MLA not only refers to citation format, but also includes other formatting requirements for academic essay writing. This article is based solely on citation format. In MLA format, citations are mainly divided into two parts: intra text citations and citation pages. After the section that needs to be cited, indicate the author and page of the cited literature in parentheses, and a separate page at the end of the text is the cited page.
1 Overall format
1. Double line spacing, font recommended for Times New Roman, 12 point (pt) size.
2. Set the margin to 1 inch.
3. Indent the first line of each paragraph by half an inch. It is strongly recommended to use the tab key instead of typing spaces forcefully.
4. Use a header (or footer) to indicate the number of pages and align them to the right.
5. Bold only applies to the title, italicized only applies to the names of longer works and emphasizes key points.
When to quote 2
When you are unsure, there is always nothing wrong with referencing.
When you paraphrase, summarize, and mention someone’s idea, cite it!
3. When quoting someone’s original sentence, be careful not only to indicate the quote, but also to use quotation marks to indicate which specific parts are being quoted.
When you cite data, images, tables, videos, animations, etc., cite it!
When you mention something that is not common sense, cite it!
Note: Common sense is relative to potential readers, and generally speaking, there are more citations that need to be annotated for the general public’s content than for experts and scholars. Meanwhile, common sense also means that the information that readers can quickly find is not only ubiquitous online, but also indisputable. So when you’re not sure if you want to label references, cite it!
3 reference pages
The font and other formats on the reference page are consistent with the overall design. Indicate work Cited in the middle of the first line. Indent each referenced entry by half an inch except for the first line. No labeling is required, but it needs to be arranged in alphabetical order.
4 citations within the text
Citation within a text refers to briefly mentioning the cited literature in your article. In MLA citations, you only need to provide the author and page of the cited literature. Do not use commas to separate the middle, and use parentheses within the sentence. The common formats are:
Romantic poetry is characterized by the “sportineous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth 263)
If the author’s name is already mentioned in the sentence, only indicate the page number in parentheses (if it is a website, do not indicate it).
Example:
Imperialism is “the practice, the theory, and the attributes of a dominating metropolitan center ruling a distance territory” (Said 9)
According to Edward W Said, imperialism is defined by “the practice, the theory, and the attributes of a dominating metropolitan center ruling a distance territory” (9)
Work Cited Said, Edward W Culture and Imperialism Knopf, 1994
5 citation entry format
Citation entries refer to the entries of the cited literature listed on the work cited page. MLA specifies several important elements. In principle, more is better, but if there is something that cannot be found, it can be omitted (such as starting with The Bible when citing the Bible, not Jesus). In your reference, these elements should be arranged as follows:
Author. Title of the literature. The superior (container) of the literature, other participants, version, number, publisher, publication date, and location.
1. Author: Quotations should start with the author’s last name, followed by a comma and the rest of the name. End with a period. Example: Said, Edward W Culture and Imperialism Knopf, 1994
2. Literature name: The author’s name is followed by the cited literature name. End with a period. Depending on the type of literature cited, italics or quotation marks should be used.
① Citation should be italicized: Henley, Patricia The Hummingbird House MacMurray, 1999
② The journal should use quotation marks: Bagchi, Alaknanda “Conflicting Nationals: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi’s Bashai Tudu.” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature, vol. 15, no. 11996, pp. 41-50
3. The superior of the literature (container): that is, the journal, mother page, etc. where the literature is located. Usually used in italics, ending with a comma, as the following information describes this section. Example: Kincaid, Jamaica Girl. The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories, edited by Tobias Wolff, Vintage, 1994, pp.306-07
4. Other participants: translators, editors, etc. The so-called second and third works are still considered as authors and can be saved when not needed. End with a comma. Example: Foucault, Michel Madness and Civilization: A History of Insunity in the Age of Reason Translated by Richard Howard, Vintage Random House, 1988
5. Version: If the literature belongs to a certain version, it should be included in the cited entry. End with a comma. Example: The Bible Authorized King James Version, Oxford UP, 1998
6. Number: If the literature belongs to a certain series, such as a journal or series, it should be included in the cited entries. End with a comma. Example: Dolby, Nadine “Research in Youth Culture and Policy: Current Conditions and Future Directions.”
7. Publisher: End with a comma. Example: Women’s Health: Problems of the Digestive System American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2006
8. Publication date: In case of dispute, use the version you are using or the original version. End with a comma. Example: “Hush.” Buffy the Vampire Layer, created by Joss Whedon, performance by Sarah Michelle Gellar, season 4, Mutant Enemy, 1999
9. Location: The citation of the work should be clearly indicated as much as possible, including page numbers, web pages, or the geographical location of the work. End with a period.
Example: Matisse, Henri The Swimming Pool. 1952, Museum of Modern Art, New York
10. Optional elements, citation date: Considering the variability of network elements, MLA suggests marking the citation time at the end of the citation entry.
Example: Bernstein, Mark “10 Tips on Writing the Living Web.” A List APART: For People Who Make Websites, 16 Aug.2002, http://alistapart.com/article/writeliving.accessed 4 May 2009
6 Footnotes and Endnotes
A longer explanation can cause significant interference to the reader’s reading. Therefore, most academic writing formats (MLA, APA) do not recommend frequent use of footnotes and endnotes. However, MLA still allows authors to use footnotes or endnotes to provide readers with other valuable literature. Example:
1. See Blackmur, exceptionally chapters 3 and 4, for an insightful analysis of this trend
2. On the problems related to reported memory recovery, see Wollens 120-35; For a contrasting view, see Style 43; Johnson, Hull, Snyder 21-35; Krieg 78-91
During use, it is important to note that the superscripts in footnotes and endnotes should be placed after the punctuation mark (before the dash), and do not use asterisks or other symbols. The numerical numbering should be correctly associated with footnotes and endnotes.
The above is an explanation of MLA format citation. I hope everyone can use the correct format to cite when writing
