Quick Research Guide

E | Citing and Listing Sources in MLA or APA Style

E	Citing and Listing Sources in MLA or APA Style

MLA style is the format for crediting sources that is recommended by the Modern Language Association and often required in English classes. APA style, the format recommended by the American Psychological Association, is often used in social sciences, business, and some composition classes. These two styles are widely used in college papers, but your specialized courses may require other academic styles, depending on the field. Because instructors expect you to credit sources carefully, follow any directions or examples supplied, or refer to the style manual required. Although academic styles all credit sources, their details differ. Stick to the one expected.

In both the MLA and APA styles, your sources need to be identified twice in your paper: first, briefly, at the very moment you draw upon the source material and later, in full, at the end of your paper. The short reference includes the name of the author of the source (or a short form of the title if the source does not name an author), so it’s easy for a reader to connect that short entry in your text with the related full entry in the final alphabetical list.

E1Cite and list sources in MLA style.

To find formats for other types of sources, consult the current MLA Handbook, often available in the library, or check your research manual or research guide for more information.

Cite in the text. At the moment you add a quotation, paraphrase, or summary, identify the source. Citations generally follow a simple pattern: name the author, and note the page in the original where the material is located.

(Last Name of Author ##) (Talia 35) (Smitt and Gilbert 152-53)

Place this citation immediately after a direct quotation or paraphrase.

When “The Lottery” begins, the reader thinks of the “great pile of stones” (Jackson 260) as children’s entertainment.

If you name the author in your launch, the citation is even simpler.

As Hunt notes, the city faced “a decade of deficits and drought” (54).

For quotations from poems, plays, or novels, supply line, act and scene, or chapter numbers rather than page numbers.

The speaker in Robinson’s poem describes Richard Cory as “richer than a king” (line 9), an attractive man who “fluttered pulses when he said, / ‘Good-morning’” (7-8).

Q-32

If you use only one source, identify it as your essay begins. Then just give page or line numbers in parentheses after each quote or paraphrase.

CITATION CHECKLIST

Have you placed your citation right after your quotation, paraphrase, or summary?
Have you enclosed your citation with a pair of parenthesis marks?
Have you provided the last name of the author either in your launch statement or in your citation?
Have you used a short title for a work without an identified author?
Have you added any available page or other location number (such as a Web paragraph, poetry line, novel chapter, or play act and scene), as numbered in the source, to identify where the material appears?

List at the end. For each source mentioned in the text, supply a corresponding full entry in a list called “Works Cited” at the end of your paper.

WORKS CITED CHECKLIST

Have you figured out what type of source you have used? Have you followed the sample pattern for that type as exactly as possible?
Have you used quotation marks and italics correctly for titles?
Have you used correct punctuation—periods, commas, colons, parentheses?
Have you checked the accuracy of numbers: pages, volumes, dates?
Have you accurately recorded names: authors, titles, publishers?
Have you correctly typed or copied in the address of an electronic source that a reader could not otherwise find or that your instructor requires?
Have you correctly arranged your entries in alphabetical order?
Have you checked your final list against your text citations so that every source appears in both places?
Have you double-spaced your list just like your paper, without any extra space between entries?

For format examples, see section A in the Quick Format Guide.
Have you begun the first line of each entry at the left margin and indented each additional line (the same space you would indent a paragraph)?

Follow MLA patterns. Use the following examples as patterns for your entries. For each type of source, supply the same information in the same order, using the same punctuation or other features.

Q-33

Book

TEXT CITATION

(Blyth 37)

WORKS CITED ENTRY

Essay, Story, or Poem from a Book

TEXT CITATION

(Brady 506)

WORKS CITED ENTRY

See the title page of this book and “I Want a Wife” in Ch. 26 to find the details needed for this entry.

Popular Magazine Article

The author’s name and the title generally appear at the beginning of an article. If the author is not identified, simply begin your entry with the title. Typically, the magazine name, the date, and page numbers appear at the bottom of pages. Arrange the date in this order: 4 Oct. 2016.

TEXT CITATION

(Freedman 10)

WORKS CITED ENTRY

Scholarly Journal Article

TEXT CITATION

(Calomiris and Khan 78)

Q-34

WORKS CITED ENTRY

Article from a Library Database

In databases, the original publication details often appear at the top of the entry. List the details of the original publication first in your works cited entry, separating each detail with a comma and ending with a period, as shown below. Then provide information about the database, again separating each detail with a comma and ending with a period.

TEXT CITATION

Omit the page number when it is not available online.

(Altinay et al. 92)

WORKS CITED ENTRY

Page from a Web Site

The page title and site title often appear at the top of a given page. The date when a site was posted or last updated often appears at the bottom, as does the name of the sponsor (which also may appear as a link). If the sponsor name is the same as the site name, omit the sponsor name, as illustrated in the example below.

TEXT CITATION

A site is identified by title if it does not name an author.

According to the Rainforest Alliance, . . .

WORKS CITED ENTRY

E2Cite and list sources in APA style.

Q-35

To find formats for other types of sources, consult the current Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, often available in the library, or check your research manual or research guide for more information.

Cite in the text. After the author’s last name, add the date. Use “p.” (for “page”) or “pp.” (for “pages”) before the page numbers.

(Last Name of Author, Date, p. ##) (Talia, 2013, p. 35) (Wulf, 2015, pp. 396-410)

List at the end. Call your list of sources “References.” Include all the sources cited in your text except for personal communications and classics.

Follow APA patterns. Use the following examples as patterns for your entries. For each type of source, supply the same information in the same order using the same punctuation or other features.

Book

TEXT CITATION

(Blyth, 2013, p. 37)

REFERENCES ENTRY

Blyth, M. (2013). Austerity: The history of a dangerous idea. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Work or Section in a Book

TEXT CITATION

(Brady, 1971/2017, p. 506)

REFERENCES ENTRY

See the title page of this book and “I Want a Wife” in Ch. 26 to find the details needed for this entry.

Brady, J. (2017). I want a wife. In X. J. Kennedy, D. M. Kennedy, & M. F. Muth (Eds.), The Bedford guide for college writers (11th ed., pp. 505-507). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s. (Original work published 1971)