Citing Sources: APA, MLA & Chicago Styles

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 (9th ed.) Citation Style (Douglas College Library)

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).

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, that refer to a specific 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 to give credit to those sources.

In-text citations refer the reader to a particular source listed on your Works Cited page.  It, therefore, helps to first complete your Works Cited page--the alphabetical listing of all sources used in writing your paper.

Quoting

Quoting is reproducing text verbatim (exactly as written) from another source. You must include an in-text citation for direct quotes in order to give credit to the author/source.  The in-text citation should also refer the reader exactly to where in the source they may find the particular quote you've included. 

There are 2 different formats for incorporating quotations into your paper:

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 and before the punctuation that ends the sentence.

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 but 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 punctuation that ends the sentence:

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).

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 after the punctuation:

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 work/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).

 

* List sources on separate page at end of your paper with title, Works Cited (centered)

* List sources alphabetically by author (last name or group/organization) OR title when there is no author (ignoring initial articles like "A," "An," or "The")

* Follow examples for citing different forms of sources using the tabs on the left side of this guide

* Double space throughout

* Format entries with a hanging indent

Here is a sample Works Cited page:

 

MLA citations often begin with an author(s) name.  An author is the primary creator(s) of the work you are citing.  An author may be a writer, painter, filmmaker, Instagram producer; an author may be an individual, group of individuals, or an organization or government agency.

Follow the examples below:  

Single author:  Format names of individual authors in reverse order (lastname, firstname), including any middle name and/or initials exactly as it is written in the work. 

Alibhai, Naznin

Flynn, Leisa Reinecke

Schutt, Russel K. 

2 authors: List authors in the order they are presented in the work.  Use a comma after the first author's name (written in reverse order) followed by the word "and" and the second author's name written in normal order (firstname lastname).

Bachman, Ronet D., and Russell K. Schutt.

Furnham, Adrian, and Naznin Alibhai.

3 or more authors: List the first author listed in the work (in reverse order) followed by a comma and the abbreviation for "and others," "et al."

Delong, Marilyn, et. al.

Anderson, Judith L., et al.

Formating In-text Citations

See the Quoting, Paraphrasing and Summarizing: Incorporating External Sources box in this guide for how to properly incorporate outside sources within the body of your paper.  For information and examples of how to cite parts of a source other than page numbers, see the box in this guide labeled Citing Sources without Page Numbers or consult the MLA Handbook 9th edition (at the Reference or Reserve Desk under the call number LB2369 .M52 2021) or the MLA Style Center's website Using MLA Format.

*Use quotation marks when title appears in quotation marks in your Works Cited page.  Use italics when the title appears in italics in your Works Cited page.  You may shorten titles as long as your in-text citation clearly points to the correct source.

 

You may need an in-text citation for a source that does not have page numbers.  There are many types of sources without page numbers such as some ebooks, webpages, PowerPoint presentations, videos, recorded music, etc. 

Here are some common alternatives to identify a particular location/section of a source that does not have page numbers*:

paragraph(s): 

(Smith par. 17) OR (Smith pars. 2-13)

line(s) of a poem/speech:

(Smith line 57)  OR (Smith lines 23-24)

chapter(s): 

(Smith ch. 18) OR (Smith chs. 1-3)

video/audio source use the start and end timestamp:

(Dahl 00:03:49--00:5:13)  

PowerPoint sources use author's name and slide number(s):

(Smith slide 2)  OR  (Smith slides 3-5)

major heading: (Forward of a book): 

(Smith Forward)

 

*Please consult the MLA Handbook 9th edition (at the Reference or Reserve Desk under the call number LB2369 .M52 2021) or the MLA Style Center's website Using MLA Format  for additional abbreviations.

Scholarship is becoming more and more available online.  Online academic sources are often assigned a DOI or "digital object identifier." A DOI is a unique alphanumeric string and persistent link to a permanent location on the internet. 

MLA recommends using online locations in the following order of preference:

1. DOIs: they remain fixed over a publication's lifetime where URLs (uniform resource locator) may change over time.

2. Permalinks (or stable URL):  URL intended to be permanent.

3. URL (uniform resource locator): an online location to where a source can be found although this location can change.

 

Not every publication has a DOI but many databases do include them. You may also find DOIs online by viewing the publication's webpage or searching here: https://doi.crossref.org/simpleTextQuery 

DOIs may look like any of the following formats (“xxxxx” refers to the DOI number): 

https://doi.org/xxxxx

http:/dx.doi.org/xxxxx 

doi:xxxxx or DOI:xxxxx

Whatever version you find, MLA recommends using or converting the DOI to this format:

https://doi.org/xxxxx

 See Works Cited: Basic Format and Author Format in this guide for additional information.  Include DOI if available.

  Lastname, Firstname Initial(s). Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Publisher, year, DOI (if available).

  Single Author

Saunders, George. Pastoralia: Stories. Riverhead Books, 2000.

  Two Authors

Anaya, Rudolfo and Antonio C. Márquez. Cuentos Chicanos: A Short Story Anthology. Rev. ed., University of New Mexico P, 1984.

  Three or More Authors

Adler, Freda, et al. Criminal Justice. McGraw-Hill, 1994.

  Group Author (include DOI if available for print books)

Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies. Library Standards for Adult Correctional Institutions. American Library Association, 1992.*

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5. 5^th ed., American Psychiatric Association, https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.104.**

  Additional Contributors

Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Translated by Talcott Parsons, Routledge, 1992. 

 

 * From MLA Style Center

** When an organization is both the author and publisher, skip naming them as an author and begin with the title.  Name the organization as publisher.