- How to Cite in MLA Format - The Complete Guide to MLA 8 & Citations
- I. How to Format MLA In-Text Citations
- Standard MLA Formatting of the In-Text Citation
- II. How to Format the MLA Works Cited List
- 1. Author, editors and/or translators
- 2. Title (of a source)
- 3. Title of container
- 4. Contributors
- 5. Version
- 6. Number
- 7. Publisher
- 8. Year/date of publication.
- To Sum It Up
- MLA 8th Edition Sample Paper
Citing in MLA is obligatory if you want to submit the original academic paper. People, who tend to know how to cite MLA, may find it useful to check the meaning of MLA. This is a special formatting and quoting style. Various modern writers, college students and famous experts who perform writing papers (for example on the topic reasons why homework is bad) and organize mentioned sources use it. It concerns mostly works in humanitarian and liberal arts fields.
MLA 8 (Modern Language Association, 8th edition) allows writing down every source of information with details, including correct title of published materials, date and year of print edition’s publishing, the name of the author, website address if dealing with online sources. Web publications contain a lot of important information. Citing online materials does not include page specification, it has strict guidelines & standards ordinarily printed editions have. Citing MLA requires attention and time.
Developed by the Modern Language Association, this style is most widely used for research papers in the humanities. MLA guidelines to cite articles were changing a lot during past decades. Students use the up-to-day - the eighth (8th) edition. This new improved version allows organizing various sorts of materials (records, facts, figures, data) into a single approved citation structure.
Citing sources in this style consists of two parts:
- In-text citations
- A works-cited list
I. How to Format MLA In-Text Citations
An in-text citation provides your reader with two pieces of information:
- The first element from the corresponding works-cited list entry, usually the author's last name;
- The location of the cited information in the work, usually a page number.
Standard MLA Formatting of the In-Text Citation
RULE |
EXAMPLE |
1. Put the number of the page in parentheses ONLY. |
N.A. |
2. Include the author's name in the sentence or in the parentheses before the page number, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. |
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3. Only the page number is used - if it is clear from the context which work you are citing, use. |
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4. Multiple authors - 2-3 authors use the last names of each. For more than 3 authors, use the first author's last name and “et al”. |
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5. Authors with the same last name - include their first initial. |
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6. Multiple cited works by the same author, include a shortened version of the title within the citation. |
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7. Works with no page numbers - use explicitly numbered parts of the work (paragraphs, sections, chapters). Use author (or title) alone if there are no numbered parts. |
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8. Time-based works - use a time stamp in the form of hh:mm:ss. |
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II. How to Format the MLA Works Cited List
The "Works Cited" list provides details on all sources you used in your paper. According to MLA style, you must have a Works Cited page at the end of your research paper. All entries in the Works Cited page must correspond to the works cited in your main text. Begin your Works Cited page on a separate page at the end of your research paper. It should have the same one-inch margins and last name, page number header as the rest of your paper.
Label the page Works Cited (do not italicize the words Works Cited or put them in quotation marks) and center the words Works Cited at the top of the page. If you include other sources consulted during your research, title the page "Works Consulted."
The core elements of a format:
- Author (last name, first name) editors and/or translators,
- Title (of a source),
- Title of container,
- Contributors (any Other),
- Version,
- Number,
- Publisher,
- Year/date of publication.
Core Elements - the tables below list the already listed above core elements in a works-cited entry with its associated punctuation mark. Use information found in the source itself; do not use information about the source found on websites or in library catalogs. If an element does not exist for the source you are citing, skip it. So, let’s get acquainted with the cited categories with examples one by one.
1. Author, editors and/or translators
The author is the person or group responsible for creating or producing the work.
ELEMENT + DETAILS |
EXAMPLE |
1. Begin the entry with the author's last name, followed by a comma and the rest of the name as listed in the work. |
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2. No author - skip element and begin with title, but also see below for corporate author. |
N.A. |
3. Corporate author - If you don't find a personal author, determine whether it was created by an organization, institution, government agency. |
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4. Two authors - list them in the order they appear. Invert the first author's name, followed by a comma and word "and" and the second author's name in normal order. |
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5. Three or more authors - invert the first author's name, follow it with a comma, and “et al”. |
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6. Editors and translators - follow their names with their role. Use the editor as the author if your focus is on the entire work and translator as author if your focus is on the translation. |
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7. Performers, directors, conductors, etc. - if you are focusing on the contributions of a specific individual, begin your entry with that person's name with a descriptive label. |
N.A. |
8. Pseudonyms, online usernames - enter like regular author names. If the name takes the form of a traditional first name and last name, start the entry with the last name. |
N.A. |
2. Title (of a source)
The title of the source is often located near the author's name and prominently displayed.
