Citation Styles & Help: MLA

In-Text Citation

You must cite the source of either a quotation or paraphrased material. Include the author's name and the page number(s) from which the material was taken in parentheses following the statement you make. If you mention the author in the text, you do not have to repeat his or her name in the citation. If you cite more than one work by the same author in your paper, you must include a short title to inform the reader of which work you are citing.

Citing in text by paraphrasing:

In A Critical History of American Literature David Lynch provides a useful discussion of the Romantics (538-89), as well as authors from other periods.

Citing in text by paraphrasing:

In the 1990s, media coverage of police brutality reached an all time high (Marshall 6).

Citing in text by quoting:

The author has described this era to be "the most turbulent in modern history" (Brown 21).

Citing in text by quoting:

In "The Threshold of the Mountain in Dante's Divine Comedy," Helen Luke notes that "almost daily this great image of Dante's passage from the blind murk to the shining dark may come to our aid" (55).

Citing in text by ChatGPT:

(paraphrased from ChatGPT) or (generated by ChatGPT).

Bibliography

The list of references, known as a bibliography, is organized alphabetically by the author's last name, followed by additional info that describe the source. This information helps readers locate the original item from where you pulled your information. The following examples are the most commonly referenced types of sources. 

Book:
Single author

Pollak, Vivian R. Dickinson: The Anxiety of Gender. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1984.

Book:
Multiple authors

Holman, C. Hugh and William Harman. A Handbook to Literature. New York: Macmillan, 1992.

Reference Book Article

"Mandarin." Encyclopedia Americana. 1980 ed.

Journal Article:
With continuous pagination

Spear, Karen. "Building Cognitive Skills in Basic Writers." Teaching English in the Two-Year College 9 (1983): 91-98.

Journal Article:
Uses only issue numbers or pages each issue separately

Lyon, George Ella. "Contemporary Appalachian Poetry: Sources and Directions." Kentucky Review 2.2 (1981): 3-22.

Journal Article:
Weekly or biweekly

Begley, Sharon. "A Healthy Dose of Laughter." Newsweek 4 Oct. 1982: 60-88.

Journal Article:
Monthly or bimonthly

Snyder, Mark. "Self-Fulfilling Stereotypes." Psychology Today July 1982: 60-88.

Newspaper Article

Collin, Glenn. "Single-Father Survey Finds Adjustment a Problem." New York Times 21 Nov. 1983, late ed.: B17.

Internet Resources

Author/editor. Title. Edition statement (if given). Place of publication: publisher, date. Medium. Source of electronic information (if available). Available: URL. Access date.

Unlandherm, Frank. Middle East studies resources . New York: Columbia University, 1997. Online. Columbia University: Available: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/libraries/indiv/area/MiddleEast/index.html. 19 Aug. 1997.

Arab republic of Egypt. Austin, TX: Center for Middle East Studies, 1 June 1997. Online. Middle East Network Information Center. Available: http://menic.utexas.edu/menic/countries/egypt.html. 18 August 1997.

ChatGPT

Describe the symbolism of the green light in the book The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald prompt. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat

Other

For other examples of citing Internet resources see: The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. (Ref. LB 2369 .G53 2003) sections 5.9 (page 207), sections 6.4 (page 242).

The MLA website also has helpful info on their MLA Style Center page.

Modern Language Association (MLA)

The Modern Language Association (MLA) style is designed for the humanities (e.g. English, Spanish, German). These examples are adapted from the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers and provides examples of how to document source material when preparing scholarly papers.  Printed copies of the MLA Handbook are located in the citation manual collection by the reference desk (Call number: Reference LB2369.M52 2021).

You will need to cite your sources in two places within your paper: in-text and bibliography
Part I outlines how to cite a source in the paragraph where you have quoted, summarized, or paraphrased from the source (called an in-text citation)

Part II outlines how to create an list of references, known as a bibliography, at the end of your paper that lists anything you cite.

About Zotero

Zotero is a free citation app that collects, manages, cites, and shares your research sources. The browser extension saves the citation info about articles, books, and more, then connects with the desktop Zotero to create citations and work with Google Docs (you need both desktop and browser extension). 

More info at https://libguides.willamette.edu/zotero

For Zotero help, contact:
Bill Kelm, bkelm@willamette.edu or
John Repplinger, jrepplin@willamette.edu