (if available or other location indicator) appears in the parenthesis after the author’s name if the name is not included in your sentence

Example: (Edwards 607)
Note that there are no quotation marks involved.

Citing ideas and findings quotations of someone else (four typed lines or fewer)

Give the author’s last name and the page number in parentheses.
Example: Educational success is a well-established determinant of Aboriginal well-being (Richard 14).

When you incorporate a direct quotation into a sentence, you must surround it with quotation marks and cite its source.

Short Quotation (Author’s name in a sentence)
Example: Richmond and Smith state that “educational success is a well-established determinant of Aboriginal well-being” (14).
Short Quotation (Author’s name in a parenthetical citation)
Example: The authors state that “educational success is a well-established determinant of Aboriginal well-being” (Richmond and Smith 14).

Citing Long Quotations (more than four typed lines in your text)

Keep your quotations a brief as possible, but if the quotation extends beyond four lines of type in your text, it should be formatted as follows:

Use a block format in which all lines of the quotation are indented a half-inch from the left margin,
Do not use quotation marks around the long quotation,
Generally, the quotation should be introduced with a complete sentence followed by a colon,
Include a parenthetical citation after the closing punctuation (usually a period).
Example: In “Where the World Began,” Margaret Laurence reflects on the influence that her hometown has on how she sees the world:
A strange place it was, that place where the world began. A place of incredible happenings, splendors and revelations, despairs like multitudinous pits of isolated hells. A place of shadow-spookiness, inhabited by the unknown dead. A place of jubilation and of mourning, horrible and beautiful. It was, in fact, a small prairie town. Because that settlement and that land were my first and for many years my only real knowledge of this planet, in some profound way they remain my world, my way of viewing. (164).

Citing Paraphrases

When you put someone else’s information into your own words by paraphrasing, you must cite the author in your work.
Example 1: Margaret Laurence writes that her early years of living in a small prairie town shape her understanding of the world (164).
Example 2: The author writes that her early years of living in a small prairie town shape her understanding of the world (Laurence 164).

Citing summaries

When you summarize information and ideas expressed by someone else, you must cite your source. No quotation marks are needed.
Example: It is estimated that the Black Death decimated the population of Paris by one-half, from 100,000 to 50,000 (Tuchman 95).

Citing Indirect Sources

If one of your sources quotes, paraphrased or mentions another source and you wish to use this information in your work, you must cite the original source as well as the source in which you found it.
In your parenthetical citation, write qtd. in (quoted in) before the citation for the source you accessed.
Whenever possible try to find the original source.
Example: A 2010 Auditor General’s report found improvements in “educational success” among urban Indigenous youth; however, educational success in the non-Indigenous population is significantly outpacing gains made by the Indigenous population (qtd. in Richmond and Smith 1).

Citing Sources with No Page Numbers

Location indicators other than page numbers may be used by your sources, particularly in electronic sources.
When using the author’s name in a parenthetical citation, place a comma after the name, followed by the location indicator.
Example: (Beer and Penfold-Mounce, par. 2.5)
These are some common location indicators and abbreviations other than pages.
Example: chapter (ch., chs.), paragraph (par., pars.), section (sec., secs.) or volume (vol., vols.)
To indicate location for time-based sources, such as video and audio, use a specific time or time range by separating the hours, minutes and seconds with colons.
Example: (Grassy Narrows First Nation Youth, 00:01:32)

Citing Poetry (for short quotations)

For short quotations, up to three lines of poetry, it does not require special emphasis, hence, it can be incorporated within your text.
Individual lines should be separated with a slash and a space on each side ( / ).
Use the original poem’s numbering system such as lines, divisions or page numbers.
Example: In “The Death of the Loch Ness Monster,” Gwendolyn MacEwan writes, “Consider him tired of pondering the possible existence of man / whom he thinks he has sighted sometimes on the shore” (14–15).

