MLA Referencing Guide

With the new MLA citation format, a major change was made to how full citations are created and how MLA works cited pages are formatted. Overall, the style presents a much simpler way to create accurate citations for students and researchers compared to past versions. Let’s look at the major changes:

One standard citation format that applies to every source type

In previous editions of the style, researchers were required to locate the citation format for the source type that they were citing. For instance, if they were trying to cite a scholarly journal article, they would have to find and reference the rules for citing journals. This has become inefficient in modern writing, however, as we are digesting information from a more broad variety of sources than ever before. With information readily available in tweets, Facebook posts, blogs, etc., it has become unrealistic for writers to create citation formats for every source type. To address this, there is now one universal format that can be used to create citations, which is displayed in MLA 8.

To properly use this new format, the researcher is required to locate the “Core Elements” of each source used in their paper. These “core elements” are what make up the information that will populate each citation. These pieces of information can also be found in the forms in the MLA citation generator.

The “Core Elements” of a citation, along with their corresponding punctuation marks, include the following:

• Authors.
• Title of the source.
• Title of container,
• Other contributors,
• Version,
• Numbers,
• Publisher,
• Publication date,
• Location.

The appropriate punctuation mark must follow each core element, unless it is the final piece. In that situation, the punctuation mark should always be a period.

These core elements are then placed within the citation, and generally follow this format:

Author. Title. Title of the container. Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher’s name, Date of publication, Location

Here is an example of how an actual citation (in this case, for a book) looks when written using the 8th edition style:

Goodwin, Doris. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Simon & Schuster, 2012.

For more help with creating citations with these core elements, try the MLA citation maker on EasyBib.com.

Inclusion of “containers” in citations

When the source you are referencing is actually a small part of a larger source, such as a chapter within a book, the larger source is called the “container,” as it “contains” the smaller source. Generally, the container is italicized and is followed by a comma. For more details on this, see the examples below. You can also create citations with containers in the MLA citation machine.

MLA citation format for citing a title within a container might look as follows:

Source Author(s) Last Name, First Name. “Title of Source.” Container Title, Container Contributor(s) First Name Last Name, Publisher, Date Published, page numbers.

Here is an example full citation of how to cite a book chapter using the 8th edition format:

Uenten, Wesley Iwao. “Rising Up from a Sea of Discontent: The 1970 Koza Uprising in U.S. Occupied Okinawa.” Militarized Currents: Toward a Decolonized Future in Asia and the Pacific, edited by Setsu Shigematsu and Keith L. Camacho, University of Minnesota Press, 2010, pp. 91-124.

The ability to use pseudonyms for author names

In order to more efficiently create accurate citations for new source types, it is now acceptable to use online handles or screen names in place of authors’ names.

Formula:

@TwitterHandle. “Content of Tweet.” Twitter, Date, Time, URL (omit http:// or https://).

Example:

@realDonaldTrump. “I will be having a general news conference on JANUARY ELEVENTH in N.Y.C. Thank you.” Twitter, 3 Jan. 2017, 6:58 p.m., twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/816433590892429312

Adding the abbreviations vol. and no. to magazine and journal article citations

In previous versions of the style, there was no indication that the numbers in periodical citations referred to the volume and issue numbers. This has changed in the 8th edition to be clearer to the reader.

Example in MLA 7:

O’Carol, John. “The Dying of the Epic.” Anthropoetics 30.2 (2011): 48-49. Print.

Example in MLA 8:

O’Carol, John. “The Dying of the Epic.” Anthropoetics, vol. 30, no. 2, 2011, pp. 48-49.

5. Inclusion of URLS

Unlike previous editions, the inclusion of URLs in citations is highly recommended by the 8th edition. Omit “http://” or “https://” from the URL when including it in a citation.

6.Omitting the city of publication

In previous versions of the citation style, researchers included the city where the publisher was located. Today, this information generally serves little purpose and the city of publication can often be omitted. It is suggested that you include the city of publication if the version of the source differs when published in a different country (example: British editions of books versus versions printed in the United States).

