Citations: MLA

Created by the Modern Language Association, MLA is most often used by the Humanities. The MLA Handbook can be found in the FAU libraries in Boca Raton and Jupiter.

MLA Handbook. 8th ed., Modern Language Association, 2016.
REF LB2369 .G53 2016

Now available from MLA Style!

While the following sources are helpful, the Libraries recommend verifying the accuracy of citations by consulting the rules of an appropriate style guide.

This webinar introduces formatting a paper, creating in-text citations, and documenting sources using MLA citation style. It also provides the reasons students are asked to use MLA.

from the OWL at Purdue: 

A bibliography is a list of sources (books, journals, Web sites, periodicals, etc.) one has used for researching a topic. Bibliographies are sometimes called "References" or "Works Cited" depending on the style format you are using. A bibliography usually just includes the bibliographic information (i.e., the author, title, publisher, etc.).

An annotation is a summary and/or evaluation. Therefore, an annotated bibliography includes a summary and/or evaluation of each of the sources. Depending on your project or the assignment, your annotations may do one or more of the following.

• Summarize: Some annotations merely summarize the source. What are the main arguments? What is the point of this book or article? What topics are covered? If someone asked what this article/book is about, what would you say? The length of your annotations will determine how detailed your summary is.

  For more help, see our handout on paraphrasing sources.

• Assess: After summarizing a source, it may be helpful to evaluate it. Is it a useful source? How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography? Is the information reliable? Is this source biased or objective? What is the goal of this source?

  For more help, see our handouts on evaluating resources.

• Reflect: Once you've summarized and assessed a source, you need to ask how it fits into your research. Was this source helpful to you? How does it help you shape your argument? How can you use this source in your research project? Has it changed how you think about your topic?

Your annotated bibliography may include some of these, all of these, or even others. If you're doing this for a class, you should get specific guidelines from your instructor.