Citing Sources

MLA (Modern Language Association)

MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.

The MLA 9th edition was designed to simplify the process and help writers more easily, accurately, and intuitively cite their sources.  Each source type follows the same format. Books, websites, periodicals, videos, photographs, etc., now use the same standard format. 

Each citation is made up of "core elements" from the source which are placed in a standard order. 

The "Core Elements" and their corresponding punctuation marks include the following in this order:

1. Authors.
2. Title of the source.
3. Title of container,
4. Other contributors,
5. Version,
6. Numbers,
7. Publisher,
8. Publication date,
9. Location.

Examples of the style: 

Crossway Bibles. ESV Study Bible. [Electronic Resource]. Crossway Books. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=cat08357a&AN=cer.ebs12250739e&site=eds-live. 

MLA Handbook. Ninth edition., The Modern Language Association of America, 2021. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/MLA Handbook

In-Text Citation 
An in-text citation should refer to, summarize, paraphrase, or quote from another source, which refers to a corresponding entry in your work cited list.

General Guidelines:

In MLA style the author's name can be included either in the narrative text of your paper, or in parentheses following the reference to the source.

Author's name part of narrative:

Gass and Varonis found that the most important element in comprehending non-native speech is familiarity with the topic (163).

Author's name in parentheses:

One study found that the most important element in comprehending non-native speech is familiarity with the topic (Gass and Varonis 163).

Group as author: 

(American Psychological Association 123)

Multiple works: (separate each work with semi-colons)

Research shows that listening to a particular accent improves comprehension of accented speech in general (Gass and Varonis 143; Thomas 24).

Examples with Direct quotes:

One study found that “the listener's familiarity with the topic of discourse greatly facilitates the interpretation of the entire message” (Gass and Varonis 85).

Gass and Varonis found that “the listener’s familiarity with the topic of discourse greatly facilitates the interpretation of the entire message” (85).

Note: For quotations that are more than four lines of prose or three lines of verse, display quotations as an indented block of text (one inch from the left margin) and omit quotation marks. Place your parenthetical citation at the end of the block of text, after the final punctuation mark.

In addition to awareness-raising, practicing listening to accented speech has been shown to improve listening comprehension. This article recommends developing listening training programs for library faculty and staff, based on research from the linguistics and language teaching fields. Even brief exposure to accented speech can help listeners improve their comprehension, thereby improving the level of service to international patrons. (O'Malley 19)

Number of Authors
When citing works by multiple authors, always spell out the word "and." When a source has three or more authors, only the first one shown in the source is normally given, followed by et al.

One author: (Field 399)

Works Cited entry:
Field, John. "Intelligibility and the Listener: The Role of Lexical Stress." TESOL Quarterly, vol. 39, no. 3, 2005, pp. 399-423.

Two authors: (Gass and Varonis 67)

Works Cited entry:
Gass, Susan, and Evangeline M. Varonis. "The Effect of Familiarity on the Comprehensibility of Nonnative Speech." Language Learning, vol. 34, no. 1, 1984, pp. 65-89.

Three or more authors: (Munro et al. 70)

Works Cited entry:
Munro, Murray J., et al. "Salient Accents, Covert Attitudes: Consciousness-raising for Pre-service Second Language Teachers." Prospect, vol. 21, no. 1, 2006, pp. 67-79.