MLA Citation Guide

MLA style was created by the Modern Language Association of America. It is a set of rules for publications, including research papers.

In MLA, you must "cite" sources that you have paraphrased, quoted or otherwise used to write your research paper. Cite your sources in two places:

1. In the body of your paper where you add a brief in-text citation.
2. In the Works Cited list at the end of your paper where you give more complete information for the source.

MLA 8th edition follows these 3 principles: 

1. Cite simple traits shared by most works
2. There is often more than one correct way to cite a source
3. Make your citations useful to readers 

Note: For your Works Cited list, all citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

1. vol. and no. are now spelled out.

Instead of 32.3; it's: vol. 32, no. 3

2. Place of publication is omitted.

3. Page numbers are designated with pp.

4. Date of access is omitted.

5. Medium of publication is omitted.

This citation guide is based on the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (8th ed.). The contents are accurate to the best of our knowledge.

This guide is used and has been adapted with the permission of Seneca College Libraries. For information about reusing the guide, please contact lcc@senecacollege.ca.

Note: When copying this guide, please retain this box.

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