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There is more information available today, in more formats, than ever before, so the way we cite sources needs to evolve to keep pace. MLA was designed to simplify the process, helping writers accurately and intuitively cite sources more easily, requiring that every source type follow the same format. This means that books, websites, periodicals, videos, photographs, and all other types of sources now use this same standard format.
MLA 8 requires researchers to locate the same “core elements” from their sources and place them in a standard order in order to create their citations.
The “Core Elements” of an MLA 8 citation, along with their corresponding punctuation marks, include the following (in this order):
The appropriate punctuation mark will follow each core element, unless it is the final piece. In this case, the punctuation mark would be a period.
Here’s how an actual source looks when cited using MLA 9:
Goodwin, Doris. Team of Rivals: the Political Genius of Abraham
Lincoln. Simon & Shuster, 2012.
In-Text citations are brief citations found after a direct quote or a paraphrase. They are located in the body of your work.
In-Text citations are placed in parentheses, and have two components
In-Text citations should be placed directly after the direct quote or paraphrase, or in a place that is a natural pause and does not cause the reader to become distracted while reading the body of your work.
Example:
In order to prevent starvation, Watney knew exactly what he needed to do. “My best bet for making calories is potatoes” (Weir 17).
When using the author’s name in the sentence, only include the page number in the parentheses.
Example:
Seuss’s use of words such as, “lurk” and “dank” help students understand the type of character that the Once-ler is (6).