Citing Poetry (for long quotations)

Poetry quotations of more than three lines should begin on a new line introduced by a colon.
Indent lines a half inch from the left margin unless lines are indented inconsistently in the original poem, in which case, the quotation should reflect the original layout.
Use the original poem’s numbering system such as lines, divisions or page numbers.
Include a parenthetical citation after the closing punctuation (usually a period).
Individual lines should be double-spaced.
Example: Al Purdy’s “The Country North of Belleville” portrays this region as a place bereft of youth:
And this is a country where the young
leave quickly
unwilling to know what their fathers know or think the words their mothers do not say. (58-61).

Citing from a Play (short quotation)

A short quotation of fewer than four lines from a play, spoken by a single character, can be incorporated into your text.
Example: Tomson Highway’s Aria begins with the lyrical reminiscences of the Kokum, who recalls that she “[t]aught these seven daughters to tell the many moods of wind, rain of tomorrow, my five sons to hold conversation with fire and the northern lights” (81).

Citing from a Play (long quotation)

A long quotation of four or more lines or dialogue between two or more speakers should be set off from your text.
The parenthetical citation following the quotation should indicate the act, scene, and line numbers (see example). If they are not available, the citation should indicate the page number on which the quotation appears.
When quoting stage directions, treat them as any other quoted prose. Reproduce them as they appear in the original, using ellipses ( . . . ) to indicate any deleted text.
Example: Shakespeare’s use of rhyming couplets emphasizes the irony in the following exchange from A Midsummer Night’s Dream:
HERMIA I frown upon him, yet he loves me still.
HELENA O that your frowns would teach my smiles such skill!
HERMIA I give him curses, yet he gives me love. HELENA O that my prayers could such affection move! (I.i.194–97).

Author-related citation tips

If the author is unknown or the author is an organization that also published the source, use an abbreviated title including the appropriate capitalization and quotation marks/italics format.
1. Example: This example, (MLA Style 8), is a parenthetical citation for this handout, MLA Style for Academic Work.
For two authors, use “and” before the last author’s name.
1. Example: (Andres and Aldana 18)
For three or more authors, give only the first author’s last name followed by “et al.” This is a Latin abbreviation of the phrase “and others.”
1. Example: (Villafania et al. 12)
When stating an author’s name for the first time, use his/her first and last names in your sentence.
1. Example: In “Where the World Began,” Margaret Laurence describes her small prairie hometown as “a place of jubilation and of mourning, horrible and beautiful” (164).
For subsequent citations, use only the last name in your sentence or in a parenthetical citation.
1. Example: Laurence reflects on her home as “a strange place it was, that place where the world began” (164).
If your Works Cited list includes more than one work by the same author, provide a title or abbreviated title following the author’s name in your parenthetical citation.
1. Example: (Harris, “The Unrepentant” 674)
When an idea can be attributed to more than one source in your Works Cited list, separate the sources with a semicolon.
1. Example: (Laurence 165; Richmond and Smith 5)
Place citations where there is a “natural pause” in your writing (generally at the end of a sentence) to not interrupt the flow.
1. Example: It is estimated that the Black Death decimated the population of Paris by one-half, from 100,000 to 50,000 (Tuchman 95).
Fit partial quotations grammatically within your sentences rather than inserting full-sentence quotations.
1. Example: In “Where the World Began,” Margaret Laurence describes her small prairie hometown as “a place of jubilation and of mourning, horrible and beautiful” (164).
To leave out part of a quotation, insert ellipses (three periods with a space before and after each one) where the omission occurs. This may be necessary for grammar or removal of unnecessary information. In the example below the first period is a full stop while the others are ellipses.
1. Example: Laurence reflects on her home as “a strange place it was, that place where the world began. . . . It was, in fact, a small prairie town” (164).
To add or slightly change words within a quotation for grammar or clarity, put square brackets around the change.
1. Example: Participatory research methods were used; the researchers found that “embracing [capacity-building and knowledge formation] principles ensured that the research was conducted with Wabano in a culturally appropriate way” (Richmond and Smith 4).
When citing material already enclosed in quotation marks, such as dialogue or a title within a title, replace the double quotation marks in the original with single quotation marks. Then surround the entire quotation with double quotation marks.
1. Example: Laurence recalls strange things in her town as being “‘funny ha ha’; others were ‘funny peculiar,’” while some were “not so very funny at all” (166).

