What is citation? To cite a source means to give credit for the original source of information, an idea, or way of articulating an idea. It is a standardized method of acknowledging resources used in your research. (University of Alaska Fairbanks, Rasmusen Library Libguide page)
Why do we cite? Citing tells your reader where you found your information. Citing allows your reader to learn more, beginning with your sources. Citing gives credit to the people whose words or ideas you are using. Citing protects you from plagiarizing. (Portland Community College Libguides page.)
What does MLA stand for? Modern Language Association
Are there other citation styles? Many!
MLA Citation Resources
This guide is a quick introduction to the Modern Language Association 9th edition citation style. Be sure to consult the MLA Handbook or the online MLA Style Center for detailed standards and procedures.
Answers to common questions and practice resources.
Purdue University's Online Writing Lab guide to MLA citation and style.
For in text- citations click here
Each entry in the list of works cited is composed of facts common to most works—the MLA core elements. They are assembled in a specific order.
The concept of containers is crucial to MLA style. When the source being documented forms part of a larger whole, the larger whole can be thought of as a container that holds the source. For example, a short story may be contained in an anthology. The short story is the source, and the anthology is the container.
Source:https://style.mla.org/works-cited/works-cited-a-quick-guide/
Snail Mail. “Thinning.” Habit, Sister Polygon Records, 2016. Vinyl EP.
Snail Mail. “Thinning.” Bandcamp, snailmailbaltimore.bandcamp.com.
Beyoncé. The “Formation” World Tour. 14 May 2016, Rose Bowl, Los Angeles.
For in text- citations click here
Source:https://style.mla.org/works-cited/citations-by-format/
A few words about citing figures (images, charts, maps)...
You must refer to the figure in your text (see fig.1) and then place the figure near the text it relates to. Below the figure write Fig. 1 and provide a title or caption and source information. If you provide source information with your images, you do not need to provide this information on your Works Cited page. Source information can be provided in Note Form which is similar to MLA bibliographic entries but for a few differences. See the OWL link above more more information.
Fig. 1. Use of the terms vampires, werewolves, and zombies in published literature of the last 200 years. From Nathan Bransford; "Vampires (blue) vs. werewolves (red) vs. zombies (green);" Nathan Bransford, blog.nathanbransford.com/2010/12/fun-with-google-ngrams, 2010, Accessed 27 Sept. 2019.
To create a basic works-cited-list entry for a book, list the author, the title, the publisher, and the publication date. You may need to include other elements depending on the type of book you are citing (e.g., an edited book, a translation) and how it is published (e.g., in print, as an e-book, online). Below are sample entries for books along with links to posts containing many other examples.
Mantel, Hilary. Wolf Hall. Picador, 2010.
Beowulf. Translated by Alan Sullivan and Timothy Murphy, edited by Sarah Anderson, Pearson, 2004.
Sánchez Prado, Ignacio M., editor. Mexican Literature in Theory. Bloomsbury, 2018.
Source:https://style.mla.org/works-cited/citations-by-format/books/
Deresiewicz, William. “The Death of the Artist—and the Birth of the Creative Entrepreneur.” The Atlantic, 28 Dec. 2014, theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/01/ the-death-of-the-artist-and-the-birth-of-thecreative-entrepreneur/383497/.
Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Masque of the Red Death.” The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, edited by James A. Harrison, vol. 4, Thomas Y. Crowell, 1902, pp. 250-58. HathiTrust Digital Library, hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924079574368.
Goldman, Anne. “Questions of Transport: Reading Primo Levi Reading Dante.” The Georgia Review, vol. 64, no. 1, spring 2010, pp. 69-88. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41403188.
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Check out more examples of citing online sources from the MLA Style Centre.
Source:https://style.mla.org/works-cited/citations-by-format/
Cameron, Julia Margaret. Alfred, Lord Tennyson. 1866, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
Bearden, Romare. The Train. 1975. MOMA, www.moma.org/collection/works/65232?locale=en.
Karasik, Paul. Cartoon. The New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2008, p. 49.
For in text- citations click here
https://style.mla.org/works-cited/citations-by-format/
Opening Night. Directed by John Cassavetes, Faces Distribution, 1977.
Richardson, Tony, director. Sanctuary. Screenplay by James Poe, Twentieth Century Fox, 1961. YouTube, uploaded by LostCinemaChannel, 17 July 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMnzFM_Sq8s.
“Hush.” 1999. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Fourth Season, created by Joss Whedon, episode 10, Mutant Enemy / Twentieth Century Fox, 2003, disc 3. DVD.
For in text- citations click here
Source:https://style.mla.org/works-cited/citations-by-format/