cite critical essay mla

Note that, in most cases, a responsible researcher will attempt to find the original source, rather than citing an indirect source.

Citing Non-Print or Sources from the Internet

With more and more scholarly work being posted on the Internet, you may have to cite research you have completed in virtual environments. While many sources on the Internet should not be used for scholarly work (reference the OWL's Evaluating Sources of Information resource), some Web sources are perfectly acceptable for research. When creating in-text citations for electronic, film, or Internet sources, remember that your citation must reference the source in your Works Cited.

Sometimes writers are confused with how to craft parenthetical citations for electronic sources because of the absence of page numbers, but often, these sorts of entries do not require any sort of parenthetical citation at all. For electronic and Internet sources, follow the following guidelines:

• Include in the text the first item that appears in the Work Cited entry that corresponds to the citation (e.g. author name, article name, website name, film name).
• You do not need to give paragraph numbers or page numbers based on your Web browser’s print preview function.
• Unless you must list the website name in the signal phrase in order to get the reader to the appropriate entry, do not include URLs in-text. Only provide partial URLs such as when the name of the site includes, for example, a domain name, like CNN.com or Forbes.com as opposed to writing out http://www.cnn.com or http://www.forbes.com.

Miscellaneous Non-Print Sources

In the two examples above “Herzog” from the first entry and “Yates” from the second lead the reader to the first item each citation’s respective entry on the Works Cited page:

Herzog, Werner, dir. Fitzcarraldo . Perf. Klaus Kinski. Filmverlag der Autoren, 1982. Film.

Yates, Jane. "Invention in Rhetoric and Composition." Gaps Addressed: Future Work in Rhetoric and Composition, CCCC, Palmer House Hilton, 2002. Print.

Electronic Sources

In the first example, the writer has chosen not to include the author name in-text; however, two entries from the same author appear in the Works Cited. Thus, the writer includes both the author’s last name and the article title in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader to the appropriate entry on the Works Cited page (see below). In the second example, “Stolley et al.” in the parenthetical citation gives the reader an author name followed by the abbreviation “et al.,” meaning, “and others,” for the article “MLA Formatting and Style Guide.” Both corresponding Works Cited entries are as follows:

Garcia, Elizabeth. "Herzog: a Life." Online Film Critics Corner . The Film School of New Hampshire, 2 May 2002. Web. 8 Jan. 2009.

Stolley, Karl. "MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The OWL at Purdue. 10 May 2006. Purdue University Writing Lab. 12 May 2006 .

Multiple Citations

To cite multiple sources in the same parenthetical reference, separate the citations by a semi-colon:

When a Citation Is Not Needed

Common sense and ethics should determine your need for documenting sources. You do not need to give sources for familiar proverbs, well-known quotations or common knowledge. Remember, this is a rhetorical choice, based on audience. If you're writing for an expert audience of a scholarly journal, for example, they'll have different expectations of what constitutes common knowledge.

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9.4: MLA Works Cited page

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Works Cited for Literature Essays

Every literature essay must have a Works Cited page as the last page(s) of the essay. On this page should appear any sources used during the writing process. There are not really any meaningful differences between Works Cited pages for regular MLA-style essays and literature essays. The one aspect slightly unique in literature essays is the difference between primary and secondary sources. The primary source is going to be the work of literature itself which the essay focuses upon. A secondary source is any literary criticism written about the primary source. The citations for primary sources and secondary sources should all appear on the Works Cited page, listed alphabetically.

Basic Format for Works Cited Entries -- Shorter Works

Author Last Name, Author First Name. “Title of Short Work Such as Poem or Short Story.” Publication (Anthology or Longer Work) . Publisher Name, Publication Date.

Basic Format for Works Cited Entries -- Longer Works

Author Last Name, Author First Name. Title of Long Work (Novel, Play, Book-length manuscript). Publisher Name, Publication Date.

Pro-tip: if retrieving literary criticism from an online archive, look for the “Cite” button, which should automatically generate a citation which students can copy and paste into their Works Cited page. There are also online citation tools available like Easybib, Noodletools, or CiteKnight. Whatever citation tool students use, they should make sure to double-check the citations against the information above, as often times the citations generated have errors. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure citations adhere to MLA requirements and specific to their reference work. Students may wish to consult the Purdue Online Writing Lab or the MLA Official Style Guide for further guidance.

How to Create a Works Cited Entry for a Text which Appears in this Anthology

For students using the online version of this textbook:

Author Last Name, Author First Name. “Title.” Introduction to Literature and Critical Thinking , edited by Cristina Lopez-Bowlin, 2021. Libretexts , URL of specific text. Accessed Date.

Example of a Works Cited Page for a Literature Essay

Works Cited

Boehrer, Bruce Thomas. Animal Characters: Nonhuman Beings in Early Modern Literature. U of Pennsylvania P, 2010.

Cavendish, Margaret. “The Hunting of the Hare.” UC Press E-books Collection , publishing.cdlib. org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=kt7q2nc9xn&chunk.id=ss1.55&toc.depth=100&toc.id=ch09&brand=eschol. Accessed 3 October 2013.

