How to Use the MLA Citation Style

The Modern Language Academy, or MLA, citation format is a flexible documentation style used to recognize the work of other authors cited when writing a document, research paper or thesis. Three essential elements are needed when citing a work: the author's name, the title of the work and the publication information. MLA style can be easily adapted to cite periodicals, books, video recordings, musical scores, mail messages or web publications.

Instructions

    • 1

      Use parenthetical citation when citing a stated fact, viewpoint or idea of another author in your work by including the author's name and the relevant page numbers in parentheses after the statement. Place the parenthetical reference before a period or hyphen in the same sentence. As an example, use parenthetical citation to cite the book "China's Rise, Challenges and Opportunities," written by Bergsten, Freeman, Lardy and Mitchell, as follows:

      China's household consumption as a percentage of GDP was 35 percent in 2007, lower than any major economy in the world (Bergsten, Freeman, Lardy, and Mitchell 106-108).

    • 2

      Include the source in the works-cited list of your paper. Beginning with the first author's last name, cite the book as follows:

      Bergsten, Fred C., Charles Freeman, Nicholas R. Lardy, and Derek J. Mitchell. China's Rise: Challenges and Opportunities (italicize the book title). 1st ed. Washington, DC: Peterson Institute for International Economics, 2009. Print.

    • 3

      Arrange all citations in the works-cited list in alphabetical order. Follow the citation format according to the specific source type of each reference.

    • 4

      Use footnotes or end notes to provide supplementary material for your text. Place an Arabic superscript numeral after the statement for which you are providing supplementary material, preferably before a period or hyphen in the same sentence. Include the author and work detail on the bottom of the page or on the notes page at the end of your document by typing a matching numeral in regular font and providing the explanation or reference to the supplementary material. Include the supplementary material in the works-cited list as shown in step 2.

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