MLA Review

MLA AT A GLANCE MLA is a format, you may not deviate from

the format or you risk plagiarism Think of it as fill in the blank. Capitalization, punctuation, spacing, and

spelling are all important. Double, triple, quadruple check.

MLA has 3 main components: works cited, parenthetical citations, and page formatting.

Works Cited All sources used must be listed on the works

cited page. Follow the format exactly. If the first required item (usually the author) is

missing from your source, start with the next required item (usually the title). This happens a lot with websites.

If there are more than three authors or editors, list only the first one followed by et al. (meaning and others).

Put a colon ( : ) between the title and subtitle.Always follow a colon or a period with two spaces.

Sources are always cited alphabetically.

WORK BY A SINGLE AUTHOR

StructureAuthor’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Title. Place of Publication: Publisher, Copyright Date.

ExampleSmith, John. Space: The Greatest Expanse in the Universe. New York: Harper Collins, 2003.

WORK BY TWO OR THREE AUTHORS(USE COMMAS TO SEPARATE NAMES)

StructureFirst Author’s Last Name, First Author’s First Name, and Second Author’s Full Name. Title. Place of Publication: Publisher, Copyright Date.

ExampleSmith, John H., and Mary L. Lamb. Space: The Greatest Expanse in the Universe. New York: Harper Collins, 2003.

WORK BY A SINGLE EDITOR

StructureEditor’s Last Name, Editor’s First Name, ed. Title. Place of Publication: Publisher,Copyright Date.

ExampleSmith, John, ed. Space: The Greatest Expanse in the Universe. New York: Harper Collins, 2003.

GENERAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS (WORLD BOOK, BRITANNICA, ETC.)

StructureAuthor’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. "Article Title." Name of Encyclopedia.Edition Year.

ExampleSmith, John. "Space." World Book Encyclopedia. 2000 ed.

MAGAZINES

StructureAuthor’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. "Article Title." Magazine Title. IssueDate: page number(s) of article.

ExampleSmith, John. "Writing Research Papers: How to Write the Best Paper of Your Class." Writer’s Magazine. Jan. 2002: 23-24, 27-30.

NEWSPAPERS

StructureAuthor’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. "Newspaper Article Title." Newspaper Title.Issue Date: page number(s) of article.

ExampleSmith, John. "Local School Helps Students Write Better Papers." LA Times.15 October. 2001: D12.

INTERNET - WORLD WIDE WEB

StructureAuthor’s and/or Editor’s Last Name, Author’s and or Editor’s First Name. Title of Web Page. Version Number(s). Publisher Information and date. Medium of Publication. Date You Accessed the Material.

*Remember to use n.p. if no publisher name is available and n.d. if no publishing date is given.

ExampleLane, Sarah. “MLA at a Glance”. The Nuts And Bolts of College Writing. Purdue University. 10-11. Web. 1-2-12.

An Image From a Website

Artist's Last Name, Artist’s First Name. Title of Piece, Date of creation, Institution and city where the work is housed. Name of the Website, the medium of publication, date of access.

Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Museo National del Prado. Web. 22 May 2006.

VIDEOTAPES & DVDs

StructureTitle. Director, Producer, and/or Writers. Medium. Distributor, Year.

ExampleSpace. John Smith, A&E, Beth Beck. DVD. A&E, 1999.

Textbook (with an author)*if there is more than one author use all author’s names, or et al after the first author listed.

Structure Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Title, edition

number. City of Publication: Publishing House, Year Published.

Example Doe, John. Prentice Hall Literature: Timeless Voices,

Timeless Themes, 2nd edition. Castle Rock: Penguin Press, 2009.

Textbook (with an editor) *if there is more than one editor use all editor’s names, or et al after the first editor listed.

Structure Editor’s Last Name, Editor’s First name, ed.

Title, edition number. City of Publication: Publishing House, Year Published.

Example Doe, John, ed. Prentice Hall Literature:

Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes, 2nd edition. Castle Rock; Penguin Press, 2009.

Parenthetical Citations

When the passage you want to quote is less than three lines long, use inline style.  

Long quotes can start to look like filler. Only use a block quote if you have a very good reason to include the whole passage.

Save space, and make it much easier on the reader by paraphrasing or summarizing

Citing an Inline Quotation

Citing a Block Quote (more than three lines)

Parenthetical Citations Tips

The parenthetical citation appears outside the quoted material.

The period that ends the sentence comes after the close parenthesis. (This is different from block quotes) For block quotes place the parenthetical citation (the author’s name and the page number) after the period.

Put brackets [ ] around any changes you make to a direct quote.

There is no comma between the author’s name and the page number.

If the quotation runs across more than one page: (Wordsworth-Fuller 20-21) or (Wordsworth-Fuller 420-21).

Paraphrasing and Summarizing Tips

Use paraphrasing and summarizing for variety, or to make a passing reference without taking up much space.

If you use an author’s idea, rephrased in your own words, you must still cite the idea.

Citing a Paraphrase or Summary

MLA Formatting White paper, black ink. 1-inch margins all around 2.0 line height (double-spaced) no extra spacing after paragraphs 12-point typeface (usually Times New Roman) Heading (upper left hard corner) (double spaced)

Your name My name Class and hour DateYour last name and page number in upper right

hand corner starting on page 2Title centered, no bold, no underline, no italics,

same font and font size.