If your college instructor wants you to cite every fact or opinion you find in an outside source, how do you make room for your own opinion? Paraphrase, quote selectively, and avoid summary. –Dennis G. Jerz (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog)
Choose a form, fill it out, and push the button… you will get an individual entry for a “Works Cited” page, which you may then copy and paste into your word processor. My “BibBuilder” is more like a guide than a full-fledged utility, but you may nevertheless find it helpful.
Find everything you need to know about formatting a paper, name, number, quotations, works cited, and more in MLA format!
I really appreciate this page. It was clear and easy to follow, and it greatly assisted me in writing my research paper. Thank you!
This guide to formatting MLA style papers is incredibly detailed and helpful! It’s great to have step-by-step instructions for setting up everything from margins to citations correctly. Thanks for sharing—this will definitely make writing research papers in MLA format much easier!
The information was very helpful
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Thanks for sharing such an informative post with us.
fantastic information
Thanks for info!
hello i am nate sedmack i am here to kill all the furries for what they did to gavin born
I’m learning more writing a paper
it was very informational and helped me a lot
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Curious how you would Cite this webpage? haha…
awesome reminders
what about if when your using a quote and there is no name just anonomus
Honestly, I’d say find another way to make your point. An anonymous saying like “A stitch in time saves nine” won’t help you demonstrate your ability to write the kind of scholarly paper that MLA is designed for. Certainly investigate the quote to find out whether it maybe comes from Shakespeare or some other source that you can quote. I might identify the example I used as “English proverb,” but since I won’t be marking your paper, you really should check with your instructor.
This article..thing is the only reason I am passing my online college class. Especially the citation builder. Thank you!
I would Like You To Give Simple Instructions Not Complicated Ones , and Include also how much Papers Should be worked on.
Khalid, if there is any particular detail you are confused about, please let me know what question you have and perhaps I can help. There is no specific answer to how much a paper should be worked on. It depends on what grade you want to earn, how much time you have, whether your instructor is willing to meet with you before the due date, whether your instructor will give you the chance to revise your work, and many other factors.
hahahah xD me too same
How do I cite a photo that I found online?
Is it a historical photograph or a photograph published in a book that someone scanned and posted on line, is it a photograph of something like a sculpture? Is your paper focused on the work of the photographer, the makeup artist who prepared the model, the digital image enhancer who altered the image, the model? There is no single correct way to cite a photograph, because there are many different reasons to cite a photograph. Your instructor would be able to give you more specific advice. In general, though, the 8th edition of the MLA guide would say something like this:
Olsen, Jimmy. “Superman Rescues Boy Scouts from Lava Pit.” Photograph. The Daily Planet . July 22, 1956.
If you found the picture on a blog or a Flickr gallery, adjust the citation accordingly. If you found the image as the result of a Google search for something, you might very well end up finding a page that re-uses someone else’s picture without appropriately giving credit. There are many variables. Talk to your instructor, who will be the one grading your work, and will therefore be the right person to advise you on what to do.
is the text or what you wrote supposed to be centered in the page or to the left margin
Left margin.
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cool it was helpful
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I think you should include online resource citation instructions
Click on “Citing” at the top of the page. One of the options on the other end of that link is how to cite a web page.
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which writing style (MLA, APA) have more importance for students of social sciences, media sciences and business?
It depends on the instructor or editor who’s calling the shots. http://subjectguides.library.american.edu/c.php?g=175008&p=1154150
Very informative. It helped introduce my tired old mind to the MLA format. So, I can better help coach and prepare my wife for her English course. Thank you very much.
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I’m using a book title and author as my paper heading. How is that formatted?
I would tell my own students that a book title and the name of an author is not a good paper title, and I would ask them to write a title that catches the reader’s attention, identifies the topic, and identifies what position the paper is going to take on the topic. But if you are not my student, then I’m not the person who will be evaluating your paper. MLA style puts the book title in italics. Other than that, I really don’t have any advice for you.
Thank you very much for this useful information. As a freshman in highschool, my biology teacher asked for me to write an essay in mLA format about evolution. I had no clue what mLA format was,so I searched it up and it brought me here. In middle school I never wrote an essay in this format before,but I feel very confident to type my first mLA essay and I’m excited to do so! (Right after I finish my draft >.<) thank you very much! (⌒▽⌒)✌
This wasn’t helpful at all
Shavez, what were you looking for? This page is about formatting a paper you have already written. The first section includes links to pages about how to write essays.
u a real nigga dennis
really dude my collies and I would prefer that you didn’t use any profane language due to younger children that may be reading this
thank u i got an A 97 percent
this was very helpful i got an A 95 percent
hi my name is Jessie i have to writ a 2 pages Essay about MLA can someone help me
Dennis, what lends itself to science in the APA system? And what lends itself to the Humanities with the MLA? TIA.
As compared to MLA papers, APA papers tend to be shorter, and divided up into sections. Authors who use APA style tend to publish more frequently, because their knowledge goes out of date more quickly; so the date is prominent in APA citations, and page numbers are rare.
By contrast, people who use MLA style tend to write longer essays that aren’t divided up into standard sections like “procedure” and “conclusions.” Humanities scholarship generally doesn’t go out of date quickly. Instead of conducting experiments, humanists read and write a lot of longer essays and books, re-interpreting and quoting passages from them. MLA style makes the page numbers prominent, so that other scholars can easily find and re-read those same passages for themselves, and further the work of scholarship as it is conducted in the humanities.
Thanks for the reply. What do you mean by ” MLA style tend to write longer essays that aren’t divided up into standard sections like “procedure” and “conclusions.”? Are we not suppose to use conclusions in MLA format? In my English class, we use MLA with conclusions, but what do you mean by “procedure” and “conclusions”? I understand each instructor is different but is it right to use conclusions in an MLA paper…or am I getting confused?
Typically papers written in MLA style DO have a conclusion, but it would not be set off in a separate section under the subheading “Conclusion.” MLA papers tend NOT to follow a standard, particular structure. Papers written in the sciences DO have a fairly rigid set of sections, with separate subheadings. But it’s best for you to talk to your teacher about the specifics of any asisgnment.
Ok, thanks. I just wanted to ask and clarify it. Also, doesn’t the word “humanist” means something else entirely? The Humanist term today implies ‘human’ and is often used for atheists, for example… or am I wrong?
I used the term “humanist” to mean “a person who studies the culture of humans,” without intending the more specific meaning you mention. At my school, the humanities division includes theologians.
seems easy enough
We get asked often about what “format” the college application essay should be in. Although not generally… http://t.co/v1TTNxtE4e
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When using MLA format, do you list the book title, the title of the article or both?
For guidance on citing individual sources, see the link in item 4, above. This page is about formatting the paper once you’ve already written it.
I wrote a paper and it looks just like your example. I followed everything to the “t” and my professor says that my header is indented and my paragraphs are double indented and the page numbers are in wrong format. What can I do?
Winston, I suggest you talk to your professor. I have been teaching from thiis handout for years, and when a student makes a formatting error on a rough draft, I just ask them to fix it for the revision. But your instructor is the one who designed the assignment and who evaluates your submissions, so he or she is the person to approach with questions.
I agree. .let me ask you this. Are your headers indented?
The screenshot was taken from a page that I created following the instructions for using MS-Word with a MacBook Pro. I followed the instructions that are on the page. But surely your instructor gave you guidelines, in a handout or an assigned textbook, which is why I encourage you to have this conversation with your instructor. Whether your instructor does or does not agree with the information on this page really doesn’t matter, since your instructor created the assignment and evaluates it according to his or her own criteria. I suggest you let your your teacher know you are confused about what you did wrong, and ask for an opportunity to make minor formatting changes to a paper that, we hope, met all the major criteria.
How do you add footnotes to an MLA style paper?
Most word processors will have an Insert -> Footnote or Insert -> Note (footnote or endnote) option. Most short college papers don’t need footnotes. (They aren’t for documenting sources — use an in-text citation and a Works Cited list instead.) I suggest you talk to your instructor about whether you really do need to use a footnote.
