Citation Guide (MLA 9th Edition)
The Role of Citations
What are citations?
Citations are references within your work to the sources you used. They attribute information or ideas to their source, simultaneously giving credit to the original author and allowing readers to locate the source that the information comes from.
Why do we include citations?
- To give due credit to others' work/writing/ideas.
- To connect your work to the work of others, contributing to a nexus of ideas and scholarship.
- To direct people to the information and sources you have engaged with.
- To demonstrate that you did proper research, adding to your credibility.
- To provide documentation for readers (and yourself) to locate the sources.
- To avoid plagiarism!
When is a citation needed?
You need to include a citation whenever you quote, paraphrase, summarize, or otherwise refer to someone else's work. Always give credit where credit is due, even for items in the public domain (for more information on this, visit our Copyright and Fair Use guide).
About the MLA Style Citation System
The MLA citation system was created by the Modern Language Association of America (MLA). It is a set of guidelines for formatting and citing research in writing. MLA style citations include facts about the source, which are referred to as elements. The elements are arranged in a specific order depending on the type of material.
There are two components needed to properly cite sources:
- In-Text Citations: Brief in-text citations are incorporated into the body of your paper when you incorporate information or ideas from another source. All in-text citations must have a corresponding full citation on the Works Cited page.
- Works Cited Page: All sources that you use must have full citations on the Works Cited page.
MLA Style Manual:
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MLA Handbook, 9th ed.
by
The new, ninth edition builds on the MLA's unique approach to documenting sources using a template of core elements--facts, common to most sources, like author, title, and publication date--that allows writers to cite any type of work, from books, e-books, and journal articles in databases to song lyrics, online images, social media posts, dissertations, and more. With this focus on source evaluation as the cornerstone of citation, MLA style promotes the skills of information and digital literacy so crucial today. The many new and updated chapters make this edition the comprehensive, go-to resource for writers of research papers, and anyone citing sources, from business writers, technical writers, and freelance writers and editors to student writers and the teachers and librarians working with them. Intended for a variety of classroom contexts--middle school, high school, and college courses in composition, communication, literature, language arts, film, media studies, digital humanities, and related fields--the ninth edition of the MLA Handbookoffers *New chapters on grammar, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, numbers, italics, abbreviations, and principles of inclusive language *Guidelines on setting up research papers in MLA format with updated advice on headings, lists, and title pages for group project *Revised, comprehensive, step-by-step instructions for creating a list of works cited in MLA format that are easier to learn and use than ever before *A new appendix with hundreds of example works-cited-list entries by publication format, including websites, YouTubevideos, interviews, and more *Detailed examples of how to find publication information for a variety of sources *Newly revised explanations of in-text citations, including comprehensive advice on how to cite multiple authors of a single work *Detailed guidance on footnotes and endnotes *Instructions on quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing, and avoiding plagiarism *A sample essay in MLA format *Annotated bibliography examples *Numbered sections throughout for quick navigation *Advanced tips for professional writers and scholars
Call Number: REF LB2369 M52 2021ISBN: 9781603293518Publication Date: 2021
Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)
Purdue OWL has excellent online manuals for these commonly used citation styles:
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MLA Style How to use the Modern Language Association (MLA) citation and format style
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Chicago Style Get help with using the Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)
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APA Style How to use the American Psychological Association (APA) citation and format style
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