Quick in-text citation illustrations

Author’s name in text.
Example: Sellers had expressed that the market changed in the 17th century (91-92).
Author’s name in reference.
Example: Lot view on economic growth is not widely embraced among Historians (Cassell 9).
Multiple authors of a work.
Example: The literature also indicates (Hamilton and Spruill 231) that modest improvements have been made to training programs.
Two locations.
Example: Sellers market and democracy theory does have merit (91-92, 261).
Two works cited.
Example: (Salzman 38; Sellers 198)
References to volumes and pages.
Example: (Crowell 4: 19-22)
Corporate authors
Example: (Chrysler Group, 2009 Annual Report 36-39)
Work with no author
Example: (Time 22)

MLA Format for Works Cited Page

The works cited section of your academic paper, be it research paper, literary criticism, reflective essay, term paper, and reaction paper may be free from plagiarism if you performed the necessary in-text citations and properly coordinated with works cited section. MLA Format requires a separate page for the listing of works consulted in the course of the study and research. Herewith are the MLA Format guidelines which we will follow to craft a well-written works cited page of our written academic output.

Book with One Author
1. Author’s last name, First name and Middle initial [if available]. Italicize Title. Publication Location: Publishing Company, Year. Print.
2. Koenig, Gloria. Iconic LA: Stories of LA’s Most Memorable Buildings. Glendale: Balcony, 2000. Print.
Book with Two Or Three Authors
1. First author’s last name, First name and Middle initial [if available], Second author’s First name and Last name, and Third author’s First name and Last name. Italicize Title. Publication Location: Publishing Company, Year. Print.
2. Landau, Robert, and John Pashdag. Outrageous L.A. San Francisco: Chronicle, 1984. Print.
Book with More Than Three Authors
1. First author’s last name, First name and Middle initial [if available], et al. Italicize Title. Publication Location: Publishing Company, Year. Print.
2. Gebhard, David, et al. A Guide to Architecture in San Francisco & Northern California. Santa Barbara: Peregrine, 1973. Print.
Book with Editor’s & No Author
1. Editor’s last name, First name and Middle initial [if available], ed. Italicize Title. Publication Location: Publishing Company, Year. Print.
2. Weisser, Susan Ostrov, ed. Women and Romance: A Reader. New York: New York UP, 2001. Print.
Book with Author & Editor
1. Author’s last name, First name and Middle initial [if available]. “Title of Work in Quotations.” Italicize Book Title. Ed. Editor’s First name Middle initial [if available] and Last name. Publication Location: Publishing Company, Year. Pages. Print.
2. Sheppard, Michael. “Assessment: From Reflectivity to Process Knowledge.” Handbook for Practice Learning in Social Work and Social Care: Knowledge and Theory. Ed. Joyce Lishman. London: Jessica Kingsley, 2007. 128-137. Print.
Book with Two Editor
1. Editor’s last name, First name and Middle initial [if available], Editor’s First name Last name, eds [editors]. Title of Book. Publication Location: Publishing Company, Year. Print.
2. Townsend, Tony, and Richard Bates, eds. Handbook of Teacher Education: Globalization, Standards and Professionalism in Times of Change. Dordrecht: Springer, 2007. Print.
Anthology (Essay, short story, poem, or other collection of literary pieces)
1. Author’s last name, First name and Middle initial [if available]. “Title or Description of the Essay/Short Ptory/Poem.” Italicize Title of Book. Editor or Compiler (write Trans., Ed., or Comp.). Ed. or Comp. First name Last name. Publication Location: Publishing Company, Year. Print.
2. Orwell, George. “Such, Such Were the Joys.” The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present. Ed. Philip Lopate. New York: Anchor-Doubleday, 1994. Print.
Encyclopedia
1. “Title of Article or Entry.” Title of Reference Work. Edition. Year. Format.
