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. London: Oxford UP, 1967.
Click here for a sample research paper.
The Purdue OWL MLA Formattting and Style Guide is another helpful resource for MLA citation. This page provides information about citing (giving credit for any quotes, facts, paraphrases, or summaries in your paper). Check here for help with your works cited page (bibliography page).
The Harvard Guide to Using Sources provides excellent advice on the mechanics of citations. Great visual examples on citing various sources in MLA, APA, and Chicago.
Easybib: enter information about your book, article, or website and Easybib will create a citation.
When you use outside sources, you will need to create a works cited list that tells your reader all the information they need to find the source themselves if they want to.
See the examples below of commonly used resources.
For more information about creating a works cited list, see Purdue OWL MLA Formatting and Style Guide. There you will find examples of how to cite many different types of sources.
Format:
Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. City of publication: Publisher, Date of publication. Format.
Example:
Gardner, Howard. Five Minds for the Future. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2006. Print.
Pictorial Example
Format:
Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. City Published: Publisher, Year Published. Database. Format. Date accessed.
Example:
Kronenfeld, Jennie J. Access To Care And Factors That Impact Access, Patients As Partners In Care And
Changing Roles Of Health Providers. Bingley: Emerald Book Serials and Monographs, 2011. eBook
Academic Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 17 Dec. 2012.
Pictorial Example
Format:
Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal Vol. Number.Issue Number (Year): Page
numbers. Title of Database. Format. Date accessed.
Example:
Kereluik, Kristen, et al. "What Knowledge is of Most Worth: Teacher Knowledge for 21st Century Learning."
Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education 29.4 (2013): 127-140. General OneFile. Web. 10 Dec.
2014.
Pictorial Example
Format:
Author Last Name, First Name [if avaliable] Title of Website. Sponsor of Site. Date Updated. Format. Date of
Access.
Example:
"History of Project Zero." Project Zero. School of Education, Harvard University. 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2010.
Pictorial Example
General Guidelines
1) Author/Creator. Not available? Skip to #2.
2) Title of image in italics. Not available? Image doesn’t have a title? Create brief descriptive title. (Photograph of horse running. Drawing of brain.)
3) Media of the image (Chart,Diagram,Graph, Illustration, Map, Photograph, Cartoon)
4) Date of image. Not available? n.d.
5) Title of where the image is located. Title of web page or title of article found in database.
6) Website/database name of where image is located.
7) Medium of publication. If online – Web. If in paper, Print.
8) If Web, then end with day of access, month and year. 01 Jan. 2011.
9) Always end with a period. There is no retrieval URL in 7th edition MLA unless requested by Professor.
Pictorial Example
For additional image citation examples and information see the MLA - Images Tab featured on the Art & Art History LibGuide.
When you use outside sources, you want to 1) introduce them to the reader, 2) indicate a page number when applicable, and 3) show how this quote relates to what you are trying to say.
| According to Howard Gardner the synthesizing mind is important for "selecting crucial information from the copious amounts of information available" (154). In my experience it is difficult to know which information is crucial. |
Longer quotes should be indented.
|
Howard Gardner argues that schools should cultivate all 5 minds for the future: It is up to the educational system as a whole -- the educational systems in the broadest sense -- to ensure that the ensemble of minds is cultivated. In one sense, this is a job of synthesis--making sure that all five kinds of minds are developed. But equally, it is an ethical obligation: in the years ahead, societies will not survive--let along thrive--unless as citizens we respect and culitvat ethe quintet of minds valorized here. (165)
It is important to not emphasize too much one mind over the other, but the different qualities they bring and how they work together. |
For more information about in-text citation, see Purdue Owl's MLA Citation Style page
