Points to Remember About MLA Citation Format prepared by Karin Durán, Ph.D.
MLA (Modern Language Association)
Authors in Works Cited or Bibliography
- Last name and fully spelled out first name
- Maintain order of names as found in the source being cited
- Give names of up to 3 authors
Example: Duran, Karin, Solis, Jacqueline, and Lampert, Lynn.
- If there are more than 3 authors, use the first author and then [et al.] in place
of the other authors.
Example: Duran, Karin, [et al.].
Authors in an in-text (parenthetical) citation
- List the last names of all authors, up to 3 for in-text reference
Example: (Duran, Solis, and Lampert 24)
Titles
Books
- Use uppercase for all the major words and proper nouns.
- Italicize the full title
Chapter titles
- Use uppercase for all the major words and proper nouns.
- Use quotations marks around the chapter title
Internet sites
- Use uppercase for all the major words and proper nouns.
- Italicize web site title, use quotations marks for titles of sites within sites (like chapter within a book)
Journal titles
- Use uppercase for all the major words and proper nouns.
-Italicize periodical titles
Article titles
- Use uppercase for all the major words and proper nouns.
- Use quotation marks for article title
Points to Remember About MLA Citation Format prepared by Karin Durán, Ph.D.
MLA (Modern Language Association)
Date of publication
Books
Follows place of publication and publisher’s name and is followed by a period
Journals
Follows volume and issue number or periodical title if volume and issue number are not given or known
Internet sites
- Publication dates are often not available or may be labeled:
Last modified on
Updated on
- Date of access/retrieval is always required and follows other publication information and precedes web
address for “surface web” sites
Indenting and Spacing
- Indent 5 spaces for all the lines after the first line in each citation.
- Double space between and within each reference
- When the quotation you take from a source is more than 4 lines long, create a long/block quote by
indenting 10 spaces from the left margin and continue to double-space within the quote.