About MLA style
Modern Language Association (MLA) style is commonly used in Humanities courses, such as English, for citing references in student papers.
The purpose of documentation is to:
- Identify (cite) other people’s ideas and information used within your essay or term paper.
- Indicate the authors or sources of these in a Works Cited list at the end of your paper.
This guide is based on the MLA Handbook (7th ed.) that was published in 2009.
Check out the "What's New" box located on this page to learn more about what's different in the new edition.
About Plagiarism
The best way to avoid plagiarism is to cite your sources.
“Plagiarism: The submission by a student of the writings, ideas or data of another individual as the student’s own in any essay or assignment. Avoid the consequences of plagiarism by giving proper references to your sources.”
Getting Started!
The following sections provide you with information and examples to help you cite the sources that you come across during your research.
For more detailed information refer to the MLA Handbook (7th ed.) available at the Information Desk in the Library, ask your instructor, or Ask Us.
What's New in the 7th edition
MLA recently published a new manual of style.
Some of the changes include:
- Using italics instead of underlines.
- All citations now include an indication of the medium of the source that was viewed (e.g. Print or Web)
- Not including a URL when citing Web Resources unless specifically directed to do so by an instructor.
To learn more about these changes, you may also want to check out the "What is new" section on the official MLA Website.
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