By Benjamin Syn
UCD Writing Center

No More Underlining!
 Underlining is no more. MLA now recommends italicizing titles of
independently published works (books, periodicals, films, etc).

No More URLs!
 While website entries will still include authors, article names, and website
names, when available, MLA no longer requires URLs. Writers are, however,
encouraged to provide a URL if the citation information does not lead readers
to easily find the source.

Publication Medium.
 Every entry receives a medium of publication marker. Most entries will be
listed as Print or Web, but other possibilities include Performance, DVD, or TV.
Most of these markers will appear at the end of entries; however, markers for
Web sources are followed by the date of access.

New Abbreviations.
 Many web source entries now require a publisher name, a date of publication,
and/or page numbers. When no publisher name appears on the website, write
N.p. for no publisher given. When sites omit a date of publication, write n.d.
for no date. For online journals that appear only online (no print version) or on
databases that do not provide pagination, write n. pag. for no pagination.
Where things go and why

Leave an exactly one inch (1”) margin:
 At the top
 At the bottom
 On both sides

Align all text flush with the left margin
 There are only two exceptions to this rule:
▪ Titles (including “Works Cited”) are centered
▪ Page numbers are flush with the right margin

Unless your professor says otherwise,
DOUBLE-SPACE EVERYTHING.
 In previous versions of MLA there were parts, such
as block quotations and the works cited page that
had different spacing.
 However, under current MLA guidelines,
everything needs to be double-spaced.
Page Numbers
•
Page numbers are:
•
•
•
In the header, one-half
inch from the top.
Flush with the right
margin
Go on every page,
including the first page
and the Works Cited
page(s).
Heading
Unless your professor insists on
it, do not include a title page.
Instead, on your first page you
need to have four elements:
Your name
Your professor’s name
The course
The date the assignment is
due

Rules for your title:
 DOs:
▪ Double-space and center your title beneath the date
▪ Capitalize these words of your title:
▪ The first
▪ The last
▪ All principle words
 DON’Ts
▪ Italicize/underline your title and do not put quotation marks around
your title (unless your title mentions the title of another work)
▪ Put a period at the end of your title
▪ Capitalize these (unless they are the first or last word):
▪
▪
▪
▪
Articles
Prepositions
Coordinating conjunctions
The to in infinitives
Giving credit where it’s due

Use the first page of the Samuel
Greengard’s scholarly article
“Censored!” to:
Create a properly formatted
Works Cited entry
Create parenthetic citations for
these quotes
1)
2)
a)
b)
c)
Samuel Greengard writes, “Many
observers criticized Google for
bowing to pressure from the Chinese
government” (________).
Several Asian nations including
China and India “use Internet
censorship to dominate the political
dialogue” (________).
Professor Andrew Lih offers, “In
many countries, censorship is a
deeply entrenched practice”
(________).

A citation can either be a paraphrase of the ideas
in your own words or a direct quote from the
original text.
 Paraphrase
▪ To paraphrase means to restate information from a source in
an original way
▪ Even though you are paraphrasing, you must ALWAYS cite
the source’s author
 Direct Quotations
▪ Retain the meaning and credibility of the original source
▪ Capture exact language that supports your point; in many
instances, they capture language that is unusual, well crafted,
striking, and/or memorable.

Commas and periods are always placed inside
the quotation mark:
 Modern poems, like T.S. Eliot’s “The Hollow Men,” are
a pleasure to read.

Exception: When using in-text citations, your
comma will go outside the quotation marks and
parenthetical:
 “The Dead,” a short story in James Joyce’s Dubliners,
depicts a man coming to terms with his own
mortality: “His soul had approached that regions
where dwell the vast hosts of the dead” (176).

