MLA Citation Style Guide: Home
MLA 9th Edition notes
The 9th edition of the MLA Handbook continues the method for creating bibliographic entries set out in the eighth edition, which focused on the principles of documenting sources, rather than on strict adherence to a particular format for each source. Below are two examples of popular bibliographic entries.
Citing a print book with one author:
Jacobs, Alan. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. Oxford UP, 2011.
In this version, only the most essential information is included (author’s name, book title, publisher, and date).
Citing an article from a scholarly journal:
Kincaid, Jamaica. “In History.” Callaloo, vol. 24, no. 2, Spring 2001, pp. 620-26.
This version identifies the volume (24), the number (2), and the page numbers (620-26) of the scholarly journal, rather than leaving those numbers without clear explanation. This helps readers best make sense of your citation and allows them to locate your source without getting bogged down with extra information or references that can be difficult to decipher. Also note that punctuation is simple; only commas separate the journal title, volume, number, date, and page numbers.
In-text Citations
Works Cited Examples
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MLA Handbook 9th Edition
MLA Handbook by Call Number: LB2369 .M52 2021ISBN: 1603293515Publication Date: 2021-04-06The MLA Handbook is published by the Modern Language Association and is the only official, authorized book on MLA style. The new, ninth edition builds on the MLA's unique approach to documenting sources using a template of core elements--facts, common to most sources, like author, title, and publication date--that allows writers to cite any type of work, from books, e-books, and journal articles in databases to song lyrics, online images, social media posts, dissertations, and more. With this focus on source evaluation as the cornerstone of citation, MLA style promotes the skills of information and digital literacy so crucial today.
New Citation Notes: Chat GPT and other AI Tools
From the MLA Style Center:
You should:
- cite a generative AI tool whenever you paraphrase, quote, or incorporate into your own work any content (whether text, image, data, or other) that was created by it
- acknowledge all functional uses of the tool (like editing your prose or translating words) in a note, your text, or another suitable location
- take care to vet the secondary sources it cites
Description of what was generated by the AI tool. Name of AI Tool, version, Publisher, Date generated, URL of the tool.
Example:
In text:
While the green light in The Great Gatsby might be said to chiefly symbolize four main things: optimism, the unattainability of the American dream, greed, and covetousness (“Describe the symbolism”), arguably the most important—the one that ties all four themes together—is greed.
Works Cited:
“Describe the symbolism of the green light in the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald” prompt. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.