MLA Citation Guide (English, Languages, Arts, Guidance)

Introduction to Citations

In all your courses, you will be required to use outside sources in research projects
and assignments. In such situations, you would include the words or ideas of other
people into your own work. When you do so, you must give credit for the original
source of information or the idea. In other words, you must "cite" the source. When
you do not properly cite or credit the original source in your work, it comes across as
cheating or as a plagiarized work. Your teacher would then give you a grade of zero
for your assignment!
This citation guide will explain everything you need to know to safely and correctly
cite your sources.

1 of 10
Methods of Using Outside Sources

When using outside sources, it must be done in a fair and attentive manner. By
doing so, you help to demonstrate that you have carefully read and considered the
material on your topic. Your teacher and classmates see not only your ideas alone
but also how other people's ideas helped shape your own.

When using information from outside sources, there are 3 methods of presenting the
information in your work: Direct Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

What is it? When to use it? How to cite it?

Use when the original

language has a strong
impact; with set-up,
Words and phrases that context, and proper
are taken directly from citation; followed by Cite with an in-text
another source and then analysis or explanation citation along with a
Direct Quotations used word-for-word in of why you included it. corresponding entry in
your paper. You must put This method should be the Works Cited list
that quotation or phrase used sparingly; do not
in quotation marks. overuse this method.

Use to put the

information into the
context of your piece of
writing; to restate all the
supporting points to
Expressing the meaning develop the main idea of Cite with an in-text
of the original source the original text; to share citation along with a
Paraphrasing
using different words. important information corresponding entry in
from the source while the Works Cited list
maintaining your own
voice.

Use to put the

Condensing the main information into the
idea of a source into a context of your piece of Cite with an in-text
much shorter overview. A writing by summarizing citation along with a
Summarizing summary outlines a the source material to its corresponding entry in
source’s most important main ideas to support the Works Cited list
points and general your own claims.
position.

2 of 10
Formatting Citations - MLA Style

★ Vocabulary Reminder

A Source is the place you found your information. This could be a website, a video,
a novel, etc.
A Citation is a way to tell your readers that certain material in your work came from
another source. It also gives your readers the information necessary to find that
source again.
To “cite your source” is to create a citation that gives credit to the rightful authors,
websites, or businesses for the information you used in your writing that was taken
from them. It is an acknowledgement that you used that source to obtain
information used in a sentence or paragraph or an acknowledgement that you based
your sentence or paragraph off of that source's information.

When do I need to use a Citation?

• Anytime that you are using information that is gathered from another source
and is NOT common knowledge (the sky is blue, the grass is green, etc.) you
need to cite it.

We use a standard format to cite. Major formats come from organizations like
the Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological
Association (APA), or the Chicago Style Citation. For this course, you will be
using the MLA style citation.
Regardless of the style, when you cite, you do two things:

• Create In-Text Citations - These are indicated in the text of your paper after
the quotation, paraphrase, or summary. This tells your reader exactly what is
borrowed from your outside source and where to locate that information in the
Works Cited list.
• Create a Works Cited List - This is the list of citations at the end of your
paper that tells your reader what resources you used to write your paper and
where they can find them.

In all Grade 11 and 12 courses, both in-text citations AND the work cited list must
be present in any assignment that requires outside research.

3 of 10
How To Create In-Text Citations - MLA Style

● The in-text citation is a brief reference within the body of your assignment that
indicates the source where you got the information.
● The purpose is to allow the reader to quickly find the source of your
information in your Works Cited list.
● Every in-text citation used in an assignment must have a corresponding entry
in the Works Cited list.
● In-text citations usually appear in parentheses at the end of the sentence
where you used the outside information.
● The author's last name and the page number are usually enough to
indicate the location in the source.
● If the author's name is used in the sentence, do not repeat it in the citation.

Standard Structure of a MLA in-text citation:

"Direct quote" or Paraphrase (Author's last name page number).
Student example here.

4 of 10
OR
Author's Last Name states, "Direct Quote" or paraphrase (page number).
Student example here.

