The MLA style is set and updated as needed by the Modern Language Association, which is currently on the 9th edition, and is used in all the examples here.
MLA style is used for most courses in the humanities, which may include Anthropology, Classics, Games & Sports, Geography, History, Languages, Law and Politics, Literature, Performing arts, Philosophy, Religion, Visual arts. "Style" includes more than just citation formats. It also covers how to write clearly, how to organize and layout your paper or project, punctuation, word choice, spelling, use of fonts, abbreviations and acronyms, critical thinking and fundamentals of research.
On this page you will find some examples of full citations and in-text citations, how to format your paper, a comprehensive handout with many citation examples, and a link to the MLA Handbook.
Please note that MLA style requires that citations in the Works Cited list be formatted with a hanging indent which is a format not supported by the web page design software used to make this page.
A Source in a Single Container: An Essay in a Book Collection
Copeland, Edward. “Money.” The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen, edited by Copeland and Juliet McMaster, Cambridge UP, 1997, pp. 131-48.
A Source in a Single Container: A Video on a Web Site
“Curiosity Rover Report (August 2015): Three Years on Mars!” NASA’s Journey to Mars: Videos, edited by Sarah Loff, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 30 July 2015, www.nasa.gov/topics/journeytomars/videos/index.html.
A Source in Two Containers: A Journal Article Retrieved from a Database
Lorensen, Jutta. “Between Image and Word, Color, and Time: Jacob Lawrence’s The Migration Series.” African American Review, vol. 40, no. 3, 2006, pp. 571-86. EBSCOHost.
** For more examples check out the MLA Handout or the MLA Handbook
Typical in-text citation with one author and page number(s)
( Angelou 81) or (Angelou 81-83)
No page numbers
("title" or author) as in ("I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings") or (Angelou)
No author/Anonymous author
("title" and page number) as in ("I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" 81)
Two authors
(author's names separated by AND and page number) as in (Angelou and Erdrich 23)
Three or more authors
(primary author's name followed with ET AL. and page number) as in (Angelou et al. 23)
Author mentioned in the sentence
(author's name included in sentence and page number included at the end in parenthesis) as in
Angelou remarks on the relationship in the book by... (23).
** For more examples check out the MLA Handout or the MLA Handbook
Set double spacing for the entire document, usually a menu option under “Page Layout” or similar.
Use a readable font of reasonable size with an identifiable italic form. Most sources recommend Times New Roman 12 point, but a sans serif fonts such as Arial or Calibri is also acceptable.
Your last name followed by the page number should be inserted as a header on every page.
Look for the “hanging indent” formatting command in your word processing software, rather than trying to format the indent manually using tabs or spaces. The “hanging indent” feature allows your text to maintain the formatting if you need to make changes.
