MLA Style Guide
FRC Library
The MLA (Modern Language Association) style is used in high schools and humanities courses for
formatting research papers and documenting sources.
This MLA Style Guide has three parts:
1) Using In-Text Citations 2) Preparing a Works Cited Page 3) Formatting your paper in MLA style.
1. Citing sources in the text- In-text citations
When quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing someone else’s work, provide an in-text citation
(parenthetical reference) indicating exactly where you found the information. This should direct the
reader to the complete citation on the Works Cited page. If you fail to do this you are plagiarizing.
(see What is Plagiarism- over). When you use someone else’s ideas, music, pictures, film or video
clips, statistics or graphs, YOU MUST PROVIDE A CITATION!
Examples of in-text citations:
Author not named in text: (full citation is on Works Cited sample page)
“Einstein’s fundamental creed was that freedom was the lifeblood of creativity” (Isaacson 550).
Author named in text:
According to Isaacson, Einstein believed that freedom was the lifeblood of creativity (550).
Website with no page numbers (include the author’s name or name of the website in the in-text
citation):
“We have just over 30 million people, but we use as much energy as the entire continent of Africa,
home to 700 million!” (David Suzuki Foundation).
2. Preparing the Works Cited
The Works Cited list should include only all the sources you quoted from, paraphrased or
summarized in your assignment. It appears on a new page at the end of your assignment.
Centre the title- don’t underline or italicize.
Use #12 font.
Sources should be in alphabetical order by the last name of the author or title if there is no
author noted.
Double space the entire list (both within and between entries.)
Indent the second and subsequent lines of each entry five spaces from the left (ParagraphSpecial- hanging indent).
All names of books, periodicals, websites, online databases, DVDs should be italicized.
All entries, whether they are print or electronic, must include the medium in which they have
been published (Print, Web, DVD, Television, etc.)
Check and see if you can use a citation included with an online encyclopedia article or
database. Copy and paste to your document.
MLA Style Guide created by J. Macdonald, Teacher-librarian, Fort Richmond Collegiate May 2010
WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?
(from the Latin plagiarius- “kidnapper”)
How do you know if you have plagiarized? The following is taken from the MLA Handbook for Writers
of Research Papers 7thed. Ask for the book in the library or check with the teacher-librarian for help.
“The purpose of a research paper is to synthesize previous research … with your ideas on the subject.
Therefore you should feel free to use other person’s words, facts, and thoughts in your research paper,
but the material you borrow must not be presented as if it were your own creation. When you write
your research paper, remember that you must document everything that you borrow- not only direct
quotations and paraphrases but also information and ideas” (55).
You have plagiarized if:
You took notes that did not distinguish summary and paraphrase from quotation and then you
presented wording from the notes as if it were all your own.
While browsing the Web, you copied text and pasted it into your paper without quotation marks
or without citing the source.
You presented facts without saying where you found them unless those facts are common
knowledge found in at least three different sources.
You repeated or paraphrased someone’s wording, argument or line of thought without
acknowledgment.
You bought or otherwise acquired a research paper and handed in part or all of it as your own.
You handed in the same assignment for two different courses.
You used pictures and didn’t acknowledge the source.
You can avoid plagiarism by:
Keeping a working bibliography as you do research.
Mark your ideas, your summaries of others’ material and exact wording (quotations, arguments,
facts, statistics) and what sources they came from as you take notes.
Identifying the sources of all material you borrow-exact wording, ideas, arguments, facts,
statistics (61.)
CITE ALL YOUR SOURCES – ALWAYS USE IN-TEXT CITATIONS AND INCLUDE A WORKS CITED LIST!
This is a sample Works Cited page made up of some of the citation examples on the next pages.
Works Cited
“Alaska faces Exxon Valdez clean-up conundrum." New Scientist 205.2744 (2010): 4. Canadian
Reference Centre. EBSCO. Web. 5 May 2010.
Dyer, Gwynne. Climate Wars. Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2009. Print.
"Global Warming." Global Issues in Context Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Global Issues
In Context. Web. 5 May 2010.
Isaacson, Walter. Einstein: His Life and Universe. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007. Print.
Kruger, Arnold. "Golding's Lord of the Flies." Explicator 57.3 (1999): 167. Academic Search
Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 May 2010.
Martin, Melissa. “Is Tick-borne Germ Causing Scourge?” Winnipeg Free Press.
15 April 2010: A5.
“Media Stereotyping.” Media Awareness Network. 2010. Web. 13 April 2010.
McCarter, Jeremy. "To Hellenic and Back." Newsweek 155.13 (2010): 48-51. Academic
Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 14 Apr. 2010.
Olivier, Laurence. “An Actor’s Interpretation of Hamlet.” Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo.
San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. 139-147. Print.
Rosenblum, Joseph. "Fitzgerald, F. Scott." Great American Writers. Marshall Cavendish Digital,
2010. Web. 12 April 2010.
Schlosser, Eric and Charles Wilson. Chew on This. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. Print.
How to Cite Different Types of Sources
PRINT SOURCES
Dyer, Gwynne. Climate Wars. Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2009. Print.
One author
Luce, Edward. In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India. London: Abacus, 2007.
Print.
Two to three
authors
Schlosser, Eric and Charles Wilson. Chew on This. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. Print.
Book with 4 or more
authors
Baldwin, Richard et al. Economic Geography and Public Policy. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2003.
Print.
Book with editor
Craig, Patricia, ed. The Oxford Book of Travel Stories. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1996. Print.
No author
Amnesty International Report 2006 : The State of the World's Human Rights. New York : Amnesty
International Publications, 2006.Print.