RT @DennisJerz: MLA Format Papers: Step-by-step Instructions for Writing Research Essays #mlastyle http://t.co/B6pGb3Pkeh
Thank you so much!! I love the Bib builder!!
I’m glad to hear you found it helpful!
Dear Dr. Jerz,
I am writing to request permission to link your webpage, “MLA Format Papers: Step-by-step Instructions for Writing Research Essays” to our website.
Marie Walcroft Librarian Lansdale School of Business
I am glad you found this page helpful. Yes, you are welcome to include a link and a brief extract.
Can you put what information is supposed to be in each paragraph???
Emma, I’m afraid I don’t understand the question. I feel like you’ve asked me what emotions are supposed to be in each verse of a song, or what colors are supposed to be in a painting. The many different kinds of songs or paintings are all created for different reasons; likewise, paragraphs are assigned, written, and read for a whole range of different reasons, so there’s no answer that covers all possible cases.
that was beautiful
I really find this useful (especially fudging the line spacing to 2.1). Good job!
Im in middle school and I have to do this. I have never heard of MLA Format and this helped ALOT. Thanks so much! Hopefully I get a good grade on this paper!
“@pretti_slimm: @Thyler_Jonzy http://t.co/QIf00vlgws try this site looks helpful”I just found a sample paper on Google
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Is the Table of Contents double spaced – MLA?
i think you should add an explanation about page header. that was what i was looking for
See item 2 from the table of contents: http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/academic1/mla-style-papers/#page-header
when you say page numbers (Wordworth-Fuller 20), are you referring to the page number within the MLA document or the page number the text appears on within the authors works?
In this case, your paper would be referring to something you found on page 20 of the text by Wordsworth-Fuller.
With your delicate information about to write MLA format essay in right way will lead me to successful college year.
Thank you for useful information about how to write MLA format essay. Before my college year I didn’t know there were many different forms of essay. When my professor asked me to write MLA format I had no idea how to write it, but with your delicate information I think I will survive my college year. Thank you again.
I’m glad to know you found this page helpful. Most instructors will be happy to help if you stop by during their office hours, and if your prof is too busy for that most universities will have a writing center where you can get help at any stage of any assignment involving writing.
Thank you for valuable information. Before my college year in America I didn’t know what MLA Format was, but with this delicate information I will survive my college year.
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That means the quote is from page 20 of the book or article written by Wordsworth-Fuller.
Very good information, I really needed this incite on research paper formats. It has such thorough details and that make it so much easier to understand.
How do you in text cite a website? I didnt really see much about that.
I think you should add an explanation about page numbers. That was what I was looking for, but I couldn’t find the significant area.
Section 2 explains how to put page numbers in the header, and section 4 discusses page numbers in citations.
read it… it’s there.
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TAFT COLLEGE
MLA recommends using 12-point Times New Roman font or another readable typeface (e.g. serif ).
Use double-spacing throughout the entire paper.
Leave 1 inch margins on the top, bottom, and each side.
Indent the first line of each paragraph half an inch from the left margin.
Quotes longer than 4 lines should be written as a block of text a half an inch from the left margin.
An MLA research paper does not need a title page, but your instructor may require one. If no instructions are given, follow the MLA guidelines below:
Type the following one inch from the top of the first page, flush with the left margin (double spacing throughout).
Your Instructor's Name
Course Number or Name
Center the title on the next line. Follow the rules for capitalization. Do not italicize, underline, or bold the title. An exception is when your title includes a title. Example: The Attitude toward Violence in A Clockwork Orange
Indent the next line and begin typing your text.
Include your last name and page numbers in the upper right-hand corner of every page. The page numbers will be one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin. If your instructor prefers no page number on the first page, begin numbering from 2 on the second page.
Formatting first page mla goggle.dox, formatting first page mla ms word using pc, mla format setup in word 2013.
The links below provide step by step instructions on setting up your paper using MLA Style guidelines.
There are three sample papers available in the MLA Style Center. Check them out to see the correct formatting.
#scribendiinc
Written by Scribendi
Your instructor has asked you to format your term paper using Modern Language Association (MLA) style. You feel confident enough to produce the paper, but you have never heard of MLA style. Don't panic—we've got you covered.
This article will explain MLA style citation, give examples of MLA formatting for specific aspects of references, provide an MLA format example for each category of source material, and share essay formatting tips that our editors have learned over the years.
You'll even find a free, downloadable MLA Works Cited example page for easy reference. So, if you have a general understanding of what MLA style is and are just looking for examples of MLA citations, we can help with that too!
Free MLA Cheat Sheet
MLA style is an accepted way to document source material for many types of humanities documents. Some would say it is simpler than other style guides, such as the APA Style Guide or the Chicago Manual of Style .
An MLA citation has two basic requirements:
Brief parenthetical citations in the text
An alphabetical list of the works cited that corresponds to the in-text citations and appears at the end of the paper
In simple terms, you refer to your source material in parentheses throughout the main text—then, at the end of your paper, you list all the sources to which you have referred, in alphabetical order.
Of course, there is so much more to MLA style and MLA formatting than just that. Indeed, the current version of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th Edition) runs to 292 pages! But here are the essential style and formatting points.
To start, let's look at a basic example of how to format a citation in MLA.
Last Name, First Name. "Title of Webpage/Chapter/Article." Website/Book Title/Journal Title , edition used, vol. X, no. Y, Publisher,
Day Month Year of Publication, URL/location/page number.
This is MLA format at its simplest.
The main reason for carefully citing source material is to avoid allegations of plagiarism, which—derived from the Latin word for "kidnapping"—refers to stealing someone else's work. The MLA Handbook explains plagiarism in detail. You should feel free to use another person's words, facts, and thoughts in your research paper, but the material you borrow must not be presented as if it were your own creation.
When you write your research paper, remember that you must document everything that you borrow—not only direct quotations and paraphrases but also information and ideas. Our MLA citation guide will walk you through how to properly cite your sources using MLA style.
MLA-style citation is commonly used by writers and students who create content in the humanities.
You'll often see it used for the following subject areas:
Language and literature
Comparative literature
Literary criticism
Cultural studies
Foreign languages
Using MLA's citation guide in these fields of study gives readers an easier option for navigating through your paper. In addition to making you look credible by neatly organizing your sources, MLA citation lends consistency to your work. It provides readers with the opportunity to easily find sources in your paper that interest them.
The early stages of producing a paper involve copious amounts of reading, research, and note-taking. At this point, it's easy to get confused about who said what. The best way to avoid getting confused right from the start is to keep your ideas, your summary of others' ideas, and direct transcriptions of text clearly marked and separate. Throughout our guide, we'll provide examples of MLA citation to give you a hand.
Make notes on the following elements for ease of reference and proper MLA citation later on:
Author's name
Full title of each publication (from the title page, not the front cover)
City of publication (cite only the first city if there is more than one)
Date of publication
Volume and issue numbers, if available (for journals)
Page numbers you have referenced
Medium of publication or reception (print, web, radio, television, etc.)
Laying the groundwork during your research will make the citation process much easier later on.
Because we know there are many ways to cite a reference in MLA, depending on what source you're using, we've compiled an extensive list of MLA citation examples below.
You'll find MLA citation examples for articles, books, images, interviews, journals, movies, and more to ensure you are citing your sources correctly.
We've done our best to be as thorough as possible. Review how to use in-text citations in MLA below or skip to the ones you need most!
If you're citing a book in MLA format with two or three authors, use the examples below to format your citation:
Bringham, Darrin E., and Sally Knope. Resting Heartbeat Science . 12th ed., Wiley, 2001.
Christopherson, Charles, Ronald Swanson, and Roger Koltz. Fog Pirates: On Board the USS Hammerhead . Putters, 2001.
Only the first author is listed by their last name followed by their first name. Any subsequent authors are written normally (first name then last name).
When there are more than three authors to reference in MLA, format your citation using et al., as shown below:
Niderbacher, Leslie A., et al. Penne and the Jets: A Love Story . Partridge, 2003.
