MLA Citations

MLA format for websites

What is MLA?

● MLA stands for the Modern

Language Association

● They distribute a guide for

how to cite information in
research

What does it mean to cite?

● Citation means to give the

information on where you
found your source.

● We do this so that we

donʼt plagiarize.

Plagiarism

● Plagiarism is when you intentionally or unintentionally use

other peopleʼs information as your own.

● We cite information so that we can retrace steps in research

and see if your evidence actually makes your claim make
sense.

Fill in the Blank

This is when you use other people's work or write about their ideas without giving them credit.

Multiple Choice

Can you plagiarize unintentionally (without knowing you're doing it?)

• Yes

• No

Cite information

There are two ways youʼll need to cite
information

● In-text citation

● Work Cited Page

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The ​

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ways that we cite information are through in-text citations and a work cited page. In-text citations occur ​

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and the works cited page is a ​

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located at the ​

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of your document.

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

separate page

end

within the paper you're writing

two

three

beginning

thesis statement

In-Text Citation

In-text citation

Use a piece of evidence inside of your own writing. There are two ways to incorporate
someone elseʼs research or writing into your own work.

You can…

1) Rewrite the other authorʼs information into your own

words

Or

2) Directly quote the other writer

In-Text Citation

First, use a signal phrase to let the reader know that youʼre about
to give some evidence.

Possible choices

● The author, give some brief information about the

author, says that

● The text shows that
● The text/study/article/song/video demonstrates that

In-Text Citation

1) Rewrite the piece of information that you want

in your own words or quote your source.

2) Put the authorʼs last name in parenthesis
3) If thereʼs no author last name, put the title of

the website in parenthesis

In-Text Citation

If citing a book, youʼll need to also put
the page number that contains the
information youʼre citing after the
authorʼs last name.

It looks like this….

(Author Last Name 21).

Example

(Simmons 21).

In-text Citation

Youʼll probably be using web information.

If there is no author listed on the website, which is possible, put the title of the website
in quotation marks inside of parenthesis.

(“title of website”). (“Basketball”).

Multiple Choice

If there is no author listed, put the title of the article in...

• elipsis

• parenthesis

• dashes

• you don't need to cite it

In-text Citation

Youʼll probably be using web information.

If there is no author listed on the website, which is possible, put the title of
the website in quotation marks inside of parenthesis.

(“Title of Website”). (“Basketball”).

Parenthesis
before and
after the
title

Put title in
quotation marks

Capitalize all
important
words

Period goes
after the
parenthesis

Multiple Choice

If the author's last name is used in the signal phrase, then you ______ need it in the parentheses (for an in-text citation). 

• do

• don't

Multiple Choice

If you don't have an author to cite, what do you do for an in-text citation?

• Use the title of the article, and PUT IT IN ALL CAPS

• Use the title of the article instead, and put it in quotes

• Use the URL

• Just skip it and do nothing

Multiple Choice

Which in text citation is correct for a website with no author?

• (Baking Tips: 101)

• (Gerald, Baking Tips: 101)

• ("Baking Tips: 101")

• (www.foodnetwork.com)

In-text Citation

If itʼs a longer
website title
and no author
listed, just put
the first word
or two in your
in-text citation.

In-text Citation

(“Maryland

Board of

Education”)

Multiple Choice

If the name of the article is really long, are you allowed to shorten it for an in-text citation?

• Yes

• No

In-Text Citation

The author is Larry W.
Donald, so the in-text
citation would be

(Donald).

Period always goes after
the parenthesis.

Title of the website

Author of the website

Container

Two main kinds of websites for research

News Article

Informational

News Article

1.Usually the name of the
newspaper or publication
will be at the top

2. The title of the
article

3. Here is where you can
find other articles that the
newspaper or publication
think might be related or
top headlines that they
want you to click on

4. The author of the article
will usually be at the top.
Sometimes the name is
hyperlinked. (This means
that you can click on the
name and find out more
about the author.)

5. The article will usually start after the authorʼs name
and date of update

6. Date of
last
update

Informational

When a company publishes
information, the often wonʼt
cite an individual author.

Website
title

Publisher of the
information

Container will generally be at the top

Informational

Some websites, like
History.com, will give
you citation
information at the
bottom of the page.

If you canʼt find the last date of
update, and you have deemed
the information credible, look at
the bottom of the website for a
copyright date

Multiple Choice

If you can't find the author, you should...

• not cite the article

• use the title of the website in quotation marks in parenthesis

• use the title of the website with nothing else

• use the container or host of the website in parenthesis and quotation marks

Drag and Drop

I ​

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use a ​

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without an ​

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listed as long as it's ​

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.

