English, foreign languages, and some other humanities use the documentation style
and document format of the Modern Language Association, detailed in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed. (2003). The MLA does not provide documentation examples on the Web, but it does provide occasional updates and a short list of FAQs at http://www.mla.org.
This area of the Web site provides examples of MLA in-text citations and works-cited entries and sample student papers documented in MLA style.
MLA in-text citations
Sample MLA in-text citations
MLA works cited
Sample MLA works-cited entries
Sample student papers—MLA style
MLA in-text citations
In-text citations of sources have two requirements:
- They must include just enough information for the reader to locate the appropriate source in your list of works cited.
- They must include just enough information for the reader to locate the place in the source where the borrowed material appears.
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Sample MLA in-text citations
1. Author not named in your text
2. Author named in your text
3. A work with two or three authors
4. A work with more than three authors
5. A work with numbered paragraphs or screens instead of pages
6. An entire work or a work with no page or other reference
numbers
7. A multivolume work
8. A work by an author of two or more cited works
9. An anonymous work
10. A government publication or a work with a corporate author
11. An indirect source
12. A literary work
13. The Bible
14. An electronic source
15. Two or more works in the same citation
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MLA works cited
A list of works cited should include all of the sources you quoted, paraphrased, or summarized in your paper. Follow this format for the list of works cited:
- Arrange your sources in alphabetical order by the last name of the author. If an author is not given in the source, alphabetize the source by the first main word of the title (excluding A, An, or The).
- Type the entire list double-spaced (both within and between entries).
- Indent the second and subsequent lines of each entry one-half inch or five spaces from the left margin.
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Sample MLA works-cited entries
Select the type of resource to review examples of MLA works-cited entries.
Books (models 1-21)
Periodicals (models 22-30)
Electronic resources (models 31-51)
Other sources (models 52-63)
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Sample student papers—MLA style
Gephardt Smith, Julie M. "Here Comes the Bride, All Dressed in Purple?: The Inherent Dual Reality of American Women." 2003.
PDF document
Martin, Riley. "Beyond the Words: Diversity in American English." 2003.
PDF
document
McElroy, James Jr. "Telecommuting: A Case Study." 2002.
PDF document
Weiss, Ann. "The Editing of the Declaration of Independence: Better or Worse?" 2002.
PDF document
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