MLA STYLE: ENGLISH AND OTHER HUMANITIES

In English and in some humanities classes, you will be asked to use the MLA (Modern Language Association) system for documenting sources, which is set forth in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed. (New York: MLA, 2003). MLA recommends in-text citations that refer readers to a list of works cited.

An in-text citation names the author of the source, often in a signal phrase, and gives the page number in parentheses. At the end of the paper, a list of works cited provides publication information about the source; the list is alphabetized by authors' last names (or by titles for works without authors).

IN-TEXT CITATION

Matt Sundeen notes that drivers with cell phones place an
estimated 98,000 emergency calls each day and that the
phones "often reduce emergency response times and actually
save lives" (1).

ENTRY IN THE LIST OF WORKS CITED

Sundeen, Matt. "Cell Phones and Highway Safety: 2000 State
Legislative Update." National Conference of State
Legislatures. Dec. 2000. 9 pp. 27 Feb. 2001
<http://ncsl.org/programs/esnr/cellphone.pdf>.

For a list of works cited with this entry, click here.

NOTE: If your instructor allows italics for the titles of long works and for the names of publications, substitute italics for underlining in all the models in this section.