MLA Citations and Formatting
Mrs. Spengler
8th grade Language Arts
What is MLA style and why do students
use it?
• MLA stands for Modern Language Association,
which is a professional organization for scholars
in the humanities. MLA was founded in 1883
and works “to promote teaching in scholarship
in languages and literatures”
• Citations document information the writer
retrieved from other sources. This section
contains details about correctly formatting
parenthetical citations.
Use the following basic guidelines to
format a parenthetical citation.
• Enclose the entire citation within parentheses.
• Place any required sentence ending
punctuation after the citation.
• For a work with an author, list the last name of the
author first.
• For a work without an author, list the first few words
of title first.
• For a work without an author published by an
organization, list the name of the organization first.
• Include the page or paragraph number of the section
you quoted or paraphrased.
• It is unnecessary to include more detailed
information in the parenthetical citation because
the reader can check the works cited page for
more data about the source.
▫ Do not use URL addresses for Internet sources in
an Parenthetical Citation
▫ Do not include the date of publication in an
Parenthetical Citation
Use the following guidelines when
formatting the works cited page:
• Use a separate page for the works cited list.
• Continue page numbering on the works cited page.
• Double space the reference page and use a hanging
indent.
• Use italics for titles of books and journals.
• Place sources in alphabetical order by author’s last
name, or by the title of the work when no author is listed.
• When a work is written by an organization, use the name
of the organization as the author.
• List each source in the works cited list only once (even if
the source is mentioned several times in the essay).
• Include each source that can be retrieved by the reader.
• List only the sources that are mentioned in the paper.
Understanding Paraphrase
• A paraphrase restates a point or points made by
the original author, and it indicates the meaning
of the text without using the words of the author
of the source. To create a paraphrase, write a
statement using your own words and follow
these guidelines to write an effective paraphrase:
1. Write using your own words, but do not include
your own ideas.
2. Use a correct citation immediately after the
paraphrase or summary.
3. Include a correctly formatted reference citation
at the end of the paper.
Using Direct Quotations
• A direct quotation contains phrasing that has been
copied word for word from a source. When anything is
copied directly from a source, use quotation marks and a
citation, which must be placed right after the quoted
material.
• Use direct quotations in moderation and only when you
cannot as effectively paraphrase the material contained
in the quote. Using one or two quotations (fewer than 40
words) per page is a good practice. Keep in mind that the
bulk of the essay should contain your own ideas
supported by material that can be paraphrased,
summarized, or quoted from references.
Tips for using Direct Quotations
Correctly
• Copy the original wording exactly as it appears
in the text. Do not change any words, including
grammatical or spelling errors.
• Use quotation marks both at the beginning and
at the end of a direct quotation less than 40
words long.
Incorporating Direct Quotations into
Text
• After writing the direct quotation, read the
information that comes before and after the
quote to see if the quotation flows smoothly into
the text. Does it need a transition before or after
the quotation? Are the words copied and spelled
correctly?
Direct Quotation Example
• The following paragraph is a direct quotation about avoiding biased
language:
▫ Both men and women read your writing. Don’t talk about foremen,
manpower, or men and girls. Changeforemen to supervisors,
manpower to workforce or personnel, and men and girls to men and
women. Don’t address your cover letter to gentlemen. Either find out the
name of your readers or omit the salutation according to the simplified
letter style. In addition, remember that your audience will be diverse.
Avoid biased language. (Gerson & Gerson, 2008, p. 537)
Reference
Gerson, S., & Gerson, S. (2008). Technical communication: Process
and product (6th ed.). Retrieved from the University of Phoenix
eBook Collection database.
Plagiarized Paragraph
• The following paragraph plagiarizes the above
quotation:
▫ Both males and females read what you have
written. Don’t discuss forewomen, manpower, or
boys and girls. Change forewomen to managers,
manpower to employees, or people, and boys and
girls to children. Don’t address correspondence
to gentlemen. Locate the reader’s name or delete
the greeting. Also, keep in mind that you have
varied readers. Beware of using biased wording.
This paragraph is plagiarized because
1. much of the wording is the same as in the
original.
2. synonyms have been substituted for some
words.
3. no citation is listed for the paraphrased
information.
4. the basic structure of the paragraph is the same.
Below, bolded indicates synonyms that were
substituted for the original words. Remember, changing only a few
words from a source is plagiarism.
Both males and females read what you have
written. Don’t discuss forewomen, manpower,
or boys and girls.
Change forewomen to managers, manpower
to employees, or people, and boys and
girls to children. Don’t
address correspondence to gentlemen. Locate
the reader’s
name or delete the greeting. Also, keep in
mind that you have varied readers. Beware
of using biased wording.
Correctly Paraphrased Paragraph
• The following paragraph is correctly paraphrased
because the student used the writer's ideas but not the
writer's original wording or structure. It is obvious from
the paragraph that the student did not refer to the source
while writing.
• Writers should consider their audience. Because readers,
as a group, are not all male or all female, writers should
use words that are not gender specific. For example,
instead of using fireman, use firefighter. Before
addressing correspondence to a person whose name is
unknown, try to locate the name of the person or begin
the greeting with a generic word that is appropriate to
either gender (Gerson & Gerson, 2008).
This paragraph is paraphrased
correctly because
1. the points remain essentially the same as in the
original paragraph.
2. new wording is used by the writer.
3. a citation is included with the paraphrased
material.