MLA

The Meaning of MLA

The acronym MLA stands for the Modern Language Association. It is an association in the United States that is focused on the study of languages and literature. In 1951 scholars at the organization published the first MLA style sheet, which established a specific set of guidelines for formatting papers and citing references. In 1977 the organization published a long MLA handbook that expanded on the rules in the style sheet. Today the organization is on the ninth edition of the MLA style, published in 2021.

Fig. 1 - Writers in the humanities and arts use MLA Style.

MLA Style

When formatting a paper according to the MLA style guide, writers should take the following steps:

• Write on standard paper (8.5x11")

• Use 1-inch margins

• Use 12-point sized font

• Write in an easy-to-read font, such as Times New Roman

• Make all of the text double-spaced

• Indent the first word of each paragraph half an inch

• Put their last name and page number on the top right-hand corner of each page

MLA Format Example

Below is an example of how to format a paper according to the MLA style guide:

Fig. 2 - Think carefully about how you format and structure your essay.

MLA References

When using outside sources in a paper writers must cite those sources. Citing sources allows readers to easily find a writer's sources and learn more about the topic from those sources. Using proper citations also ensures that writers avoid plagiarism.

Even if a writer forgets to their cite sources on a paper, that work is still plagiarized because their ideas came from someone else uncredited. To avoid being accused of plagiarism, all writers must use proper in-text citations and reference lists that follow a style guide like MLA!

MLA In-Text Citations

When writers use direct quotes from other sources in their writing or paraphrase an idea, they need to include in-text citations at the end of the sentence to follow MLA guidelines. MLA style uses the "author-page method" of citations, which means that the author's last name and the page number where the writer found the information go in parentheses at the end of the sentence. The following is an MLA in-text citation about The Great Gatsby (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald:

There are a few cases in which the author's last name does not go in the parentheses. For instance, if the writer mentions the author's name in the sentence, then only the page number has to go in parentheses, like so:

Another situation in which writers do not need to include authors' last names is when the most recent citation was from the same source.

Sometimes, writers will need to cite two or more sources at the end of a sentence. To do this, all they need to do is put a semi-colon between the two citations. For example:

Fig. 3 - MLA requires an alphabetized works cited list.

MLA Works Cited Page

MLA formatting guidelines also require a works cited page at the end of the paper. Writers list all of the sources they used in the paper on the works cited page. The works cited page should have the following:

• The title "Works Cited" in the center (not italicized or bolded)

• One-inch margins

• Writer's last name and page number on the top right-hand corner

• Double spacing between citations

• All citations in alphabetical order by author's last name

• Hanging indents on all citations

Citing a Book in MLA

Format:

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publication City, Publisher, Publication Date.

Example:

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, C. Scribner's Sons, 1925.

Citing a Webpage in MLA

Format:

Author last name, First name. "Title of Article." Website Name, URL. Accessed Day Month Year.

Example:

Loosi, Samantha. "5 Study Methods and Techniques." Educationville, www.educationville.org/article/5-study-methods-and-techniques. Accessed 4 April 2019.

Citing a PDF in MLA

It is common to come across PDFs on the internet that are useful for research. These can be tricky to cite because the type of source will vary. For instance, it might be a PDF of a book or a PDF of a report. MLA cites PDFs depending on the original source type, so if it is a PDF of a book it will follow the guidelines for citing a book, and so on. At the end, add the file name with the digital format extension.

Format:

Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publication City, Publisher, Publication Date, URL, PDF file or PDF download.

Example:

hooks, bell. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York City, Routledge, 1994 sites.utexas.edu/lsjcs/files/2018/02/Teaching-to-Transcend.pdf.

Citing a scholarly journal in MLA

Format:

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages. DOI

Example:

Garbarino, James. "ACEs in the Criminal Justice System." Academic pediatrics, vol. 17, 7S, 2017, S32-S33. doi:10.1016/j.acap.2016.09.003

MLA Pros and Cons

Like any formatting guide, MLA has both pros and cons. If writers have the option to select what formatting style to use, they should consider the information they want to present to their reader in the text and what will be the clearest way to organize their information.

Differences Between MLA and APA Style

Another formatting style that writers often use is called APA, which is the American Psychological Association's guide to formatting papers and citations. The chart below outlines the main differences between the MLA citation style and the APA formatting style.