Note that only the first author is fully named, followed by et al.
Related: Learn more about How to Use Et Al. here.
An MLA in-text citation with no author begins with the title . If your in-text citation has no author in MLA, you can also use the title in addition to the page number.
( Encyclopedia of Football 54)
Correct MLA article citation starts with finding good, credible articles. Try looking for peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles in free research databases such as CORE and ScienceOpen.
When searching for the best journals for your topic, try to steer clear of regular search engines like Google or Yahoo. Academic databases like JSTOR and Google Scholar are the best sources for scholarly, peer-reviewed articles .
MLA journal citation elements include the title of the work, author(s), and publication date. While this information is usually found on the first page of an article, its placement can vary. It may be at the top or bottom of the first page or, in the case of database articles, on the results page or the description page.
Related: Check out our list of 17 Research Databases for Free Articles .
Lau, Frank. "Vitamin D Insufficiency is Prevalent in Severe COVID-19." Journal of Health , vol. 2, no. 5, Aug. 2020, pp. 34–27.
https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.24.20075838.
Kuehn, Bridget. "Hospitals Turn to Housing to Help Homeless Patients." JAMA , Feb. 2019, pp. 5–9.
https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.21476.
Tomky, Naomi. "Explore the Oregon Coast—but don't touch the 'dragon toes.'" National Geographic , 23 Mar. 2022,
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/explore-oregon-coast-but-dont-touch-dragon-toe-barnacles.
Gateley, Cheyne. "Netflix's Password Crackdown Will Be Tougher Than It Seems." Variety , 21 Mar. 2022,
https://variety.com/vip/netflixs-password-crackdown-will-be-tougher-than-it-seems-1235208619/.
If you're citing passages from a book using MLA, look at the title page of the book to find the information you need to cite the source. The title page can usually be found a couple of pages into the book. This is where you'll find the author(s), date, edition, title, editors (if any), place of publication, and publisher.
Schucman, Helen. A Course in Miracles. Edited by Robert Perry, The Circle of Atonement, Inc., 2017.
Image citation in MLA requires you to first define what type of image you're sourcing. Is it an image you saw in person or an image from a website?
Asking yourself this question first will help you decide which format to use to cite your image. Let's look at a few examples below.
How to Cite an Image from a Website
To cite an image from a website in MLA, start with the image creator's last and first name, then add the image title, the website name , day, month, and year published, and the URL.
In the example below, there is no image title, so we're using a description of the image:
Yam, Marcus. Photograph of a man hurrying away from a building hit by Russian bombs. Los Angeles Times , 25 Mar. 2022,
www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-03-25/ukraine-russia-war-biden-heads-to-poland .
Here is an example with an image title:
Clancy, Pat. "Foggy Sunrise." Flickr , 10 Mar. 2022,
https://www.flickr.com/photos/128721907@N02/51958337614/in/explore-2022-03-24/.
When citing an interview in MLA, the information you need can vary depending on the type of interview.
For example, if you're citing an interview printed in a magazine, you can find relevant citation information in the title or subtitle of the interview page.
For online interviews, the relevant information can be found on the site where the interview was published. Typically, in the title or near the name of the person who published the interview, you'll find the names of the interviewer and interviewee, as well as the date the interview was published.
Here are a few elements you'll need if you're citing an interview in MLA:
Interviewee's first and last name
Interviewer's first and last name
Interview title
Periodical or journal title (if any)
Type of interview
Date the interview was conducted/published
URL of the interview (if online)
Page numbers of the interview (if in print)
In MLA, if you can't find the author of an interview you're trying to source, this information can be skipped. Instead, you can start your citation with the title of the interview in quotation marks. You can also skip the date of the interview if it is missing, but you should still include the access date if the interview is online.
If, for any reason, you also can't access the title of the interview, MLA allows you to replace the title with a short description. Let's look at a couple of examples below.
When citing a lecture in MLA, start with the speaker's last and first names, followed by the lecture title in quotes, then the course or event name, the day, month, and year, the institution, the location, and the word "Lecture." Below is an example of how to cite a lecture in MLA.
If you need to cite a movie in MLA style, you'll need the title of the film, the director, any relevant contributors, the company that produced/distributed the film, and the release year. Be sure to add the words "Directed by" before the director's name, as you'll see in the examples below.
To cite a poem in MLA, begin with listing the author's last name and first, then the poem's title in quotes, followed by the title of the book the poem was found in, and the publisher, year, and page number(s).
When you're using a quote, you're taking the exact words from an original source, so you need to make sure you're citing that source correctly.
In MLA format, quotes should be cited in the main text and on the Works Cited page. Your in-text citation will need the author's last name and the page number where you found the quote , while the Works Cited page will include the full citation. We've included examples of both MLA quote citation formats below.
In-text citation example:
It appears that creating "businesses that diminish the quality of life and well-being of our citizens" (Williamson 109) will only make things worse.
Works Cited example:
Williamson, Marianne. A Politics of Love . Harper One, 2019.
If you have to cite quotes longer than four lines in your paper, you'll want to use a block quote. The MLA format is the same on the Works Cited page for long and short quotes, but block quotes look different in the main text.
Block quotes are placed in a separate paragraph, indented 1 inch from the left margin. When using a block quote in text, include the last name of the author and page number(s) in parentheses after the closing punctuation at the end of the quote.
Note that block quotes are not enclosed in quotation marks.
When citing a song in MLA, pay close attention to the medium you used to access it. If you heard the song on a CD or on a streaming service like Spotify, you'll want to include this in your reference.
For in-text citations of songs, you'll include your citation at the end of your paraphrased portion with the last name of the performer and the specific time stamp of the song. Other elements needed for the citation on the Works Cited page include the album name, label, and release date.
An MLA citation for a YouTube video requires a few pieces of information, including the video creator's name, the title of the video, the website hosting the video, the name of the channel or uploader, the day, month , and year the video was published, and its URL.
Regardless of the platform from which you cite a video, MLA requires the same standard information, including the creator of the video, the title, where it was found, who uploaded it, the day, month, and year it was uploaded, and the URL.
How to Cite a Website in MLA
The MLA format for websites requires a few core elements, including the author, title of the source and container, relevant contributors, version, publisher, publication date in day-month-year format, and DOI or URL .
Some of this information can be omitted if it isn't available. See the examples below.
Mla heading format.
When you're writing a paper in MLA format, headings go on the first page . Your heading should include the following information:
Instructor's name
Course name or number
Submission date
Your MLA heading goes in the upper left corner of your paper, double-spaced. Try not to confuse an MLA heading with an MLA header, which is in the upper right corner of every page of your paper and includes your last name and the page number.
Here are two example headings in MLA format for reference. Keep in mind that these should be double-spaced in your paper.
Cody Anderson
Professor Lockhart
Astronomy 103
23 March 2022
Raquel Smith
Professor Snape
Humanities 605
25 February 2021
In the next few sections, we'll look at MLA formatting for sources cited within the main text of your paper, also called in-text citations. In-text citations give your reader a clue about where to find the source you referenced in the Works Cited section at the end of your paper.
MLA format for books requires that you briefly acknowledge your sources in the main body of the text by using the author's name and the page number in parentheses.
Note the following example:
(Clinton 440).
The reader knows to consult page 440 of Clinton's book.
If you refer to the title of a large published work in your paper, such as a novel or movie, it should appear as follows:
John Clinton's A Study of Life.
Please note the use of capital letters and italics.
Titles of smaller works, such as poems, short stories, chapters, and articles, should be written in the text as follows:
Raymond Carver's "Cathedral."
Please note that smaller works are put in quotation marks and are not italicized.
To obtain further information, the reader can refer to the alphabetical references section, called the Works Cited page, at the end of the paper. There, the reader can find the full details of each cited publication.
Note the following MLA Works Cited example:
Clinton, John. A Study of Life . London: Hodder, 1998. Print.