Damrosch, David and Kevin J. H. Dettmar. “Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle.” The Longman Anthology: British Literature , edited by David Damrosch and Kevin J. H. Dettmar, Longman, 2010, pp. 2060-63.

Landry, Donna. “Green Languages? Women Poets as Naturalists in 1653 and 1807.” Huntington Library Quarterly , vol. 63, no.4, 2000, pp. 467-89. JSTOR . www.jstor.org/stable/3817613. Accessed 2 Oct. 2013.

Rees, Emma L.E. Margaret Cavendish: Gender, Genre, Exile . Manchester UP, 2003. EBSCOHost , libproxy. ung.edu/login?url=search.ebscohost.com/login. aspx?direct=true&db=mzh&AN=2004581244&site=e ds-live&scope=site. Accessed 8 Nov. 2013.

Salzman, Paul. Reading Early Modern Women’s Writing. Oxford UP, 2006.

Note: Your Works Cited page should be double-spaced and use a hanging indent.

Literary Criticism: MLA Citations

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Citing a source from a database

Where do I find this information for a book?

Online Citation Resources

• Duke University Guide to Citations Provides resources on how to cite in both APA and MLA format and includes information in avoiding plagiarism.
• Owl Purdue Online Writing Lab This site provides information on how to cite information in both APA and MLA format. Information on how to generally write as well as specific styles such as in the humanities is also discussed.
• University of Chicago Demonstrates the citation method used for Research Papers,Theses, Dissertations
• University of Wisconsin Writing Center Provides demonstration of Chicago/Turabian documentation style.
• Long Island University Citation Style Guides & Management Tools
• Owl Purdue Writing Lab This American Sociological Association (ASA) style guide includes information about manuscript formatting, in-text citations, formatting the references page, and accepted manuscript writing style.
• American Sociological Association This information is provided by the American Sociological Association (ASA) to assist sociology majors about manuscript formatting, in-text citations, formatting the references page, and accepted manuscript writing style.

When citing a book in MLA format, don't forget to  italicize  the book's title and add which format (medium) the book is in (print, web).

Reference Librarian

In writing your research paper, you will usually use the ideas of previous authors.  In order to use and build on those ideas in your paper, you must  cite  where information comes from.

There are three main reasons why you need to cite:

1. Helps to prevent plagiarism 

2.This allows anyone reading your paper enough information to find the sources you used

3. Gives credit to the author

How to Cite a Website

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9 How and Why to Cite

Katelyn Burton

One of the most important skills you can develop as a student is the ability to use outside sources correctly and smoothly. Academic knowledge builds on the knowledge of others. When we cite others through our quotations and paraphrases, we start with ideas established by others and build upon them to develop our own ideas.

Specifically, this section will offer answers to these questions:

1.       What is a quotation?

2.       When should I quote?

3.       How long should a quotation be?

4.       What is a paraphrase?

5.       When should I paraphrase?

6.       What is effective paraphrasing?

7.       When does paraphrasing become plagiarism?

8.       How do I use signal phrases to introduce quotations and paraphrases?

9.       How do I make a quotation work with the grammar of my own sentence?

10.     How do I make a quotation work with the grammar of my own sentence if I am not quoting a complete sentence?

11.    What punctuation should I use with quotations?

12.    What is plagiarism?

13.    Why should I cite?

14.    How can I avoid plagiarism?

15.    What is common knowledge?

16.    What is MLA?

17.    How do I format references?

18.    What do I do if my source differs from the basic pattern for a reference?

19.    How do I format in-text citations?

1. What is a quotation?

A quotation is one way you may make use of a source to support and illustrate points in your essay. A quotation is made up of exact words from the source, and you must be careful to let your reader know that these words were not originally yours. To indicate your reliance on exact words from a source, either place the borrowed words between quotation marks or if the quotation is four lines or more, use indentation to create a block quotation.

Once you have determined that you want to use a quotation, the following strategies will help you smoothly fit quotations into your writing. We will discuss these strategies in more detail later in this chapter.

• Signal phrases help you integrate quoted material into your essay.
• Quotations must be made to work within the grammar of your sentences, whether you are quoting phrases or complete sentences.
• Quotations must be properly punctuated.
• Quotations must contain a citation.

2. When should I quote?

Quote when the exact wording is necessary to make your point. For example, if you were analyzing the style choices in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, you would quote because it would be important to illustrate the unforgettable language or to use exact wording in a discussion of word choice and sentence structure. You would also quote if the exact wording captures information, tone, or emotion that would be lost if the source were reworded. Use quotations to assist with conciseness if it would take you longer to relate the information if you were to put it into your own words. Finally, if you cannot reword the information yourself and retain its meaning, you should quote it.

Source : It has begun. It is awful—continuous and earthquaking.

Quoting to preserve emotion : One nurse described an exchange between the two sides as “awful—continuous and earthquaking” (Burton 120).

3. How long should a quotation be?

Quote only as many words as necessary to capture the information, tone, or expression from the original work for the new context that you are providing. Lengthy quotations actually can backfire on a writer because key words from the source may be hidden among less important words. In addition, your own words will be crowded out. Never quote a paragraph when a sentence will do; never quote a sentence when a phrase will do; never quote a phrase when a word will do.

