MLA style edition and punctuation
The examples on this page use the MLA 9th edition.
Punctuation is important. Use the same punctuation and formatting as the order instructions and examples (commas, full stops and brackets). Use 1 space after any punctuation mark.
In this edition, you don't need to state the publishing medium. For example, 'Print' for physical books and journals and 'Web' for online material.
When you have used a source in an assignment, credit the source for the reader in 2 places – within the body of the assignment as an in-text citation and at the end of the assignment in the works cited list. For every in-text citation, there should be a matching entry in the works cited list and vice versa.
The in-text citation cites the author and a location marker if a specific part of a work is quoted or paraphrased, such as a page number, line number, timestamp or any other indicator of place in the work.
The location marker is always in brackets. The author may be part of a sentence or in brackets.
The works cited list contains more detailed information about the source.
Example in-text citation
Billy has the ability to relate to others with his voice (Vonnegut 36).
Note that the full stop comes after the closing bracket. Only use the author's surname or family name. There is no comma between the author and page number.
You can also incorporate the author's name into a sentence in the assignment. Cite the name outside the brackets.
Example
Vonnegut describes Billy's ability to relate to others with his voice (36).
You must include an in-text citation whenever you use information, ideas, concepts or facts from another source. If you have paraphrased, summarised or quoted another author, you must provide an in-text citation.
MLA Style Centre: An overview of in-text citations
Sometimes, a source will have more than 1 author, no author or no page numbers.
Referencing software
Learn about EndNote and Zotero referencing software.
Author element
The author can be a person, people, an organisation, a group, company, ministry or a combination of people and groups. Write the author's name exactly as it appears on the source.
Multiple authors
Multiple authors
When a source has 2 authors, cite their last names in the order they appear on the source's title page. Separate the last names with 'and'.
2 authors examples
(Wallis and Shepherd 192).
… in the play itself (Wallis and Shepherd 192).
As Wallis and Shepherd have noted (192), …
If 2 authors with the same last name are cited, then also cite the first initial of these authors.
Example
(J. Smith 21)
If a source has 3 or more authors, give the first author's last name and replace the other authors with et al. (which means 'and others' in Latin). This applies to both in-text citations and the works cited list.
Example
(Burdick et al. 3)
Group author
Group author
Sometimes a source may be written by a group or organisation. This is often true for collaborative or official works by corporations, organisations and government departments.
In this case, use the group name in the author position, without the initial articles, A, An or The.
Example
…to support (Modern Language Association par. 2).
When a non-government entity is both author and publisher, you may begin with the title rather than the author element.
Government author
Government author
Generally, a government agency or department can be cited as the author of a government publication since it is often named in the source details.
Example
(Ministry of Health 10)
No author
No author
Cite any work that does not identify an author, corporate author or government author according to its title.
Use the source's title in place of the author. Write the source's title in full the first time you cite the source. You can shorten the title in subsequent citations.
If the title is in quotation marks in the works cited list, put it between quotation marks in the in-text citation. If a self-contained source or the source container's title is in italics, use italics for the in-text citation.
Examples
First citation: (The Saga of King Hrolf Karki 22)
Subsequent citations: According to Saga (22)…..
Examples
First citation: According to "Tobacco Firms Targeting Weight-Conscious Girls" (A10)….
Subsequent citations: …with respect to the change ("Tobacco Firms A10").
Multiple sources by 1 author
You may need to cite 2 or more sources by 1 author.
If so, add a shortened version of the title, usually the first few words, to the in-text citation to distinguish between the different sources.
Start the abbreviated title with the same word the title is alphabetised by in the works cited list. Put shortened titles of self-contained sources or the container in italics and the shortened title of articles in quotation marks.
Separate the abbreviated title from the author with a comma.
Example
(Peake, Titus Groan 94, Gormenghast 2, and "Boy in Darkness" 35).
You can incorporate the author's name and the shortened title into a sentence in the assignment. In this case, they don't need to be repeated in the brackets.
