MMU Library - Works Cited & Citation Resource Guide: MLA Overview

Citation: 

“You Mean to Tell Me.” Memegenerator.net, 2022, memegenerator.net/instance/62712753/. Accessed 1 Sep 2022.

The MLA Handbook, currently available in the ninth edition, is published by the Modern Language Association. The handbook overviews the MLA research style and format. It provides instruction for how to cite different types of sources as well as research format guidelines. All classes at MMU use MLA. The library has copies of the handbook.

Plagiarism is the intentional or unintentional act of using someone else's work or ideas without acknowledging the original source. 

According to the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook, all citations follow a standard format. Omit the parts that do not apply to the source (for example, many sources do not have other contributors, version or number).

What goes into a citation?

Author/creator. Title of source (“article,” book, “poem”). Title of container (book, website), Other contributors (editor, illustrator), Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location (URL without http://, database title). Accessed date (electronic sources only).

Your works cited page should be:

• Organized alphabetically.

• Double-spaced and in same font type and size as rest of paper.

• Left‐justified with a hanging indent of 0.5 inches

• Works Cited should appear centered at the top of the page.

You do not need to cite:

• Common knowledge (historical facts, standard subject knowledge, basic observations)
• Your own analysis and thoughts and research & data collection

You must cite:

• Other people's ideas, analysis, research, data, language, creative work
• Any facts or ideas that are not common knowledge to you
• Any images or videos from the web

When in doubt, cite it!

At MMU, we recommend the following citation & research tools:

• Noodletools (see tab above for account information)
• Mybib (use the free version & do no not sign in w/ Google)
• Mybib Chrome extension (again, do not sign in)
• Google Doc Citation tool (may be a helpful tool for those who have developed research skills)