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English 2 - Spring 2024: Prof. Bachman: MLA Helpful Hints

Works Cited Page Formatting

Here is a link to what your Works Cited Page should look like when you turn it in. You may want to download it and print it out for reference:
Works Cited Example Page.pdf

Check out the format of the page. Notice that it

  • is in alphabetical order (not by type of resource)
  • it is uniformly double spaced all the way through (not 'double-double spaced between citations)
  • Each new citation starts at the left margin and the 2nd and subsequent lines of a citation are indented

Capitalizing in MLA Format

In MLA format, you capitalize every word except for:

Prepositions: in, of, by, between, across, against, etc...
Grammatical Articles: a, an, the
Coordinating Conjunctions: and, but,  or nor, for, yet, so

Examples:

"The Beginning of the End of the World."
Basic Book of Boating under Sail or Power

**THE EXCEPTION TO THE RULE**

You would capitalize a preposition, grammatical article or coordinating conjunction if it is the first word of a title or subtitle (anything after the colon in a title is considered the subtitle)

Examples:

The Wind in the Willows
American Brew: The Rich and Surprising History of Beer
"Impact of Covid-19 Conditions on Mental Health: A Study of Rural Hospitals in Northern California."

 

In MLA, when in doubt, capitalize but do not capitalize every letter in a word or name. 

Wrong: VONNEGUT, KURT.    Correct: Vonnegut, Kurt.
Wrong: HANDBOOK OF NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.   Correct: Handbook of North American Indians.

 

MLA-Months and Dates in MLA Format

Months: You abbreviate all months except May,  June, and July

Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.

Dates: Need to be in MLA format. The day goes first then month and year. If there is no day then you start the date with the month.

Examples:

October 23, 2021 in MLA format is: 23 Oct. 2012
June 30, 2022 in MLA format is: 30 June 2022
December 2012 in MLA format is: Dec. 2012
4/12/16 in MLA format is: 12 Apr. 2016

Italicizing in MLA Format

You must italicize book titles, database names, and periodical (magazine, journal, and newspaper) titles, and title of website/blog/website name.

Examples: 

Database Names like: Academic Search Premier, CQ Researcher, Opposing Viewpoints, etc...

Book Titles like: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Grapes of Wrath, Encyclopedia of Serial Killers, etc..

Magazine, Journal and Newspaper Titles like: New York Times, Newsweek, Journal of Psychology, Monterey County Weekly, etc...

Title of Website/Blog/Website Name like: You Tube, Twitter, Wine Folly, National Geographic Society, etc... 

Web Addresses in MLA Format

When you are doing a citation for a website in MLA format, you do not include the http:// or https:// at the beginning of the website address. 

Example: Web address is https://www.alltrails.com  In your citation for your works cited page you would put www.alltrails.com 

**The exception is if your journal article (or book or magazine article, though that is rare) has a DOI number (a Digital Object Identifier Number). If it does, in MLA format you start out the DOI number with https://doi.org/.....

Example: DOI number for an article is: DOI: 10.1111/ecin.12048  in your citation for this journal article the DOI number would be https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.12048 

Other tips:

    • Try to get rid of the underlining and blue coloring of a web address if your word processor tries to make it an active link. You do not get marked down for this but it is preferred in MLA. If you do not know how to do this, no worries as I do not mark off for it but...be consistent. If some of the links are active, make them all active for consistency.
    • If you have a really long web address (3 lines or more) you are allowed to truncate it.
    • If you are including a link from a database (like you may from  Academic Search Complete), make sure you click  on the 'Permalink' link for the article and get use web address for the article if needed.