Chapter, Essay or
Story from a
collection
Reference Book article
Olivier, Laurence. “An Actor’s Interpretation of Hamlet.” Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo.
San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. 139-147. Print.
Newspaper article
Martin, Melissa. “Is Tick-borne Germ Causing Scourge?” Winnipeg Free Press. 15 April 2010: A5.
Print.
Driedger, Sharon Doyle. "After Divorce." Maclean's 20 Apr. 1998: 38-43. Print.
Journal/magazine
articles
Johnson, Michael. “Plains and Prairie.” Encyclopedia of Native Tribes of North America 3rd. ed.
Richmond Hill: Firefly, 2007. Print.
ELECTRONIC SOURCES
Website
Atho Author (if given). “Title of document or page in website” (if given). Title of Site. Version or edition
used (if given). Publisher or sponsor of site (if not given, use N.p.), Date of publication or date
of latest update (if not given use n.d.). Web. Date of access.
(including online
encyclopedias)
Chan Chan, Anthony. “Chinese.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. 2009. Web. 25 Nov. 2009.
io,
Siddiquee, Baker A. "Globalization." World Book Student. World Book, 2010. Web. 12 April 2010.
“Me “Media Stereotyping” Media Awareness Network. 2010. Web. 13 April 2010.
Image (Including a
Painting,
sculpture or
photograph)
Online Newspapers
Provide the artist's name, the work of art italicized, the date of creation, the institution and city
where the work is housed. Follow this initial entry with the name of the Website in italics, the
medium of publication, and the date of access.
Goya, Francisco. The Family of Charles IV. 1800. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Museo
National del Prado. Web. 22 May 2006.
Klee, Paul. Twittering Machine. 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Artchive. Web. 22
May 2006.
Stelter, Brian. "A Tearful Winfrey Explains Her Departure." New York Times. New York Times,
20 Nov. 2009. Web. 20 Nov. 2009.
For a newspaper article from a database:
Article from an
Online
Database
Gordon, Cindy. "For career happiness, focus on core values." Globe & Mail [Toronto, Canada] 5
Feb. 2010: B13. Global Issues In Context. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.
“Diamond Industry Must Not Whitewash Blood Diamonds." Africa News Service 12 Dec. 2006.
Global Issues In Context. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.
McIntyre, Mike. "Hell’s Angels drug deals out in open." Winnipeg Free Press 10 Apr. 2010: A4.
Canadian Reference Centre. EBSCO. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.
Schwirtz, Michael, and Clifford J. Levy. "Crowd Mourns Victims in Kyrgyzstan." New York Times 10
Apr. 2010. Global Issues In Context. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.
Barrera, Rebecca María. "A Case for Bilingual Education." Scholastic
Parent and Child Nov.-Dec. 2004: 72-73. Academic Search Premier.
Web. 1 Feb. 2009.
Podcast
Rosenblum, Joseph. "Fitzgerald, F. Scott." Great American Writers. Marshall Cavendish Digital,
2010. Web. 12 April 2010.
Fink, Sheri. “AIDS in Papua New Guinea.” BBC World News: Health/HIV AIDS. BBC, 29 May 2006.
Web. 1 Aug. 2006.
OTHER SOURCES
Interview
Butler, Frank. Personal Interview. 19 Dec. 2009.
Television Program
"Scandal of the Century." Narr. Linden MacIntyre. The Fifth Estate. CBC Television. 23 Jan. 2002.
Television.
Macbeth. Dir. Roman Polanski. Perf. Jon Finch, Francesca Annis, and Nicholas Selby. 1971.
Columbia, 2002. DVD.
The Hours. Dir. Stephen Daldry. Perf. Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and
Nicole Kidman. Paramount, 2002. Film.
Begin with the cartoonist's name; the title of the cartoon (if it has one) in quotation marks; the
word "Cartoon" or "Comic strip"; publication information; and the medium. To cite an
online cartoon, instead of publication information give the title of the Web site; the
sponsor or publisher; the date; the medium; and your date of access.
Sutton, Ward. "Why Wait 'til November?" Cartoon. Village Voice 7-13
July 2004: 6. Print.
Film or Video
Recording
Cartoon
Advertisement
Blogs and wikis
Song
Name the product or company being advertised, followed by the word "Advertisement." Give
publication information for the source in which the advertisement appears.
Truth by Calvin Klein. Advertisement. Vogue Dec. 2000: 95-98. Print.
Cite a blog as you would an entire Web site .Give the author's name; the title of the blog,
italicized; the sponsor or publisher of the blog (use "N.p." if there is none); and the date
of the most recent update. Then give the medium and your date of access.
Mayer, Caroline. The Checkout. Washington Post, 27 Apr. 2006. Web. 19
Jan. 2009.
Ellington, Duke. "Black and Tan Fantasy." Music is My Mistress. Musicmasters, 1989. CD.
Style Guide References:
For more examples and explanations ask for the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
7thEdition (2009) in the library, or see these Style Guide Reference websites consulted in the compilation
of this Guide. See also links on the FRC Library Wiki- Citations or ask the teacher-librarian!
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers 7th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of
America, 2009. (Available in FRC Library)
Concordia University Libraries: MLA Style Guide
The Owl at Purdue
Using MLA Style to Cite and Document Sources (Bedford / St. Martin's)
McMaster University Library MLA Style Guide
http://library.mcmaster.ca/guides/mla-style-guide
Online Citation Tools:
Citation Machine http://www.citationmachine.net/
World Book Online Citation Builder
3. Formatting your Research Paper
For an example of a research paper in MLA format with in-text
citations and Works Cited, see the following pages from:
http://dianahacker.com/pdfs/Hacker-Daly-MLA.pdf
Diana Hacker (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006).