Skip to Main Content

MLA: Intro

Cite Your Sources Now!

MyBib.com can generate MLA citations, but please be sure to double-check for any errors.

 

MyBib Help Guide

OWL Purdue MLA guide gives you information on citing creating works cited pages, in-text citations, and formatting your paper.

MLA (Modern Language Association)

 MLA is a common formatting style for essays and papers in language arts, cultural studies, and other humanities.       

MLA style has unique formats for In-text citations (parenthetical) and Works Cited Page:

  1. In-text citations: Where you cite a source in the body of your paper after you quote or paraphrase. 

             2. Works Cited citations: A final list of all of your sources at the end of your paper.   

Basic Rules

  • Long works like book titles, website titles, database names, magazine or journal titles are italicized.
  • Short works like chapter names, webpages, or articles are placed in "quotation marks."
  • Dates are written in the day month year format (ex. 10 Aug. 2016)
  • Abbreviate University Press as UP
  • Capitalize each word in the titles of articles, books, etc.  Unless it is the first word of the title or subtitle, do not capitalize:
    • articles (the, an),
    • prepositions,
    • conjunctions

Minor Changes to MLA9

There are few minor updates from MLA8 to MLA9:

The format for Works Cited and In-text Citation remains the same. The basic "Core" elements have not changed.

New "Container" rules

  • The research paper must include a container for the source that appears for digital sources right at the end of your citation, especially if you are using a source in a source. 
  • The "Title of Container" may represent the website or online database where your source has been published. Likewise, it can be websites like SoundCloud, Facebook posts (direct), blogs, articles, tweets, songs, Bible verses, or artworks.
  • You must add the format of your media source like “MP3 format”, “Amazon Prime Videoapp”, or a TV channel like BBC or NBC, according to MLA 9th Handbook. 

Some other changes

  • Full URLs are still recommended, but optional; especially if the URL is behind a paywall. When citing URLs from databases and online scholarly journal articles, it is recommended to cite the Permalink (permanent link) or the DOI (digital object identifier) when possible.
  • Include http:// or https:// or www. in your Works Cited page. 
  • If you include anything that you have merely consulted, use "Works Cited and Consulted" by placing your consulted sources after any endnotes if necessary.

For more information on these changes visit this websites and watch the video: