Citing Assignments Easily in the MLA Style

In any academic content, it is essential to cite all the sources properly to avoid any case of plagiarism. There are several types of referencing style following which a resource can be cited, one of which is the MLA referencing style. You need to know the correct method of citing a source using this referencing style; otherwise, you might lose points for it. If you want to learn how to do this, read this blog.

The right method of citing an assignment in the MLA style is given below:

Citations can be of two types: In-text citation, and the full citation that exists in the reference list or bibliography. The in-text citation is a compressed version of the long citation that is used in the referencing list.

How to create an In-text citation in the MLA style? 

To create this citation, you will just have to write the last name of the author, then, a comma (,), and the publication year, all under two parentheses. Other than this, you can also use the year of publication in a bracket after mentioning the surname of the author in the line. For example, (Hardell, 2018), or, Hardell (2018) says........ This is usually when specific information has been taken from a text and used in one’s writing.

In the case of two to three authors, the last name of all the authors will be included, and the same pattern will be followed as mentioned above.  If four or more authors are there, the surname of the first author will be followed by ‘et al’ and the date of publication. For example, (Chapman et al, 2016).

If it is a direct quotation taken from a text, the line will be within double quotation marks, the page number must also be included after the line like this, ‘(p.4)’.

How to write the reference in the MLA style?

To write this, the following information is needed:

· Author or editor’s name

· Publication date

· The item’s title

· Publisher’s name

· Publication place

· Page numbers

· Volume number

· Issue number

· URL

· DOI

· Report number

· Title of the journal

· Access date

While writing the reference list, you must follow the alphabetical order according to the name of the author or editor. You should include all the sources you have used in your assignment in the reference list.

To write the citation for the reference list, you have to write the last name of the author, followed by a comma, then, the initial of the author’s first name, a dot (.), a comma (,), then, the title of the item, the journal name if it is an article, then, again a comma (,), followed by the volume and issue number, and then the page number.

An example is given below:

Henderson, J. (2005) Google Scholar: A source for clinicians? Canadian Medical Association Journal, 172 (12), 1549-1550.

Thus, when you need to cite the sources you have used in your assignment, you can use this guide to make the process easier for you.