MLA 9th

About MLA 9th referencing

The Modern Languages Association (MLA) referencing style is often used by academics and students writing in humanities disciplines, especially in literature and language. 

MLA style consists of two parts: 

• An in-text marker (author-page) to indicate a citation.
• An alphabetical “Works Cited” list with details of all sources referenced in the text.

Manuals and resources

• MLA Handbook (9th edition, 2021). The Modern Language Association of America.  
• MLA Style Centre
  • Use MLA’s Works Cited: A Quick Guide to understand how to place the core elements of a reference (creator, when created, where published, location) into the appropriate containers to create a Works Cited list.
  • Use MLA’s Citations by format page for examples of the five basic source types: books; online works; songs, recordings and performances; movies, videos, and television shows; and images.
  • Use MLA’s Interactive Practice Template to practice putting together elements of a citation.  
• General information on academic referencing, including why it is essential.
• See also MLA Handbook (8th edition, 2016). The Modern Language Association of America.

How to use MLA 9th referencing

In-text markers 

The author's family name and the page number(s) of a cited text should be included in the body of your essay.  

The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following, but the page number(s) must always appear in the parentheses. For example:

• A key component of romantic poetry is the depth of emotion inherent in the creative process (Wordsworth 263).Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).
• Romantic poetry is characterised by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).

Works Cited list 

The Works Cited list should appear at the end of your paper.  It should be indented and arranged alphabetically by author (and then by year for items with the same author).