MLA Style

This is Unit Twenty-Five of College Composition. Unit Twenty-Four named the documentation styles and what every citation needs. This unit teaches the first in detail: MLA, the style of English and the humanities. Carry one idea through this lecture. MLA builds every works-cited entry from the same core elements in a fixed order, so an unusual source is handled by working through the template, not by memorizing a rule for each type. A worked example near the end builds an entry element by element. By the end you will be able to use the core elements and containers. To write MLA in-text citations for any author situation. To build book, article and web page entries in an ordered works-cited list. And to format an MLA paper and its quotations.

Three entries on MLA's purpose, its core elements, and the containers that hold shorter works.

Style of the humanities.

CMP 0601 MLA's Purpose and Disciplines

MLA style, from the Modern Language Association, is the preferred documentation style in English and other humanities disciplines. Borrowed material is cited in the text by the author's name and a page number, and a works-cited list at the end gives full publication details. Explanatory notes are optional in MLA; the in-text citation and the works-cited list do the main work.

Elements in a fixed order.

CMP 0602 The Core Elements

Every MLA works-cited entry is built from the same core elements in a fixed order. The author, last name first. The title. The container, the larger work holding a shorter one, such as a journal, website, database or streaming service. Other contributors, such as an editor or translator. The version, number and publisher, as they apply. The publication date. And the location, such as pages or a web address. Elements that do not apply are left out, and each ends with the specified punctuation. For an unusual source, work through the elements in order and include those it has.

The larger work.

CMP 0603 Containers

In MLA, a container is the larger work that holds a shorter one, and its title follows the shorter work's title in the entry. An article's container is its journal; a web page's is the website; an article read in a database has a second container, the database. List containers in order from smaller to larger.

Six entries on MLA in-text citations: the basic form, named authors, multiple authors, no author, no page numbers, and two works by one author.

Name and page in parentheses.

CMP 0604 MLA In-Text Citations

An MLA in-text citation gives the author's last name and the page number, with no comma between them, in parentheses. The sentence's period comes after the closing parenthesis. With a quotation, the parentheses follow the closing quotation mark. The name in the citation must match the first word of the source's entry in the works-cited list.

When the sentence names the author.

CMP 0605 Author Named in the Sentence

When a signal phrase names the author, the parentheses give only the page number. "Becker points out that the senator's views changed during a personal visit" is followed by the page number alone in parentheses. Do not repeat the author's name in the parentheses once the sentence has named them.

Two authors, and more.

CMP 0606 Two Authors and Three or More

For two authors, name both, joined by and; for three or more, give the first author's last name followed by et al. A work by Kristof and WuDunn is cited with both names; a work by Pronkowski and several coauthors becomes Pronkowski et al. Et al. means "and others" and is used only for three or more authors in MLA.

When no author is named.

CMP 0607 No Author

When a source has no author, use its title in the signal phrase or a shortened title in the parentheses. Put a shortened article title in quotation marks and a book title in italics, followed by a page number if there is one. An organization that published a work can serve as its author; check before treating a work as anonymous.

Sources without pages.

CMP 0608 No Page Numbers

When a source has no page numbers, cite the author alone, or use paragraph, chapter or section numbers if the source provides them. Web pages often have no pages, so the author's name alone is enough; for a video, give the time range of the segment. Do not invent page numbers from a printout or a screen view.

Same author, two works.

CMP 0609 Two Works by One Author

When you cite two or more works by the same author, add the title, or a short form of it, to tell them apart. The citation then gives the author's last name, a comma, the shortened title, and the page number. Without the title, readers cannot tell which of the author's works you mean.

Five entries on the works-cited list: what goes in it, its order and indentation, and entries for a book, an article and a web page.

The list at the end.

CMP 0610 The Works Cited List

The works-cited list begins on a new page after the paper, under the centered title Works Cited. It includes an entry for every source cited in the text, and only those, double-spaced like the rest of the paper. A source you read but did not cite does not belong in the works-cited list.

Alphabetical, with a hanging indent.

