MLA Format
MLA stands for Modern Language Association. You'll typically use MLA style in all English and Humanities courses (history, religion, philosophy, politics, fine art, etc.).
The rules below are a summary of the MLA Handbook 2016. You can print off a copy of this information by downloading this reference sheet.
In-Text Citations:
* After EVERY FACT, you must include a citation directly following. Just include the author's last name and the page, or, if there's no author, just a few words of the article title. If it's a website, it doesn't require a page number. Like this, respectively (notice that the in-text citation is part of the sentence - it comes before the period):
Plato was never a fan of democracy (Smith 27).
Plato was never a fan of democracy ("Democracy Fans" 27).
Plato was never a fan of democracy (Smith).
* NOTE: MLA has recommended parenthetical documentation instead of footnotes since the 1988 version of the MLA Handbook.
Works Cited:
* At the end of an essay, include a page called Works Cited. It should be the last page of your document, but NOT a separate document.
* Include every source used in the paper, but no other sources consulted but not used.
* The in-text citation should be the first words in the works cited.
* Put the sources in alphabetical order by last name (or article if there's no author).
* If there's no author, start with the article title NOT "Author Unknown."
* The first line should be at the margin, then indent the rest of the lines.
* If it's a film, start with the title. If it's a song, start with the band. See below.
* Websites look like this:
Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Source." Title of Container,
Publisher, Date, Location (page number or url but without http://). Access Date (for
websites only).
* QUOTATION MARKS go around the title of an article, song, essay, or anything else that's within a collection.
* ITALICS are for any CONTAINER like the title of a book, album, collection, newspaper, website, magazine, or anything else that stands on its own - it's not within something else. Every entry should have some container - something in italics.
* It should all be double-spaced.
* See Purdue OWL for special cases.
Like this - notice that if the source doesn't include an author, the citation starts with the article (or book title if there's also no article):
Works Cited
"Democracy Fans Upset Plato." Why Democracy is the Worst Form of Government,
1998, www.democracyistheworst.com. Accessed 20 September 2013.
Foo Fighters for Plato. In Your Honor. RCA, 2005.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. On Hating Plato. 1860. Fake Publications, 2014.
Plato. "Symposium" and "Republic." The Best Bits of Plato Ever, Ed. Jon Stewart,
Big Publisher, 1983.
---. Republic. Penguin, 1992.
Searching for Plato. Dir. Malik Bendjelloul. Sony Pictures, 2012.
Smith, Joe. "Why I Love Plato All to Bits." Plato Rocks, Trans. Jane Doe, McGraw
Hill Publications, 2004.
Stewart, Jon, Ed. "Introduction." The Best Bits of Plato Ever, Big Publisher, 1983.
Zappa, Frank. "The Many Reasons Why: On Plato and Love." Mothers of Invention
Website of Awesomeness, www.joesgarage.ca. Accessed 20 September 2013.
Do NOT list a series of website urls, or, if you do, expect to have your paper returned so you can fix it before it's marked!!
The rules below are a summary of the MLA Handbook 2016. You can print off a copy of this information by downloading this reference sheet.
In-Text Citations:
* After EVERY FACT, you must include a citation directly following. Just include the author's last name and the page, or, if there's no author, just a few words of the article title. If it's a website, it doesn't require a page number. Like this, respectively (notice that the in-text citation is part of the sentence - it comes before the period):
Plato was never a fan of democracy (Smith 27).
Plato was never a fan of democracy ("Democracy Fans" 27).
Plato was never a fan of democracy (Smith).
* NOTE: MLA has recommended parenthetical documentation instead of footnotes since the 1988 version of the MLA Handbook.
Works Cited:
* At the end of an essay, include a page called Works Cited. It should be the last page of your document, but NOT a separate document.
* Include every source used in the paper, but no other sources consulted but not used.
* The in-text citation should be the first words in the works cited.
* Put the sources in alphabetical order by last name (or article if there's no author).
* If there's no author, start with the article title NOT "Author Unknown."
* The first line should be at the margin, then indent the rest of the lines.
* If it's a film, start with the title. If it's a song, start with the band. See below.
* Websites look like this:
Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Source." Title of Container,
Publisher, Date, Location (page number or url but without http://). Access Date (for
websites only).
* QUOTATION MARKS go around the title of an article, song, essay, or anything else that's within a collection.
* ITALICS are for any CONTAINER like the title of a book, album, collection, newspaper, website, magazine, or anything else that stands on its own - it's not within something else. Every entry should have some container - something in italics.
* It should all be double-spaced.
* See Purdue OWL for special cases.
Like this - notice that if the source doesn't include an author, the citation starts with the article (or book title if there's also no article):
Works Cited
"Democracy Fans Upset Plato." Why Democracy is the Worst Form of Government,
1998, www.democracyistheworst.com. Accessed 20 September 2013.
Foo Fighters for Plato. In Your Honor. RCA, 2005.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. On Hating Plato. 1860. Fake Publications, 2014.
Plato. "Symposium" and "Republic." The Best Bits of Plato Ever, Ed. Jon Stewart,
Big Publisher, 1983.
---. Republic. Penguin, 1992.
Searching for Plato. Dir. Malik Bendjelloul. Sony Pictures, 2012.
Smith, Joe. "Why I Love Plato All to Bits." Plato Rocks, Trans. Jane Doe, McGraw
Hill Publications, 2004.
Stewart, Jon, Ed. "Introduction." The Best Bits of Plato Ever, Big Publisher, 1983.
Zappa, Frank. "The Many Reasons Why: On Plato and Love." Mothers of Invention
Website of Awesomeness, www.joesgarage.ca. Accessed 20 September 2013.
Do NOT list a series of website urls, or, if you do, expect to have your paper returned so you can fix it before it's marked!!