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

can

website

author

credible

cannot

title of the website

in-text citation

parenthesis

In-text citation

You have to cite anything that isnʼt

common knowledge.

When in doubt,cite it!

In-text citation

Letʼs say you want to use this as
evidence.

You can paraphrase the
information into your own
words or quote it directly.

Paraphrasing means that
you rewrite it into your own
words.

Quoting the text means that
you write down the parts of
the text word for word.

Paraphrasing

Signal phrase

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica

Paraphrase

the only sport to ever be invented in the
United States was basketball. It was
created by James Naismith, a physical
education teacher, who used peach
baskets as goals

In-text citation

(Donald).

In-Text Citation

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica the only sport to ever be invented
in the United States was basketball. It was created by James Naismith, a
physical education teacher, who used peach baskets as goals(Donald).

●

Signal phrase

●

No quotations

●

Period after the in-text citation.

●

Authorʼs last name because we didnʼt use it in the signal phrase.

In-Text Citation

According to Larry W. Donald, an author for the Encyclopedia Britannica,
the only sport to ever be invented in the United States was basketball. It
was created by James Naismith, a physical education teacher, who used
peach baskets as goals.

●

Signal phrase

●

No quotations

●

Period after the in-text citation.

●

Authorʼs last name not included in in-text citation because we used it in
the signal phrase

Reorder

Reorder the following parts of this evidence that uses a signal phrase to cite its material.

• According to Larry W. Donald, an author for the Encyclopedia Britannica,

• the only sport to ever be invented in the United States was basketball.

• It was created by James Naismith, a physical education teacher, who used peach baskets as goals.

1

2

3

• 1
• 2
• 3

Direct Quotation

Signal phrase

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica,

Direct quote

“...basketball was invented by James Naismith on
or about December 1, 1891, at the International
Young Menʼs Christian Association...for that first
game of basketball in 1891, Naismith used as goals
two half-bushel peach baskets, which gave the
sport its name”

In-text citation

(Donald).

In-Text Citation

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “...basketball was invented by James
Naismith...” The article goes on to explain that, “for that first game of basketball in
1891, Naismith used as goals two half-bushel peach baskets, which gave the sport
its name” (Donald).

●Signal phrase

●Quotation marks

●Ellipsis (...) mark anything that you leave out of the quotation

●Period after the in-text citation.

●

Authorʼs last name included in in-text citation because we didnʼt use it in the

signal phrase

Drag and Drop

If Ron Donald wrote this article, fix the in-text citation by putting the correct citation below.



According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “...basketball was invented by James Naismith...” The article goes on to explain that, “for that first game of basketball in 1891, Naismith used as goals two half-bushel peach baskets, which gave the sport its name” ​

Placeholder

.

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

(Donald)

("Encyclopedia Britanica")

(Ron Donald)

("Basketball Facts")

When quoting….

LONGER

DOES

NOT

MEAN

BETTER

Quoting

Keep it to a couple of words or a sentence.

Your teacher, debate judge, or reader will not
think youʼre smarter or making a better point
because youʼre quoting an entire paragraph.

...Trust me

Quoting

If youʼre directly quoting, you can also use pieces of information and embed (or bury)
information into your own writing without using a signal phrase.

Same rules apply.

Keep it short!

Example: Misty Copeland, an American ballet dancer, hosted a virtual
fundraiser to “...benefit the struggling dance community” through

her non-for profit organization “Swans for Relief” (Lefferts).

Work Cited Page

Work Cited Page

● A single document located at the end of your paper or

speech that gives a list of your sources

● Put the list in alphabetical order according to

authorʼs last name.

● Times New Roman, size 12 font, double spaced

Work Cited Page

Author's Last name, First name. "Title of Individual
Web Page." Title of Website, Publisher, Date, URL.

Work Cited Page

1.

Author's Last name, First name.

2.

"Title of Individual Web Page."

3.

Title of Website,

4.

Publisher,

5.

Date,

6.

<URL.>

Comma in between the last
and first name. Period at the
end.

Title inside quotation marks
Period at the end inside quotation
marks.

Website title in italics
Comma at the end

Comma at the end

Date that the website was published or last updated

The actual URL. Copy and paste the website.

Work Cited Page

1.

Author's Last name, First name.
VanDerWerff, Emily.

2.

"Title of Individual Web Page."
“The eerie surreality of sports in the
Covid-19 bubble.”

3.

Title of Website,
Vox Sports,

4.

Publisher,
Vox,

5.

Date,
17 August, 2020,

6.

