The MLA Handbook is the official book that includes all of the rules for how to cite in MLA citation style. You can access the MLA Handbook online through the link below:
Information in this guide is based on the rules in the following official manual of the MLA 9th edition.
The information below is a brief introduction to Modern Language Association (MLA) citation style (9th edition) that highlights how to cite the most common types of sources. If you find yourself needing more advanced help, please go to the Purdue University Owl Website or contact a librarian.
MLA citation style is used mostly in the humanities. In order to follow MLA citation style you will need to:
If you paraphrase information from a source, quote a source, or use ideas or content from a source, you’ll need to cite that source in-text AND in the works cited page at the end of your paper. Each in-text citation must have an accompanying citation in your works cited page and vice versa.
You'll need to create in-text citations throughout your paper in MLA format. An in-text citation in MLA includes the author(s) last name(s) and the page number where you found the information. In-text citations denote the source where you found the preceding information and they are often in parentheses at the end of a sentence.
(Author(s) last name(s), page number where you found the information)
In parentheses write the Author’s last name followed by the page number where you found the information.
ex: (Kendi 6)
A racist idea is an idea that suggests that certain racial groups are better than others (Kendi 6).
In parentheses write the Authors’ last names in the order they appear on your source followed by the page number where you found the information.
ex: (Bamber and Schneider 3)
Mindfulness training includes non-judgmental awareness (Bamber and Schneider 3).
In parentheses write the first author’s last name followed by “et al.” (short for “and others” in Latin) and then the page number where you found the information.
ex: (Qin et al. 172)
In China, researchers have found that college educated rural migrants work more hours and receive fewer social benefits than college educated local urban workers (Qin et al. 172).
Visit the Purdue University OWL website for help with what to do if your source has no author, no page numbers (i.e. podcast, film, lecture notes), or a corporate author (such as a government agency or organization).
NOTE: For more assistance, view the MLA Works Cited Quick Guide.
To create a citation for a book, journal article, or any other source, you’ll use the following template of nine elements in order, starting with author.
Author.
In the previous section, elements 3 through 9 are elements that you’ll find in the “container” of a source. A source being within a container is a concept that MLA citation created. Here are some examples of containers:
A newspaper is the container for a newspaper article.
Therefore, element 3 above could be the title of a database, newspaper, podcast, blog etc. Note that a source can have more than one container. A journal article that you find in a library database online has two containers: the journal the article comes from, and the database where you found the article. You’ll see an example citation for a journal article below which includes both containers, the journal and the database.
Sometimes you’ll need to invert an author’s name which means you’ll write their last name, then a comma, and then their first and middle name as it’s presented on the source.
if your source has one author, invert the author’s name.
Author(s). “Title of blog post.” Title of Blog in Italics, Publisher of Blog, date created, URL.
| Devine, Scott W. “Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow: The Rural Free Delivery Segregated Saddlebag.” National Postal Museum Blog, Smithsonian, 28 July 2020, postalmuseum.si.edu/black-citizenship-in-the-age-of-jim-crow-the-rural-free-delivery-segregated-saddlebag. |
Author(s). Title of Book in Italics. Publisher, year of publication.
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Kendi, Ibram X. How to be an Antiracist. One World, 2019. |
Author(s). Title of Book in Italics. Publisher, year of publication. Database where you accessed the ebook, permalink.
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Butler, Judith. Undoing Gender. Routledge, 2004. Ebscohost Ebook Academic Collection, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=e000xna&AN=110587&site=ehost-live&custid=s8424941. |
Editor(s) name(s), editor. Title of Book in Italics. Publisher, year of publication.
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Hall, Alice, editor. The Routledge Companion to Literature and Disability. Routledge, 2020. |
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Brickell, Chris, and Judith Collard, editors. Queer Objects. Rutgers University Press, 2019. |
Title of Film in italics. Directed by _________, Publisher, year of publication.
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Selma. Directed by Ava DuVernay, Pathe Productions, 2014. |
Author(s). "Title of Journal Article". Title of Journal in Italics, volume number, issue number, publication date, pp. ___-___. Database where you accessed the article, DOI or permalink.
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Bamber, Mandy D., and Joanne Kraenzle Schneider. “Mindfulness-based Meditation to Decrease Stress and Anxiety in College Students: A Narrative Synthesis of the Research.” Educational Research Review, vol. 18, May 2016, pp. 1-32. ScienceDirect, doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2015.12.004. |
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Qin, Lijian, et al. “The Working and Living Conditions of College-Educated Rural Migrants in China.” Asian Population Studies, vol. 14, no. 2, 2017, pp. 172-193. SocIndex, doi.org/10.1080/17441730.2017.1379674. |
Author(s). "Title of News Article." Title of Magazine or Newspaper etc in Italics, volume and issue number, Publication date, page range, url.
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Cohen, Noam. “One Woman’s Mission to Rewrite Nazi history on Wikipedia.” WIRED, 7 Sept. 2021, www.wired.com/story/one-womans-mission-to-rewrite-nazi-history-wikipedia/. |
Author(s). "Title of page." Name of Website in Italics, Publication date, url.
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“Facts and Figures: Economic Empowerment.” UN Women, Jul. 2018, www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/economic-empowerment/facts-and-figures. *Because the organization who authored the page (UN Women) is the name as the site name, you can omit the author and begin the citation with the page title. |
NOTE: Your instructor may ask for different formatting. Follow your instructor’s guidelines for formatting if they differ from what is listed below.
On the first page of your paper along the left margin write the following in order double-spaced:
If your quote spans four lines of your paper or fewer, put quotation marks around the quote and then make sure to create your in-text citation. If your quote is more than 4 lines of your paper, create a block quotation: end your writing leading up to the quote with a colon and indent the whole quote .5 inches from the left margin to make your quote look like a block of text. Visit the Purdue OWL website to see an example.
1 inch margins on top, bottom, left and right.
Double space your entire paper including the works cited page.
Your last name and the page number should go on the top right of every page as a header.
Start your works cited on a new page. Write the words “Works Cited” at the top of the page, centered. Then list your citations alphabetically. If a citation takes up more than one line on the page, indent all lines after the first line by .5 inches from the left margin (this is called a hanging indent).
How to create a hanging indent in Word:
How to create a hanging indent in Google Docs:
