MLA Formatting and Style Guide
Coming Soon: A new look for our same great content! We're working hard this summer on a redesign of the Purdue OWL. Worry not! Our navigation menu and content will remain largely the same. Summary: MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. Contributors: Tony Russell, Allen Brizee, Elizabeth Angeli, Russell Keck, Joshua M. The following overview should help you better understand how to cite sources using MLA eighth edition, including the list of works cited and in-text citations. Please use the example at the bottom of this page to cite the Purdue OWL in MLA. Creating a Works Cited list using the eighth edition MLA is a style of documentation based on a general methodology that may be applied to many different types of writing. Thus, the current system is based on a few guiding principles, rather than an extensive list of specific rules. Here is an overview of the process: Author Said, Edward W. Number
Formatting Works Cited Page
Summary: 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 (8th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page. Contributors:Tony Russell, Allen Brizee, Elizabeth Angeli, Russell Keck, Joshua M. Paiz, Michelle Campbell, Rodrigo Rodríguez-Fuentes, Daniel P. Kenzie, Susan Wegener, Maryam Ghafoor, Purdue OWL StaffLast Edited: 2017-06-11 11:24:36 According to MLA style, you must have a Works Cited page at the end of your research paper. Basic rules Begin your Works Cited page on a separate page at the end of your research paper. Additional basic rules new to MLA 2016 New to MLA 2016: For online sources, you should include a location to show readers where you found the source. Capitalization and punctuation Listing author names Burke, Kenneth Levy, David M. Wallace, David Foster
Block Quote (for long quotes) - MLA Style Guide: 8th Edition - LibGuides at Western Oregon University
The block quote is used for direct quotations that are longer than four lines of prose, or longer than three lines of poetry. A block quote is always used when quoting dialogue between characters, as in a play. The block format is a freestanding quote that does not include quotation marks. Introduce the block quote with a colon (unless the context of your quote requires different punctuation) and start it on a new line. Indent the entire quote 1-inch from the left margin and double-space it (even if the rest of your paper is not double-spaced). Prose If you quote a single paragraph (or just part of one), do not indent the first line of the block quote more than the rest: It is not until near the end of The Hound of the Baskervilles that the hound itself is actually seen: A hound it was, an enormous coal-black hound, but not such a hound as mortal eyes have ever seen. If you quote two or more paragraphs, indent the first line of each paragraph an additional ¼ inch. "My God!" Poetry John,
Direct Quote - MLA Style Guide: 8th Edition - LibGuides at Western Oregon University
Quoted material should be reproduced word-for-word and exactly as it appears in the original source. Unless you indicate a change in brackets or parentheses, changes must not be made in spelling, capitalization, or interior punctuation. Include the author's last name and page number(s). Only use the page number(s) themselves; do not include any abbreviations for ‘page’ such as ‘pg.’ or ‘p.’ Prose If the quote is under four lines long, it should be incorporated into the text and enclosed using quotation marks. Author Incorporated into Text Harper Lee writes as the character Atticus Fitch in To Kill a Mockingbird, giving advice to his young daughter in the famous line, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it" (36). Author After Quotation "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it" (Lee 36).
Books of All Types
Summary: 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 (8th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page. Contributors: Tony Russell, Allen Brizee, Elizabeth Angeli, Russell Keck, Joshua M. When you are gathering book sources, be sure to make note of the following bibliographic items: the author name(s), other contributors such as translators or editors, the book’s title, editions of the book, the publication date, the publisher, and the pagination. The 8th edition of the MLA handbook highlights principles over prescriptive practices. Remember these changes from previous editions: Commas are used instead of periods between Publisher, Publication Date, and Pagination. Below is the general format for any citation: Author. Basic Book Format Last Name, First Name. ---.
Websites
Summary: 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 (8th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page. Contributors: Tony Russell, Allen Brizee, Elizabeth Angeli, Russell Keck, Joshua M. It is always a good idea to maintain personal copies of electronic information, when possible. MLA uses the phrase, “Accessed” to denote which date you accessed the web page when available or necessary. Important Note on the Use of URLs in MLA Include a URL or web address to help readers locate your sources. Many scholarly journal articles found in databases include a DOI (digital object identifier). Online newspapers and magazines sometimes include a “permalink,” which is a shortened, stable version of a URL. Abbreviations Commonly Used with Electronic Sources Author. A Tweet
Articles (Magazine, Newspaper, Scholarly Journal...)
Summary: 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 (8th ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page. Contributors: Tony Russell, Allen Brizee, Elizabeth Angeli, Russell Keck, Joshua M. Paiz, Michelle Campbell, Rodrigo Rodríguez-Fuentes, Daniel P. Periodicals include magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals. Use the following format for all citations: Author. Article in a Magazine Cite by listing the article's author, putting the title of the article in quotations marks, and italicizing the periodical title. Author(s). Poniewozik, James. Buchman, Dana. Article in a Newspaper Cite a newspaper article as you would a magazine article, but note the different pagination in a newspaper. Brubaker, Bill. Krugman, Andrew. Behre, Robert. Trembacki, Paul. A Review
