Citing Sources: Quick MLA Style Guide

Citing Sources: Quick MLA Style Guide

Most English papers are formatted using the Modern Language Association (MLA) style to cite sources. To use this style in your paper correctly, follow these steps and complete the suggested tasks:

  • Create a reference page: This page is often titled “Works Cited” and lists all the sources you have cited in your research paper.

  • Use in-text citations: As you paraphrase, summarize, or directly quote information from a source, you must insert an in-text citation in parentheses. These citations refer readers to the sources listed on your Works Cited page.

Creating a Works Cited Page

The sources on this reference page are listed alphabetically based on the first word that appears in each entry. Below are some general elements that MLA suggests including in each works cited entry. List those elements in order shown including the punctuation mark as positioned. Please note that most entries won’t include every element listed.

  1. Author.
  2. Title of source.
  3. Title of container,
  4. Other contributors,
  5. Version or Edition,
  6. Number,
  7. Publisher,
  8. Publication date,
  9. Location.
Works Cited

Mandela, Nelson. Long Walk to Freedom: The
Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Little, Brown and
Company, 2008, New York.

Shoemaker, Paul. “Lasting Legacy: Nelson Mandela’s Evolution
as a Strategic Leader.” Wharton University of Pennsylvania, 9
July 2013, knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/lasting-
legacy-nelson-mandelas-evolution-as-a-strategic-leader.

As you create your Works Cited page, please note that there are different kinds of sources—books, magazines, electronic articles, recordings—and they all have different types of information that need to be included in the entries. There are many free resources available for students needing examples of Works Cited entries. Many universities offer guides through their writing centers and those are credible resources.

Creating In-Text Citations

Include in-text citations in your research paper when you paraphrase, summarize, or directly quote information from a source to support claims. These citations let the reader know that the information is not originally yours and directs them to the full source on the Works Cited page. Whether you are paraphrasing or directly quoting information, it is important to frame the source. There are different elements to include depending on how the in-text citation is formatted. See the examples below:

Source Type Format

Print source with known author:

  • author’s last name and page number

  • page number only

Under Mandela’s leadership, “the South African constitution included sexual orientation and gender among the enumerated classes protected from discrimination” (Strangio 6).

According to Strangio, “Mandela has been a fight for equal rights beyond the boundaries of race” (6).

Print source without a known author:

  • shortened title of the source in quotation marks

Mandela believed that leaders needed to be disciplined to lead change and educate others to join in that change (“Mandela: Father of the Nation”).

Internet source with author:

  • author’s last name

Nelson Mandela was of “key importance in negotiating the freedom and equality of South Africans in 1994” (Johnson).

Internet source without a known author:

  • shortened title of the source in quotation marks

  • shortened version of source URL

Through his anti-apartheid movement, Mandela demonstrated how organization was key in creating movements to “dismantle injustice” (“Mandela: Freedom Fighter”).

For 20 years, Nelson Mandela “directed peaceful, nonviolent acts of defiance against the South African government and its racist policies” (biography.com).