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Citation Help and Avoiding Plagiarism

Help with citation styles, citation tools, integrating sources into text, and plagiarism.

MLA Handbook (9th Edition)

     MLA style is used primarily by English and some Humanities. 

MLA (Modern Language Association) style uses in-text or narrative parenthetical citations.

  • MLA 9th edition (Print Book)
    • Find the MLA Handbook at Clemens or Alcuin
      • Call number LB2369 .M52 2021
    • Includes formatting and style instructions that can help you write your paper, and examples for Works Cited pages
      • For example, how to write numbers, or when to hyphenate.
  • MLA 9th edition (Purdue OWL)
    • Purdue OWL MLA Formatting and Style Guide

MLA 9th edition: Common Examples

In-Text (Narrative) citations: 

Two kinds of information are included for in-text citations:

  1. Author's last name
  2. Page number for the reference

Example:

  • Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).
  • Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).
  • Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).

MLA citations should be constructed with the bib elements in this order:

  1. Intellectual contributors: Creator (Author, Composer, Photographer, etc.), Editor, Arranger, Compiler, Translator, etc…
  2. Title, Title of Journal, etc. 
  3. Edition, Volume
  4. Publisher
  5. Place of Publication
  6. Year of Publication
  7. Location
  8. Pagination
  9. URL address or doi (digital object identifier)

Common examples:

Book

Author, First Name. Title of Work: Capital Letters Also for Subtitle. City of Publication, Publisher Name, Publication Date.

Journal

Wegener, Duane T., and Richard E. Petty. Mood Management Across Affective States: The Hedonic Contingency Hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 66, no. 3, 1994, pp. 1034-1048. https://doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225.

Web site

Author, First or Corporate/Compiler Name. Title of page. Site name/Sponsor/Institution. Date of creation,  https://www.someaddress.com/full/url. Accessed Date.