MLA Citation Style ~ General Guidelines for all GRCHS Classes
MLA (Modern Language Association) is the style GRCHS uses to write papers and cite
sources. The information here, updated to reflect the 7th edition of the MLA Handbook,
offers general guidelines and examples MLA research papers and the Works Cited page.
Go to Purdue’s online OWL website for more details (owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01)
Sample MLA First Page
Page Numbers: Create a right-aligned header that
includes your last name, followed
by a space with a page number
Font: 12 point entire paper
Spacing: Double space entire paper, & leave one
space after all punctuation marks
1”
1”
Identification:
On first page ONLY
notice date format:
day month year
Title: capitalize
all proper nouns
& center
Indentation:
Indent the first line of
each paragraph ½” (use
the Tab key as opposed
to pushing the Space
Bar five times)
1”
1”
1”
Hacker , Diana . "Sample Research Papers: MLA Style." Documenting Sources. Web. 5 Jan. 2010.
December 2006; revised January 2010
Page 1 of 4
Sample Works Cited Page
Page
Start a new page
Font: 12 point entire paper
Spacing: Double space entire paper, & leave one space after all punctuation marks
Contains:
 Works Cited lists ONLY sources cited parenthetically in the text
 Bibliography lists all sources consulted during research, included in the text or not
 Cite anything that cannot be considered common knowledge (general information widely
available in various easily accessible sources)
1”
Alphabetize the list
(highlight citations, in
the Home tab, click
the Sort button
)
Title: capitalize & center
Indent: create a
hanging indent so
that the second &
subsequent lines of
citations are
indented 5 spaces)
1”
1”
Parenthetical Citations
1. Basic Format .... “…quote” (Author page#).
Examples........... One author: “…while on the road” (Jacobs 47).
Two authors: “…while on the road” (Jacobs and Smith 47).
Note ................... No punctuation inside parentheses; the end punctuation (period, question mark, …) comes
after last parentheses
2. More than one piece by SAME author:
Basic Format .... “…quote” (Author, “Abbr. of Title” page#).
Example ............ “…while on the road” (Jacobs, “Guest Opinion” 47).
3. Long quotations: Use a block quote for more than 5 full lines of quoted text. Block quote: left indention set in
10 spaces with no quotation marks, and the end punctuation (period, question mark, …) comes before citation.
Useful Resources
1. General MLA format and samples at the OWL of Purdue University: owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/
2. Very good automatic citation machine: KnightCite at http://webapps.calvin.edu/knightcite
 Take the time to register (http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/?op=register); registering provides you
with the benefit of being able to save your citations, organize and edit them on the website, and export
your latest research paper's entire bibliography as a ready-to-print Word file.
3. MLA Handbook (7th Edition) found in our library
December 2006; revised January 2010
Page 2 of 4
WORKS CITED HARD-COPY SOURCES
Works Cited List ~ Things to remember:
1) Double-space throughout
2) If there is no author, start the citation with the title
3) Alphabetize the list
4) Set a hanging indent
Notes: 1) Titles are italicized instead of underlined
2) Must add the medium of publication (Print) at the end of the entry
Basic Format:
Author Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.
BOOKS
Medium of Publication.
Examples:
Book with one Author
Carré, John le. The Tailor of Panama. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996. Print.
Book with more than one Author
The first given name appears in last name, first name format;
subsequent author names appear in first name last name format
Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Boston: Allyn,
2000. Print.
JOURNAL
ARITCLE
The Bible
Give the name of the specific edition you are using, any editor(s)
associated with it, followed by the publication information
The New Jerusalem Bible. Ed. Susan Jones. New York: Doubleday, 1985. Print.
Notes: 1) Include both volume and issue numbers
2) End citations with the medium of publication (Print) at the end of the entry
Basic Format:
Author Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages. Medium of
publication.
Example:
Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern." Tulsa Studies in Women's
NEWSPAPER OR
MAGAZINE ARTICLE
Literature 15.1 (1996): 41-50. Print.
Notes: 1) Abbreviate the month
2) Notice format of magazine/newspaper date day month year:
Basic Format:
Author Lastname, Firstname."Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Medium of
publication.
Example:
Poniewozik, James. "TV Makes a Too-Close Call." Time 20 Nov. 2000: 70-71. Print.
December 2006; revised January 2010
Page 3 of 4
WORKS CITED ELECTRONIC SOURCES
Important Note on the Use of URLs in MLA: MLA no longer requires the use of URLs in citations. Because Web
addresses change and because documents sometimes appear in multiple places on the Web, MLA believes that most
readers can find electronic sources via title or author searches in Internet Search Engines.
Notes:
1)
2)
3)
4)
List the date you accessed the website
If a piece of the MLA formatting information is not available, skip it, and list the next item
If no publisher name is available, list n.p.
If no publishing date is given, list n.d.
Basic Format:
Editor, author, or compiler name. “Article Name.” Name of Site. Version number. Name of institution/
ENTIRE
WEB SITE
Example:
ONLINE
PERIODICAL
Example:
WEB
PAGE
organization affiliated with the site, date of resource creation. Medium of publication. Date of access.
Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory. Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003. Web. 10 May 2006.
"How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow.com. n.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2009.
Note: Include both the name of the website in italics and the website publisher (note—some sites will
have different names than their print formats, some may include a domain name ).com or .org)
Examples:
Lubell, Sam. “Of the Sea and Air and Sky.” New York Times. New York Times, 26 Nov. 2008. Web. 1
Dec. 2008.
Cohen, Elizabeth. “Five Ways to Avoid Germs While Traveling.” CNN.com. CNN, 27 Nov. 2008. Web.
ONLINE
DATABASE
28 Nov. 2008.
Notes: 1) Cite articles from online databases (e.g. InfoTrac, MEL, CQ Researcher) print sources
2) Provide the database name in italics
3) Include page numbers if available
Example:
Junge, Peter, and Nathan Nelson. “Nature's Rotary Electromotors.” Science 29 Apr. 2005: 642-44.
InfoTrac. Web. 5 Mar. 2009.
December 2006; revised January 2010
Page 4 of 4