<URL.>
<https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/8/17/2136
6621/nba-basketball-disney-mlb-baseball-nhl-
hockey-covid-sports-bubble-tv.>

Reorder

MLA Article Citation

• Zhang, Tingting.

• "Juvenile Delinquency from the Perspective of Socialization and Social Control."

• Journal of Environmental & Public Health

• Oct. 2022, vol. 67, no. 4

• pp. 1-6.

1

2

3

4

5

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Reorder

MLA book citation

• Bhabha, Homi K.

• The Location of Culture.

• Routledge,

• 1994.

1

2

3

4

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4

Reorder

MLA website citation

• Lundman, Susan.

• "How to Make Vegetarian Chili."

• eHow,

• www.ehow.com/how_10727_make-vegetarian-chili.html.*

• accessed Nov. 11, 2022.

1

2

3

4

5

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Match

Match the following

• Paraphrase

• Direct Plagiarism

• In-Text Citation

• Works Cited

Putting someone else's thoughts and ideas into your own words

Using someone's work without proper attribution

Internal documentation of source inforamtion

Full alphabetized list of all sources cited in-text

• Putting someone else's thoughts and ideas into your own words

• Using someone's work without proper attribution

• Internal documentation of source inforamtion

• Full alphabetized list of all sources cited in-text

Multiple Choice

How are entries organized on a Works Cited page?

• Alphabetically

• In the order they appear in the paper.

• By length

• Randomly

Multiple Choice

One purpose of a Works Cited page is to

• Show readers from where your information came.

• To add length to a paper.

• To stress out students

• To prove information in the paper is true.

Multiple Choice

A citation entry should be alphabetized by:

• Title

• Author's first name

• Author's last name

• Publisher

Multiple Choice

Which Author's name should come first on the works cited page:

• Alex Harper

• Jenny Andrews

• Decise Thomas

• Eric West

Multiple Choice

What is the correct way to cite and punctuate the following piece of evidence from Just Mercy:

Today, over 50 percent of inmates in the United States have a diagnosed mental illness

• ...mental illness (Stevenson).

• ...mental illness. (Stevenson)

• ...mental illness (Stevenson 127).

• ...mental illness. (Stevenson 127)

Multiple Choice

What is the correct way to cite and punctuate the following from Just Mercy:

Stevenson explains, "Today, over 50 percent of inmates in the United States have a diagnosed mental illness"

• ...mental illness (Stevenson)."

• ...mental illness" (127).

• ...mental illness. (Stevenson)"

• ...mental illness." (127)

Multiple Choice

Below is an MLA works cited page citation for a newspaper article. What is the best way to cite this within a paragraph using MLA style?

Taylor, Adam. “Analysis | Videos and Social Media Are Challenging Police Impunity around the World.” Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/04/22/police-world-chauvin-floyd/. Accessed 22 Apr. 2021.

• (Washington Post).

• (Taylor).

• (Taylor, Adam).

• (Adam).

Work Cited Page

It looks like this when put together

VanDerWerff, Emily. “The eerie surreality of sports in the Covid-19 bubble.” Vox Sports, Vox, 17 August,

2020,<https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/8/17/21366621/nba-basketball-disney-mlb-baseball-nhl-hockey-cov

id-sports-bubble-tv.>

.>

● Indent every line after the first line by

pressing enter and tab once.

● Times New Roman
● Size 12

Work Cited Page

If your source doesnʼt have a piece of information, skip
it and move on to the next part of the citation.

Question how reliable and credible your
source actually is if more than two pieces

are missing!

Work Cited Page

Check out this website and complete a citation
tracker on your own

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/21/sports/b
asketball/tyrese-haliburton-nba-draft.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/
11/02/nba-season-starting-date/

1.

Author's Last name, First name.

2.

"Title of Individual Web Page."

3.

Title of Website,

4.

Publisher,

5.

Date,

6.

<URL.>

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/sports/basketball/ryan-smith-jazz.html

1.

Author's Last name, First name.
Stein, Mark.

2.

"Title of Individual Web Page."

“Utah Jazz to Sell Majority Stake to Tech Entrepreneur.”

3.

Title of Website,
The NBA Season,

4.

Publisher,
The New York Times

5.

Date,
28 October 2020,

6.

<URL.> <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/sports/basketball/ryan-smith-jazz.html>

Example
Work
Cited
Page

“MLA Citation Style 8th Edition:

Works Cited Page.” Works Cited Page,

MSU Billings Library Homepage, 2

December, 2019,

https://libguides.msubillings.edu/c.php

?g=619978&p=4317460