Example
Peake, in Titus Groan, describes Swelter as "a dappled volume of warm vague whiteness and of a grey that dissolved into swamps of midnight" (33).
Quotations and block quotations
Direct quotations are usually put inside quotation marks (" "), followed by the reference.
Example
Billy's voice is described as “a gorgeous instrument” (Vonnegut 36).
If a quotation is longer than 4 lines of prose or 3 lines of verse, indent the quotation instead of using quotation marks.
With indented quotes, the final punctuation mark (for example, full stop) is after the concluding word of the quote and before the citation.
Example
Vonnegut clearly establishes Billy's power of oration:
Billy opened his mouth, and out came a deep, resonant tone. His voice was a gorgeous instrument. It told jokes which brought down the house. It grew serious, told jokes again, and ended on a note of humility. The explanation of the miracle was this: Billy had taken a course in public speaking. (36)
Short verse quotations (3 lines or fewer) may be included in the text (as with prose) with a forward slash (/) to indicate where the line break is.
Quotations should be identical to the original source, but you can make some small changes.
Reference within a source (secondary source)
Many academic books and journal articles quote earlier books or articles on the same topic. If you can't access the original source because it's out of print or unavailable through the library, you can cite the secondary source instead.
Example
As Shakespeare said, “Sweets to the sweet” (qtd. in White 109).
In this example, the quoted source (the original source) is Shakespeare. The quoting source (the secondary source) is White. Mention the original source first, followed by 'qtd. in' (for 'quoted in') and then the secondary source.
Because you haven't viewed the original source (Shakespeare), it only appears in the in-text citation, not the works cited list. The secondary source (White) should appear in the works cited list, according to the format for that type of source.
If an entire article or chapter has been reproduced exactly in another source, photocopied, for example, you can cite the original source and disregard the secondary source.
Sources with multiple editions
Sources with multiple editions
Sometimes, literary works such as Shakespeare have been published many times and are available in more than 1 edition. In this instance, provide extra information in addition to (or sometimes in place of) page numbers to help readers locate the source.
Extra information might be chapter, paragraph, act, section or line numbers. When you provide additional information, put the page number first with the extra information separated with a semi-colon.
Example
(Wollstonecraft 185; ch. 13, sec. 2)
Multiple sources within the same brackets
If you want to include several different citations in 1 set of brackets, they should be in alphabetical order, separated by semi-colons.
Example
(Peake 33; Vonnegut 36; White 109)
Page numbers
Include the page or paragraph number in brackets if you have quoted or paraphrased a specific part of a source.
Example
According to Naomi Baron, reading is “just half of literacy. The other half is writing” (194).
Reading is “just half of literacy. The other half is writing” (Baron 194).
No page numbers
No page numbers
Some sources, particularly web pages, don't have page numbers. In these cases, do not include a page number in the in-text citation. Optionally, you can include a paragraph number in the in-text citation if the location is fixed and the same across all versions of the source, such as in an e-book.
Example
(Bartleby par. 4)
AI platforms
If you have permission to use AI in assessments, such as for developing initial ideas for your critical examination, you must acknowledge it. The MLA Style Centre provides guidance on how to cite generative AI.
Although MLA emphasises there is flexibility in citing generative AI tools, MLA doesn't recommend treating AI as the author, so omit this detail in citations. Focus on the functional use of the AI tool in a note, your text or the reference, for example, generating images, editing or translating.
MLA Style Centre: How do I cite generative AI in MLA style?
MLA referencing online material: AI platforms
In-text citations should follow the basic format for MLA in-text citations but truncate the description of the prompt.
Example
(“Van Gogh style”), (“Write 500 words”)
Note: Be very cautious citing sources generated by AI. Sometimes, it can create sources that do not exist. Make sure you check all sources generated by AI tools.
Referencing disclaimer
This page is a guide to proper referencing. Your course, department, school or institute may prescribe specific conventions. Their recommendations supersede these instructions. If your questions are not covered here, ask your course coordinator or ask on our Academic Q&A forum.
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