CMP 0611 Order and Indentation

Works-cited entries are alphabetized by the author's last name and set with a hanging indent. The first line starts at the margin and later lines indent a half inch; a work with no author is alphabetized by its title's first main word. Word processors can create the hanging indent automatically; spaces typed by hand break when text shifts.

A basic book entry.

CMP 0612 A Book Entry

A basic MLA book entry has four parts. The author, last name first, then first name, and a period. The full title in italics, with any subtitle after a colon, and a period. The publisher's name and a comma. The year and a period. For two authors, the second is given first name first, joined by and; for three or more, the first author is followed by et al. Contributors are named by role, as in "edited by." Most books need no city of publication, and a short publisher name is enough when it identifies the press.

An article in a journal.

CMP 0613 An Article Entry

An MLA journal-article entry names the article and then its container. The author, last name first. The article title in quotation marks, with its period inside. The journal title in italics and a comma. The volume and issue, abbreviated v o l and n o. The date, then the page range after p p. If you read it in a database, add the database name in italics as a second container, then its DOI or web address. Article titles go in quotation marks and journal titles in italics; reversing them, or italicizing both, is one of the commonest MLA errors.

A page on a website.

CMP 0614 A Web Page Entry

An MLA web page entry gives the author if known, then the page title in quotation marks, then the website's name in italics as the container. Add the publisher if it differs from the site's name, the date of publication or last update, and the web address. An access date is optional in MLA but can show which version you consulted, so ask whether your instructor requires one. With no author, the entry begins with the page title, and the in-text citation uses a shortened title. Do not list the website's name as the author unless an organization is responsible.

Six entries on titles, paper format, quotations, a worked example, common errors, and the current handbook. The opening idea is paid off at the worked example.

Italics or quotation marks.

CMP 0615 Titles in MLA

In MLA, titles of whole works are italicized and titles of shorter works within them are put in quotation marks. Books, journals, films and websites are italicized; articles, chapters, poems and web pages go in quotation marks. Important words in titles are capitalized. The rule follows the container: if a work contains other works, its title is italicized.

The page layout.

CMP 0616 MLA Paper Format

An MLA paper uses one-inch margins, double spacing throughout, and half-inch paragraph indents. Your last name and page number go at the upper right of every page; your name, instructor, course and date go at the upper left of page one. MLA papers usually have no separate title page unless the instructor asks for one.

Short and long quotations.

CMP 0617 Quotations in MLA

In MLA, quotations of four typed lines or fewer run in the text in quotation marks; longer ones are set off as indented blocks. In a block quotation, there are no quotation marks, and the citation follows the final period rather than preceding it. Introduce block quotations with a full sentence, usually ending in a colon.

An entry from an article.

CMP 0618 Building an Entry From a Source

A worked example, constructed for this course, pays off the opening idea. A student reads an article by Maria Delgado, "Rivers in the City," in a journal called Urban Ecology Review, found in a library database. The entry starts with Delgado, Maria. The article title goes in quotation marks, then the journal in italics as the first container, then volume, issue, date and the page range after p p. Because the student read it in a database, the database name follows in italics as a second container, with the stable link. The two commonest errors are leaving out that second container and formatting the two titles alike; working element by element prevents both.

Mistakes to check for.

CMP 0619 Common MLA Errors

Common MLA errors include mismatched in-text citations and entries, wrong title formatting, missing page numbers, and entries out of alphabetical order. A citation naming one author while the works-cited entry begins with another leaves readers unable to find the source. Check each in-text citation against its entry before submitting.

Editions change.

CMP 0620 Check the Current Handbook

MLA style is revised periodically, and the current edition of the MLA Handbook is the authority for details. The core principles, author and page in the text and a works-cited list built from core elements, carry across editions, but details such as formatting a DOI have changed. When your instructor's requirements differ from the handbook, follow your instructor.

Look at what you can now do. You can explain MLA's place in the humanities, its core elements, and how containers nest from smaller to larger. You can write MLA in-text citations for one, two or many authors, for works without authors or pages, and for two works by one author. You can build book, article and web page entries and arrange them in an alphabetized works-cited list with hanging indents. And you can format titles, an MLA paper and its quotations, and check entries against the current handbook and your instructor. Unit Twenty-Six teaches the style of the social sciences: APA.