Cite Your Sources in MLA Format

Remember to cite all sources using MLA format. Most writing handbooks give citation format, although only the more recent editions give the format for electronic text.

1) Use the following format for print references:

[Example borrowed from http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite5.html]
 

2) To cite your survey use this format:

Your last name, First name. "Title of Your Survey." Date of surveys. (Use the date of the last one you gave)

Ex:  Davis, Mary. "Survey on Attitudes Toward Stem Cell Research." 2 Oct. 2001. 
 

3) To cite your interview use this format:

Last name, first name of interviewee. Personal interview. Date of interview.

Ford, Harrison. Personal interview. 25 Aug. 2001.
 

4) See http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite5.html Box 5.2 for electronic document format.

5) Works Cited

Collect your list of sources at the end of an essay under the title Works Cited.

List in alphabetical order by author's last name or first word in title for works with no author.

Entries should be in "hanging indent" form with the first line flush left and additional lines indented six spaces. If you don't know how to do this, consult the "help" index in your word processor. 

6) In-text citations

a) Name the author in a signal phrase then put the page number in parentheses.

Auchenbach declares that "light triggers in our brains the sensations of color" (5).

b) Put the author's name and page number in parentheses if signal phrase is not used.

"The thermal area know as Bumpass Hell was named for Kendall Vanhook Bumpass, an explorer and mountain man" (Vesilend 70).

c) For your survey use author's (your) surname. In our project you will not have a page number to include within the parenthesis.

Four out of five of the survey respondents agreed with the statement, "I like ice cream" (Butler).

d) Consult an MLA guide for other situations, including multiple authors, etc. I recommend Hacker's A Pocket Style Manual (3d ed.) for citation and grammar questions. There are still some copies available at KIVA.