MLA

MLA Formatting, Works Cited Pages, & Parenthetical Citations

Do Now: MLA

What do you know about MLA? For example:

• What does MLA stand for?
• What does MLA Format look like?
• What is a Works Cited page?
• What are parenthetical citations?

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MLA Is Really Two Things:

• the look of your paper (format)

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• the way you cite your source (documentation)
• Works Cited page
• parenthetical citations

The Works Cited Page

Click link for Sample MLA Format Works Cited

MLA Documentation: Works Cited Page

• always on its own page, but header continues from paper: Insert > page break
• page title is Works Cited, centered, capitalized W and C, s on the end of Works
• citations are alphabetized by author’s last name
• no numbers or bullets
• MLA 8: include website addresses (URLs) [MLA 7 did not]
• indent the first line of each new entry (hanging indent)
• For additional help, visit the MLA Format section of the library website. Also see the sample handout for how your Works Cited pages should look.

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Expert Tip:

Academic databases and eBooks have the source citation for you. All you have to do is copy and paste!

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Parenthetical Citations

Purpose of Parenthetical Citations

• avoiding plagiarism

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• directing your reader to the original source of info

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What Are In-Text Citations? Video

Parenthetical Citations: The Basics

Immediately following any borrowed information, whether directly quoted, paraphrased, or summarized, put the author's last name and page number in parentheses.

It looks like this: Or like this:

Blah, blah, blah (Noah 32). "Blah, blah, blah" (Noah 32).

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Parenthetical Citations: The Details

• no p. or pg.--just the actual number
• no comma or punctuation between the author's last name and page number--just a space
• punctuation (usually a period) goes AFTER the closing parentheses
• If no author or page number, use an abbreviated article title. It should match the title on your Works Cited page.

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