MLA 9th edition is the most current edition of the Modern Language Association's style guide. There are some changes from the 8th edition style guide, so please make sure to ask your professor what MLA edition they require.
Print copies of the MLA Handbook 9th edition may be found both by request at the Reference Desk (2nd floor) and on Reserve (1st floor) under the call number LB2369 .M52 2021.
MLA Made Easy: Your Concise Guide to the 9th Edition by Mark Hatala)is also available by request at the Reference Desk (2nd floor) under the call number LB 2369 .H338 2021
This libguide for MLA 9, the most current MLA style is in process. Please consult the follow sources for MLA 9 in the meantime:
Using MLA Format, MLA's Style Center (MLA homepage for paper format, citing sources and in-text citations, including Citations by Format examples)
MLA Style (Excelsior Online Writing Lab)
MLA Formatting and Style Guide (Purdue Online Writing Lab)
Many databases now create a citation for you. Watch our video, How to Use Citation Tools in Databases and read the screen carefully in each database to locate the citation tool. ALWAYS check the database citation for errors by checking it against our Library citation guides--learn how by watching our video Creating Flawless Citations.
MLA 9 sets rules and standards for formatting writing projects such as research papers and essays. Here are some online sources that provide an easy to understand guide for spacing, indenting, headings, etc. in MLA 9 format:
MLA's Introduction to Formatting Your Research Project
View sample papers directly from the MLA website: SAMPLE ESSAYS: Writing with MLA Style
MLA Formatting Guide, Excelsior Online Writing Lab (PowerPoint instructions).
MLA-9 Sample Paper, Liberty University (instructions for lay out and format your paper MLA 9 style).
An author is the primary creator(s) of the work you are citing. And author may be a writer, painter, filmmaker, Instagram producer; an author may be an individual, a group of individuals, an organization or government agency.
Format individually named author(s) beginning with their last name followed by a comma and then the remaining name as stated in the work. Follow the examples below:
Single author:
Alibhai, Naznin. (full first name only given)
Flynn, Leisa Reinecke. (full first and middle name provided in work)
Schutt, Russel K. (only middle initial provided in the work)
2 authors: List authors in order presented in work. Use a comma after first author followed by "and" and second author in normal order.
Bachman, Ronet D., and Russell K. Schutt.
Furnham, Adrian, and Naznin Alibhai.
3 or more authors: List the first author listed in the work followed by a comma and the abbreviation for "and others," et al.
Delong, Marilyn, et. al.
Anderson, Judith L., et al.
When using outside sources or others’ ideas to strengthen an argument in your paper, you must give the author(s) credit to avoid any charges of plagiarism (see John Jay College’s policy on Academic Integrity).
MLA (Modern Language Association) is one style of formatting citations for outside sources for BOTH your Works Cited page (list of your sources at the end of your paper) and in-text citations (references, within the body of your paper, to a source you have listed on your Works Cited page).
This guide provides citation examples to the most common sources. Use the tabs on the left for help with formatting your paper, citing different types of source and creating in-text citations.
If you need more guidance, contact your instructor, a Lloyd Sealy librarian or the John Jay Writing Center.
Quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing are three ways to incorporate outside sources into your paper. When incorporating external sources in the body of your paper you must include in-text citations that gives credit to those sources. In-text citations refer the reader to the source's listing in your Works Cited page.
It, therefore, helps to complete your References page listing all your sources first.
Quoting
Quoting is reproducing text verbatim (exactly as written) from another source. You must include an in-text or parenthetical citation for direct quotes that gives credit to the author/source AND refers the reader to that source which is listed on your Works Cited page so they may find that source and the quote you've included.
There are 2 kinds of in-text citations:
(a) Short Quotations (no more than 4 lines in your paper): Incorporate the quote into the narrative of your text using quotation marks. MLA does not require the year of the publication you are citing. Place the citation in parentheses without any punctuation inside.
When mentioning an author by name: add the page number where the quote can be found either after the author's name or at the end of the sentence after the end quotation mark and before the period:
According to Geppert (116), "it is imperative that development economists extend their research beyond purely economic factors and focus their attention on creating more inclusive, and hence more accurate, measures of development and national well-being."
According to Geppert, "it is imperative that development economists extend their research beyond purely economic factors and focus their attention on creating more inclusive, and hence more accurate, measures of development and national well-being" (116).
Quote without mentioning an author by name: provide the author's name and page number within parentheses without any punctuation before the period:
According to some, "it is imperative that development economists extend their research beyond purely economic factors and focus their attention on creating more inclusive, and hence more accurate, measures of development and national well-being" (Geppert 116).
When your work has no author (Works Cited entry begins with the title of the work) provide a shortened version of the title beginning with the first word, ignoring initial articles such as the, an, a.
In ancient Egypt, black pigment “was the best-known form of makeup…used by people of all classes” (Egyptian 39).
When the author has more than one work in your Works Cited page, add a shortened version of the title (NOT date) to distinguish the work.
We must remember that "culture is public because meaning is" (Geertz Interpretation 12).
(b) Long or Block Quotations (quote that runs more than 4 lines in your paper): Separate the quote by creating a double-spaced indented block without quotation marks. Indent 5 spaces from the left margin. Place the in-text citation in parentheses after the author's name or at the end of the quote:
As Clifford Geertz reminds us:
From one point of view, that of the textbook, doing ethnography is establishing rapport, selecting informants, transcribing texts, taking genealogies, mapping fields, keeping a diary, and so on. But it is not these things, techniques and received procedures, that define the enterprise. What defines it is the kind of intellectual effort it is: an elaborate venture in, to borrow a notion from Gilbert Ryle, “thick description” (Interpretation 6).
Paraphrasing and Summarizing
Paraphrasing is using your own words to present someone else's idea(s). Summarizing is stating the essence of another's idea(s). You need an in-text citation each time you paraphrase or summarize another's idea. The citation refers the reader to that source listed on your Works Cited page and may include the specific page, chapter, section, etc. of the source being discussed.
Use quotation marks for original words or phrases that come directly from the author or source.
According to Zapf & Jung, “criminal responsibility” can be evaluated by referring to information from the defendant’s interview and forensic test results (340).