MLA Formatting

The following guidelines are based on the 9th edition of the MLA handbook published in April of 2021 by the Modern American Language Association.

The 9th edition focuses on clarification, guidance, and expansion on MLA 8, an edition that featured extensive changes. There are NO formatting differences between the 8th and the 9th editions.

The new edition of the MLA Handbook provides nine core elements that can be applied to create any works cited entry. Sometimes, elements 3-9 will repeat again. These core elements are:

 

1. Author.   ​

(Last Name, followed by rest of the name as presented in resource)

 

2. "Title of source."  

(Depending upon the type of source, it should be listed in italics or quotation marks)

 

3. Title of Container, ​

(The ninth edition refers to "containers," which are works that contain another work. The container should be in Italics)

 

4. contributor,  

(contributors to the source that should be credited, such as editors, illustrators, translators, that are relevant to identify the source)

 

5. Version, 

 (If a source is listed as an edition or version of a work, include it in your citation.)

 

6. Number, 

 (If a source is part of a numbered sequence, such as a multi-volume book or journal with both volume and issue numbers, those numbers must be listed in your citation.)

 

7. Publisher, 

 (If there is more than one publisher, and they are all are relevant to your research, list them in your citation, separated by a forward slash (/).)

 

8. Publication Date, 

 (Some sources may have more than on publication date. When the source has more than one date, use the date that is most relevant to your writing. If unsure use the original publishing date)

 

9. Location. 

 (You should be very specific when identifying a work’s location. ex: page number, URL)

 

***The elements should be followed by the corresponding punctuation mark shown after each. (only commas and periods separate the elements).*** 

 

 

For citing online sources:

• Include the URL (without http:// or https://). 

• Use DOIs (digital object identifiers) when possible.

• Citing the date when an online work was consulted is optional.

 

Additional resources to help with creating citations for your works cited page:

• Samples on Citations 

  This is a list of samples of how Citations should look in an MLA formatted paper based on the nine core elements

   

  Interactive Practice Template 

  Use the interactive practice template to help create works cited entries for your sources

   

  MLA Terms and Examples Handout 

  MLA terms and examples handout created by New River Community College