Appendix: Writing & Research Skills
47 Formatting Your Paper in MLA
Melanie Gagich
The Modern Language Association began in 1883 as a “discussion and advocacy group for the study of literature and modern languages” (“Modern Language Association”). The style was created by this group in 1951 in order to provide scholars in this field with a set of shared writing and citation guidelines. MLA is mostly used in the humanities, such as English and modern languages.
The Modern Language Association (MLA) system of documentation governs how writers format academic papers and cite the sources that they use. This system of formatting and citation is used most by academic disciplines in the arts and humanities.
Modern Language Association (MLA) Citations
Citations according to MLA consist of two elements:
- in-text citations (also called parenthetical citations),
- and a bibliography called a Work Cited (or Works Cited, if multiple sources are cited).
Writers use in-text citations to acknowledge that they have used ideas from external sources to help develop their essays. Those in-text citations refer to the full bibliographic references listed in Works Cited. Whenever you use sources, whether in direct quotation or in paraphrase, you must use in-text citations. Writers very often combine in-text citations with attributive signal phrases to make clear to the reader exactly what material has come from what source. Every in-text citation you make will be keyed to an entry in your Works Cited list, through which you will supply your reader with the full bibliographic information for your sources.
For the most current version of MLA style, please visit their website or the OWL of Purdue’s MLA Guide.
