For citing a website in MLA you basically need to follow these instructions and utilize the following format:
Author name (s). “ Title of the source”.Title of the container, other contributors, version, numbers, publisher, publication date, location.
1). Author’s name
• It is written in the inverted form.
• If it’s not present, then write the name of the company or organization
2). Title of the Source
• The title of the source contains the main heading of the source that you are using e.g. Difference between in-text and end-text citations.
• It is to be written in the Italic form.
3). Title of the container
• The container is the actual source. For example, if you are citing an article, then title of the source is the article’s name and the container will be the journal’s name
• It is also to be italicized.
4). Other contributors
• The contributors include the names of the persons who have played any role such as editors. So they have to be mentioned with their roles.
• They are also to be italicized.
5). The versions
• Tells that is it an original form or a revised form.
• They exist in the form such as version 1, version 4 etc
6). The source numbers
• They include the number of the journals or the volume numbers (if it is present in the source).
7). Name of the publisher
• Publishers contain the companies or the person who has published that version.
• They are to be separated by (/) if more than one.
8). Publication date
• Publication date will also depend on the version being used. So add the one that is present in the source you are using.
9). Location • They are the URL’s or the page numbers that are provided for a detailed understanding.
What is MLA?
MLA stands for Modern Language Association. It was developed in U.S in 1883 and is most widely used by the people of Language and Literature. It is used for the following purposes:
• For formatting and setting a page layout.
• For the citation of sources.
• For using direct quotations, abbreviations or other techniques that are called stylistic, in your document.
Why use MLA?
It is good to use MLA because it adds an impact on your document. Initially this format was used by professors only. When it was largely accepted and people started to get influenced by this formatting style, the professors starting to ask the students to use this format. Therefore, it has an influential impact on the readers. Moreover, they provide a flow in your documents. It makes easy for the readers to read the documents and look for more citations with any effort. By adding the citations, you will be able to avoid the plagiarism and you will never have the copy right issues. Therefore, in order to make your documents more presentable, readable and influential you need to use a formatting style and MLA performs a good job for that purpose.
What is a website?
A website is a collection of different web pages that provides information to the users and is bonded together within a single website. It is a like a book that has many pages and we can switch to different pages in order to collect different information. Similarly, a website serves the same person. We can search different material depending upon the genre or the kind of information that the specific website is offering. For example: The website, www.howtodiscuss.com is a platform where you can add your queries and the expert content writers are available to answer the queries. It is an interactive platform where the articles related to all the genres, such as heath, technology, food, beauty, games etc are present. Therefore, we can always click on these different pages to collect different information and get our queries answered.
What is citation?
A reference is somewhat of a source or reference that you remember for your work in type of some web joins. The reference follows a specific example which we have to follow and there are different organizations for it. The thought behind giving a reference is to ensure that we are utilizing solid sources and enlighten the pursuers concerning the information that we have taken from some other source. Reference is significant for some reasons yet the principal is so as to give valid sources and keep away from the counterfeited material. In the event that you don’t give the sources or references, you can have an issue with respect to the duplicate rights and your work will be considered as a copied material. It is significant as it will:
• Tell the measure of examination you have done before creating a bit of composing.
• Help the individuals to accumulate more data with respect to the thoughts that you have presented.
• Provide more quality and precision to your compositions.
• Also depict you as a dependable essayist, who doesn’t duplicate somebody’s work.
For further details about citation see How to cite a website?
How to cite a website in MLA?
The important and basic components are defined below:
1). The author’s name:
• If you look at the format, then it is the first thing that has to be mentioned. It is written in this way:
For example: Addison, John or Wolf, Virginia.
• Therefore the first name will be written as the last and last name as the first
• If there are two authors then write this way:
For example: Addison, John and Virginia Woolf
• Note that here the first name is in the inverted form and the second name of the author is written as it is.
• If there are more than two authors then according to the recent edition, is to be written in a way that write only first author’s name and for others write “et al”.
For example: Addison, John and et al
For in-text citations:
• For a single author, it is to be written as :
(Author’s last name and the number of the page) or Author’s last name… (Page number)
• For two authors, follow the same procedure as mentioned for the end text citations.
• For more than two authors, repeat the same process as end-text citation and write page number along with it. For example: (The Author’s last name et al page number).
• If there is no author, then in end-text citation, write the title of the source directly and in in-text citation, place the title of the source in ( ). However if it belongs to a big organization then add quotation marks “ “.
2). The Title’s source and The Container:
It depends upon 2 things: an independent source or a dependent source.
Independent source: Such as book then it will be written in italics. For example: Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice
Dependent source: If it’s a dependent source such as name of an article, taken from a journal then write it in quotation marks. For example: Baharvand, Peyman. “The Failure of American Dream in August Wilson’s Fences”. It will be followed by the container’s name now, which will be the actual source of the article and it will be italicized. For example: Baharvand, Peyman. “The Failure of American Dream in August Wilson’s Fences”, International Journal of English Language and Translation studies. If there is more than 1 container, then write the name of the second container at the end.
