MLA Documentation: Learn It 1

  • Describe MLA formatting, including page layout
  • Identify the parts of MLA in-text citations
  • Recognize and create correct MLA Works Cited entries
  • Evaluate the parts of a properly formatted MLA Works Cited page

MLA Style

MLA style is one of the most common citation and formatting styles you will encounter in your academic career. The MLA, which stands for Modern Language Association, is an organization of language scholars and experts. MLA format is typically used for writing in the humanities and is widely used in many high school and introductory college English classes, as well as scholarly books and professional journals. If you are writing a paper for a literature or media studies class, it is likely your professor will ask you to write in MLA style.

There are many fantastic resources out there that can make the formatting and citation process easier. For example, the Purdue Online Writing Lab is a popular resource that concisely explains how to properly format and cite in various academic styles.Reference management websites and applications can also assist you in tracking and recording your research. Most of these websites will even create the works cited page for you! Some of the most popular citation tools include Zotero, RefME, and BibMe.

Understanding Citations

Online tools that generate citations for you can be wonderful—they save time and allow you to focus on the knowledge work of writing a paper. No one expects you to memorize exactly how each different type of text is formatted in MLA style. All of us turn to citation generators, the MLA Handbook, or online resources to remind ourselves of the minutiae of citations. But you do need to have some overall familiarity with the format so that you know what information you need to include and so that you can quickly and easily recognize the mistakes that citation generators (computers!) make. Understanding why citations are built the way they are can help you be more critical in your proofreading of generated works cited pages and internal citations.

Poor citations

Let’s think about this example citation from a student paper:

  • Damiani, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jesse-damiani/every-time-you-say-all-li_1_b_11004780.html

What is wrong with this citation? The student provides a URL but does not use MLA format on their works cited page. By using just a URL, the student not only diverges from normal discourse conventions but omits the critical information the reader expects to see such as the date of publication (the author and title of the article are awkwardly embedded in the URL).

An incorrect citation is bad form – think about it as the equivalent of being rude to your reader. Good form (good use of MLA format) makes life easier for your reader and makes you look more accomplished, professional, and credible as a writer.