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Education Studies: MLA Citation Style

Sample MLA Citations for a Works Cited Page

Book

Schlosser, Eric.  Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal.  Boston:

     Houghton Mifflin, 2001.

 

Article

Frumkin, Howard, et al.  "Climate Change: The Public Health Response."  American

     Journal of Public Health 98:3 (Mar. 2008):435-445.

 

Web site

Name of Site.  Date of posting/revision.  Name of institution/organization affiliated with the     

     site (sometimes found in copyright statement).  Date you accessed the site

     [electronic address].

In-Text Citations in MLA style

MLA style calls for parenthetical citation style within the text of your paper. Each citation has a corresponding entry on the Works Cited list.

For example, if you were to cite the book from the Works Cited list above, the in-text citation would look like this:

Many think that children do not understand what commercials are really intended to do (Schlosser 45-46).


If you use a direct quote from the source, use quotation marks at either end of the material quoted, plus a parenthetical citation:

Our research found that children "could not comprehend the real purpose of commercials" (Schlosser 46). 


Or, if you use the author's name in the text along with a quotation, only the page number is required in the parenthetical citation:

Schlosser indicated that children "could not comprehend the real purpose of commercials" (46).

Style Guides

MLA Guide to Writers of Research Papers

MLA handbook for writers of research papers (8th edition) - PN203 .G53 2009

One copy is available in reference and another is available for check out.

 

FAQ's about MLA citation style

Helpful tips on using MLA style, from the Modern Language Association.

 

OWL - The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University

An extensive online writing lab, produced and maintained by Purdue University.  This resource supports all phases of the writing process, from development of a concept through preparation for publication.

 

Online Citation Tools

Online tools that will help you generate citations and entries for your bibliography in the appropriate style. 

Please note: often there are subtle differences in standard bibliographical entries - always refer to the published style manual if you are uncertain or don't find the appropriate entry online.