MLA stands for Modern Language Association.
This citation style is often used in humanities courses such as language, literature, and composition.
The purpose of this style is to provide brief information about who the author is within the text and more detailed information about the source at the end of the text.
The most recent iteration of the MLA citation style provides an easy-to-use template for documenting sources no matter where the material originates.
Use the tabs on the top of this page to navigate between topics within MLA Citations.
WHY CITATION IS REQUIRED
Any time you use a piece of information that is not your own in a paper, project, or presentation you must give credit to the original author. This includes both quotations and paraphrases. Failure to do so is considered plagiarism.
Even when you are not directly quoting a source, if you use information or an idea that is not common knowledge or that you did not come up with yourself, you must provide a citation.
Anything considered common knowledge does not need a citation.