Our John Clinton example is MLA style referencing in its simplest form: one author and one book. MLA citation for multiple authors of a single book and MLA citation for multiple books by a single author tend to complicate matters. However, if you have the basics right and have made good notes for all your source material, these problems are manageable.
When citing two or more books by one author in your Works Cited section, MLA requires the author's name in the first entry only. In the next entry, replace the author's name with an em dash (—), a period, and the second book title. The em dash takes the place of the author's name. In terms of the order of the books by one author on your Works Cited page, alphabetize the list by title.
Brunson, Russell. DotCom Secrets . Morgan James Publishing, 2015.
—. Traffic Secrets . Hay House, Inc., 2020.
When citing three or more authors in MLA, you'll want to use "et al.," which means "and others."
Levine, Robert S., et al. The Norton Anthology of American Literature . 9th ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2022.
If you're trying to cite a source in MLA with missing information, you have a few options available to you depending on what information is missing.
If you're missing the author of a source, use the title of the work in its place for both in-text citations and citations in the Works Cited in MLA format. If your title is also missing, use the source instead.
If your source has no page numbers, you can omit these in your citations and use paragraph or line numbers if they are available.
If the date of the publication is missing, you don't have to include it. But if it's a resource you accessed online, include the access date at the end of the citation—for example, "Accessed 14 Sep. 2021."
You can also omit the publisher if this information is missing.
When formatting your Works Cited page in MLA format, be sure to pay close attention to all the guidelines. MLA requires all lines to be double-spaced with a hanging indent. A hanging indent is when the first line of your reference starts at the beginning of the line while the next lines are indented by an inch and a half from the left.
To keep all of these MLA examples in one sheet for easy reference, we've compiled a free download. This way, you can review MLA citation examples anytime you need them, either for your Works Cited page or in-text citations, for multiple types of work.
Once downloaded, you'll have all of the MLA citation examples you need in your back pocket. This guide will give you examples of MLA citations for the following types of sources:
Books (with one author, multiple authors, or no author)
Download our free MLA downloadable here.
Writing a paper in mla format.
When writing a paper in MLA format, you'll need to cover your bases when it comes to citing your sources. Not only do your sources need to be correct to account for wherever you're pulling information from, but they also need to follow MLA paper formatting basics .
So far, we've covered how to cite sources in your Works Cited list and in-text citations. Now, let's talk about how to use footnotes in an MLA paper with a couple of examples.
As a general rule, footnotes should be used sparingly in MLA. However, when they are used, there are two types: bibliographical footnotes and content footnotes.
Bibliographical footnotes allow you to add more relevant sources. Content footnotes allow you to add commentary or explanations about your topic. We'll look at examples of both of these below.
Bibliographical footnote:
1 See Clinton, John. A Study of Life . Hodder, 1998. Additional references are for this edition and appear within the text.
Content footnote:
1 In a lecture from 2013, Peters mentions his love of science and how science will shape our future.
The MLA format cover page is not an entirely separate page. It begins with a 1-inch margin, flush left with your name, your instructor's name, the course name or number, and the date typed on separate, double-spaced lines.
The title of your research paper should then be centered on the MLA format title page. There is no need for it to be presented in bold, italics, or capital letters.
When citing a source in your text in MLA, use a parenthetical citation.
Parenthetical citations in MLA should include the author's last name and the page number where you found the information.
For example: (Lars 86).
In MLA format, page numbers appear in the top right-hand corner with a 0.5-inch margin from the top and a flush right margin. It is good practice to include your last name before the page number in case pages go astray. Do not use the abbreviation p. before the page number or add any other mark or symbol. You may not need to include a page number on the front page—check with your instructor.
Sometimes, it is appropriate to draw attention to particular words in your paper, but using italics for emphasis ("He really ate a lot ") is inappropriate in research writing and inconsistent with MLA style. Generally, in MLA format, italics should be reserved for titles of longer works (e.g., books, films), non-English words, and words and letters referred to as words and letters.
Your instructor may issue particular instructions if you are to use MLA citation in an essay—if so, follow them. Otherwise, the following MLA essay formatting tips will help you set out your research paper in MLA style.
The MLA Style Guide recommends using a clear typeface (Arial or Times New Roman) in a readable size (at least 11 point).
Justify the text to the left margin, leaving the right margin ragged. Leave 1-inch margins on the top, bottom, left, and right of the page.
Indent the first word in each paragraph by 0.5 inches. Indent set-off block quotations by 1 inch.
Use double-spacing throughout. In accordance with the MLA guide, use single spaces after periods, commas , exclamation marks, etc.
Good grammar, punctuation , and spelling are essential parts of your research paper—not just when using MLA style citation. There is no room for typos at this level.
Our advice is to check and check again, and don't just rely on your word processor's spell-checker. Get a second pair of eyes to look over your paper. T ry our essay editors to ensure that the MLA formatting is consistent throughout your paper and there are no grammatical errors.
Related: Avoid These Common Mistakes in Academic and Scientific Writing
The importance of citing your references in your essay cannot be understated. Any time you include a piece of information in your essay that you didn't write yourself, MLA requires two forms of citation: one in the main text and one at the end of your paper in the Works Cited section.
To see how all these formatting elements come together to make an MLA paper, see the example below.
https://p113.p2.n0.cdn.getcloudapp.com/items/v1ugxp7E/9e3b21d9-758c-4e27-b6cb-caa1059c0547.jpeg?v=559e925043cbfee9fe816e0568ab3d3b
In this computerized age, electronic publications are widely used as source materials for essays. However, electronic texts are prone to frequent and rapid change—one minute you see them online, and the next they are gone. Therefore, it is important to provide more information when references to electronic works are made.
When accessing electronic information, note the following elements:
Name of the author, editor, etc.
Title of the work
Title of the website (if distinct from the title of the work)
Version/edition used, if applicable
Publisher or sponsor of the site (if not available, use n.p.)
Date of publication (day, month, and year, if available; if no date is available, use n.d.)
Medium of publication (web)
Date of access (day, month, and year)
Note the following example of MLA citation:
Smith, George. "Trees of the Southern Hemisphere." The International Leaf. Barker University, 2008. Web. 6 Feb. 2009.
Please note that the MLA formatting and style guide no longer recommends including the URL of a document. Nevertheless, the URL can be included if it is required by your instructor or if your readers will have difficulty locating the source without it.
Below, you'll find examples of how to apply the MLA letter format. Much of the formatting will be similar to that of MLA-style papers, including using double-spaced lines in your text.
Start your MLA-formatted letter with your two-line mailing address in the upper left-hand corner, an inch from the top of the page. Skip to the next line and add the date in day-month-year format.
On the next line, include the addressee's information, starting with the recipient's title, such as Mr., Ms., or Dr. You can also include their address and contact information.
On yet another line, include your salutation—for example, "Dear Ms. Smith"—followed by a colon. If you don't have a name for the person you're writing to, use the person's title—for example, "Dear Director of Operations."
When writing a letter in MLA format, be sure to use double-spacing throughout as you would in an MLA paper.
The formatting of citations varies among style guides like Chicago, MLA, and APA. While each style guide has its own way of formatting sources and cover pages, one of the biggest differences is in how they format in-text citations. Let's look at how they differ.
MLA stands for the Modern Language Association and is a style used for papers in the humanities. In-text citations in MLA use the author's last name and page number in parentheses: (Smith 15).
APA stands for the American Psychological Association and is a style used for scientific papers. In-text citations in APA style include a bit more information than those in MLA style. For example, APA uses the author's last name, year of publication, and page number: (Smith, 2021, p. 15).
Chicago style is used mainly for manuscripts by writers, designers, and publishers. In-text citations in this style include the last name of the source, the publication year, and the page number in parentheses, with slightly different formatting than APA: (Smith 2021, 15).
How do i cite a website in mla.
To cite a website in MLA, start with the author's last name and first name separated by a comma and punctuated with a period. Next, include the title of the article or page in headline case and in quotes with a period, followed by the title of the website in italics. After that, add a comma, the name of the publisher, the publication date in day-month-year format, and the URL.
