MLA Formatting

What is MLA?

MLA=Modern Language Association

One of the tasks of this association is to publish formatting guidelines.

This organization of scholars was founded in 1883 and developed a series of formatting rules used in over 1,100 publications

MLA is considered the style of choice by academic programs across the world (especially in the humanities).

Works Cited: Book Source

In a works cited page, MLA style looks like this for a book source:

Bieber, Justin. Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever: My Story. New York: Harper Collins, 2010. Print.

Part I

Part one is the author’s name or editor’s name (last name first) followed by a period:

Bieber, Justin.

Part II

Part two is the entire title of the work written in italics and followed by a period:

Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever: My Story.

Part III

Part three is the publication information (City of publication: Name of publishing house, year of publication) This information is also followed by a period:

New York: Harper Collins, 2010.

Part IV

The last part of a citation is what type of source the piece is (Print or Web). This information is followed by a period:

Print.

All together again, it looks like this:

Bieber, Justin. Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever:

My Story. New York: Harper Collins, 2010.

Print.

Notice that the second (and any subsequent) lines of the citation are indented five spaces.

Works Cited: Web Page Sources

In an MLA works cited page, online sources still have distinct parts separated by periods; however, the formatting is somewhat different. This is what a web source looks like (notice you still use a hanging indent):

Smith, Sadie. “Justin Bieber is the rare celebrity that’s a good role model.” USA Today Online. 11 Aug. 2011. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. <http://justinbieber.info/>.

Part I

The first part is the author’s information (if available) followed by a period:

Smith, Sadie.

Part II

The second part is the name of the article (or web page) where the information was found (in quotation marks) with a period at the end:

“Justin Bieber Is The Rare Celebrity Who’s a Good Role Model.”

Part III

Part III is the name of the website, as a whole (in italics), and followed by a period:

USA Today Online.

Part IV

Part four is the date when the website was last updated (usually found at the bottom of a web page, or in the informational section of the site) with the number first, then the month abbreviation, followed by the year and a period:

11 Aug. 2011.

**If this information is not available, use n.d. for no date.**

Part V

Part five is the type of publication the source is, either print or web. For online sources, use the word Web, followed by a period:

Web.

Part VI

The next part of your citation is the date when you viewed the website with the number first, then the month abbreviation, followed by the year and a period:

16 Sept. 2014.

Part VI

The last portion of the citation is the actual URL address where you found the information, surrounded by digital carrots and ending in a period:

<http://justinbieber.info/>.

Notice that you might need to hit back space when you are done typing or pasting the URL, so that the URL doesn’t highlight or underline to link in your document.

All together again, it looks like this:

Smith, Sadie. “Justin Bieber Is The Rare Celebrity Who’s a Good Role Model.” USA Today Online. 11 Aug. 2011. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. <http://justinbieber.info/>.

Works Cited: Journal Source

In MLA formatting, journal sources from databases (like Ebscohost) also have distinct sections separated by periods. But, notice that journal sources need additional information and use different abbreviations for no page:

Armstrong, Grace. “Pop Stars: The Untold Stories.” Voices of Pop Culture 1.1 (2012): n pag. Ebscohost. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. <http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=c89763c9-2cb5-4351-a429->.

Part I

The first part is the author information, if available (last name first, first name). It is followed by a period:

Armstrong, Grace.

Part II

The next part is the entire name of the article (in quotation marks and followed by a period):

“Pop Stars: The Untold Stories.”

Part III

The third part is the journal information. First is the name of the journal where the article was originally published (in italics); then is the volume number and a period; next is the issue number and a space; and then is the year published in parenthesis; last is a colon and the page numbers of the article or n. pag for no page given. Finally, there is a period at the end.

Voices of Pop Culture 1.1 (2012): n. pag.

**If this source had pg. numbers, it would look like this: Voices of Pop Culture 1.1 (2012): 17-18.

Part IV

The fourth part of the citation is information about the database you used to find the journal. Name this database (in italics) and follow the name with a period:

Ebscohost.

Part V

The fifth part of your citation will be the medium of publication (Print or Web) followed by a period.

Web.

Part VI

The sixth part of the citation is the date when you accessed the information, in the flipped MLA format (day month year), followed by a period:

26 Feb. 2014.

Part VII

The last portion of the citation is the actual URL address (or the permalink) where you found the information, surrounded by digital carrots and ending in a period:

<http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=c89763c9

2cb5-4351-a429->.

Notice that you don’t want the text highlighted or underlined, so you might need to hit back space when you are done typing or pasting the URL.

All together again, a journal citation looks like this:

Armstrong, Grace. “Pop Stars: The Untold

Stories.” Voices of Pop Culture 1.1 (2012): n

pag. Ebscohost. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.

<http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/

detail?sid=c89763c9-

2cb5-4351-a429->.

A works cited page for these sources, then, would look like this:

Works Cited

Armstrong, Grace. “Pop Stars: The Untold Stories.” Voices of Pop Culture 1.1 (2012): n

pag. Ebscohost. Web. 6 Feb. 2014.

<http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=c89763c9-2cb5-4351-a429->.

Bieber, Justin. Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever: My Story. New York: Harper Collins, 2010. Print.

Smith, Sadie. “Justin Bieber Is The Rare Celebrity who’s a Good Role Model.” USA Today Online. 11 Aug.

2011. Web. 16 Sept. 2011. <http://justinbieber.info/>.

*Notice that all of the sources are alphabetized ,according to the first word in the citation, and that

every source uses the hanging indent style.

MLA Within Writing

We will also be working with in-text MLA formatting, which is referred to as a parenthetical citation.

An overview of in-text Citations

Within a piece of writing, MLA style calls for the use of a parenthetical citation to show where information was found.

Justin Bieber was first discovered via You-Tube (Bieber 26).

This parenthetical citation (or part in parenthesis) consists of the first word or words from the works cited list, followed by a space, and then the page number of the work the information was found, followed by a period:

Justin Bieber was first discovered via You-Tube (Bieber 26).

Website Parentheticals

For parenthetical citations from a website, the format is the same. However, if the webpage does not have page numbers, you would signify this by using n.p. (no page).

According to Billboard Magazine Online, “Justin Bieber has had an illustrious career” (James n.p.).

Why MLA?

The purpose of all MLA citations is to give your reader information about how to check your sources for clarification or more information. MLA citations also help you to avoid plagiarism.