MLA Style Manuals & Citation Help
MLA style is a popular citation style for English language and literature. Below are resources that can help you when you're formatting your bibliography and papers. Some professors (or publishers, if you are writing an article to be published) may prefer a different style, such as Chicago style, so always check before you format and submit your work. Ask a librarian if you have questions about MLA or other citation styles.
- MLA Handbook Plus This link opens in a new window
The ninth edition builds on the MLA’s unique approach to documenting sources using a template of core elements that allows writers to cite any type of work, from books, e-books, and journal articles in databases to song lyrics, online images, YouTube videos, dissertations, and more.
- The MLA Style Center - Using MLA FormatThe official website on MLA style. This site will show you how to document sources, set up your paper, and improve your writing.
- Purdue OWL: MLA Formatting & Style GuideAn essential resource from Purdue University with examples and advice for creating in-text citations and bibliographies using MLA style.
MLA Handbook 9th edition by Call Number: Clemons Ready Reference & Brown Library Reference X031880570 Brown Science and Engineering Reference LB2369 .M52 2021ISBN: 9781603293518Publication Date: 2021An all-in-one resource that makes MLA style easier to learn and use, the MLA Handbook includes: Expanded, in-depth guidance on creating works-cited-list entries using the MLA template of core elements that explains what each core element is, where to find it in various sources, and how to style it. A new, easy-to-follow explanation of in-text citations. A new chapter containing recommendations for using inclusive language. A new appendix with hundreds of sample works-cited-list entries by publication format, including books, databases, websites, YouTube videos, interviews, and more. Updated guidelines on avoiding plagiarism. Although there are numerous websites, apps, reference works, and cheat sheets that claim to help with MLA style, there's only one truly authoritative resource to help your students on their paths to becoming better writers. The ninth edition of the MLA Handbook is the most comprehensive guide the MLA has ever produced, with an all-inclusive approach to writing, research, documentation, and formatting.
Sample Citations in MLA Style
Scholarly Article Citation
General Format:
Author (last name, first name). "Title of Article." Journal Title, volume number (vol. #), issue number (no. #), year, pages (pp. #-#).
Example:
Cooke, Simon. "Margaret Oliphant's 'The Library Window' and the Idea of 'Adolescent Insanity.'" Victorians Institute Journal,
vol. 34, 2006, pp. 243-57.
Essay in an Edited Book
General Format:
Essay Author (last name, first name). "Title of Essay." Title of Book Collection, edited by Name of Editor(s), Publisher, year, pages (pp. #-#).
Example:
Nielsen, Wendy C. "The Creature, His Companion, and the Singularity in Shelley's Frankenstein." Motherless Creations:
Fictions of Artificial Life, 1650-1890, edited by Wendy C. Nielsen, Routledge, 2022. pp. 110-38.
Sample In-Text Citations MLA style
General in-text citation: (Author page number(s))
Example: (Cooke 243).
If I have more than one article by Cooke in my Works cited, I would add part of the title (to identify which work you are referring to):
Example: (Cooke, "Adolescent Insanity" 243).
When citing an essay from a book collection, use the essay author in the citation (not the editor(s) name(s).
Citation after quotation: "Here is my quotation" (cite).
Example: According to Cooke, "The Library Window" is "the most suggestive and controversial of Oliphant's supernatural tales" (243).
Or paraphrase of information (cite).
Example: "The Library Window" is described as a story of female madness (Cooke 243).