ELEMENT + DETAILS |
EXAMPLE |
1. Enter the title exactly as it appears in the source, except for standardizing capitalization and punctuation. |
N.A. |
2. Place the title in quotation marks if the source is a part of a larger work. |
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3. Italicize the title if the work is self-contained and independent, such as books and films. |
N.A. |
4. Untitled works - give a generic description in place of the title. Do not use italics or quotation marks. |
N.A. |
3. Title of container
A container is the larger work in which the source appears. Examples of containers include:
- journals, magazines, newspapers
- books containing collections of essays, poems, or short stories
- television show
- blogs
ELEMENT + DETAILS |
EXAMPLE |
1. Italicize the title and follow it with a comma. |
N.A. |
2. A source can have more than one container. |
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3. In order to have a complete citation, you should add the core elements from "Title of Container" to "Location" to the end of the entry for each container. |
N.A. |
4. If No larger container - skip this element. |
N.A. |
4. Contributors
Other contributors are other people credited for the work. If a person other than the author is important to what you are researching or for identifying the work, include their name in this element.
ELEMENT + DETAILS |
EXAMPLE (some common are) |
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5. Version
Indicates that there is more than one form of the work.
ELEMENT + DETAILS |
EXAMPLE |
1. For books there may be numbered editions or revised editions. |
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2. Other possible versions include: |
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3. The version information is written in lowercase, unless the previous element ended in a period, in which case the initial word is capitalized. |
N.A. |
6. Number
Number refers to works appearing in a numbered sequence.
ELEMENT (where used) + DETAILS |
EXAMPLE |
1. Using one volume of a multi-volume set - indicate which volume you used with abbreviation “vol.” and the number. |
N.A. |
2. Journal volumes and issues - indicate volume with abbreviation vol. and the number, followed by a comma, and issue number with the abbreviation no. and the number. |
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3. Television series and episodes - record the season number and the episode number |
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7. Publisher
Publisher is the organization responsible for making the content publicly available.
ELEMENT + DETAILS |
NOT INCLUDED |
1. If two or more organizations are equally responsible for the work, separate their names with a forward slash (/) with spaces before and after the slash. |
Publisher is not included in the following instances:
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2. Books - look for the publisher on the title page or copyright page. |
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3. Film and Television - cite the company that had the primary responsibility for the work. |
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4. Web sites - look for a copyright notice in the footer or an About Us page. |
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5. Abbreviate University (U) and Press (P) in the names of academic publishers. |
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6. Omit business words such as Co., Corp., Inc., and Ltd. from the publisher's name. |
8. Year/date of publication.
This element documents the date of the work you used.
ELEMENT (where used) + DETAILS |
EXAMPLE |
1. Multiple publication dates - for some sources there may be a print publication date and an online date. Cite the date for the format you used only. |
N.A. |
2. Works developed over time - cite the range of dates. |
N.A. |
3. Issues of a journal, magazines, newspapers - indicate: year / month and year / season and year / full date - as indicated on the work. |
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4. Online comment - record time stamp using 12-hour clock format |
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To Sum It Up
With the 8th edition of the MLA Handbook, the approach to citing sources shifts from creating entries based on the type of source cited (books, articles, etc.) to recording common features of the work. While this approach is more flexible for new media, it may be challenging for you to know which core elements are relevant to the source you are citing. So, as soon as you start feeling self-doubt - delegete all your work and doubts to CollegeHomeworkHelp experts and enjoy your time!