Quoting everything : One nurse described an artillery exchange between the two sides. She wrote, “It has begun. It is awful—continuous and earthquaking” (Burton 120).

Quoting key words : One nurse described an artillery exchange between the two sides as “awful—continuous and earthquaking” (Burton 120).

4. What is a paraphrase?

A paraphrase preserves information from a source but does not preserve its exact wording. A paraphrase uses vocabulary and sentence structure that is largely different from the language in the original. A paraphrase may preserve specialized vocabulary shared by everyone in a field or discipline; otherwise, the writer paraphrasing a source starts fresh, creating new sentences that repurpose the information in the source so that the information plays a supportive role its new location.

5. When should I paraphrase?

Paraphrase when information from a source can help you explain or illustrate a point you are making in your own essay, but when the exact wording of the source is not crucial.

Source : The war against piracy cannot be won without mapping and dividing the tasks at hand. I divide this map into two parts: that which anyone can do now, and that which requires the help of lawmakers.

Paraphrase : Researchers argue that legislators will need to address the problem but that other people can get involved as well (Lessig 563).

If you were analyzing Lessig’s style, you might want to quote his map metaphor; however, if you were focusing on his opinions about the need to reform copyright law, a paraphrase would be appropriate.

6. What is effective paraphrasing?

Effective paraphrasing repurposes the information from a source so that the information plays a supportive role in its new location. This repurposing requires a writer to rely on her own sentence structure and vocabulary. She creates her own sentences and chooses her own words so the source’s information will fit into the context of her own ideas and contribute to the development of her thesis.

Source : Citizens of this generation witnessed the first concerted attempt to disseminate knowledge about disease prevention and health promotion, downplaying or omitting altogether information about disease treatment.

Effective Paraphrase : Murphy pointed out that in the first half of the nineteenth century, people worked hard to spread information about how to prevent disease but did not emphasize how to treat diseases (415).

7. When does paraphrasing become plagiarism?

A paraphrase should use vocabulary and sentence structure different from the source’s vocabulary and sentence structure. Potential plagiarism occurs when a writer goes through a sentence from a source and inserts synonyms without rewriting the sentence as a whole.

Potential plagiarism : People of this period observed the first organized effort to share information about preventing disease and promoting health, deemphasizing or skipping completely information about treating diseases (Murphy 141).

The sentence structure of the bad paraphrase is identical to the sentence structure of the source, matching it almost word for word. The writer has provided an in-text citation pointing to Murphy as the source of the information, but she is, in fact, plagiarizing because she hasn’t written her own sentence.

8. How do I use signal phrases to introduce quotations and paraphrases?

Use signal phrases that mention your source to help your reader distinguish between the source and your own ideas. Do not drop quotes into your paper with no setup or explanation. This is your paper and your arguments must be supported; this includes showing how the quote or paraphrase connects to and proves your ideas. A signal verb introduces the quote that is coming and indicates your stance towards the material.

Figure 7.2  Some Sample Signal Verbs

Use different verbs of expression to avoid being monotonous but also because some verbs are better for setting up the point you are making. For example, to stress weakness in a source’s argument, you might choose to write that your source admits or concedes a point.

Paraphrase with signal phrase:

As the author points out, quotations are great, but sometimes paraphrases are better (DeVries 3).

Quotation with signal phrase:

In her diary, the nurse lamented that “one of the most stabbing things in this war is seeing the lines of empty motor ambulances going up to bring down the wrecks who at this moment are sound and fit” (Burton 413).

Some signal phrases do not make use of verbs but rely on signal phrases like according to or in the opinion of or in the words of .

9. How do I make a quotation work with the grammar of my own sentence?

Each quotation should be an element inside one of your own sentences and should not stand alone.

Example of an incorrect placement of quotation:

The author wrote about conditions for nurses during World War I. “One of the most stabbing things in this war is seeing the lines of empty motor ambulances going up to bring down the wrecks who at this moment are sound and fit” (Burton 441).

Notice that the quotation stands alone. It is not an element within one of your own sentences. Some beginning writers might try to correct the problem by changing the period after “World War II” to a comma. However, that simply tacks one sentence to the end of another and creates a punctuation error. Instead, each quotation must work within the grammar of one of your sentences.

One way to make a quotation work with sentence grammar is to place it after a verb of expression.

The author states, “One of the most stabbing things in this war is seeing the lines of empty motor ambulances going up to bring down the wrecks who at this moment are sound and fit” (Burton 498).

10. How do I make a quotation work with the grammar of my own sentence if I am not quoting a complete sentence?

A quoted phrase can play any number of roles in the grammar of a sentence: verb, subject or object, adjective or adverb. Look at the example below and pretend that there are no quotation marks. Would the sentence still be grammatical? Yes. That shows that the quoted material works with the grammar of the sentence.

The nurse makes the ambulances sound like tow trucks going to retrieve demolished vehicles when she writes that it was horrible to watch “empty motor ambulances going up to bring down the wrecks” of men (Burton 72).

To integrate a quotation into a sentence, omitting words from the source is acceptable if you follow two rules: use ellipses (…) to signal the omission and avoid distorting the source’s meaning. It is also acceptable to adjust capitalization and grammar provided that you follow two rules: use brackets [ ] to signal the change and, again, avoid distorting the source’s meaning.

