Skip to Main Content

Citation and Formatting: MLA Citation

An introduction to available materials on MLA, APA, Turabian/Chicago Styles, legal resources and legal citations.

MLA Style Resources

MLA Style

In-Text Citations:

  • These are brief references made in the text of the paper that indicate the source used for a quote, paraphrase, or summary.
  • They direct readers to corresponding entries on the Works Cited section.
  • They are found at the ends of sentences containing identifying information for the sources and are sometimes called parenthetical citations.
  • They typically use either the author's last name or part of the source's title, with a page number if possible, all enclosed in parentheses.
  • Every source that you quote, summarize, or paraphrase must be cited. See Section 2.21, p. 45 for exceptions.
  • Short quotations (less than 4 lines of prose, less than 3 lines of poetry) should be quoted within the normal paragraph format of your paper.
  • Longer quotes begin on a new line and are entirely indented an additional 1 inch (10 spaces or 2 tabs).

Works Cited

  • Reference citations appear on the Works Cited pages with complete identifying information for sources cited in paper.
  • Different types of sources require different kinds of identifying information provided; books are cited differently than YouTube videos, etc.
  • List them in alphabetic order by first word in the references (normally the author's last name).
  • Every source cited in the Works-Cited section should be quoted, summarized, or paraphrased in the body of your paper, and vice-versa.
  • Use hanging indentation (every line except the first line is indented 1 inch, or 10 spaces, or 2 tabs.)

Citation Examples

Every source quoted, summarized, or paraphrased in the body of your paper should be cited in the References section, and vice-versa.

In the body of your paper, you must include - either in the body of the sentence or parenthetically - the source author’s name and the page number (if there is one) where the information may be found.

Direct Quotations

Direct Quote (One author):

In-text:

In 2016, the article “Relocating to Transylvania” points out that Transylvania has a “vibrant musical scene” (McKissock 77).

“About 28.1% of the county’s population is 65 or older, according to the 2013 statistics” (McKissock 77).

McKissock’s article states that Transylvania “has historically been a retirement destination” (77).

In your Works Cited section:

McKissock, Derek. “Relocating to Transylvania.” Transylvania Explorer, Transylvania Times, Autumn 2016.

Direct Quote (Two authors):

In-text:

"Moreover, Californian songs and poetry show that disciplined training and work were ways of connecting with what is authentic in life" (Graeber and Wengrow 212).

Works Cited:

Graeber, David, and D Wengrow. The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021. Print.

Summary (Three or more authors)

In text: 

Siegel, Schmalleger, and Worrall suggest that knowing how the courts work is important to students because of the power of the courts in our society (xi).

This text examines moral implications of court rulings as well as legal implications (Siegel xi).

Works Cited:

Siegel, Larry J., et al. Courts and Criminal Justice in America. 2nd ed., Pearson, 2015. 

Long quote example

(more than 4 lines, a.k.a a block quote)

In text:

For example, if I were writing about the history of the Supreme Court, I would introduce a block quote with contextualizing information. In this case, I might discuss how prominent political figures discussed Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes reverentially on Holmes's retirement. One scholar has written that

when time came to show the more mundane aspects of respect, the nation proved surprisingly stingy. Within a few months of Holmes’s resignation, a so-called Economy Act cut federal salaries and almost perversely targeted Holmes. One clause on resigned federal judges set a maximum pension of $10,000, which would cut Holmes’s income in half and would similarly threaten any other Supreme Court justice who resigned. (Glock, 2019, p. 47)

This text serves as a block quote, and the reader can see that there is no punctuation between the quote’s introduction and the quote itself. Note, too, that the quote’s end punctuation goes before the parenthetical citation.

 

Work Cited

Glock, Judge. “Unpacking the Supreme Court: Judicial Retirement, Judicial Independence, and the Road to the 1937 Court Battle.” Journal of American History, vol. 106, no. 1, June 2019, pp. 47–71. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.proxy020.nclive.org/10.1093/jahist/jaz167.

More Works Cited Examples

More Works-Cited Examples

Article in online journal:

Ellis, Lindsay. “How the Great Recession Reshaped American Higher Education.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 14 Sept. 2018, www.chronicle.com/article/How-the-Great-Recession/244527/?cid=SLFEED. Accessed 27 Sept. 2018.

Lastname, Firstname. “Source Title: Article Titles Go in Quotation Marks.” First Container: Italicize Online Magazine Titles, Publisher, Publication date, Location, Access date.
 

Chapter in ebook accessed through database (2 authors):

Lastname, First, and Firstname Lastname. “Source Title: Essay Titles in Quotation Marks.” First Container: Italicize Book Titles, Publisher, Publication date, Location. Second Container: Italicize Database Names, Location (URL).
 

Entire Book, 3 or More Authors (Print):

Lastname, Firstname, et al. Title of Source: Italicize Book Titles. Publisher, Publication date.
 

Work in an anthology:

Smith, A. Arro. “Cataloging Heresy.” Radical Cataloging: Essays at the Front, edited by K. R. Roberto, introduction by Sanford Berman, McFarland & Co., 2008, pp. 291-299.

Lastname, F. Middle. “Source Title: Chapter or Essay Titles in Quotation Marks.” First Container: Italicize Book Titles, contribution by F. M. Lastname, contribution by Firstname Lastname, Publisher, Publication date, pp.#.

MLA Formatting

General Information:

  • Every source that you quote, summarize, or paraphrase must be cited. See Section 2.21, p. 45 for exceptions.
  • Short quotations (less than 4 lines of prose, less than 3 lines of poetry) should be quoted within the normal paragraph format of your paper.
  • Longer quotes begin on a new line and are entirely indented an additional 1 inch (10 spaces or 2 tabs).

Formatting

Throughout the Paper
  • Margins: 1" all sides of the paper
  • Spacing: Double-spaced, no extra spaces between paragraphs
  • Header: The last name of the writer and the page number, right justified
  • Font: 12 point. 
  • Capitalize titles of all works as follows:
    • All words except articles, conjunctions, or prepositions of fewer than 4 letters.
    • The first word after a punctuation mark
The First Page:
  • Author
  • Instructor's Name
  • Class: The course number and name
  • Date due
  • Title: Center justified.
Works Cited:
  • This section starts fresh on a new page.
  • Center the phrase “Works Cited” at the top of the first page of this section. Do not italicize, underline, or bold this phrase.
  • Hanging indentation

Hanging Indentation

Hanging Indentation

Note: the following examples are in APA 7.

Using Word:

1) Ctrl+T - Place your cursor at the beginning of the second line of your citation.

Image depicting the text of a book citation. An arrow points to the space before the first word on the second line.

 
2) Press the control & the T keys at the same time (command + T on some operating systems).

Image depicts the text of a book citation. The second line is indented 5 spaces to the right of the first.

 

Using Google Docs:

1) Highlight your citations.

Image of highlighted book-citation text.

 
2) Select Format from the top tool bar. Select Align & Indent, then Indentation Options from the emergent menus.

Image showing successive menus.

 
3) In the resulting pop-up menu, select Special Indent, then Hanging, then click Apply.

Image depicts menu labeled "indentation options" with purple boxes around the selected items.

 
The resulting citation should look like this:

Image of book citation in hanging indentation.

Research, Writing, & Tutoring Consultations