How to properly cite a source in mla format

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The Modern Language Association (MLA) has its own guidelines for citing sources, and you may be required to use them by your instructor or field. The standards are laid out in the MLA Handbook. The MLA's guidelines are frequently updated, however, and keeping track of the details can be a handful. The eighth edition (2016) is the latest version, designed to more intuitively deal with both traditional print and electronic media with the concepts of “sources” and "containers."

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   Place the author’s name and the page number in parentheses. Whenever you quote from or paraphrase a source in your writing, you should include an in-text citation. The basic format recommends putting the last name of the author of the source, followed by the page number, in parentheses.[1]

   • For example, if you are quoting from page 28 of John Francis’ book Planetwalker, you would reference this as (Francis 28).
   • If the work has multiple authors, list them. For example: (Ohlin and Upson 127)
   • If the source has more than three authors, just use the first one and the abbreviation “et al.”: (Ohlin et al. 127)

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   Include the most relevant information for non-print sources. Many digital, visual, and auditory formats do not have page numbers or other information that corresponds to that used when citing traditional print sources. The MLA recommends using the most relevant information you can find (like an author’s name or title) when citing such sources. For instance:[2]

   • If you are citing an article by Frank Miller from CNN.com called “Midnight in Gotham City” that does not have page numbers, your parenthetical citation can be simply (Miller).
   • Since page numbers for ebooks will vary from device to device, include the chapter number or other section heading instead, if possible: (Miller ch. 2).

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   Place the parenthetical citation at the end of the line of text. Position the parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence where you include the quote or reference. The parenthetical citation should come before the period at the end of the sentence.[3]

   • If you are including a long, indented block quote, however, place the parenthetical citation after the final period.

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   Alter the basic format if necessary. If a source does not have a named author, just put a shortened version of the title followed by the page number in the parenthetical citation. If you are citing multiple works by the same author, include a brief title of the source. For example, you may have parenthetical citations that look like:[4]

   • (“Report on International Banking Regulations”), for a website with this title but no listed author or page numbers.
   • (Franken “Wake Up!” 99) and (Franken “Dawn in America” 87), if you are citing two works by Franken.

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   Use a limited citation if your text contains signal words. You don’t have to make your writing cluttered with repeated information. If your text makes clear the source/author you are citing, just include the page number in parentheses.[5]

   • For instance, you may have a sentence that looks something like: “Jasmine Whitaker discusses the concept of ‘hyperspeed reading’ in her second book, Read ‘til You Drop (45).”

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   Keep track of consecutive citations. If you reference the same work several times in row, you can use a short form parenthetical citation. Your reader will assume the subsequent citations reference the same source. Give a full citation when you reference a new work. For instance:

   • ”The concept of ‘hyperspeed reading’ describes a method for reading far more quickly than normal (Whitaker 45). It asks that readers ‘guess what a text will say before they actually read each line’ (47). Other scholars doubt that readers can make substantial use of this technique, citing concerns like ‘the lack of attention given to things one hasn’t seen yet’ (Jackson 128).”

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   Check the MLA style guide if you are doing more advanced research. The basic format of in-text citations is useful and acceptable for many forms of writing. However, if you are doing specialized research or writing for a specific audience, you may be expected to include additional information in your citations, such as edition or chapter numbers.[6]

   • The MLA Handbook contains official guidelines on more specialized citation needs.
   • If you are a student, check with your teacher about what kind of citation requirements you may need to follow.

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   Gather the information that identifies each source. The most recent set of MLA guidelines relies on a set of principles that will allow you to cite any type of source, rather than a set of separate rules for different media (book, website, film, interview, podcast, etc.). You will list the details, with a period between each. Include any information you can find on the work’s:[7]

   • Author(s)
   • Title
   • Version
   • Number
   • Publisher
   • Publication date
   • Location (where you found the source)

   Expert Answer

   A wikiHow reader asked: "How do you set up an MLA works cited page?"

   Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014.

   

   EXPERT ADVICE

   Christopher Taylor, English professor, advises: "Start by typing "Works Cited" and centering it at the top of a blank page. Then include all of your bibliographic citations in alphabetical order, indenting every line after the first line for each bibliographic entry."

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   Put the author and title of the source first. List the author (if known) starting with the last name. Follow with the full title of the source. If there is no author, just begin with the title. For instance: Francis, John. Planetwalker.[8]

   • Generally, the titles of things like songs, poems, and articles are given in quotation marks. Books, films, television series and other large works are italicized.
   • If a work has multiple authors, list them in the same order they are given in the source. Put only the first author in last name, first name order.

