Using MLA Format to Cite Your Sources

Using MLA Style to Cite Your Sources

When you write a research paper for an English class, you’ll most likely use Modern Language Association (MLA) style to cite your sources. To use MLA style in your paper correctly, you will need to complete these tasks:

Create a reference page. This page at the end of your paper should list all the sources you have cited in your paper. In MLA style, it should be titled “Works Cited.”
Use in-text citations. Wherever you quote directly, paraphrase, or summarize a source in your paper, insert an in-text citation in parentheses. These citations refer to the sources listed on your Works Cited page. They give basic information about the source. When your readers see an in-text citation they should be able to match it to one of the sources on the works cited page.

Creating a Works Cited Page

The sources on this page are listed alphabetically based on the first word that appears in each entry. Here are the general elements that MLA suggests including in each works cited entry. List them in the following order with the punctuation mark shown:

Author (Last Name, First Name).
Title of source.
Title of container,
Other contributors,
Version,
Number,
Publisher,
Publication date,
Location. (page number)
URL. (digital only)
Accessed Date. (digital only)

Most entries won’t include every element shown above. For information about which elements to include and how to format each of them, conduct an internet search for “MLA Format style guide.” A formal style guide will give you in-depth guidance on all aspects of using MLA style in your research paper.

When creating a works cited page, it’s important to remember that there are many kinds of sources. Individual books, magazines, journals, films, and electronic resources may all have different types of information that needs to be included in the entries. If you are not sure how to cite a source, check an MLA style guide.

Sample Works Cited Page

Here is an example works cited page that includes a print book, an interview, and a website.

Works Cited

Gibbons, Jerrica. The History of Pluto. Penguin, 2015.
Stern, Alan. Interview by David Levin. In Defense of Pluto. NOVA, 1 Jan. 2010,
pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/defense-pluto.html. Accessed 23 May 2019.
“Why Is Pluto No Longer a Planet?” Library of Congress, 31 July 2017,
loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/pluto.html. Accessed 23 May 2019.

Creating In-Text Citations

Just as a works cited page may include many types of sources, there are many ways to format in-text citations. Recall that when your readers see an in-text citation, they should be able to match it to one of the sources on the works cited page. For this reason, in-text citations include the first element listed in the works cited entry, typically either an author’s last name or a title. A page number follows for print sources but not electronic sources. If you are unsure how to format an in-text citation, check an MLA style guide.

Below are examples of correctly formatted in-text citations.

In this citation for a quotation from a book, the author’s last name and page number are used in the in-text citation.

➢	According to historical evidence, “Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto as the ninth planet from the Sun in 1930. It was the first Kuiper belt object to be discovered” (Gibbons 12).
In the following citation for a paraphrase from a website, the website has no author. So, the title of the article is used in the in-text citation.
➢	Whether Pluto is a planet depends on your definition. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) first changed Pluto’s status from the ninth full-sized planet in our solar system to a dwarf planet in 2006. Because Pluto shares its orbital neighborhood with other space objects in the Kuiper Belt, it was demoted (“Why Is Pluto No Longer a Planet?”).
In this citation for a summary from an interview, the last name of the person interviewed is used in the in-text citation.
➢	But even though Pluto fails to meet one of the IAU’s three planetary standards, it still meets NASA’s three standards: 1. Pluto is in space. 2. It’s never been a star. 3. Self-gravity has shaped it into a sphere (Stern).