Lessig argues against the position that “[f]ile sharing threatens… the ability of creators to earn a fair return from their creativity” (Lessig 203).

When he wrote his book, nearly everyone in the music industry felt that “[f]ile sharing threaten[ed]…the ability of creators to earn a fair return from their creativity” (Lessig 203).

11. What punctuation should I use with quotations?

Place quotation marks at the start and the end of direct quotations unless the quotation is long enough to justify the use of the block quotation format (four lines or more).

The in-text, or parenthetical, citation shows your reader where your quotation or paraphrase ends. In-text citations are inserted after the final quotation marks. An in-text citation is not found in the words that you are quoting; it is something you create to identify the source for your readers.

If the quotation immediately follows a verb capturing the act of expression, place a comma after the verb:

As the author wrote, “A free culture has been our past, but it will only be our future if we change the path we are on right now” (Lessig 287).

Under limited circumstances, a colon (:) can be used to introduce a quotation. The quotation must re-identify or restate a phrase or idea that immediately precedes the colon.

Lessig reached a radical conclusion about copyrighted material: “It should become free if it is not worth $1 to you” (251).

12. What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is using someone else’s work without giving him or her credit.  “Work” includes text, ideas, images, videos, and audio. In the academic world, you must follow these rules:

• When you use the exact words, you must use quotation marks and provide a citation.
• When you put the information into your own words, you must provide a citation.
• When you use an image, audio, or video created by someone else, you must provide a citation.

Plagiarism could happen with a sentence, a paragraph, or even just a word! For example, Stephen Colbert, of the television show The Colbert Report, made up the word “truthiness,” meaning something that sounds like it should be true. If you say in a paper something has a ring of “truthiness,” you should cite Colbert. If someone else’s words catch your interest, you should cite them.

Figure 7.3 Colbert in May 2009

Key Takeaway

Plagiarism is a serious academic offense. Penalties can range from failing the assignment to failing the course to being expelled. See the VWCC Student Policies (https://tinyurl.com/ycoznkku) webpage for more information about academic misconduct and penalties.

Writing at Work

Plagiarism isn’t just a problem in the academic world. There are many examples of people who plagiarized at work and faced severe consequences. Jonah Lehrer  (https://tinyurl.com/yb2ah7me), an author and staff writer for The New Yorker , fabricated quotes and copied previous work for his book Imagine . Once his plagiarism was revealed, his book was removed from bookstores and he was forced to resign from his job.

13. Why should I cite?

Whenever you use sources, it is important that you document them completely and accurately. You make your work more useful to your reader through complete and careful documentation, so you should think of documentation as essential rather than as an  “add on” tacked on at the last minute.

When asked why you should cite your sources, many students reply, “So you don’t get accused of plagiarizing.” It is true that you must provide citations crediting others’ work so as to avoid plagiarism, but scholars use citations for many other (and more important!) reasons:

• To make your arguments more credible.  You want to use the very best evidence to support your claims.  For example, if you are citing a statistic about a disease, you should be sure to use a credible, reputable source like the World Health Organization or Centers for Disease Control (CDC). When you tell your reader the statistic comes from such a source, she will know to trust it– and thereby trust your argument more.
• To show you’ve done your homework.  You want to make it clear to your audience that you’ve researched your subject, tried hard to inform yourself, and know what you are talking about.  As you dive deeper into your research, you will probably find certain authors are experts on the topic and are mentioned in most of the articles and books.  You should read these experts’ works and incorporate them into your paper.
• To build a foundation for your paper.  Great breakthroughs in scholarship are accomplished by building on the earlier, groundbreaking work of others. For example, Isaac Newton’s law of universal gravitation would not have been possible without Johannes Kepler’s law of planetary motion.  What articles, books, and texts, inspired you to create your argument?  You are not the first person to ever consider this issue. You want to provide references to the works which led to your thesis.
• To allow your readers to find the sources for themselves.  Someone interested in your topic may be inspired to read some of the sources you used to write your paper.  The citation within the paper tells readers what part of your argument is addressed by a particular source, and the full citation in the bibliography provides the information needed to track down that original research.

Citing sources doesn’t just save you from plagiarizing, it also adds credibility to your arguments, helps you build a strong foundation for your work, and helps your readers locate more information about your topic.

14. How can I avoid plagiarism?

Don’t procrastinate .  Students who rush make careless mistakes, such as forgetting to include a particular citation or not having all the information needed for documentation. Students under pressure may also make poor choices, such as not documenting sources and hoping the professor won’t notice. Your professor will notice.

Take careful notes .  You need to be very clear in your notes whether you are writing down word-for-word what you found somewhere else, or if you are jotting down your own idea. You should take down all the information you will need to create your citations.

Cite your sources. Whenever you quote, paraphrase, summarize, or share an unusual fact, tell your reader where the information came from.

Document at the same time you draft . As you begin drafting, prepare a correctly formatted Works Cited page that captures the information also needed for in-text citations. Insert citations into your paper as you are writing it. If you cite-as-you-go, you won’t consume time looking up information all over again at the end, and you make it less likely that you will misidentify or omit necessary documentation.