7. Flexibility in citation formatting

In addition to one universal format for all source types, the 8th edition now allows for more flexibility in citation presentation than previous versions of the style. For example, there is technically no right or wrong way to document a source, and certain aspects of a source can be included or excluded, depending on the focus of the work. For example, if you are citing the movie, Casablanca, and your research project focuses on the main character, Rick Blaine, it would be beneficial to your reader for you to include the name of the actor, Humphrey Bogart, in your citation. Other writers who instead focus on the whole movie in their paper may elect to just include the name of the director in their works cited page. To create the best and most effective citations, you always should think about which pieces of information will help readers easily locate the source you referenced themselves, should they wish to do so.]

Formatting Guidelines

Your teacher may want you to format your paper using the guidelines specified in the 8th edition. If you were told to create your citations in this format, your the rest of your paper should be formatted using the new MLA guidelines as well.  

General guidelines:

• Use white 8 ½  x 11” paper.
• Make 1 inch margins on the top, bottom, and sides
• The first word in every paragraph should be indented one half inch.
• Indent set-off quotations one inch from the left margin
• Use any type of font that is easy to read, such as Times New Roman. Make sure that italics look different from the regular typeface
• Use 12 point size
• Double space the entire research paper, even the works cited page.
• Leave one space after periods and other punctuation marks, unless your instructor tells you to make two spaces.

Page Numbers

• Placed in the upper right-hand corner, one half inch from the top, flush with the right margin.
• Type your last name before the page number. (To make this process easier, set your word processor to automatically add the last name and page number to each page).
• Do not place p. before the page number.
• Many instructors do not want a page number on the first page. Ask your instructor for their specific preferences.

Tables and Illustrations

• Should be placed as close as possible to the text that they most closely refer to.
• Label tables with: “Table,” an arabic numeral, and create a title for it.
• This information should be located above the table, flush left, on separate lines.
• Format the title the same way as the title of the paper.
• Underneath the table, provide the source and any notes. Notes should be labeled with a letter, rather than a numeral, so the reader is able to differentiate between the notes of the text and the notes of the table.
• Use double spacing throughout.
• Label illustrations with: Fig. (short for figure), assign an arabic number, and provide a caption.
• The label and caption should appear underneath the illustration.
• **If the table or illustration’s caption gives complete information about the source and the source isn’t cited in the text, there is no need to include the citation in the works cited page.
• Label musical scores with: Ex. (short for Example), assign it an Arabic numeral, and provide a caption.
• The label and caption should appear below the musical illustration.

Use of Numerals

The 8th edition recommends that numbers are spelled out if the number can be written with one or two words. For larger numbers, write the number itself.

Examples:

Examples:

247 milligrams, 5 pounds

Here are some other formatting tips to keep in mind:

• Do not start sentences with a numeral, spell out the number.
• Always use numerals before abbreviations or symbols, ex. 6 lbs.
• In divisions, use numbers, ex: In page 5 of the study

Works Cited Lists

The purpose of an MLA works cited list is to display the sources that were used for a project, and to give credit to the original authors of the works that were consulted for a project. Works Cited lists are typically found at the very end of a project. Citations are what make up a works cited list.

Here are some tips on how to create a works cited list for your citations:

Citations are listed in alphabetical order by the first word in the citation, which is typically the last name of the author.

Each citation should have a hanging indent.

When there are two or more sources with the same author, only include the author’s name in the first citation. In the second or subsequent citations, use three hyphens in place of the author’s name, followed by a period.

Middlekauff, Robert. The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution. Oxford UP, 2007.

– – -. Colonial America. Oxford UP, 1999.

If the author is listed along with another author, type out the full name of each author, do not use the hyphens and periods.

Sparks, Nicholas. The Notebook. Warner, 1996. —. A Walk to Remember. Warner, 1999. Two or more works by the same author:

The Works Cited list typically appears at the end of a paper.

Make the Works Cited page the next consecutive page number. If the last page of your project is page 12, the Works Cited list will be page 13.

An annotated bibliography is different than a Works Cited list. An annotated bibliography includes brief summaries and evaluations of the sources.

Use one-inch margins around the page. Double-space the entire document.

Place the title of the page (Works Cited) in the center of the page, an inch from the top.

Create a double space between the title (Works Cited) and the first citation.

Each citation should start on the left margin (one inch from the side of the paper).