Shields, Ronan. "'The Threat is Hollow': True Transparency is Some Way Off for Scaled Advertisers." Digiday , Digiday Media, 25
Mar. 2022, https://digiday.com/marketing/the-threat-is-hollow-true-transparency-is-some-way-off-for-scaled-advertisers/.
Basu, Tyler. "How to Build a Personal Brand (Complete Guide)." Thinkific , Thinkific, 7 Sep. 2021,
https://www.thinkific.com/blog/personal-branding-guide/.
For an MLA website in-text citation, simply put the last name of the author in parentheses: (Shields).
The MLA citation for a journal article begins with the author's last name and first name separated by a comma. Next, include the title of the article in quotes, punctuated by a period, then the journal title in title case and italics, and then a comma before the volume or issue number. This is followed by the date of publication, the page range, and the DOI or URL (without https://). Finally, add the access date if no publication date is listed.
In-text citations allow readers to identify which of the items on your Works Cited page you're referencing. MLA requires the source's last name to be set in parentheses, followed by the page number where you found the information. Below are a few examples of how to use in-text citations in MLA format.
(Smith and Jones 53)
(Smith et al. 33)
(Smith 56–58)
(Smith 56–58, 73)
For MLA YouTube citation, start with the video creator's last name and first name, separated by a comma and punctuated by a period. Next, include the title of the video in quotes, also punctuated by a period (inside the quotation marks).
Add the website hosting the video in italics (in this case, YouTube), the name of the channel or uploader, and the day, month, and year the video was published. Include the URL at the end of the MLA video citation.
Forleo, Marie. "Can You Age in Reverse? Tony Robbins Says Yes." YouTube , uploaded by Marie Forleo, 14 Feb. 2022,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAb5z7NbMYk.
Snipes, Doc. "15 Tips to Stop Ruminating and Get Out of Your Head." YouTube , uploaded by Doc Snipes, 23 Mar. 2022,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMZpMtM7TkI.
Put your MLA heading in the upper left-hand corner of the first page of your paper , double-spaced. It should have your name, your instructor's name, the course name or number, and the date. Here are two examples of how to format your headings in MLA:
To cite a movie in MLA style, start with the title of the film in italics, then the name of the director, followed by any relevant contributors. Next, include the company that produced or distributed the film and the release year.
Jaws . Directed by Steven Spielberg, performances by Roy Scheider and Robert Shaw, Universal Pictures, 1975.
To cite a movie from a streaming service such as Netflix, use the following format:
Jaws . Directed by Steven Spielberg, performances by Roy Scheider and Robert Shaw, Universal Pictures, 1975. Netflix app.
To recap the most important MLA formatting guidelines, be sure to use 1-inch margins all around your paper, set the font to 12-point Times New Roman (or another easy-to-read font), and double-space the lines in your text. Make sure each word at the start of your paragraphs is indented half an inch from the left margin, and do the same for any block quotations.
You must cite all your sources in MLA, both in the text and on the Works Cited page found at the end of your paper. Use the examples and guidelines above to make sure you're formatting your paper and citations according to MLA guidelines.
If you're citing an interview, use the last and first name of the person interviewed at the start of your MLA Works Cited citation. Then, add the interview title, periodical title, type of interview, date, and URL of the interview (if online).
If the person you're referencing was interviewed in print, include the page numbers.
For an in-text citation of an interview, use the last name of the person being interviewed—for example: (Smith).
Download our free MLA format PDF for more examples of how to cite a person in MLA for an interview, either one you've conducted yourself or one you found elsewhere.
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You’re opening your laptop to write an essay, knowing exactly what you want to write, but then it hits you: you don’t know how to format it! Using the correct format when writing an essay can help your paper look polished and professional while earning you full credit. In this article, we'll teach you the basics of formatting an essay according to three common styles: MLA, APA, and Chicago Style.
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Published on April 2, 2019 by Courtney Gahan . Revised on March 5, 2024.
In MLA style , source titles appear either in italics or in quotation marks:
All major words in a title are capitalized . The same format is used in the Works Cited list and in the text itself.
Place in quotation marks | Italicize |
---|---|
When you use the Scribbr MLA Citation Generator , the correct formatting and capitalization are automatically applied to titles.
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Capitalization in mla titles, punctuation in mla titles, titles within titles, exceptions to mla title formatting, sources with no title, abbreviating titles, titles in foreign languages, frequently asked questions about mla titles.
In all titles and subtitles, capitalize the first and last words, as well as any other principal words.
Part of speech | Example |
---|---|
in Time | |
and Me | |
for It | |
Girl | |
in Love | |
of You |
Part of speech | Example |
---|---|
(a, an, the) | Road |
(against, as, between, of, to) | Africa |
(and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet) | the Chocolate Factory |
“To” in infinitives | Run |
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Use the same punctuation as appears in the source title. However, if there is a subtitle, separate it from the main title with a colon and a space, even if different (or no) punctuation is used in the source.
The exception is when the title ends in a question mark, exclamation point or dash, in which case you keep the original punctuation:
Sometimes a title contains another title—for example, the title of an article about a novel might contain that novel’s title.
For titles within titles, in general, maintain the same formatting as you would if the title stood on its own.
Type of title | Format | Example |
---|---|---|
Longer works within shorter works | Italicize the inner work’s title | → “ and the Cacophony of the American Dream” |
Shorter works within shorter works | Use single quotation marks for the inner title | “The Red Wedding” → “‘The Red Wedding’ at 5: Why Game of Thrones Most Notorious Scene Shocked Us to the Core” |
Shorter works within longer works | Enclose the inner title in quotation marks, and italicize the entire title | “The Garden Party” → & Other Stories |
Longer works within longer works | Remove the italicization from the inner title | and → Richard II Henry V |
Titles and names that fall into the following categories are not italicized or enclosed in quotation marks:
Words that indicate a particular section of a work are not italicized or placed within quotation marks. They are also not capitalized when mentioned in the text.
Examples of such sections include:
Descriptive terms such as “introduction”, “preface”, “foreword” and “afterword” are capitalized if mentioned in an MLA in-text citation or in the Works Cited list, but not when mentioned in the text itself.
In-text citation: (Brontë, Preface )
In text: In her preface to the work, added in a later edition, Brontë debates the morality of creating characters such as those featured in Wuthering Heights .
If there is a unique title for the introduction, preface, foreword or afterword, include that title in quotation marks instead of the generic section name when referencing the source in the Works Cited list or an in-text citation.
For sources with no title, a brief description of the source acts as the title.
Follow these rules for capitalization:
There are some exceptions to this general format: descriptions including titles of other works, such as comments on articles or reviews of movies; untitled short messages, like tweets; email messages; and untitled poems.
Source type | Rules | Example |
---|---|---|
Comment/review of a work | Sam. Comment on “The Patriot’s Guide to Election Fraud.” , 26 Mar. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/03/26/opinion | |
Tweet or other short untitled message | @realDonaldTrump. “No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION. KEEP AMERICA GREAT!” , 24 Mar. 2019, 1:42 p.m., twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status | |
Labrode, Molly. “Re: National Cleanup Day.” Received by Courtney Gahan, 20 Mar. 2019. | ||
Untitled poem | Shelley, Percy Bysshe. “O! there are spirits of the air.” , edited by Zachary Leader and Michael O’Neill, Oxford UP, 2003, pp. 89–90. |
If you need to mention the name of a work in the text itself, state the full title, but omit the subtitle.
If you need to refer to the work multiple times, you may shorten the title to something familiar or obvious to the reader. For example, Huckleberry Finn for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . If in doubt, prefer the noun phrase.
If the standalone abbreviation may not be clear, you can introduce it in parentheses, following the standard guidelines for abbreviations. For example, The Merchant of Venice ( MV ) . For Shakespeare and the Bible , there are well-established abbreviations you can use.
When you abbreviate a title, make sure you keep the formatting consistent. Even if the abbreviation consists only of letters, as in the MV example, it must be italicized or placed within quotation marks in the same way as it would be when written in full.
