| MLA Style: Citations & Works Cited When writing a research paper or essay, the most daunting part of the process is often not the actual writing. Compiling a Works Cited page may seem even more intimidating because of the specific Modern Language Association (MLA) guidelines that teachers at Gilmour usually require students to follow. Furthermore, failing to cite your sources correctly can result in accusations of plagiarism. The resources provided below will lighten the burden of a research assignment and help you realize that there is nothing to fear when it comes to MLA formatting. “The OWL” sponsored by Purdue University clarifies the requirements of MLA formatting. Below is a summary of how to format Works Cited pages according to the information provided by the site. You can visit the OWL for further details: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/ Parenthetical Citations
- Citations within the text of your paper (corresponding complete references must be included in a Works Cited page)
- Required when quoting or paraphrasing an outside source
- Include the author’s last name or a shortened title if the author is unavailable, followed by the page number
- Put the citation in parentheses at the end of the sentence containing the quote, but before the period
For example:
Hogwarts was known among the magical realm as “the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry” (Rowling 58).
- When citing multiple sources in one sentence, separate them with a semicolon
For example:
No one could match Harry’s “top-notch magical skills” or compete with his “agility on a broomstick” (Smith 34; Brown 21).
- When two citations from the same author appear consecutively, cite the second with only the page number in parentheses
For example:
Harry Potter had been declared “the hero of two Quidditch matches” (Rowling 244). After losing all of Griffindor’s points, however, “the rest of the team wouldn’t speak to Harry during practice” (245).
Works Cited Page
- Start the Works Cited page on a separate page at the end of your paper
- Center the title, Works Cited, at the top of the page, but do not put in quotes or underline
- The page should be double-spaced like the rest of your paper, so do not skip extra spaces between entries
- Indent each entry after the first line
- Organize the entries alphabetically
- To write a Works Cited entry, follow the basic guidelines for various types of sources listed below
Books
- Author (last name, first)
- Title of Book
- Place of publication: publisher, year of publication
For example:
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. New York: Scholastic, 1997.
Periodicals
- Author (last name, first)
- “Title of Article”
- Title of Periodical
- Volume.issue
- Date (in parentheses: day, abbreviated month, year)
- Page numbers
For example:
Waterman, Lauren. “French Connection.” Teen Vogue. 4.11 (Nov. 2006): 144-149.
Electronic Sources
- Author (last name, first)
- “Title of Article” (if relevant)
- Name of the database, web page, project, or book
- Date of version, revision, posting, or when written
- Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site
- Date of access (day, abbreviated month, year)
- <Electronic access>
For example:
The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. 26 Aug. 2005. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. 2 Nov. 2006 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/>.
Lecture
- Speaker name (last name, first)
- “Title of Speech” or type (for ex. Keynote Address)
- Location and date (day, abbreviated month, year)
For example:
Bush, George W. Inauguration Speech. White House, Washington D.C. 6 Jan. 2000.
If you have any further questions about formatting Works Cited pages, MLA has provided a web site with answers to frequently asked questions: http://www.mla.org/publications/style/style_faq To quickly create references for cited works, on-line citation generators can be very useful. However, be sure to check the citations produced by these sites for errors before including them in your Works Cited page. Here are links to popular citation machines:
Below are more sites with information about MLA style:
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