Style manuals and guides provide information on standard practices for manuscript preparation, source citation and bibliography preparation. Many academic disciplines use MLA as a standard style, but be aware that some courses might require a different style, such as APA, Chicago or Turabian.
In most cases, your professor will indicate which style to use for class assignments. If you have specific questions about formatting or writing style, stop by the Writing Center, located in the library.
Did you know that you can create bibliographic citations using Microsoft Word?
Microsoft Word offers a bibliography tool built in! Go to the References tab at the top of your screen to enter your citations in a variety of formats, including APA and MLA.
More information and instructions available from Microsoft
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
Frumkin, Howard, et al. "Climate Change: The Public Health Response." American
Journal of Public Health 98:3 (Mar. 2008):435-445.
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].
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).
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.
Helpful tips on using MLA style, from the Modern Language Association.
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 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.