Titles should normally be given in full in the Works Cited list, but if any of your sources has a particularly long title (often the case with older works), you can use an ellipsis to shorten it here. This is only necessary with extremely long titles such as the example below.
In the Works Cited list, if you are listing a work with a title in a language other than English, you can add the translated title in square brackets.
If you are using the foreign-language title in the text itself, you can also include the translation in parenthesis. For example, O Alquimista ( The Alchemist ) .
You don’t need to include a translation in your reference list or in the text if you expect your readers to be familiar with the original language. For example, you wouldn’t translate the title of a French novel you were writing about in the context of a French degree.
For works in a language that does not use the Latin alphabet, such as Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, or Russian, be consistent with how you mention the source titles and also quotations from within them.
For example, if you choose to write a Russian title in the Cyrillic form, do that throughout the document. If you choose to use the Romanized form, stick with that. Do not alternate between the two.
Yes. MLA style uses title case, which means that all principal words (nouns, pronouns , verbs, adjectives , adverbs , and some conjunctions ) are capitalized.
This applies to titles of sources as well as the title of, and subheadings in, your paper. Use MLA capitalization style even when the original source title uses different capitalization .
In MLA style , book titles appear in italics, with all major words capitalized. If there is a subtitle, separate it from the main title with a colon and a space (even if no colon appears in the source). For example:
The format is the same in the Works Cited list and in the text itself. However, when you mention the book title in the text, you don’t have to include the subtitle.
The title of a part of a book—such as a chapter, or a short story or poem in a collection—is not italicized, but instead placed in quotation marks.
When a book’s chapters are written by different authors, you should cite the specific chapter you are referring to.
When all the chapters are written by the same author (or group of authors), you should usually cite the entire book, but some styles include exceptions to this.
The title of an article is not italicized in MLA style , but placed in quotation marks. This applies to articles from journals , newspapers , websites , or any other publication. Use italics for the title of the source where the article was published. For example:
Use the same formatting in the Works Cited entry and when referring to the article in the text itself.
The MLA Handbook is currently in its 9th edition , published in 2021.
This quick guide to MLA style explains the latest guidelines for citing sources and formatting papers according to MLA.
If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.
Gahan, C. (2024, March 05). MLA Titles | How to Format & Capitalize Source Titles. Scribbr. Retrieved September 9, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/mla/titles/
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Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Writing > Writing an Essay in MLA Format
Knowing how to write a Modern Language Association—or MLA—essay is an essential part of making it through school these days. Be warned, however, that daunting little tasks await around every corner—whether it’s knowing where to set your margins, how to edit a header, the right way to format a heading, and beyond!
While we can’t write your paper for you, this guide can certainly help you understand the proper MLA format for your essay. Keep reading to learn about writing an MLA-format paper with some tips for making sure it’s done right the first time.
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What is an MLA-format essay? It’s not uncommon for associations and organizations to follow a standard format and writing style. The Associated Press (AP) and University of Chicago styles are most common in professional settings. News outlets typically prefer the AP style, while businesses and creative agencies will choose the Chicago style. Academia, on the other hand, traditionally follows APA and MLA styles. APA (not the same as AP style) comes from the American Psychological Association and is used in scholarly articles. An MLA-format essay fits the established style for citing references and formatting essays established by the Modern Language Association.
Required elements of an MLA-format paper. MLA is the preferred style when writing an essay in high school and most college settings. As with other writing styles, there are specific characteristics and items an MLA-format paper needs to include to fit the bill of the style. Every MLA-format essay must include the following:
In addition to the listed elements above, every MLA essay must include a Works Cited. MLA format doesn’t require a title page, but it also doesn’t deem them unnecessary, so it’s up to your professor whether you’ll need one or not. One way to take the edge off the process of writing this type of essay is to use a free template or a handy built-in tool that helps you build bibliographies and more.
Tips for meeting MLA formatting guidelines. It’s said that the devil is in the details, and it’s never truer than when it comes to MLA-format essays. The following tips are areas to pay attention to when writing your essay:
When it comes down to it, practice makes perfect. The more essays you write, the better you’ll become at writing and meeting the expectations of MLA style. Before you know it, MLA format will be second nature, and everything will fall into place.
Still having a hard time visualizing what an MLA essay looks like? Check out a sample paper so you can see first-hand how they’re formatted!
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Guidelines for referring to the works of others in your text using MLA style are covered throughout the MLA Handbook and in chapter 7 of the MLA Style Manual . Both books provide extensive examples, so it's a good idea to consult them if you want to become even more familiar with MLA guidelines or if you have a particular reference question.
In MLA Style, referring to the works of others in your text is done using parenthetical citations . This method involves providing relevant source information in parentheses whenever a sentence uses a quotation or paraphrase. Usually, the simplest way to do this is to put all of the source information in parentheses at the end of the sentence (i.e., just before the period). However, as the examples below will illustrate, there are situations where it makes sense to put the parenthetical elsewhere in the sentence, or even to leave information out.
General Guidelines
MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. For example:
Both citations in the examples above, (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tell readers that the information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of a work by an author named Wordsworth. If readers want more information about this source, they can turn to the Works Cited page, where, under the name of Wordsworth, they would find the following information:
Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads . Oxford UP, 1967.
For print sources like books, magazines, scholarly journal articles, and newspapers, provide a signal word or phrase (usually the author’s last name) and a page number. If you provide the signal word/phrase in the sentence, you do not need to include it in the parenthetical citation.
These examples must correspond to an entry that begins with Burke, which will be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of an entry on the Works Cited page:
Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays on Life, Literature, and Method . University of California Press, 1966.
When a source has a corporate author, it is acceptable to use the name of the corporation followed by the page number for the in-text citation. You should also use abbreviations (e.g., nat'l for national) where appropriate, so as to avoid interrupting the flow of reading with overly long parenthetical citations.
If a source uses a labeling or numbering system other than page numbers, such as a script or poetry, precede the citation with said label. When citing a poem, for instance, the parenthetical would begin with the word “line”, and then the line number or range. For example, the examination of William Blake’s poem “The Tyger” would be cited as such:
The speaker makes an ardent call for the exploration of the connection between the violence of nature and the divinity of creation. “In what distant deeps or skies. / Burnt the fire of thine eyes," they ask in reference to the tiger as they attempt to reconcile their intimidation with their relationship to creationism (lines 5-6).
Longer labels, such as chapters (ch.) and scenes (sc.), should be abbreviated.
When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name, following these guidelines.
Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work (such as an article) or italicize it if it's a longer work (e.g. plays, books, television shows, entire Web sites) and provide a page number if it is available.
Titles longer than a standard noun phrase should be shortened into a noun phrase by excluding articles. For example, To the Lighthouse would be shortened to Lighthouse .
If the title cannot be easily shortened into a noun phrase, the title should be cut after the first clause, phrase, or punctuation:
In this example, since the reader does not know the author of the article, an abbreviated title appears in the parenthetical citation, and the full title of the article appears first at the left-hand margin of its respective entry on the Works Cited page. Thus, the writer includes the title in quotation marks as the signal phrase in the parenthetical citation in order to lead the reader directly to the source on the Works Cited page. The Works Cited entry appears as follows:
"The Impact of Global Warming in North America." Global Warming: Early Signs . 1999. www.climatehotmap.org/. Accessed 23 Mar. 2009.
If the title of the work begins with a quotation mark, such as a title that refers to another work, that quote or quoted title can be used as the shortened title. The single quotation marks must be included in the parenthetical, rather than the double quotation.
Parenthetical citations and Works Cited pages, used in conjunction, allow readers to know which sources you consulted in writing your essay, so that they can either verify your interpretation of the sources or use them in their own scholarly work.