MLA 8th Edition Sample Paper
Murdock 1 Martin J. Murdock Professor Patricia Sullivan English 624 12 February 2018 Toward a Recovery of Nineteenth Century Farming Handbooks While researching texts written about nineteenth century farming, I found a few authors who published books about the literature of nineteenth century farming, particularly agricultural journals, newspapers, pamphlets, and brochures. These authors often placed the farming literature they were studying into an historical context by discussing the important events in agriculture of the year in which the literature was published (see Demaree, for example). However, while these authors discuss journals, newspapers, pamphlets, and brochures, I could not find much discussion about another important source of farming knowledge: farming handbooks. My goal in this paper is to bring this source into the agricultural literature discussion by connecting three agricultural handbooks from the nineteenth century with nineteenth century agricultural history. HISTORICAL CONTEXT |
(Next Page) Murdock 2 Population and Technological Changes. One of the biggest changes, as seen in nineteenth century America’s census reports, is the dramatic increase in population. The 1820 census reported that over 10 million people were living in America; of those 10 million, over 2 million were engaged in agriculture. Ten years prior to that, the 1810 census reported over 7 million people were living in the states; there was no category for people engaged in agriculture. In this ten-year time span, then, agriculture experienced significant improvements and changes that enhanced its importance in American life. |
(Next Page) Murdock 3 The Distribution of New Knowledge. Before 1820 and prior to the new knowledge farmers were creating, farmers who wanted print information about agriculture had their choice of agricultural almanacs and even local newspapers to receive information (Danhof 54). After 1820, however, agricultural writing took more forms than almanacs and newspapers. From 1820 to 1870, agricultural periodicals were responsible for spreading new knowledge among farmers. In his published dissertation The American Agricultural Press 1819-1860, Albert Lowther Demaree presents a “description of the general content of [agricultural journals]” (xi). These journals began in 1819 and were written for farmers, with topics devoted to “farming, stock raising, [and] horticulture” (12). The suggested “birthdate” of American agricultural journalism is April 2, 1819 when John S. Skinner published his periodical American Farmer in Baltimore. Demaree writes that Skinner’s periodical was the “first continuous, successful agricultural periodical in the United States” and “served as a model for hundreds of journals that succeeded it” (19). In the midst of the development of the journal, farmers began writing handbooks. Not much has been written on the handbooks’ history, aside from the fact that C.M. Saxton & Co. in New York was the major handbook publisher. Despite the lack of information about handbooks, and as can be seen in my discussion below, these handbooks played a significant role in distributing knowledge among farmers and in educating young farmers, as I now discuss.
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(Next Page) Murdock 4 Part of Nicholson’s hope was realized in 1837 when Michigan established their state university, specifying that “agriculture was to be an integral part of the curriculum” (Danhof 71). Not much was accomplished, however, much to the dissatisfaction of farmers, and in 1855, the state authorized a new college to be “devoted to agriculture and to be independent of the university” (Danhof 71). The government became more involved in the creation of agricultural universities in 1862 when President Lincoln passed the Morrill Land Grant College Act, which begins with this phrase: “AN ACT Donating Public Lands to the several States and Territories which may provide Colleges for the Benefit of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts [sic].” The first agricultural colleges formed under the act suffered from a lack of trained teachers and “an insufficient base of knowledge,” and critics claimed that the new colleges did not meet the needs of farmers (Hurt 193).
These objectives were a response to farmers’ needs at the time, mainly to the need for experiments, printed distribution of new farming knowledge, and education. Isaac Newton, the first Commissioner of Agriculture, ensured these objectives would be realized by stressing research and education with the ultimate goal of helping farmers improve their operations (Hurt 190). Note: Sections of this paper have been omitted to shorten the length of the paper |
(Next Page) Murdock 5 CONCLUSION From examining Drown’s, Allen’s, and Crozier and Henderson’s handbooks in light of nineteenth century agricultural history, I can say that science and education seem to have had a strong influence on how and why these handbooks were written. The authors’ ethos is created by how they align themselves as farmers with science and education either by supporting or by criticizing them. Regardless of their stance, the authors needed to create an ethos to gain an audience, and they did this by including tables of information, illustrations of animals and buildings, reasons for educational reform, and pieces of advice to young farmers in their texts. It would be interesting to see if other farming handbooks of the same century also convey a similar ethos concerning science and education in agriculture. Recovering more handbooks in this way could lead to a better, more complete understanding of farming education, science’s role in farming and education, and perhaps even an understanding of the rhetoric of farming handbooks in the nineteenth century. |
(New Page) Murdock 6 Notes 1. Danhof includes “Delaware, Maryland, all states north of the Potomac and Ohio rivers, Missouri, and states to its north” when referring to the northern states(11). 2. For the purposes of this paper, “science” is defined as it was in nineteenth century agriculture: conducting experiments and engaging in research. 3. Please note that any direct quotes from the nineteenth century texts are written in their original form, which may contain grammar mistakes according to twenty-first century grammar rules. |
(New Page) Murdock 7 Works Cited Allen, R.L. The American Farm Book; or Compend of American Agriculture; Baker, Gladys L., et al. Century of Service: The First 100 Years of the Danhof, Clarence H. Change in Agriculture: The Northern United States, 1820- Demaree, Albert Lowther. The American Agricultural Press 1819-1860. Columbia Drown, William, and Solomon Drown. Compendium of Agriculture or the Farmer’s “Historical Census Browser.” University of Virginia Library, 2007, Hurt, R. Douglas. American Agriculture: A Brief History. Iowa State UP, Lorain, John. Nature and Reason Harmonized in the Practice of Husbandry. “Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862.” Prairie View A&M, 2003. www.pvamu.edu/ to Agriculture and the Conducting of Rural Affairs; Alphabetically Arranged and Adapted for the United States. Warner, 1820. |