Music: Citing your sources - MLA

Click on the green arrow inside the box to listen to the tutorial, or see the full screen tutorial by clicking the link at the bottom.

What does citing mean?

After you gather information from outside resources to add to your own ideas about a topic, you will quote, paraphrase, or summarize those sources within the body of your paper.

Citing allows you to share with your readers where you got your information so that they can verify what you've written or follow up on an interesting idea, and it protects you from any charges of plagiarism.

There are two parts to an MLA citation:

1. The in-text citation lets your reader know, briefly, where the source information in your paper came from. Usually, this includes the author(s) and page number.
2. The separate Works Cited page lets your reader know, in detail, where that same information came from.

(click on image to enlarge)

What is MLA style?

The Modern Language Association (MLA) publishes a style guide used by authors who publish in the humanities. 

• MLA style refers to both the physical appearance of your paper (type size, margins, running headers, etc.) and to the way you cite your sources, both in text and in your bibliography
• Ensures consistency
• Includes elements such as:
  • selection of headings, tone, and length;
  • punctuation and abbreviations;
  • presentation of numbers and statistics;
  • construction of tables and figures,
  • citation of sources both in-text and in a Works Cited page;
  • and many other elements that are a part of a manuscript.
• You will collect the same information you would for an APA style bibliography (author, title, title of journal, date, etc.), but arrange it in a slightly different manner.
• Remember than many of the Library's databases will provide an MLA citation that you can cut and paste.

MLA style handouts 

Here are some handouts (in both .docx and .pdf formats) featuring examples of citations for sources you might find through TCC's Library and the Web. This first handout is for the full works cited page. 

Works Cited

In-text citations

Citing social media

Using MS Word to create citations

Watch the short video (2:46 mins) below to see how to format a bibliography, center a title (such as "works cited" or "references"), and create the "hanging indent" for citations:

Additional MLA style guides 

Visit Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL) MLA Style Guide for a sample paper and instructions for citing individual sources such as newspaper articles, scholarly journals and books.

OWL also provides general information about MLA style in an MLA Style Workshop.

Please use the link below to visit TCC's Citation Guide if you are interested in learning more about:

• Why citation is important
• What, when, where and how to cite
• Integrating your research into your writing
• Word tips for creating works cited lists