Brescia Libguide Toolbox: Citing your Sources - MLA

Citing your information sources:

• provides a record of the references you have used for your research and helps you avoid plagiarism. 
• shows evidence of your research and the validity of your information, lending credibility to your work. 
• allows the reader to locate your information sources. 

All types of information sources that you may use must be cited, including books, articles, web pages, images, interviews, and government documents.

There were some significant changes to the MLA documentation style in the 7th edition of the MLA Handbook.  Be sure if you are using an online style guide that it is not out of date.  According to the MLA website (mla.org), these are some of the changes:

What is new in the seventh edition of the MLA Handbook?

The seventh edition introduces student writers to a significant revision of MLA documentation style. In the past, listing the medium of publication in the works-cited list was required only for works in media other than print (e.g., publications on CD-ROM, articles in online databases); print was considered the default medium and was therefore not listed. The MLA no longer recognizes a default medium and instead calls for listing the medium of publication in every entry in the list of works cited.

The seventh edition also introduces simplified guidelines for citing works on the Web. For example, the MLA no longer recommends the inclusion of URLs in the works-cited-list entries for Web publications. MLA guidelines now call for the inclusion of both volume and issue numbers in listings for journal articles in the list of works cited. We provide new guidelines for citing forms that are gaining more scholarly attention, such as graphic narratives and digital files.

This edition also introduces revised guidelines for preparing a printed paper. For instance, our examples assume that students will use italics, not underlining, for text that would be italicized in publication.

The links below provide excellent up-to-date resource guides to using the new MLA.

While most of our online databases, Word 2007 and on-line resources such as EasyBib offer automatic MLA formatting tools for citations, these are NOT ALWAYS ACCURATE and do not allow for formatting of all pertinent information.

If you use these online tools it is important to double check the accuracy of your results against a style sheet such as the ones in the MLA Handbook or those linked to from this page.