[ Working with Documentation Styles ]
Preview the basics of MLA style
Used in English and some other humanities disciplines, MLA style requires a list of works cited,
giving publication information for all the sources you have paraphrased, summarized, or quoted
following MLA’s guidelines.
For an overview of related key topics on working with documentation styles,
visit the videos and quizzes in this tutorial.
Explore It
MLA documentation style is useful for documenting sources in English and other humanities courses. For
assignments that require MLA style, you will be asked to use in-text citations in your draft that point
­readers to your list of works cited. MLA’s guidelines require you to include only the sources you use in your
final draft in the list of works cited.
For complete advice on citing sources in MLA style, see the MLA Handbook, Eighth Edition (2016).
You can also find comprehensive coverage in any composition handbook. Questia’s bibliography tool
allows you to save MLA-style works-cited entries for the sources you locate there. For practice using the
tools that offer help with MLA style in Questia, see the Use It section below.
Learn It
Following is a preview of the basics of MLA style, offering a closer look at examples of some of the more
widely cited types of sources: books with a single author, articles found in magazines and via databases, and
works found on a Web site. (For additional advice on in-text citation, see the other examples in this tutorial.)
© 2016 Cengage Learning
Preview the basics of MLA style |
1
[ Working with Documentation Styles ]
MLA In-text Documentation
In MLA style, when you include a quotation, paraphrase, or summary of a source in your draft, you must include
information to indicate where the material comes from using in-text citation. In most cases, this means giving the
name of the author and the page where the material was found. Often you can cite the author in a signal phrase
and follow the quotation or other source material with the page number(s), given in parentheses.
Harris points out that in 1964 “black Americans were still virtually invisible in filmed entertainment” (56).
If you do not name the author of the source in a signal phrase, include it in the parentheses with the page
number:
Movie studios began taking steps to become more integrated in 1963 after successful campaigns
by the NAACP (Harris 57).
If the author of your source is unknown, use the title (or a shortened version) in the parenthetical reference.
If your source has no page numbers or is a single page, omit the page numbers.
MLA List of Works Cited
The complete listing of all sources you use in your paper appears on a separate page, labeled Works Cited.
Here you record all the sources you cite, listed in alphabetical order.
The MLA Handbook and all composition handbooks offer dozens of models and examples of a variety of
sources cited in MLA style. The following examples represent commonly used sources, color coded to help
you identify the pieces of information necessary for these citations.
Book with One Author For a book with one author, you need to provide the following information:
• Author’s name, giving last name first
• Title and subtitle of book, in italics
• Name of publisher
• Year of publication
• URL (for an e-book).
Example
Harris, Mark. Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood.
Penguin, 2008.
Article in a Magazine For an article in a magazine, include the following:
• Author’s name, last name first (if given)
• Title of article, in quotation marks
• Title of periodical, in italics
• Date of publication
• Page numbers.
Example
Hunt, Will. “Secrets of the White Shaman.” Discover, May 2012, pp. 50–56.
© 2016 Cengage Learning
Preview the basics of MLA style |
2
[ Working with Documentation Styles ]
Article in a Scholarly Journal, Found in a Database For an article in a periodical found in a database, include
the ­following:
• Author’s name, last name first (for more than 2 authors, use “et al.”)
• Title of article, in quotation marks
• Title of periodical, in italics
• Volume number and issue number
• Date of publication
• Page numbers
• The name of the database, in italics
• The URL for the article.
Example
Mitchell, Barbara A. “Midlife Marital Happiness and Ethnic Culture: A Life Course Perspective.”
Journal of Comparative Family Studies, vol. 41, no. 1, 2010, pp. 164+. Questia, www.questia.com/
library/journal/1P3-1980863321/midlife-marital-happiness-and-ethnic-culture-a-life.
Work from a Web site For a work found on a Web site, list the following information:
• Author’s name, if given
• Title of the article or Web page, in quotation marks
• Title of the Web site, in italics
• Publisher of the site (if not the same name as Web site)
• The date the site was published or last updated
• URL for the work used.
Example
Zielinski, Sarah. “Are We Headed for Another Dust Bowl?” Smithsonian.com, 16 Nov. 2012,
www.smithsonianmag.com/ist/?next=/science-nature/are-we-headed-for-another-dust-bowl-129556121/.
Use It
Questia offers help creating entries for your Works Cited page using documentation tools. Note that, as with
all such tools, you should never assume that a database’s help with documentation means entries are complete and fully formatted. There may be information about your source the documentation tool cannot
provide accurately. Always check your entries for ­accuracy against a current handbook or other reference
guide to your documentation style.
© 2016 Cengage Learning
Preview the basics of MLA style |
3
[ Working with Documentation Styles ]
To gain practice with MLA citation style, use the topic from a current research project and conduct a search
to locate two or three relevant sources in Questia. Save these sources to a project folder devoted to the
assignment. Then, within your project folder, select the sources that are most relevant and use the
­bibliography tool to create a first draft of a works cited list for these sources. Click the “Create bibliography”
button at the bottom of the project page and choose “MLA” from the list. Following is a sample from one
student’s set of sources found in Questia for a research project on Internet privacy and safety.
QUESTIA BIBLIOGRAPHY TOOL: CREATING MLA WORKS CITED ENTRIES
List of project
folders.
Selected items
are added to the
bibliography.
List of documentation styles.
Generates a
bibliography for
selected items in
the folder.
Selected items
formatted for
MLA-style list of
works cited.
Works Cited
Nunberg, Geoffrey. “The Internet Filter Farce.” The American Prospect, vol. 12, 1 Jan. 2001,
p. 28. Questia, www.questia.com/magazine/1G1-69652750/the-internet-filter-farce.
Pike, George H. “WikiLeaks Tests Information and Security Laws.” Information Today, vol. 27,
no. 9, Oct. 2010, pp. 15+. Questia, www.questia.com/magazine/1G1-238912680/
wikileaks-tests-information-and-security-laws.
Save the results to a new file in your word processor. Using the list of works cited created in Questia as a
rough draft, carefully proofread each entry, checking the formatting. Check for information not supplied by
the bibliography tool. Use a composition handbook or other research manual for more detailed advice, if
necessary.
Alternate activity From the sources you have gathered for a current research assignment, choose several of
your own examples that correspond to the general sources listed here and create your own citation entries
for a list of works cited. Use the information in this document as a guide, and consult a composition
­handbook or other research manual for more models and advice, if needed.
© 2016 Cengage Learning
Preview the basics of MLA style |
4