MLA Referencing: A Quick Guide

Modern Language Association (MLA) is citation format or style that is used largely in disciplines such as cultural studies, humanities, language, and arts. MLA style has been updated to the currently used 8^th edition of the manual. It provides a standard on how to structure your paper, general layout, abbreviations, and source citations.

In this article, we shall list out the essential elements that need to be considered while you write your paper starting with the page layout and the citation styles to be used to reference sources inside the text and in the reference section.

General Referencing Guidelines

• Times New Roman
• Double spacing
• Font size 12 pt.
• 1-inch margins on all sides of the page
• One half-inch indent of the first line of each paragraph from the left margin
• Page numbers on the top right-hand corner of each consecutive page (optional)

MLA guidelines for formatting and citation style is been based on the 8^th edition where the core constituents are ordered according to the following list:

• Author/s’ name
• Title of article/paper/source material
• Title of the source
• Other contributors like translators, illustrators, editors etc.
• Version number
• Volume or issue number
• Publisher name
• Publication date of the referred version,
• Location

Other optional information that can be also be provided include

• Year of original publication
• Date of retrieval or access when the information is subject to changes
• A DOI (Data Object Identifier) is always preferred as the exact location of the source can be ensured rather than a URL which is subject to changes

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In-Text Citation

• In-text citation in MLA referencing style consist of the author/s’ name, followed by the page number. If a direct or paraphrased text from a source has been provided while mentioning the author’s name, only the page number needs to be cited in parentheses at the end of the sentence.

“Labor market decisions affect our everyday well-being” (Dwayne et al. 1).

Or

According to Dwayne et al., “Labor market decisions affect our everyday well-being” (1).

• If the author’s name is not available, then instead of an author-page style of in-text citation. The title of the work (article) will be given along with the page number if available. A shorter version of the title of the source material would be placed in quotation marks and parentheses or italicized in case the source belongs to longer woks such as TV series, show, books etc.

“Labor market decisions affect our everyday well-being” (“Labor Market Economics”)

“Labor Market Economics: Theory, Evidence and Policy in Canada”.

Labor Economics: Post the Great Depression. McGraw-Hill and Ryerson, 2012.

• Additional information such as volume or edition number of the referred work is always recommended if multiple editions of the literary work exist. This information is provided after the page number followed by a semicolon with the use of abbreviations for volume (vol.), chapter (ch.), book (bk.), part (pt.), section (sec.) or paragraph (par.).

According to Dwayne et al., “Labor market decisions affect our everyday well-being” (1; ch. 1).

• In case, there are authors with the same last name, the first initial’s needs to be specified. For instance, U. Patnaik claims that labor reforms in the 70s were incomplete (142). While there have been views that expressed the need for a more qualitative shift in the direction of labor reforms (P. Patnaik, 54).
• While referencing sources with two authors, the in-text citation is given as: (Dwayne and Johnson, 45)

• Referencing of more than three authors follows the style of giving the first author’s name and replacing the remaining names with et al.(Dwayne et al., 45)
• When citing two works of the same author, shortened title of the book or article needs to be provided. When mentioning a book title, italicize the title and for an article, the title will be mentioned in quotation marks.

“Labor market decisions affect our everyday well-being” (Labor Market Economics, 321) but the theoretical perspectives contributing to this body of literature offer various entry points into the discourse (“Work-Leisure Tradeoff”, 36).

• Citation of different volumes of a source will include the volume before mentioning the page numbers referred from the work. An illustration has been provided below:

“Labor market decisions affect our everyday well-being” (1: 32-45).

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How To Reference A Book In MLA Style?

Last name, First name. Title of the Book. Publisher, Date of publishing.

Dwayne, Simon. Labor Market Economics: Theory, Evidence and Policy in Canada, McGraw-Hill and Ryerson, 2010.

• Referencing a book with more than one author:

Dwayne, Simon and James, Timothy. Labor Market Economics: Theory, Evidence and Policy in Canada. McGraw-Hill and Ryerson, 2010.

• Referencing a book with more than three authors:

Dwayne, Simon,et al.Labor Market Economics: Theory, Evidence and Policy in Canada. McGraw-Hill and Ryerson, 2010.

• Referencing a book by an organization/agency or government body:

Name of the organization. Title of the Book. Publisher, Date of publishing.

• Referencing a book with no authors:

Title of the Book. Publisher, Date of publishing.

• Referencing a translated book:

Last name, First name. Title of the Book. Translated by Full name, Publisher, Date of publishing.

Or

Last name, First name, translator. Title of the Book. By Full name, Publisher, Date of publishing.

Note: Full name implies stating the name in the order of first name followed by the last name.

• Referencing a book with edition:

Last name, First name. Title of the Book. 8^th ed., Publisher, Date of publishing.

• Referencing an edited book:

Last name, First name. Title of the Book, edited by Full name, Publisher, Date of publishing.

• Referencing a chapter/essay from an edited book:

Last name, First name. “Title of the Chapter.” Title of the Book, edited by Full name, Publisher, Date of publishing, pp. 33-45.

How To Reference Periodicals In MLA Style?

• Referencing an article in a magazine:

Last name, First name. “Title of the Article.” Title of the Magazine, Day Month Year, pages numbers.

Carrey, Daisy. “Changing Tides in the US Chemical Sector.” Financial Times, 30 Nov. 2019, pp. 12-19. 

• Referencing an article in a newspaper:

Last name, First name. “Title of the Article.” Title of the Newspaper,Day Month Year, pages numbers.

In case of publication of the article in particular edition of the newspaper, mention the edition after the title of the newspaper:

Last name, First name. “Title of the Article.” Title of the Newspaper, Sunday ed.,Day Month Year, pages numbers.

• Referencing an article in a journal (scholar/research):

Last name, First name. “Title of the Article.” Title of the Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages.

Start, Daniels. “Microeconomic Application of Principles in a Circular Economy.” International Journal of Evolutionary Economics, vol. 27, no. 3, 2015, pp. 123-151.

How To Reference From Electronic Sources In MLA Style?

When citing from an electronic source, the following general format needs to be followed:

• Author and/or editor names (if available)
• “Article name”
• Title of the websiteor book (in italics)
• Version numbers if available, editions (ed.), revisions, posting dates, volumes (vol.), or issue numbers (no.).
• Publisher’s name
• Publishing date.
• Page numbers (p. or pp.) or paragraph numbers (par. or pars.)
• DOI (if available), otherwise a URL (without the https://)
• Date you accessed the material (Date Accessed) (optional but highly recommended)

1. Referencing a web page:

Last name, First name. “Title of the Article.” Name of the Website, Date Month Year, URL.

Or

Last name, First name. “Title of the Article.” Name of the Website, URL. Accessed Date Month Year.

Note: If author’s name is not available, start with the title of the page.

2. Referencing an article in an online magazine:

Last name, First name. “Title of the Article.” Title of the Magazine.Day Month Year, URL. Accessed Date Month Year.

3. Referencing an article in an online journal:

Last name, First name. “Title of the Article.” Title of the Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, URL. Accessed Date Month Year.

4. Referencing an article from an online database:

Last name, First name. “Title of the Article.” Title of the Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages.Name of the Database, doi. Accessed Date Month Year.

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The above catalogued formats are some of the commonly used MLA referencing styles. That can help you in citing both inside the text as well as in the bibliography section of your project/report/dissertation. Other sources such as interviews, conference proceedings, TV Series, Podcast and Digital files would also need to be cited following these general guidelines.

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