What is MLA?

MLA stands for Modern Language Association; it is a set of guidelines for formatting manuscripts and citing research. It's often used in the humanities, especially for writing about language and literature. These standards cover many aspects of publication, but in this guide we will cover the two most commonly discussed: how to format your paper and how to format your citations.

Citations are a way of giving credit to the sources where your information came from. Remember, there are two parts to citing in MLA: In-text citations and the Works Cited list.  You must cite sources that you have paraphrased, quoted, or otherwise used to write your research paper.

Every time you quote someone or use their information, you cite your source in two places:

1. In the body of your paper where you used the information, you add a brief in-text citation.
2. In the Works Cited list at the end of your paper, you give more complete information for the source so others may find that source if they would like to follow up on it.

Visit the following websites for more information about MLA