Most English instructors and some humanities instructors will ask you to document your sources with the Modern Language Association (MLA) system of citations described in MLA-4. When writing an MLA paper that is based on sources, you face three main challenges: (1) supporting a thesis, (2) citing your sources and avoiding plagiarism, and (3) integrating quotations and other source material.

Examples in this section are drawn from one student's research about the role of government in legislating food choices. Sophie Harba's research paper, in which she argues that state governments have the responsibility to advance health policies and to regulate healthy eating choices, appears in MLA-5b.