Get comfortable with the required citation style .  The most commonly used citation styles are APA, MLA, and Chicago/Turabian.  While they share many similarities, they also have differing requirements about what and when to cite. In English, we use MLA style. See section number 16 for more information about MLA citations.

Figure 7.5 Citations

Ask your professor . If you’re not sure about citing something, check with your instructor. Learning when to cite, how to lead-in to sources, and how to integrate them into your sentence structures and ideas takes place over time and with feedback.

Don’t put off creating your citations until the last minute. Cite as you go and don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it along the way.

15. What is common knowledge?

Common knowledge is information that is accepted and known so widely you do not need to cite it:

• Common sayings or cliches . Examples: Curiosity killed the cat.  Ignorance is bliss.
• Facts that can be easily verified . As you are conducting your research on a topic, you will see the same facts repeated over and over.  Example: You are writing a paper on presidential elections, and you want to mention that Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980.  Although you might not have known this fact before your research, you have seen it multiple times and no one ever argues about it.
• Facts that you can safely assume your readers know .  Examples: Richmond is the capital of Virginia. The North won the U.S. Civil War.  Fish breathe using gills.

Not all facts are common knowledge. You will still need to cite:

• Facts that surprise you or your reader .  Example: Michelangelo was shorter than average (Hughes and Elam 4).
• Facts that include statistics or other numbers . Example: As of June 2009, forty-two states had laws that explicitly ban gay marriage, and six states have legalized it (U.S. Department of Labor).
• If you use the exact words of another writer, even if the content could be considered common knowledge .  Example: Lincoln’s first campaign dates to “1832, when he ran as a Whig for the Illinois state legislature from the town of New Salem and lost” (Lincoln 451).

Common knowledge can be course-specific.  For example, the number of bones in the leg could be considered common knowledge in an athletic training course. However, if you are using that fact in an English paper, you cannot assume your professor would have that knowledge, and you would need to cite it.

Deciding if something is common knowledge is tricky and can vary depending on your course and your topic. When in doubt, ask your professor for advice.

16. What is MLA?

Different fields prefer different methods of documenting the use of sources. In English, the citation style is called MLA, from the initials of the Modern Language Association. When it comes to documentation, learn to notice and apply the particular style that you are asked to use. Brown Library has online citation guides (http://infoguides.virginiawestern.edu/citations) for several styles.

Citations aren’t just for research papers and schoolwork. Any time you use outside sources, including in a speech or PowerPoint presentation, you should cite your sources. When you give credit to others, your work is strengthened!

17. How do I format references?

References record bibliographic information about sources that have been cited in the text. The necessary information is author, title, and details about publication (when the source was published and who published it). The order of the information and the punctuation, abbreviation, and spacing conventions may differ depending on the documentation style, but the purpose of the references will be the same: to allow a reader to easily track down your sources.

Basic MLA style reference for a book :

Author(s). Title of the Book. Publisher , Date .

Burton, Katelyn . The Best Librarian in the World . Oxford Press , 2016 .

Basic MLA style reference for a journal article :

Author(s). “Title of the Article.” Title of the Journal, Volume number , Issue number . Date, including month or season if you have it , Page numbers . Database Title , URL/Link to the article.

Burton, Katelyn . “Librarians Are Amazing.” Library Journal, vol. 22 , no. 3 . Spring 2016 , pp. 7-28 . JSTOR , http://www.jstor.org/61245 .

Basic MLA style reference for a webpage :

Author(s). “Title of the Webpage.” Title of the Website , Date, including day and month if you have it , URL/Link to the webpage .

Burton, Katelyn . “Tips for Citing Sources.” Brown Library Website , 14 June 2016 , http://http://www.virginiawestern.edu/library/index.php .

18. What should I do if my source differs from the basic pattern for a reference?

The basic pattern is easy to recognize, but it is impossible to memorize all the variations for different sources. Some sources are available online; some sources are audiovisual instead of print; some sources have translators and editors. These and other details find their way into references. Learn to consult resources that illustrate some of the variations, and then ask yourself which examples seem closest to the source you are trying to document. Creating helpful references for your readers requires attention to both the basic pattern and to details, as well as problem-solving skills and creativity.

Brown Library has some MLA examples on our MLA InfoGuide   (https://tinyurl.com/y9fxlz7d). Virginia Commonwealth University maintains a VCU Writes! website (https://rampages.us/vcuwrites/)   with many more examples of correct MLA citations for different materials. Librarians and Writing Center Consultants at Brown Library can also help you create MLA citations for sources that don’t follow the basic pattern.

19. How do I format in-text citations?

In-text citation s point readers toward a source that a writer is using in her own article or essay. They are placed inside your paragraphs, a position that explains why they are called “in-text.” In-text citations are also called parenthetical citations because information identifying the source will be placed inside parentheses ( ). A writer using MLA style will provide the following in-text information for her readers:

• Author’s last name or the name of the organization that created the source, unless it is previously mentioned in the text.
• Page number if available

Example: In the first half of the nineteenth, century people worked hard to spread information about how to prevent disease but did not emphasize how to treat diseases (Murphy 141).

