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ENGL 101 - Kirkeby - Fall 2024: Cite Sources in MLA

Citations

Why Cite?

  • To give credit to the sources you’re using in your research. 

  • It’s the most important way to avoid plagiarism. 

  • Using and acknowledging borrowed ideas and words in a research paper.

Citation styles (such as MLA) show the writer how to properly give credit to sources, both with in-text citations and the Work Cited page. They also provide guidance on how to correctly format research papers. 

MLA 9 Handbook in the Library

The Library has several copies of the MLA handbook 8th Edition to help you cite your sources.

Helpful Websites

The below sites provide tools for MLA and APA styles:

Citations from Databases

Many databases that the Library subscribes to can show you automated citations for the article you found.

This is a great shortcut but be aware that the citation is not always correct (i.e. wrong capitalization, incorrect punctuation, missing elements, etc.). Be sure to check the citation and verify that it follows the format of MLA 9.

MLA 9 Quick Guide (Updated 11/22)