3). The contributors:
The contributors play a significant role in some of the sources. Through them, we can get an idea that what is the role that other people have performed. They can be translators, editors or the narrators. For them use:
Composed by Sarah Wilson
Edited by John Brown
4). The Version numbers:
There can be multiple versions as the text is revised multiple times. An example to versions would be:
Baharvand, Peyman. “The Failure of American Dream in August Wilson’s Fences”, International Journal of English Language and Translation studies. 5th ed
5). Other numbers:
These numbers refer to the issue or the volume numbers. For example, a way to write them is:
Addison, John, “The image of racism in countries”, Global Journal of the world for Social Sciences, 3rd ed, Vol 3, No. 3
6). The publication place:
It is usually a country, organization or company. For this use the following pattern:
Addison, John, “The image of racism in countries”, Global Journal of the world for Social Sciences, 3rd ed, Vol 3, No. 3, Sydney, Australia.
7). Publication date:
Along with the publication place, the date is also to be mentioned. It will be followed by the place, with a comma.
Addison, John, “The image of racism in countries”, Global Journal of the world for Social Sciences, 3rd ed, Vol 3, No. 3, Sydney, Australia, Apr 2005.
If the name of month is of only 4 letters then write the whole name otherwise write the abbreviated form.
8). The location:
The location can be either a website if you have taken something from online sources or a page number:
Addison, John, “The image of racism in countries”, Global Journal of the world for Social Sciences, 3rd ed, Vol 3, No. 3, Sydney, Australia, Apr 2005. www.bestarticles.com OR
Addison, John, “The image of racism in countries”, Global Journal of the world for Social Sciences, 3rd ed, Vol 3, No. 3, Sydney, Australia, Apr 2005, pp 45-89.
Remember to omit the http link before adding a URL.
Therefore, this is the final look of your MLA cited work:
Addison, John, “The image of racism in countries”, Global Journal of the world for Social Sciences, 3rd ed, Vol 3, No. 3, Sydney, Australia, Apr 2005. www.bestarticles.com
Structure for citing a blog post:
A blog is a site that contains detailed information about everyday life topics. These posts are sorted out backward sequential request, with the most current post showing up at the head of the page.
These websites are like diaries in that essayists share their musings on subjects that are intriguing. Business web journals are composed by a gathering of individuals from an organization. The scholars share updates and data identified with their association or field of work. The bloggers incorporate dream sports websites, where scholars share experiences into players, groups, and wounds. Journalists on food sites include plans and food-related news and discoveries. Touring blog journalists post about objections and arrangements.
For a citation of a blog, use the following structure:
The Last, First, Middle name of the author, “Title”, Blog’s Title, Date, URL.
For example: Green ,Micheal, John, “The most common fashion trends,” Fashion blog, www.fashionblog.com/the-most-common-fashion-trends/
Structure for citing a post from Face book:
In order to cite any post from Face book, follow this pattern:
Author’s first name, Last name or the Name of the Account. Title or description of the post. Face book, Date Month and year of the post, Time, URL. Accessed Day, Month and Year.
For example: Inspirational quotes. Quotes related to success. Face book, 23 April 2020, 4:20 p.m, Redirecting.... Accessed 1 May 2020
How to format the page according to MLA:
Along with the citations, you will be advised by your teachers to format the page according to the MLA guidelines. It is different from other formatting styles in many ways. Therefore you need to follow these instructions for the formatting:
- The font size should be 12 and the font that should be used is “Times New Roman”.
- Use double spacing for the spacing between the lines.
- If you are a student then your title page should contain:
• Your name
• Teacher’s name
• Class
• Date (Date, Month, Year) - Then in the middle of the page right the title of your document.
- The work cited page will always be the end and on a separate page.
- Another requirement for MLA is to write your last name followed by page number in the headers. For this go to “Insert” and then the “page number”. Write it at the top right corner of the page
Note: The examples mentioned are imaginary and are not referred to any real sites.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1). How many pages are there in 1000 words in MLA?
Word Count Pages (double spaced)
Words = 1000 Pages = 4
Words = 1200 Pages = 4 and a half
Words = 1500 Pages = 6
Words = 2000 Pages = 8
2). What is MLA design layout?
MLA represents Modern Language Association. The MLA design is ordinarily utilized when you have to refer to aesthetic sciences and humanities sources. There’s a particular style that you can follow while utilizing the MLA design format.
3). Does MLA need a title or cover page?
The answer to this question is NO. It is not required until your instructor wants you to add it. Otherwise you just need to add your name, your instructor’s name, class and date and the left side of the page and always use the double spacing for it too.