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“A style that is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities” (“Manuals of Style and Formatting Guides”).

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What is MLA format? Why is it important?

Modern Language Association (MLA)

cheat sheet

MLA Formatting

  • No title page
  • Last name and page number as header
  • Center title (not underlined, in quotation marks, n big font OR all capitalized letters).
  • 1” margins all around AND double spaced.
  • Sample MLA in-text citation: (Smith 7) → includes author’s last name and page # (no comma and no “pg.”)
    • If you have already mentioned the author’s name in the sentence, you only need to include the page number. EX: Smith claims, “Cake is the most delicious dessert” (7).
  • Author unknown
    • Us a shortened version of the title in the in-text citation. → (“”The Great Cake Debate” 4).
  • Titles: Italicized or “quotation marks” ?
    • Whole Sources (books, journals, and newspapers) → italicized
    • Parts of a whole source like chapters or articles → “quotation marks”
      • EX: The book Food for Thought and the chapter “The Great Cake Debate”
  • Punctuation
    • Periods, commas, question marks, etc. go after the in-text citation.
      • EX: Smith suggests, “Chocolate is the best flavor for cakes” (8). However, his claim that “vanilla is the worst flavor ever” (Smith 8), while might be true for him, is certainly not agreed upon by everyone.

MLA Rules

OWL Purdue

help with all your MLA citation needs!

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In-text citations give credit to the author you borrowed

from and they let your reader know where you got

each piece of information from.

(It’s like the old school version of links on websites)

Why do I have to use

in-text citations?

In-Text Citations

cheat sheet

When do I use them?

ANYTIME you use info from a source you MUST include an in-text citation!

  • Sometimes you’ll include a direct quote from an author
    • “The findings suggest that the mere presence of one’s smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity and impairs cognitive functioning even though people feel they’re giving their full attention and focus to the task at hand” (Austin 67).
  • Sometimes you’ll put that quote into your own words (paraphrase)
    • Although most people think they can concentrate just fine with their phone out, research shows that our brain does not function at full capacity when our phone is out and we do not perform as well on any given task (Austin 67).
  • Either way, if you didn’t know it BEFORE you read the source, you are BORROWING it from the author, and you MUST GIVE THEM CREDIT!
  • After using either a direct quote or putting it in your own words, include your in-text citation at the end of the sentence. (It should never go in the middle of your sentence).
  • It should be in parentheses with a period AFTER the parentheses.
    • (Austin). ←
  • The in-text citation should be whatever is the first part of the Works Cited for the source.
    • Often, the in-text citation will be the author’s last name
      • (Austin).
    • If there is no author, then use the title
      • (“The Mere Presence of Your Smartphone Reduces Your Brain Power”).
    • Which can be shortened, if it’s too long
      • (“The Mere Presence of Your Smartphone”).
    • If it is a print source with page numbers, include those numbers
      • (Austin 67). ***NOTICE NO COMMA BEFORE THE PAGE NUMBER

But what do I write?

Your in-text citation should lead the reader to the source on the Works Cited page.

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  • Book

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  • Reference Book (Encyclopedia/Dictionary)

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  • Periodical (Newspaper/Magazine/Journal)

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  • Website/URL

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  • Photograph/Print

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  • Ephemera/Map

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MLA Rules Continued

works cited citations

______________, ___________. ________________. ________, _________.

Author’s Last Name. First Name. Title of Book Publisher, Year Published.

“______________.” ___________. ________________. ________, _________.

Title of Section/Chapter. Title of Book. Edition (i.e. 3rd ed.). Publisher, Year Published.

_____________, _________. “__________. “ ________, ____________, pp. ___.

Author’s Last Name. First Name. “Title of Article.” Name of Periodical Day Month Year Published, Page #(s)

_________, _________. “_________. “ ________, ____________, ________.

Author’s Last Name. First Name. “Name of Section.” Website/URL Name. Day Month Year Published, URL Address

_________, _________. _________. ________. ____________.

Artist’s Last Name., First Name. Title of Work. Year Produced Institution who owns the photograph/print.

_______________, _______. ___________. ______. ____________.

Owner/Author’s Last Name,. First Name. Title of Ephemera/Map. Year Produced. Institution who owns the ephemera/map..

***NOTE: When WRITING in MLA format, underline the title because you cannot write it italicized. You can only italicize when typing.