Documentation -MLA
Format
MLA format is recommended by the
Modern Language Association of America
The MLA style assumes that the
reader needs answer to the following
questions:
Who wrote the work?/ Author
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MLA Citation Style
What is its title?
If it appears between the
covers of a larger journal or
book, What is the title of
the larger work?
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The MLA Style
If the work was prepared by a named
editor or translator, who is he or she?
If the work is available in more than
one edition or revision, or if it is part
of a multivolume work, which
edition or volume is used?
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The MLA Citation
What is the place of publication and the
publisher’s name?
When was the work published?
If the work is included in a larger work, what
pages are involved?.
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MLA Citation
An item in a list of works cited usually has three
divisions, each separated by a period and two
spaces.
Works Cited Format
Name: last name first The three sections end with periods
Dyson, Freeman. Disturbing the Universe. New York:
Harper, 1979.
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A book by two authors
Davidson, James West, and Mark Hamilton Lytle.
After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection.
New York: Knopf, 1982.
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A book by four
authors
You have two options.
•You can name all the authors.
•You can name just the first
author given on the title page and
use the Latin abbreviation et al.,
which means “and others”.
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Example- A book by
four authors
Guth, Hans P., Gabriele L. Rico, John
Ruszkiewicz, and Bill Bridges. The
Rhetoric of Laughter: The Best and
Worst of Humor Night. Fort Worth:
Harcourt, 1996.
Guth, Hans P., et al. The Rhetoric of
Laughter: The Best and Worst of
Humor Night. Fort Worth: Harcourt,
1996.
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An edited book
Bartram, William. The Travels of William
Bartram. Ed. Mark Van Doren. New York:
Dover, 1955.
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of
Coriolanus. Ed. Reuben Brower. New York:
Signet, 1966.
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A Translation
Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. One Hundred Years of
Solitude. Trans. Gregory Rabassa. New York:
Avon, 1971.
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Article in Journal &
Newspaper
Sulloway, Frank. “Darwin’s Conversion: The
Beagle Voyage and Its Aftermath.” Journal of
the History of Biology Fall 1982: 325-96.
Silver, John. “Darwin, too, Saw the Ocean in the
Andes.” New York Times 30 March 1987: A18.
Smolowe, Jill. “When Violence Hits Home.” Time
18 July 1994: 18-25.
Peterson, Karen S. “Turns Out We Are ‘Sexually
Conventional.’” USA Today 7 Oct. 1994: 1A+.
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THANKS
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