Page numbers are always required, but additional citation information can help literary scholars, who may have a different edition of a classic work, like Marx and Engels's The Communist Manifesto . In such cases, give the page number of your edition (making sure the edition is listed in your Works Cited page, of course) followed by a semicolon, and then the appropriate abbreviations for volume (vol.), book (bk.), part (pt.), chapter (ch.), section (sec.), or paragraph (par.). For example:
When you cite a work that appears inside a larger source (for instance, an article in a periodical or an essay in a collection), cite the author of the internal source (i.e., the article or essay). For example, to cite Albert Einstein's article "A Brief Outline of the Theory of Relativity," which was published in Nature in 1921, you might write something like this:
See also our page on documenting periodicals in the Works Cited .
Sometimes more information is necessary to identify the source from which a quotation is taken. For instance, if two or more authors have the same last name, provide both authors' first initials (or even the authors' full name if different authors share initials) in your citation. For example:
For a source with two authors, list the authors’ last names in the text or in the parenthetical citation:
Corresponding Works Cited entry:
Best, David, and Sharon Marcus. “Surface Reading: An Introduction.” Representations , vol. 108, no. 1, Fall 2009, pp. 1-21. JSTOR, doi:10.1525/rep.2009.108.1.1
For a source with three or more authors, list only the first author’s last name, and replace the additional names with et al.
Franck, Caroline, et al. “Agricultural Subsidies and the American Obesity Epidemic.” American Journal of Preventative Medicine , vol. 45, no. 3, Sept. 2013, pp. 327-333.
If you cite more than one work by an author, include a shortened title for the particular work from which you are quoting to distinguish it from the others. Put short titles of books in italics and short titles of articles in quotation marks.
Citing two articles by the same author :
Citing two books by the same author :
Additionally, if the author's name is not mentioned in the sentence, format your citation with the author's name followed by a comma, followed by a shortened title of the work, and, when appropriate, the page number(s):
If you cite from different volumes of a multivolume work, always include the volume number followed by a colon. Put a space after the colon, then provide the page number(s). (If you only cite from one volume, provide only the page number in parentheses.)
In your first parenthetical citation, you want to make clear which Bible you're using (and underline or italicize the title), as each version varies in its translation, followed by book (do not italicize or underline), chapter, and verse. For example:
If future references employ the same edition of the Bible you’re using, list only the book, chapter, and verse in the parenthetical citation:
John of Patmos echoes this passage when describing his vision (Rev. 4.6-8).
Sometimes you may have to use an indirect source. An indirect source is a source cited within another source. For such indirect quotations, use "qtd. in" to indicate the source you actually consulted. For example:
Note that, in most cases, a responsible researcher will attempt to find the original source, rather than citing an indirect source.
Sources that take the form of a dialogue involving two or more participants have special guidelines for their quotation and citation. Each line of dialogue should begin with the speaker's name written in all capitals and indented half an inch. A period follows the name (e.g., JAMES.) . After the period, write the dialogue. Each successive line after the first should receive an additional indentation. When another person begins speaking, start a new line with that person's name indented only half an inch. Repeat this pattern each time the speaker changes. You can include stage directions in the quote if they appear in the original source.
Conclude with a parenthetical that explains where to find the excerpt in the source. Usually, the author and title of the source can be given in a signal phrase before quoting the excerpt, so the concluding parenthetical will often just contain location information like page numbers or act/scene indicators.
Here is an example from O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh.
WILLIE. (Pleadingly) Give me a drink, Rocky. Harry said it was all right. God, I need a drink.
ROCKY. Den grab it. It's right under your nose.
WILLIE. (Avidly) Thanks. (He takes the bottle with both twitching hands and tilts it to his lips and gulps down the whiskey in big swallows.) (1.1)
With more and more scholarly work published on the Internet, you may have to cite sources you found in digital 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 on your Works Cited page.
Sometimes writers are confused with how to craft parenthetical citations for electronic sources because of the absence of page numbers. However, these sorts of entries often do not require a page number in the parenthetical citation. For electronic and Internet sources, follow the following guidelines:
Two types of non-print sources you may encounter are films and lectures/presentations:
In the two examples above “Herzog” (a film’s director) and “Yates” (a presentor) lead the reader to the first item in each citation’s respective entry on the Works Cited page:
Herzog, Werner, dir. Fitzcarraldo . Perf. Klaus Kinski. Filmverlag der Autoren, 1982.
Yates, Jane. "Invention in Rhetoric and Composition." Gaps Addressed: Future Work in Rhetoric and Composition, CCCC, Palmer House Hilton, 2002. Address.
Electronic sources may include web pages and online news or magazine articles:
In the first example (an online magazine article), 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 (a web page), a parenthetical citation is not necessary because the page does not list an author, and the title of the article, “MLA Formatting and Style Guide,” is used as a signal phrase within the sentence. If the title of the article was not named in the sentence, an abbreviated version would appear in a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence. Both corresponding Works Cited entries are as follows:
Taylor, Rumsey. "Fitzcarraldo." Slant , 13 Jun. 2003, www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/fitzcarraldo/. Accessed 29 Sep. 2009.
"MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL , 2 Aug. 2016, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/. Accessed 2 April 2018.
To cite multiple sources in the same parenthetical reference, separate the citations by a semi-colon:
When creating in-text citations for media that has a runtime, such as a movie or podcast, include the range of hours, minutes and seconds you plan to reference. For example: (00:02:15-00:02:35).
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 (For example, it is expected that U.S. citizens know that George Washington was the first President.). Remember that citing sources is a rhetorical task, and, as such, can vary based on your audience. If you’re writing for an expert audience of a scholarly journal, for example, you may need to deal with expectations of what constitutes “common knowledge” that differ from common norms.
The MLA Handbook describes how to cite many different kinds of authors and content creators. However, you may occasionally encounter a source or author category that the handbook does not describe, making the best way to proceed can be unclear.
In these cases, it's typically acceptable to apply the general principles of MLA citation to the new kind of source in a way that's consistent and sensible. A good way to do this is to simply use the standard MLA directions for a type of source that resembles the source you want to cite.
You may also want to investigate whether a third-party organization has provided directions for how to cite this kind of source. For example, Norquest College provides guidelines for citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers —an author category that does not appear in the MLA Handbook . In cases like this, however, it's a good idea to ask your instructor or supervisor whether using third-party citation guidelines might present problems.
Congratulations to the students whose essays were selected for the 2024 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 published from 2022 to 2024.
The following essays were selected for the 2024 edition of Writing with MLA Style. The selection committee for high school submissions was composed of Lisa Karakaya, Hunter College High School; and Heather Smith, Dedham Public Schools. The selection committee for postsecondary submissions was composed of Rachel Ihara, Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York; Tarshia L. Stanley, Wagner College; and Joyce MacDonald, University of Kentucky.
Miguel Kumar (Ransom Everglades School)
“McCarthyism at the Movies: The Effects of Hollywood McCarthyism on the American Public”
Catherine Mao (Hunter College High School)
“ Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder, and the Beholder Is a White Man: The 1875 Page Act, Eugenics, and Beauty Standards for Chinese Women versus American Women ”
Rachelle Dumayas (California State University, Sacramento)
“Should Deaf Children Get Cochlear Implants?”
Holly Nelson (Johns Hopkins University)
“Creating Space? Representations of Black Characters in Regency Romance”
Chloe Wiitala (University of Minnesota, Duluth)
“ Reanimating Queer Perspectives through Camp: A Study of Frankenstein and Its Parodic Film Adaptations ”
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 ”
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”
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 ”
Home / Guides / Citation Guides / MLA Format / How to Cite an Essay in MLA
The guidelines for citing an essay in MLA format are similar to those for citing a chapter in a book. Include the author of the essay, the title of the essay, the name of the collection if the essay belongs to one, the editor of the collection or other contributors, the publication information, and the page number(s).
Mla essay citation structure.
Last, First M. “Essay Title.” Collection Title, edited by First M. Last, Publisher, year published, page numbers. Website Title , URL (if applicable).
Gupta, Sanjay. “Balancing and Checking.” Essays on Modern Democracy, edited by Bob Towsky, Brook Stone Publishers, 1996, pp. 36-48. Essay Database, www . databaseforessays.org/modern/modern-democracy.