2. “Los Angeles.” The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia. 15th ed. 1998. Print.
Dictionary (signed)
1. Author’s last name, First name and Middle initial. “Title of Article or Entry.” Title of Reference Work. Editor’s First name and Last name. Edition. Number of volumes in set. Publication Location: Publishing Company, Year. Format.
2. Turner, Thornton F. “Mission.” A Dictionary of Architecture and Building. Ed. Russell Sturgis. 1st ed. 3 Vols. New York: Macmillan, 1902. Print.
Article from a newspaper
1. Author’s last name, First name and Middle initial. “Title of Article.” Italicize Title of Newspaper Day Month Year of publication, edition: page number(s). Format.
2. Ouroussoff, Nicolai. “Enduring Legacy: How the Spanish Missions Still Shape Modern California.” Los Angeles Times 7 Sept. 1997, home ed.: B2+. Print.
Article from a popular magazine
1. Author’s last name, First name and Middle initial. “Title of Article.” Italicize Title of Magazine Day Month Year of publication: page numbers. Format.
2. Mezrich, Ben. “To Live and Die in L.A.” Wired May 2003: 131-135. Print.
Article from a scholarly journal with continuous pagination
1. Author’s last name, First name and Middle initial. “Title of Article.” Italicized Title of Journal volume.issue [if available] (year): page number(s). Format.
2. Faragher, John Mack. “Bungalow and Ranch House: The Architectural Backwash of California.” Western Historical Quarterly 32.2 (2001): 149-173. Print.
Article from an online full-text database
1. Author’s last name, First name and Middle initial. “Title of Article.” Italicize Title of Journal. Volume number. Issue [when issue n. is available] (year): page range. Italicize Name of Database. Format. Day Month Year [when accessed].
2. Kellogg, Craig. “Looks Count.” Interior Design. 74.3 (2003): 208-213. Academic Search Elite. Web. 24 Dec. 2009.
Webpage
1. Name of Author, Compiler, Director, Editor etc. of the work. “Title of the work.” URL title. Publisher or sponsor of the site (if not available use N.p.), Date of publication (day, month, and year, as available: if nothing is available, use n.d.). Format. Date of access (day, month and year).
2. Matthews, Kevin. “W. E. Oliver House.” Greatbuildings.com. Architecture Week Great Buildings Collection, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010.
Online Book
1. Author’s Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. Italicize Title of Work. Edition [If Applicable]. Publication of Publication: Publisher, Year. Online Library or Retrieved Source. Web. Date of access.
2. Stevenson, Robert Louis. Treasure Island. London: Cassell & Company, 1883. Google Book. Web. 1 Sept. 2015.
eBook
1. Author’s Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. Italicize Title of Work. Edition. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. Name of Database. Web. Date of access.
2. Heffron, Sean. The Skinny on Your First in College. Westport: Rand Media, 2011. eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 1 Sept. 2015.

Works cited

Bibme: The Fast & Easy Bibliography Maker. 2007. Web. 26 Nov. 2015.
“MLA Handbook for Writers, Seventh Edition.” New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2009, Print.
Purdue Owl. “MLA Formatting and Style Guide.” The Online Writing Lab at Purdue. 10 May 2008. Web. 26 Nov. 2015.
Simms, Elsie and Cathie Zarfas. MLA Essay Style Guide. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Adult Education Centre, 2006, Print.
Simms, Elsie, Cathie Zarfas and Rhonda Morrissette. Modified MLA Essay Style Guide. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Adult Education Centre, 2007, Print.
Vaughan Memorial Library. Vaughan Memorial Library: Tutorials: Plagiarism. 2004-2005. Web. 26 Nov. 2015.
Warlick, David. Son of Citation Machine. 2006. Web. 26 Nov. 2015.
Winnipeg Adult Education Centre. Student Resources, Library “MLA Handbook”. 2015. Web. 26 Nov. 2015.
http://library.acadiau.ca/sites/default/files/library/tutorials/plagiarism

MLA Format