IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Modern Language Association updated their guidelines on April 1, 2016. We have not yet updated this section of Resources for Researchers to reflect these changes. We have ordered a copy of the new guidelines and will update as soon as possible.
Writing a Proper Citation
In MLA Format
Overview
When you use someone else's thoughts, words, or ideas in your paper, you must write a proper bibliographic citation. This tutorial is designed to introduce you to the parts of a citation and to show you the basic formats. It will also link you to Knight Cite; an on-line citation generator developed by the Hekman Library at Calvin College.
Objectives
At the conclusion of this tutorial, you will:
- be able to identify the basic elements of a proper citation: author, title, publisher, publication date, and date of access (for Internet sites).
- be able to write a basic citation using models provided in the tutorial.
- be able to access Knight Cite which can be used to check your citations.
Content
There are five sections in the tutorial
- Section 1: Courtesy, Credibility, and Credit: The Three Cs of Citation
- Section 2: Parts of a Citation
- Section 3: Basic Formats
- Section 4: Frequently Asked Questions
- Section 5: Knight Cite