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   Indicate if the source is located in a “container.” Some sources are contained within other other works. This applies to both traditional and new media, so for simplicity the MLA now refers to the works sources are nested in as “containers.” If your source has a container, list it after the title. Examples of containers include:[9]

   • An article in a journal title (follow the article title in quotation marks with the journal title in italics: Jacobus, Francis. "Early American Pottery Designs." American Historical Review.)
   • A website hosting an article (follow the article title in quotation marks with the brief web address in italics: Miller, Frank. "Gotham City at Night." CNN.com.)
   • A poem in a poetry collection (list the title of the collection in italics after the title of the poem in quotation marks: Yeats, William Butler. "Sailing to Byzantium." Twentieth Century Poetry.)
   • A television series (list the television series in italics after the episode title in quotation marks: "Hush." Buffy the Vampire Slayer.)

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   List other contributors, if applicable. Some works may have contributors other than the primary author. For instance, a book may have a translator, editor or illustrator. If this applies to your work, give the other contributors after any details about containers.[10]

   • For example: Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. Translated by Constance Garnett.

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   Provide the edition, version, volume, and number information, if present. For example, an article in a journal will typically belong to a certain volume number, some books will be published in different edition numbers (first, second, third, etc.), and television episodes will be a certain number in an ordered series. If any of this information applies to your source, list it next.[11]

   • For example: Jacobus, Francis. "Early American Pottery Designs." American Historical Review. Vol. 6, no. 2.

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   Identify the publisher and date. For traditional print sources, the publisher is the organization that issues the text. Other examples of publishers might include a television show’s production company, a scholarly organization that issues a journal, or a museum that hosts a webpage on modern art. Follow this information with the date of publication.[12]

   • For some media, like books or journal articles, the publication date may be given as a year. For example: Francis, John. Planetwalker. National Geographic Society, 2005.
   • For others, like newspaper articles, the full date is provided in date/month/year format. For example: Frankl, Jo. “Killer Bees are on the Rise.” Dallas Times. 14 June 2017.

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   List location information. An MLA works cited entry should list information about where the information was found. For a source like a chapter in a book or a journal article, you could provide page numbers. If you are citing an artwork, list the museum it is located in. If you are citing a website, include the URL.[13]

   • The MLA now recommends including URLs for internet sources. If you are a student, your teacher may or may not ask for these.
   • You can include a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) instead of a URL, if one is provided.
   • For example: Jacobus, Francis. "Early American Pottery Designs." American Historical Review. Vol. 6, no. 2, 2016. DOI: 10.1326/history.1064107

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   Indicate whether the source has a second container. Some sources are nested within larger containers, particularly when it comes to ones accessed electronically. For instance, you might cite an article in a journal that is hosted on JSTOR, a television series episode you watched via Netflix, or see a music video that is hosted on YouTube. If this applies to your source, include the information at the end of the entry.[14]

   • For example: Jacobus, Francis. "Early American Pottery Designs." American Historical Review. Vol. 6, no. 2, 2016. JSTOR. DOI: 10.1326/history.1064107

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   Format your works cited page. Put all of the source entries you have together in a page or section called “Works Cited.” List the sources in alphabetical order. Double space and use hanging indentation to make the list easier to read.[15]

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• Question

  How do I cite a website in MLA format?

  

  Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014.

  

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  Support wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer.

  This article contains information about citing websites in MLA format. You will likely need to find the title of the webpage, the name of the website, the author (if there is one), and a "second container," if applicable.

• Question

  How do you do in-text citations for MLA?

  

  Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014.

  

  English Professor

  Expert Answer

• Question

  How do you cite sources?

  

  Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014.

  

  English Professor

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Article SummaryX

To cite sources in the Modern Language Association format, you’ll need to include a brief in-text citation whenever you quote another work. You only need to include the author’s last name and the page number of the text in brackets. Put this at the end of your sentence. At the end of your essay, you’ll also need to include a “Works Cited” page. Here you should include the author’s last name, then first named, followed by the title of the work. If it’s a book, film, or other long-form work, italicize the title. Or, if it’s a song, poem, article, or short story contained within a larger work, put the title in quotation marks, followed by the book, album, or journal in italics. After that, write the edition number, publisher, date of publication, then page numbers. List your citations alphabetically by the authors’ last names. For more tips from our Teaching co-author, including how to cite texts written by multiple authors in MLA format, read on!

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