1. Created by Kate Michaelson Owens Community College
MLA Overview
Created by
Kate Michaelson
Owens Community College

2. MLA Overview
MLA and APA are two common styles used for formatting papers and properly citing sources.
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Style used most often in Literature, Arts, and Humanities
Most importantly, used in this class!
American Psychological Association (APA)
Style used most often in Psychology, Social Sciences, and Education
Not used in this class, but may be required in others.

3. Title Page - APA APA requires a separate title page with:
A running header of the title and page #
Title & Author’s name centered
Course and professor
Date
NOT necessary for MLA unless your instructor specifies otherwise

4. Title Page - MLA MLA does NOT require a separate title page!
Instead, on the first page of the essay include:
A running header with your last name and page #
Your name, professor’s name, course, and date
Assignment title centered over the essay

5. MLA Works Cited Page The Works Cited page:
Comes at the end of the document & lists every source (in a particular format) that was consulted for the essay
Is meant to provide enough information so that anyone who wanted to find the that source could track it down
Basic information for every source, by order of significance, includes but is not limited to:
The author
Title of the work you used
Publisher location and company
Year of publication
Format (Print or Web)
Specifics will vary by source type! You must consult your handbook (or other resources) for help citing various sources correctly.

6. MLA Works Cited Examples
Single author:
Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin Books, Print.
Author’s last name, first name. Title. Publisher location: Publisher, year published. Format.
Book with multiple authors:
Gleick, James and Debra Smith. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin Books, Print.
Cite up to 3 authors (only use the last name, first name format for the first author), then the publisher info, date, page numbers, and format.
For a book with 4 or more authors, cite the first author as usual and follow it with “et al.” (which means and others) to indicate the rest of the authors

7. MLA Works Cited Examples
No author?
GlobalWarming.org. Cooler Heads Coalition, Web. 24 May 2009.
Cite it as usual, but start with the title since there is no author
Particular essay or story from a collection:
McCovey, Chester. "The Front Porch." The Composition of Everyday Life. Ed. John Mauk and John Metz. Boston: Wadsworth, Print.
Cite the author(s) of the specific source first, then the story/essay title, then credit the book in which you found it, the editor(s) of the book, then the usual information for a book.

8. MLA Works Cited Examples
Electronic source:
Vargas, Paul. "How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow.com. Web. 10 May <
Cite like other sources, but also include Web as the format followed by the date you accessed the info
Including the web address is optional

9. MLA Work Cited Page – Database
Citing a library database differs from other online sources because the database is not publicly accessible (i.e., someone is paying for the service).
Therefore, you have to also cite:
The database
The company that owns the database
The location from which you accessed it

10. Work Cited Page – Database
For instance, if you used Academic Search Premier from the Owens Library to find Pat Shipman’s article “The Woof at the Door” published in American Scientist, the correct citation would look like this:
Shipman, Pat "The Woof at the Door." American Scientist 97.4 (2009): Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Owens Community Coll. Lib. Web. 12 Oct

11. Correct Formatting for Titles
Examples:
The New York Times
The Atlantic Monthly
The Composition of Everyday Life
“What Is Education?”
“Cruelty, Civility, and Other Weighty Matters”
Italicize titles of long works like books, newspapers, magazines, and journals. a
Use quotation marks for short stories, poems, essays, or articles. a

12. Works Cited Layout
Center “Works Cited” at the top of the page in normal font
Double space
Alphabetize the list of sources
Use a hanging indent
Do not number or bullet entries

13. Parenthetical Citations - MLA
Credit a source that you’ve quoted, paraphrased, or summarized
Use the minimal information needed to allow the reader to find the source on the works cited page
Whatever information you include in the parenthetical citation should be the first piece of information found in that works cited entry.
Typically the author’s last name
If there is no author, use an abbreviated form of the title
Include relevant page numbers for quotes and paraphrases

14. Parenthetical Citation Examples
For quoted or paraphrased material use:
(author’s last name and page #)
Example: “The advisory board made no mention of the report,” (Gonzalez 12).
Tip: If you mention the author as you introduce the quote, his or her name may be omitted in the parenthetical citation.
Example: According to Dr. Gonzalez, “The advisory board made no mention of the report” (12).

15. Parenthetical Citation Examples
To give credit for a summary of someone else’s ideas use:
(author’s last name) OR a reference to the author in the writing
Example: Men often use speech to establish social position while women talk in order to express emotion (Tannen). –OR-
Tannen asserts that men often use speech to establish social position while women talk in order to express emotion.

16. A Note on How APA Differs
For APA citations use:
Almost the same info as MLA, but also include the date of publication
(author’s last name, date of publication, page number(s) when applicable)
(Smith, 2009, p 133)
A web site with no author might be cited (Gardener’s Guide, 2006).
As in MLA, you may omit the author’s last name in parenthesis if he or she is mentioned in the introduction of the quote.
Example: According to Gonzalez, “The advisory board made no mention of the report,” (2006, p 12).

17. Whether APA or MLA, always remember:
When using an exact quote, any exact quotes MUST be in quotation marks.
When paraphrasing, you must rephrase the material in your own words to avoid plagiarism.
When you re-word something, quotation marks are not necessary, but a citation is still necessary.
Even when using ideas you got from someone else’s work, you must credit them!

18. When should I cite? If in doubt, ask:
Is it my idea?
Yes NO
Do not cite
Is it common knowledge? NO
Cite it!

19. Owens Campus Security hauls off another suspected plagiarist.
…or else…
Owens Campus Security hauls off another suspected plagiarist.

20. Useful Websites & Sources
The Writing Center
Located in College Hall 156-D
MLA Handout
Interactive MLA Tutorial
Commercial citation tools such as:
Landmark Tool at
Put all the info in & it spits out your citation
The catch is, you still need to know where to get the info and when to use citations.
Don’t forget about us!