Quick Guide to MLA
Rowan University Writing Center ~ Fall 2015
Books
Author last name, author first name. Title of the book. City of publication: Publisher, year of publication. Medium of publication.
Example:
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. London: Bloomsbury, 1997. Print.
Electronic Sources & Internet Websites
Editor/compiler/author last name, first name (if available). Name of Website. Version number. Name of affiliated institution/organization, date of website creation/revision (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.
Example:
The Purdue Owl. Purdue Online Writing Lab. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008. Web. 20 Oct. 2015. <https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/>.
Note: MLA does not require a student to provide URLs in the citation, however, if a teacher requires it, the URL can be given in angle brackets, followed by a period, after the website access date, as shown above.
Journal Articles / Articles Accessed from a Database
Author last name, author first name, and second author first and last name. “Title of the article.” Journal Title day month year of publication: pg#s. Database title. Method of access. Day month year of access.
In-Text Citations
-Given in parentheses at the end of the sentence before the punctuation
-Generally gives the author’s last name and page number of the source
Example:
The student “embeds the quotation” and then cites (Author 2).
Rowan University Writing Center ~ Fall 2015
Books
Author last name, author first name. Title of the book. City of publication: Publisher, year of publication. Medium of publication.
Example:
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. London: Bloomsbury, 1997. Print.
Electronic Sources & Internet Websites
Editor/compiler/author last name, first name (if available). Name of Website. Version number. Name of affiliated institution/organization, date of website creation/revision (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.
Example:
The Purdue Owl. Purdue Online Writing Lab. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008. Web. 20 Oct. 2015. <https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/>.
Note: MLA does not require a student to provide URLs in the citation, however, if a teacher requires it, the URL can be given in angle brackets, followed by a period, after the website access date, as shown above.
Journal Articles / Articles Accessed from a Database
Author last name, author first name, and second author first and last name. “Title of the article.” Journal Title day month year of publication: pg#s. Database title. Method of access. Day month year of access.
In-Text Citations
-Given in parentheses at the end of the sentence before the punctuation
-Generally gives the author’s last name and page number of the source
Example:
The student “embeds the quotation” and then cites (Author 2).
General Formatting Notes:
-MLA should be written in 12-point Times New Roman Font, and is generally double-spaced
-The top of the first page should contain the following information in the upper left-hand corner:
Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Class Name and Meeting Day/Time
Assignment Due Date
-The title should be centered underneath the heading on the first page. It should not be bolded, italicized, underlined, enlarged, etc… The title is also to be given in 12-point Times New Roman Font.
-Starting on the first page of writing, the upper right-hand corner will contain the student’s last name and page number of the essay. Sometimes the teacher does not want this information listed on the first page with the header, and instead will request the student begin numbering on the second page.
-The Works Cited page should come last with the citations given alphabetically by author last name in the hanging-indent format.
Additional Resources:
Purdue Owl: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/11/
-MLA should be written in 12-point Times New Roman Font, and is generally double-spaced
-The top of the first page should contain the following information in the upper left-hand corner:
Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Class Name and Meeting Day/Time
Assignment Due Date
-The title should be centered underneath the heading on the first page. It should not be bolded, italicized, underlined, enlarged, etc… The title is also to be given in 12-point Times New Roman Font.
-Starting on the first page of writing, the upper right-hand corner will contain the student’s last name and page number of the essay. Sometimes the teacher does not want this information listed on the first page with the header, and instead will request the student begin numbering on the second page.
-The Works Cited page should come last with the citations given alphabetically by author last name in the hanging-indent format.
Additional Resources:
Purdue Owl: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/11/
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