What is MLA citation style?

Why should you cite?

Whenever you incorporate research into a paper, project, or presentation, you must give credit for information you obtain from another person or source. If you do not cite your sources, you may be subject to a charge of plagiarism. A charge of plagiarism is very serious and may result in severe penalties, including loss of credit for a project or a complete course. Courses at UMUC require you to cite your sources.

What styles are available?

There are several different styles for citing resources in a research paper. Some of the most common include Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA), Turabian, and Chicago. See the VAIL citation tutorial overview for more information on these styles and a more complete list of other possible styles. While no one style is better than another, once you or your faculty member chooses a style, you need to consistently use that style.

Just as you can't start measuring in inches and then switch to centimeters midway through a project without producing a strange construction, changing citation styles may produce a hybrid that is missing information and hard to understand. Which date is the publication date, and which date is the access date? Is "93" the volume number or the year of publication? With a consistent citation style, you make that information clear, and a person reading your work can locate your sources without difficulty.

Does this tutorial focus on a particular style?

This tutorial will focus on MLA style. In general, scholars and students in humanities disciplines, such as English, art, philosophy, and language and linguistics, use MLA citation style in their works.

Do I need to buy a style manual?

If you don't already have a print copy of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, and you will be majoring English or another humanities discipline, you should consider purchasing one because you will be referring to it throughout your studies at UMUC.  Each resource you cite is different, and you may well need to refer to the print handbook to find an example similar to the format you need. Print copies of the handbook can also be found in most academic and many public libraries. Unfortunately, a full edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Sixth Edition is not available in electronic form. The MLA Handbook gives very detailed examples of the format for almost any type of source you might need to cite. While online sources provide examples of the more commonly used formats, none of these sources is as comprehensive as the MLA Handbook.