Format Review:

Important Notes to Remember

Take a moment to carefully consider the placement of the parts and punctuation of
this in-text citation. Note that there is no punctuation indicating the end of a
sentence inside of the quotation marks—closing punctuation should instead follow
the brackets.
There is also no punctuation between the author’s last name and the page number
inside of the parentheses. The misplacement of these simple punctuation marks is
one of the most common errors students make when crafting in-text citations.
Usually the author and page number are enough for in-text citations, but there are
common exceptions, such as if you cannot find the author of the source.
Take a look at common exceptions and examples here. Please download and
save this PDF for reference in the future.

5 of 10
How To Create A Works Cited List - MLA Style

• A Works Cited List includes all resources that you used in your assignment and is
included at the end of your work.
• Each citation that is used in your paper must be included in the Works Cited List.
• Each citation must be displayed in a certain format and style.

Example of citation format:

How to format each citation in your Works Cited:

● Author (Last Name, First Name)

○ In this case, the authors name is Jamaica Kincaid
● Title of Work
○ The title of this work is called “Girl”
● Name of “Container”
○ A “container” is where the source is found. A book is a container for
the chapters. A Journal is a container for a journal article. This short
story is in a container called The Vintage Book of Contemporary
Short Stories
● Name of Publisher
○ The publisher is the company that produced the source. The publisher
here is "Vintage"
● Publication Date
○ The publication date is the date that the source was printed, released,
or posted online. The published date here is 1994
● Location
○ The location of the source is where it can be found. This can be a URL
link, page numbers, or physical place. This source location are
pages 306-07

6 of 10
Here are some helpful websites that will generate the citations for your Works Cited
List. Make sure to double-check that the citations include the correct information and
follow the appropriate format:
1. Citation Machine
2. Bibme
3. Cite This For Me

Your Works Cited List is the full list of all the citations that you used. In addition to
ensuring you have the correct format for each citation, you must also have the
correct format for the entire Works Cited List.

How to Format Your Works Cited List:

1. Page numbers: Just as the rest of your paper, the top of the page should
retain the right-justified header with your last name and the page number.
2. Title: On the first line, the title of the page—“Works Cited”—should appear
centred and not italicized, bolded, or placed in quotation marks.

7 of 10
 3. Alphabetical order: Starting on the next line after the page title, your
references should be listed in alphabetical order by author.
4. Spacing: Like the rest of your paper, this page should be double-spaced and
have 1-inch margins (don’t skip an extra line between citations).
5. Hanging indents: Each reference should be formatted with what is called a
hanging indent. This means the first line of each reference should be flush
with the left margin (i.e., not indented), but the rest of that reference should
be indented 0.5 inches further. Any word-processing program will let you
format this automatically. (In Microsoft Word, for example, you simply
highlight your citations, right-click and choose “Paragraph”, and choose
“hanging indent” under the “Special” section.)

Here is an example of a formatted Works Cited Section:

8 of 10
Let's Put it All Together

Use the following flow-chart to determine when and how to include MLA citations:

Original Source

9 of 10
More Information

Now that you understand the importance of citing sources and how to create in-text
citations and Works Cited lists, you should have the basics to responsibly use
research in your assignments. However, you may find that there are exceptions or
variations in citations depending on the type of source. Use the following link to see
examples of the most up to date citation format for all types of resources:

MLA Purdue Writing Lab

Final Note

Citations are a crucial part of academic integrity. We use citations from credible
sources to support, not replace, our own thinking and ideas. An essay or research
paper with little or no citations lacks credibility. However, we must also be careful not
to use too many citations. The purpose of your assignments is to demonstrate your
learning by expressing your own thoughts and ideas and, when needed, back them
up with citations. When your teacher is grading your writing, they will consider these
questions:

● Does the unique voice of the student come through?

● Does the student share their own ideas and opinions (or do they just repeat
the words and ideas from other people)?
● Does the student use enough credible citations to back up their thinking?

It is one thing to follow good citation practices and formatting, but if the entirety of
your work is a collection of other people’s ideas—even if those ideas are properly
cited!—that is still an offence against academic integrity. Ultimately, it is your voice
and your ideas that should be heard.

10 of 10