College Writing: Citing Sources in MLA

The MLA (Modern Language Association) style is generally used in the humanities - language, literature, history, philosophy.  As it is more concise and easier to use than some other style guides, it can be modified to fit nearly any field of study.

Get more help at the MLA Style Center

Check with your instructor if it is acceptable to use AI tools as an information source or as a writing assistant.

If you use an AI tool, such as, ChatGPT, you must cite it as any other source.

Suggested Format:

"Title of conversation." Name of AI Source, date, url.

Example:

"Slice or scoop cookies." ChatGPT, 13 July 2023, https://chat.openai.com/share/0197f0c0-aef2-49c1-8cb9-586cd8e5e543.

MLA Stye Handbook Format:

How to get the URL link to a ChatGPT conversation: 
ChatGPT Shared Links FAQ

• Click on the up-arrow next to the title of the conversation

• Click on Copy Link

Learn more about AI Writing Tools from Scribbr

MLA Style 8^th edition: Citation Quick Guide

Works Cited Page
Put your list of works cited on a separate page at the end of your paper.
The title Works Cited should be centered at the top; do NOT italicize, put in BOLD or use quotation marks.
Meet with a Writing Tutor for more assistance on format and style.

A Book by one or two Authors

Basic format:

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Date.

Example:

Sackett, Lou, and David Haynes. American Regional Cuisines: Food Culture and Cooking. Pearson, 2012.

An Article in a Scholarly Journal from an Online Database

Basic format:

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal, Volume, Issue Number, Year, pages. Name of Database, doi or url. Accessed date.

Example:

Driver, Elizabeth. "Cookbooks as Primary Sources for Writing History: a Bibliographer's View." Food, Culture & Society, vol. 12, no. 3, 2009, pp. 257-274. General OneFile, doi:10.2752/175174409X431987. Accessed 3 May 2016.

In-Text Citations

Parenthetical Citation: Put a reference to the work cited in parentheses after a quote or paraphrase. The in-text citation appears at the end of the sentence and before the period.

Author-page style: put the author's last name and the page number(s) in the text and a complete reference on your Works Cited page. The author's name may be in the sentence or in parentheses; the page number(s) must be in the parentheses.

Basic Format: “Quote” or paraphrase (Author’s last name page #).

Example:  “Cookbooks are tangible, printed records that illuminate many aspects of the past; however, to interpret accurately what they tell us about their time, I believe that it is important to keep the books themselves at the center of the story“ (Driver 258).