When you reference any outside material, provide a citation
 You MUST provide a citation for any information or idea that is not
your own or common knowledge

Citations are:
 Are in parentheses
 Immediately after a quotation or paraphrase
 But before the punctuation

Inside the parentheses you need two things:
Author’s last name
1.
▪
▪
2.
If a source doesn’t have a known author, use an abbreviated title
If you are using several works by the same author, you will need to include the
author’s name and an abbreviated title
Page(s) referenced
▪ If the author is mentioned in the sentence, only the page number is in the
parenthetic citation
In-Text Citation
Author’s name in the text (6.3)
In-text Citation (MLA)
Author’s name in reference
(6.3)
In-text Citation
Citing Indirect Sources (6.4.7)
Block Quote
•
Direct quotations that go over
four lines need to be turned
into block quotes:
• Use a colon to introduce
quote
• Indent quote 1”
• Omit quotation marks
• The parenthetic comes
after the period
A list of all the sources
from the text




New page
Double-space throughout
The title “Works Cited” is centered, one inch
from top
Each entry is
 Flush with left margin
▪ Subsequent lines are indented one-half inch, which is
called hanging indention
 Alphabetized by author’s last name
▪ Or title if author is unknown (ignoring A, An, or The)
Author(s). “Article Title.” Journal Volume.Issue (Year):
Page(s). Medium.
Connelly, Deborah S. “To Read or Not To Read:
Understanding Book Censorship.” Community &
Junior College Libraries 15.2 (2009): 83-90. PDF file.
Author(s). “Article Title.” Newspaper/Magazine
Day Month Year: Page(s). Medium.
Wines, Michael. “China: Censors Bar Mythical
Creature.” New York Times 30 Mar 2009: 8. Print.
Authors. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher,
Year of Publication. Medium.
Karolides, Nicholas J., Margaret Bald, and Dawn B. Sova.
100 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World
Literature. New York: Checkmark Books, 1999.
Kindle file.
If you have a source with four or more authors, you can offer the
first author and replace the rest with the phrase et al. (“and others”).
Author. “Title of Chapter/Poem/Short Story/etc.” Title of Book. Editor.
Edition. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.
Page(s). Medium.
Rosenblatt, Roger. “We Are Free to Be You, Me, Stupid, and Dead.”
Language Awareness. Eds. Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and
Virginia Clark. 10th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. Print.
“Entry.” Title of Reference Book. Edition. Year.
Medium.
“Censorship.” Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed.
1989. Print.
Author(s). “Page.” Website. Publisher (or N.p.), date of publication (or
n.d.). Medium. Date of access. (<url>.)
“The Right to Sext: Sending Nude Photos of Oneself is a Right.”
ncac.org. Natl. Coalition Against Censorship, 26 Mar. 2009. Web.
15 Apr. 2009. <http://www.ncac.org/
The-Right-to-Sext-Sending-Nude-Photos-of-Oneself-is-a-Right>.
Author(s). “Article.” Newspaper/Magazine Day Month Year:
Page (or n. pag.). Database. Medium. Date of access.
Rich, Motoko. “Amazon Ranking Errors Ignite a Twitter-Fed Outrage.”
New York Times 14 Apr. 2009: 1. Academic Search Premier. Web.
15 Apr. 2009.
Title of Film. Director. (Performances, Producer,
Writer, etc.) Distributer, Year. Medium.
This Film Is Not Yet Rated. Dir. Kirby Dick.
Independent Film Channel, 2006. Film.
Taking a few minutes to
wrap up the loose ends
1) Works Cited entry:
Greengard, Samuel. “Censored!” Communications of
the ACM 53.7 (2010): 16. Print.
2) Parenthetic citations:
a) Samuel Greengard writes, “Many observers criticized
Google for bowing to pressure from the Chinese
government” (16).
b) Several Asian nations including China and India “use
Internet censorship to dominate the political dialogue”
(Greengard 16).
c) Professor Andrew Lih offers, “In many countries, censorship
is a deeply entrenched practice” (qtd. in Greengard 16).

MLA
 UCD Writing Center
 MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th)
 The OWL at Purdue
▪ “MLA 2009 Formatting and Style Guide”

Now is the time to ask
 Next time, your grade could be at stake
Thank you very much.