(Last Name Page #)
Click here to cite an essay via an EasyBib citation form.
MLA Formatting
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To cite your sources in an essay in MLA style, you need to have basic information including the author’s name(s), chapter title, book title, editor(s), publication year, publisher, and page numbers. The templates for in-text citations and a works-cited-list entry for essay sources and some examples are given below:
In-text citation template and example:
For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the author on the first occurrence. For subsequent citations, use only the surname(s). In parenthetical citations, always use only the surname of the author(s).
Citation in prose:
First mention: Annette Wheeler Cafarelli
Subsequent occurrences: Wheeler Cafarelli
Parenthetical:
….(Wheeler Cafarelli).
Works-cited-list entry template and example:
The title of the chapter is enclosed in double quotation marks and uses title case. The book or collection title is given in italics and uses title case.
Surname, First Name. “Title of the Chapter.” Title of the Book , edited by Editor(s) Name, Publisher, Publication Year, page range.
Cafarelli, Annette Wheeler. “Rousseau and British Romanticism: Women and British Romanticism.” Cultural Interactions in the Romantic Age: Critical Essays in Comparative Literature , edited by Gregory Maertz. State U of New York P, 1998, pp. 125–56.
To cite an essay in MLA style, you need to have basic information including the author(s), the essay title, the book title, editor(s), publication year, publisher, and page numbers. The templates for citations in prose, parenthetical citations, and works-cited-list entries for an essay by multiple authors, and some examples, are given below:
For citations in prose, use the first name and surname of the author (e.g., Mary Strine).
For sources with two authors, use both full author names in prose (e.g., Mary Strine and Beth Radick).
For sources with three or more authors, use the first name and surname of the first author followed by “and others” or “and colleagues” (e.g., Mary Strine and others). In subsequent citations, use only the surname of the first author followed by “and others” or “and colleagues” (e.g., Strine and others).
In parenthetical citations, use only the author’s surname. For sources with two authors, use two surnames (e.g., Strine and Radick). For sources with three or more author names, use the first author’s surname followed by “et al.”
First mention: Mary Strine…
Subsequent mention: Strine…
First mention: Mary Strine and Beth Radick…
Subsequent mention: Strine and Radick…
First mention: Mary Strine and colleagues …. or Mary Strine and others
Subsequent occurrences: Strine and colleagues …. or Strine and others
…. (Strine).
….(Strine and Radick).
….(Strine et al.).
The title of the essay is enclosed in double quotation marks and uses title case. The book or collection title is given in italics and uses title case.
Surname, First Name, et al. “Title of the Essay.” Title of the Book , edited by Editor(s) Name, Publisher, Publication Year, page range.
Strine, Mary M., et al. “Research in Interpretation and Performance Studies: Trends, Issues, Priorities.” Speech Communication: Essays to Commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Speech Communication Association , edited by Gerald M. Phillips and Julia T. Wood, Southern Illinois UP, 1990, pp. 181–204.
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Below are some basic guidelines for formatting a paper in MLA Style: General Guidelines. Type your paper on a computer and print it out on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper. Double-space the text of your paper and use a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman). Whatever font you choose, MLA recommends that the regular and italics type styles ...
Cite your MLA source. Start by applying these MLA format guidelines to your document: Use an easily readable font like 12 pt Times New Roman. Set 1 inch page margins. Use double line spacing. Include a ½" indent for new paragraphs. Include a four-line MLA heading on the first page. Center the paper's title.
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 (9th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page.
A Simple, Step-by-Step Guide + Free Template. Formatting your paper in MLA style can feel like a pretty daunting task. In this post, we'll show you exactly how to set up your paper for MLA (9th edition), as quickly and easily as possible. We'll also share our popular free MLA template, to help you fast-track your writing.
MLA formatting rules. 1 The sources page is referred to as the works cited page. It appears at the end of the paper, after any endnotes. 2 The entire paper is double-spaced, including block quotations and the references on the works cited page. 3 Use block quotes for quotations that are four lines or longer.
Resources on using in-text citations in MLA style. The Basics General guidelines for referring to the works of others in your essay Works Cited Page. Resources on writing an MLA style works cited page, including citation formats. Basic Format Basic guidelines for formatting the works cited page at the end of an MLA style paper
The nine core elements of MLA citations. 1. Author. Begin each source entry with the name of the author (s) or creator (s). The name of the first author is always inverted (Last name, First name). When a source has two authors, the second author's name is shown in the normal order (First name Last name).
Get started with MLA style. Learn how to document sources, set up your paper, and improve your teaching and writing. Document Sources Works Cited Quick Guide Learn how to use the MLA format template. Digital Citation Tool Build citations with our interactive template. In-Text Citations Get help with in-text citations. Endnotes and Footnotes Read our …
How to Format Your Essay in MLA Style. Now, let's go through step-by-step instructions to help you correctly format your essay. 1. Margins and Page Layout. Go to the Page Layout settings in your word processor and set one-inch margins on all sides of the paper. Set the text to be left-aligned.
Sample Essays: Writing with MLA Style. Congratulations to the students whose essays were selected for the 2024 edition of Writing with MLA Style! Essays were selected as examples of excellent student… Read More
Guidelines on setting up research papers in MLA format with updated advice on headings, lists, and title pages for group projects; ... The MLA Style Center offers free online resources on MLA style, including an interactive MLA format template, answers to common questions on Ask the MLA, advice from the MLA editors, and more.
PLEASE NOTE: New edition of MLA (9th) covered here: https://youtu.be/QSEz5pADWKoMLA style essay formatting: margins, font, line spacing, header, info block, ...
Like all the other text in an MLA style paper, the title block is double-spaced.; The title is in the same font as the rest of the paper — it is not boldface, or enlarged.; There is no extra space above or below the title.; A truly informative title will include the general topic, and your precise opinion on that topic. (So, if you pan to compare Hamlet and Macbeth, your title should state ...
Heading and Title. An MLA research paper does not need a title page, but your instructor may require one. If no instructions are given, follow the MLA guidelines below: Type the following one inch from the top of the first page, flush with the left margin (double spacing throughout). Your Name. Your Instructor's Name. Course Number or Name. Date.
Need a little bit of help writing an MLA format essay? Then make sure you don't forget these helpful tips on the format and guidelines! Dictionary Thesaurus Sentences ... In general, any type of document in MLA format will adhere to these five formatting rules: ...
Of course, there is so much more to MLA style and MLA formatting than just that. Indeed, the current version of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th Edition) runs to 292 pages! But here are the essential style and formatting points. MLA Format Citation Example. To start, let's look at a basic example of how to format a citation ...
If your instructor lets you pick the format of your essay, opt for the style that matches your course or degree best: MLA is best for English and humanities; APA is typically for education, psychology, and sciences; Chicago Style is common for business, history, and fine arts. 2. Set your margins to 1 inch (2.5 cm) for all style guides.
Use quotation marks around the title if it is part of a larger work (e.g. a chapter of a book, an article in a journal, or a page on a website). All major words in a title are capitalized. The same format is used in the Works Cited list and in the text itself. Place in quotation marks. Italicize.
MLA is the preferred style when writing an essay in high school and most college settings. As with other writing styles, there are specific characteristics and items an MLA-format paper needs to include to fit the bill of the style. Every MLA-format essay must include the following: One-inch margins. Double-spaced text.
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 (9th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page.
Congratulations to the students whose essays were selected for the 2024 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 published …
To cite an essay in MLA style, you need to have basic information including the author (s), the essay title, the book title, editor (s), publication year, publisher, and page numbers. The templates for citations in prose, parenthetical citations, and works-cited-list entries for an essay by multiple authors, and some examples, are given below:
1 inch. Line Spacing. Double. New Paragraph Indents. ½ inch. Headings. Title Case. In the next section, you will get to know how to create an MLA format heading, which appears at the top of your writing assignment. Before using the instruction, ask if your professor prefers a certain way to format an MLA heading.