Key Takeaways

• Different fields require different citation styles. In English, we use rules developed by the MLA.
• Don’t panic when it comes to learning MLA. Just find an example that closely matches your source and use the pattern to help you decide what to do.
• Librarians and Writing Center  (http://infoguides.virginiawestern.edu/writingcenter) Consultants can help you figure out how to cite a source that doesn’t match the common examples.

Additional Links

Annotated MLA Sample Paper , (https://tinyurl.com/qzv2afu) Purdue Online Writing Lab

Citation InfoGuide , (http://infoguides.virginiawestern.edu/citations) Brown Library

MLA Examples ,  (https://tinyurl.com/ycanqqzx) VCU Writes!, Virginia Commonwealth University

Exploring Academic Integrity (https://tinyurl.com/ya3ckaxs),  Indiana University Libraries

Public Domain Content

Radford University Core Handbook, Laurie Cubbison et al., CC-0.

Image Credits

Figure 7.1 “ Citation Needed, ” futuratlas.com, Wikimedia, CC-BY 2.0.

Figure 7.2 “Some Sample Signal Verbs,” Kalyca Schultz, Virginia Western Community College, CC-0.

Figure 7.3 “ Colbert in May 2009 ,” David Shankbone, Wikimedia, CC-BY 2.0.

Figure 7.4 “ Jonah Lehrer ,” Viva Vivanista, flickr, CC-BY-2.0.

Figure 7.5, “ Citations ,” Fixedandfrailing, flickr, CC-BY-SA 2.0.

How and Why to Cite Copyright © 2021 by Katelyn Burton is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How to cite in MLA format

MLA is one of the most common citation styles used by students and academics. This quick guide explains how to cite sources according to the 9th edition (the most recent) of the MLA Handbook . You can also use Scribbr’s free  citation generator to automatically generate references and in-text citations.

An MLA citation has two components:

• In-text citation : Every time you quote or paraphrase a source, you cite the author and the page number in parentheses.
• Works Cited : At the end of your paper, you give a full reference for every source you cited, alphabetized by the author’s last name.

MLA Works Cited list

The list of Works Cited (also known as the bibliography or reference page) gives full details of every source you cited in your text. Each entry is built from nine core elements:

Following this format, you can create a citation for any type of source—for example, a book , journal article , website , or movie . You only include information that’s relevant to the type of source you’re citing.

Missing information in MLA citations

Regardless of the source type, the most important elements of any MLA citation are the author , the source title , and the publication date. If any of these are missing from the source, the Works Cited entry will look slightly different.

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MLA in-text citations

MLA in-text citations are brief references that direct your reader to the full source entry. You include them every time you quote , block quote , paraphrase or summarize a source.

The in-text citation must match the first word of the Works Cited entry—usually the author’s last name . It also includes a page number or range to help the reader locate the relevant passage.

If you already named the author in your sentence, include only the page number in parentheses:

Sources with no page numbers

If the source has no page numbers, you either use an alternative locator, or leave the page number out of the citation:

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Sample Essays: Writing with MLA Style

Congratulations to the students whose essays were selected for the 2023 edition of Writing with MLA Style! Essays were selected as examples of excellent student writing that use MLA style for citing sources. Essays have been lightly edited. 

If your institution subscribes to MLA Handbook Plus , you can access annotated versions of the essays selected in 2022 and 2023. 

Writing with MLA Style: 2023 Edition

The following essays were selected for the 2023 edition of Writing with MLA Style. The 2023 selection committee was composed of Ellen C. Carillo, University of Connecticut (chair); Rachel Ihara, Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York; and Tarshia L. Stanley, Wagner College.

Caroline Anderson (Pepperdine University)

“ L’Appel du Vide : Making Spaces for Sinful Exploration in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ”

Hunter Daniels (University of South Carolina, Aiken)

“Biblical Legalism and Cultural Misogyny in The Tragedy of Mariam ”

Aspen English (Southern Utah University)

“Putting the ‘Comm’ in Comics: A Communication-Theory-Informed Reading of Graphic Narratives”

Raul Martin (Lamar University)

“The Book-Object Binary: Access and Sustainability in the Academic Library”

Grace Quasebarth (Salve Regina University)

“Finding a Voice: The Loss of Machismo Criticisms through Translation in Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits ”

Writing with MLA Style: 2022 Edition

The following essays were selected for the 2022 edition of Writing with MLA Style. The 2022 selection committee was composed of Ellen C. Carillo, University of Connecticut; Jessica Edwards, University of Delaware (chair); and Deborah H. Holdstein, Columbia College Chicago.

Kaile Chu (New York University, Shanghai)

“Miles Apart: An Investigation into Dedicated Online Communities’ Impact on Cultural Bias”

Sietse Hagen (University of Groningen)

“The Significance of Fiction in the Debate on Dehumanizing Media Portrayals of Refugees”

Klara Ismail (University of Exeter)

“Queering the Duchess: Exploring the Body of the Female Homosexual in John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi ”

Yasmin Mendoza (Whittier College)

“Banning without Bans”

Niki Nassiri (Stony Brook University)

“Modern-Day US Institutions and Slavery in the Twenty-First Century”

Samantha Wilber (Palm Beach Atlantic University)

“‘Pero, tu no eres facil’: The Poet X as Multicultural Bildungsroman”

Writing with MLA Style: 2019 Edition

The following essays were selected for the 2019 edition of Writing with MLA Style. The 2019 selection committee was composed of Jessica Edwards, University of Delaware; Deborah H. Holdstein, Columbia College Chicago (chair); and Liana Silva, César E. Chavez High School, Houston, Texas.

Catherine Charlton (University of King’s College, Nova Scotia)

“‘Coal Is in My Blood’: Public and Private Representations of Community Identity in Springhill, Nova Scotia”

Alyiah Gonzales (California Polytechnic State University)

“Disrupting White Normativity in Langston Hughes’s ‘I, Too’ and Toni Morrison’s ‘Recitatif’”

Meg Matthias (Miami University, Ohio)

“Prescriptions of (Living) Historical Happiness: Gendered Performance and Racial Comfort in Reenactment”

Jennifer Nguyen  (Chaminade University of Honolulu)

“The Vietnam War, the American War: Literature, Film, and Popular Memory”

Emily Schlepp (Northwest University)

“A Force of Love: A Deconstructionist Reading of Characters in Dickens’s  Great Expectations ”

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MLA Works Cited Page: Periodicals

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. This resource, updated to reflect the MLA Handbook (8 th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page.

Periodicals include magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals. Works cited entries for periodical sources include three main elements—the author of the article, the title of the article, and information about the magazine, newspaper, or journal. MLA uses the generic term “container” to refer to any print or digital venue (a website or print journal, for example) in which an essay or article may be included.

Below is the generic citation for periodicals using the MLA style. Use this as guidance if you are trying to cite a type of source not described on this page, omitting any information that does not apply:

Author. Title. Title of container (self contained if book), Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publisher Date, Location (pp.). 2nd container’s title, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Pub date, Location (pp.).

Article in a Magazine

Cite by listing the article's author, putting the title of the article in quotations marks, and italicizing the periodical title. Follow with the date of publication. Remember to abbreviate the month. The basic format is as follows:

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical , Day Month Year, pages.

Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time, 20 Nov. 2000, pp. 70-71.

Buchman, Dana. "A Special Education." Good Housekeeping, Mar. 2006, pp. 143-48.

Article in a Newspaper

Cite a newspaper article as you would a magazine article, but note the different pagination in most newspapers. If there is more than one edition available for that date (as in an early and late edition of a newspaper), identify the edition after the newspaper title.

Brubaker, Bill. "New Health Center Targets County's Uninsured Patients." Washington Post, 24 May 2007, p. LZ01.

Krugman, Andrew. "Fear of Eating." New York Times, late ed.,  21 May 2007, p. A1.

If the newspaper is a less well-known or local publication, include the city name in brackets after the title of the newspaper.

Behre, Robert. "Presidential Hopefuls Get Final Crack at Core of S.C. Democrats." Post and Courier [Charleston, SC],29 Apr. 2007, p. A11.

Trembacki, Paul. "Brees Hopes to Win Heisman for Team." Purdue Exponent [West Lafayette, IN], 5 Dec. 2000, p. 20.

To cite a review, include the title of the review (if available), then the phrase, “Review of” and provide the title of the work (in italics for books, plays, and films; in quotation marks for articles, poems, and short stories). Finally, provide performance and/or publication information.

Review Author. "Title of Review (if there is one)." Review of Performance Title, by Author/Director/Artist. Title of Periodical, Day Month Year, page.

Seitz, Matt Zoller. "Life in the Sprawling Suburbs, If You Can Really Call It Living." Review of Radiant City , directed by Gary Burns and Jim Brown. New York Times, 30 May 2007, p. E1.

Weiller, K. H. Review of Sport, Rhetoric, and Gender: Historical Perspectives and Media Representations , edited by Linda K. Fuller. Choice, Apr. 2007, p. 1377.

An Editorial & Letter to the Editor

Cite as you would any article in a periodical, but include the designators "Editorial" or "Letter" to identify the type of work it is.

"Of Mines and Men." Editorial. Wall Street Journal, eastern edition, 24 Oct. 2003, p. A14.

Hamer, John. Letter. American Journalism Review, Dec. 2006/Jan. 2007, p. 7.

Anonymous Articles

Cite the article’s title first, then finish the citation as you would any other for that kind of periodical.

"Business: Global Warming's Boom Town; Tourism in Greenland." The Economist , 26 May 2007, p. 82.

"Aging; Women Expect to Care for Aging Parents but Seldom Prepare." Women's Health Weekly, 10 May 2007, p. 18.

An Article in a Scholarly Journal

A scholarly journal can be thought of as a container, as are collections of short stories or poems, a television series, or even a website. A container can be thought of as anything that contains other pieces of work. In this case, cite the author and title of article as you normally would. Then, put the title of the journal in italics. Include the volume number (“vol.”) and issue number (“no.”) when possible, separated by commas. Finally, add the year and page numbers.

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal , Volume, Issue, Year, pages.

Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi's Bashai Tudu ." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, vol. 15, no. 1, 1996, pp. 41-50.

Duvall, John N. "The (Super)Marketplace of Images: Television as Unmediated Mediation in DeLillo's White Noise ." Arizona Quarterly , vol. 50, no. 3, 1994, pp. 127-53.

