Library Home / LibGuides: ENGL 1010: 4 MLA Citations

MLA Overview

A citation points to the sources of information used in a project or paper.

MLA (which refers to the Modern Language Association) is a citation style typically used for English and other related courses and disciplines. The purpose of any citation style is to make all the citations appear in the same format for readability and consistency.

"Why Cite Sources"

When you write a paper or create a presentation, citations show where you got your information and

show your sources are reliable and up to date
help your reader find more information
give credit to the creator
help you avoid plagiarism

How to avoid plagiarism.

Use the resources below to help identify and avoid plagiarism.

What is Plagiarism?
From the Georgetown University Undergraduate Honor Council
Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It
From Indiana University Bloomington
Turnitin: Interpreting an Originality Report
Many Chattanooga State instructors use Turnitin to detect the originality of papers and identify plagiarism.

How Do I Cite Sources? (MLA Style)

OWL at Purdue MLA
Zotero Bib
Citefast MLA 8th edition
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Cite your work in four easy steps!
EasyBib MLA 8
KnightCite Credit: The Heckman Library, Calvin College in Grand Rapids Michigan

Sources, Citing, and Formatting - MLA 9 edition
Your How-To Guide to Finding, Using, & Formatting Sources

How to format your essay using MLA 9th E.. Format Video Tutorial

How to copy & paste an MLA citation

Highlight the citation
Right-click to Copy the citation
Open a Word document
Right-click on the Word document and choose Paste Option: Merge Formatting to paste the citation into the document

How to create the hanging indent

Highlight the citation
Right-click on the citation
Click on Paragraph
Set all Indentation and Spacing to 0"
Set Special: Hanging
Set Line Spacing: Double

How to copy and paste in a Macbook

Select the item you want to Copy.
Hold down the Command key (⌘) and press ( C )
Inside the location where you want to save the file, hold down the Command key (⌘) and press (V).
Create a hanging indent by selecting the line you want indented and then holding down the Command key (⌘) and press ( T ).

IRSC MLA 8 & 9th Ed LibGuide For a summary of major changes to the MLA Nineth Edition, follow this link and refer to IRSC's MLA 9th Edition Quick Guide (PDF)
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This LibGuide reflects the changes to MLA style as directed by the MLA Handbook, Eighth & Ninth Editions
Purdue OWL: MLA Ninth Edition: What's New and Different
This page reflects the latest version of the MLA Handbook (i.e., MLA 9), which released in April 2021.

MLA Works Cited Checklist

Think you are finished with your MLA Works Cited page? Double check these formatting requirements!

Alphabetize

Place your citations in alphabetical order according to the first letter of the first word.

Skip words like The, A, An, etc.

In Microsoft Word 2013, highlight your list of citations and click the "A-Z" button on the "Home" toolbar.

Think you are finished with your MLA Works Cited page? Double check these formatting requirements!

Make sure each citation has a hanging indent. The top line of each citation should be further to the left than the lines below.

In Microsoft Word 2013, highlight your list of citations and click CTRL + T.

Think you are finished with your MLA Works Cited page? Double check these formatting requirements!

Your works cited page (and your whole paper) should be double spaced WITHOUT extra spaces between paragraphs and citations.

In Microsoft Word 2013, press CTRL+A to highlight your entire paper.
- Click the "Spacing" button on the "Home" toolbar. Select "2.0" to double space the paper.
- To remove extra spaces after paragraphs, make sure the entire paper is still highlighted. Click the "Spacing" button again and select "Remove Space After Paragraph."