Type of reference |
Exact Wording
Enclose in quotes, with the author and page number in parentheses |
Ideas
Paraphrase with attribution to original author with page number, no quotation marks |
Long Quotes (4+ lines or 3+ lines of verse)
Indent full quotation with (Author page number) after period, no quotation marks (unless part of quote) |
Works Cited
Include everything you quoted or were influenced by in the list of works cited |
Examples |
“My cat’s fur is brown” (Smith 23). |
Smith observed that the fur on his cat was brown (23). |
My cat… scratched me. (Smith 23) |
Smith, Max. “My Cat.” Journal of Feline Felicities, vol. 43, no. 2, Jan. 1999, pp. 19-34. |
Writing Help
Author(s).“Title of Source.” Title of Container, version, number, Publisher, Publication date, Location. Database, Location. Accessed __.
Author - see box below for uses of author names
"Title of Source" - article, website, blog post, book chapter, essay in anthology, tweet.
Title of Container - journal, webpage, blog, book, Twitter.
Version - edition, volume.
Location - page numbers (pp.), URL, DOI. Database locations should be DOI or permalink URLs.
Accessed - use for websites and social media posts.
Example:
Smith, Max. “My Cat.” Journal of Feline Felicities, vol. 43, no. 2, Jan. 1999, pp. 19-34.
Smith, Max. All About My Cat. Clear Mountain Publishers, 1999.
MLA Handbook by Your friendly librarians are here to guide you in writing your list of works cited/bibliographies. Stop by the reference desk 9am-5pm M-F or email library@stevens.edu to make an appointment! We'll help you figure out what your source is as well as how to correctly cite it.
The Online Writing Lab (OWL) of Purdue University has become well known for their MLA style guide (as well as APA and Chicago styles). While the many intricacies of both formats can only be found in the published guides, the OWL versions can answer many of the more common questions about citing various types of sources.