An Article in a Special Issue of a Scholarly Journal

When an article appears in a special issue of a journal, cite the name of the special issue in the entry’s title space, in italics. Add the descriptor “special issue of” and include the name of the journal, also in italics, followed by the rest of the information required for a standard scholarly journal citation.

Web entries should follow a similar format, and should include a DOI (if available), otherwise include a URL or permalink.

Burgess, Anthony. "Politics in the Novels of Graham Greene." Literature and Society, special issue of Journal of Contemporary History, vol. 2, no. 2, 1967, pp. 93-99.

Case, Sue-Ellen. “Eve's Apple, or Women's Narrative Bytes.” Technocriticism and Hypernarrative, special issue of Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 43, no. 3, 1997, pp. 631-50. Project Muse , doi:10.1353/mfs.1997.0056.

Mastering the MLA Format: Lessons from Academic Writing

This essay reflects on the valuable lessons learned from using the Modern Language Association (MLA) format in academic writing. It begins by acknowledging the initial complexity of navigating MLA’s rules, highlighting how mastering the format led to a deeper understanding of academic writing standards. The essay discusses the importance of uniformity and consistency in presenting academic work, emphasizing how MLA format helps maintain focus on content rather than varied presentation styles.

Key insights include the significance of proper citation and referencing in upholding academic integrity and the skill of crafting precise, informative titles and headings to enhance structure and reader engagement. The writer also shares how meticulous adherence to MLA guidelines cultivated a keen attention to detail, benefiting not just writing but overall academic performance.

In conclusion, the essay portrays MLA formatting as an essential academic tool, far beyond a mere set of guidelines. It underscores how proficiency in MLA formatting equips students with skills in organization, critical thinking, and responsible communication, crucial for academic and professional success. On PapersOwl, there’s also a selection of free essay templates associated with Writing.

How it works

When I first encountered the Modern Language Association (MLA) format in my academic writing, it felt like I had stumbled into a maze of rules and guidelines. However, as I navigated my way through this structure, I realized that MLA formatting is more than just a rigid set of instructions; it’s a tool that enhances the clarity and credibility of academic work. Through my journey with MLA format essays, I’ve learned several key lessons that have not only improved my writing but also enriched my understanding of academic communication.

The first lesson was about the importance of uniformity and consistency in academic writing. MLA format, with its specific guidelines for font size, margins, and spacing, taught me the value of presenting my work in a universally recognizable format. This uniformity allows readers to focus on the content rather than being distracted by varied and inconsistent presentation styles. It was enlightening to see how such standardization could make academic discourse more accessible and comprehensible.

Another significant lesson was in the art of citation and referencing. MLA format emphasizes the importance of giving proper credit to the sources used in an essay. This practice not only upholds academic integrity but also allows readers to trace the research path the writer has taken. Learning to accurately cite sources in MLA style was challenging at first, with its specific rules for in-text citations and Works Cited pages. However, it eventually became second nature, and I began to appreciate how these citations weave a tapestry of research that supports and enhances my own arguments.

MLA format also taught me the art of crafting precise and informative headings and titles. A well-thought-out title in MLA format isn’t just a label; it’s a concise summary of the essay’s content and a hook that draws the reader in. Similarly, the use of headings and subheadings (in longer essays) helped me structure my thoughts and arguments more coherently. This organizational skill didn’t just improve my writing; it enhanced my critical thinking and planning abilities.

Most importantly, my experience with MLA format has been a lesson in attention to detail. Following the MLA guidelines required me to pay close attention to every aspect of my essay, from the placement of the page numbers to the alignment of the text. This meticulous attention to detail transcended my writing; it fostered a mindset of precision and thoroughness in other areas of my academic work.

In conclusion, working with the MLA format was initially a daunting task, but it eventually became an invaluable part of my academic toolkit. It taught me the importance of consistency, integrity, organization, and attention to detail in academic writing. These lessons have been instrumental in shaping my writing skills and have prepared me for various forms of academic and professional communication. The MLA format, with its structured approach, is more than just a writing standard; it’s a pathway to becoming a more effective and responsible communicator.

Cite this page

Mastering the MLA Format: Lessons from Academic Writing. (2024, Jan 16). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/mastering-the-mla-format-lessons-from-academic-writing/

"Mastering the MLA Format: Lessons from Academic Writing." PapersOwl.com , 16 Jan 2024, https://papersowl.com/examples/mastering-the-mla-format-lessons-from-academic-writing/

PapersOwl.com. (2024). Mastering the MLA Format: Lessons from Academic Writing . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/mastering-the-mla-format-lessons-from-academic-writing/ [Accessed: 14 Apr. 2024]

"Mastering the MLA Format: Lessons from Academic Writing." PapersOwl.com, Jan 16, 2024. Accessed April 14, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/mastering-the-mla-format-lessons-from-academic-writing/

"Mastering the MLA Format: Lessons from Academic Writing," PapersOwl.com , 16-Jan-2024. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/mastering-the-mla-format-lessons-from-academic-writing/. [Accessed: 14-Apr-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2024). Mastering the MLA Format: Lessons from Academic Writing . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/mastering-the-mla-format-lessons-from-academic-writing/ [Accessed: 14-Apr-2024]

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