MLA Referencing

What is MLA referencing?

MLA (Modern Languages Association) Style referencing is a widely used citation format in academic writing, mainly used in the humanities, including literature, language and cultural studies.

In IADT we use the most current version of MLA which is the 9th edition.

How do I use the MLA Referencing Style?

MLA  uses an Author-Page system, which helps readers to find the full source from the Works Cited list. There are two components that work together:

1. In-text citations

They appear within the body of your paper whenever you reference, paraphrase, or quote another source.

2. Works Cited list

This is an alphabetical list at the end of your paper and provides complete bibliographic information for every source cited in your text. It is a new page with the words “Works Cited” in bold as a heading.

We have examples across a range of different sources listed in this guide, from books, journals articles, social media and much more.  Examples across a range of different sources are listed in this guide.

What is the difference between references and citations?

Citing: referring to sources you quote or paraphrase within your document. You should always cite the sources you use in your work. This brief citation refers the reader to the exact place in your Works Cited list or bibliography where you will provide the extended details of the source. 

Works Cited: a the detailed list of sources that have been cited within the text. Every reference must have enough information for the reader to find the source again. This is only sources that have actually been cited. 

Bibliography: a list of all references consulted in preparing the document, whether you cited them in your assignment or not. It can also include titles useful as background reading.

Short quotes - four lines or fewer

These are incorporated directly into your text and enclosed in “double quotation marks”.

In-text citation

• Template: (page number)
• Example: Smith suggests that in terms of creative people across different domains, “some people would nonetheless be more creative than others” (14).

Works Cited list

The work the quote came from should be put in your Works Cited list according to the type of source it is. For example, if the quote came from a book, the source of the quote should appear in your Works Cited list using the book format. If the quote came from a video, you should put it in your Works Cited list following the video format, and so on.

Long quotations - more than four lines

For quotes longer than 4 lines:

• Separate them from the main text.
• Indent them 1 inches from the left margin.
• Do not use quotation marks.
• The whole quote should be double spaced.

Example

In his research on media culture and gender analysis, Real concludes that:

• When citing an image, the caption should be labelled as Figure (usually abbreviated Fig.), assigned a number, and given a title or caption.
• For images found in a book or journal, include the publication information of the text.
• A caption ordinarily appears directly below the illustration and have the same one-inch margins as the text of the paper.
• Captions should be numbered consecutively.

Example:

Fig. 1. Mary Cassatt, Mother and Child, Wichita Art Museum. Illus. in Novelene Ross, Toward an American Identity: Selections from the Wichita Art Museum Collection of American Art (Wichita, Kansas: Wichita Art Museum, 1997) 107.

No author

• If the source you are referencing is missing an author, use the source's title instead of the author's name in your in-text citation. 
• In your Works Cited list, use the source's title in place of the author's name - do not use "Anonymous".
• The rest of the reference should follow the usual style for the type of source you are citing.  

In-text citation:

(Medicine in old age, 1985, p.74)

Works Cited list:

Medicine in old age (1985). 2nd ed. London: British Medical Association.

No date

• If the source you are referencing is missing a year/date of publication, just omit that element from the citation and works cited list. 

• It's recommended that you add the date you accessed the work at the end of the citation. Access date is given by putting the word "Accessed" followed by the Day Month Year the work was accessed/viewed.

  Example: Accessed 20 Aug 2025.

• The rest of the reference should follow the usual style for the type of source you are citing.  

In-text citation:

(d'Arbois de Jubainville)

Works Cited List:

d'Arbois de Jubainville, H. Celtes et Germains, étude grammaticale. Paris: Impr.nationale.

No publisher information

• If the source you are referencing is missing a year/date of publication, just omit that element from the citation and works cited list. 
• The rest of the reference should follow the usual style for the type of source you are citing.  
• Keep in mind that a source whose publisher is unknown may not be reliable. Established publishers generally ensure that the texts they publish are accurate versions of the author’s work. A source from an unknown publisher could be missing text or contain inaccurate text, so if a version of the source is available from an established publisher, consider using that version instead.

No page numbers

• When a source has no page numbers or any other kind of part number (such as location numbers found in eBook readers), do not put a number in your in-text citation. Just use the Author's Surname.
• If you state the author’s name in a signalling phrase when quoting or paraphrasing a work with no page or part numbers, you do not provide an in-text citation in parentheses at all.

Example:

Stefanie Hollmichel remarks that “[a]s we read we . . . construct the terrain of a book,” something that is more difficult when the text reflows on a screen.

In-text citation

If you cite two works by the same author, you must give a shortened version of the source's title in your in-text citation.

• (Haynes, Noah's Curse 84)
• (Haynes, The Last Segregated Hour  57)

Works Cited list

In your Works Cited list, use the author's name for the first source only. For the second ( and subsequent) source, instead of the name, put ---. instead.. For example:

• Haynes, Stephen R. Noah's Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery. Oxford University Press, 2007.

----. The Last Segregated Hour: The Memphis Kneel-Ins and the Campaign for Southern Church Desegregation. Oxford University Press, 2012.

Note

If two or more works by an author have the same title, additional information is needed so that the reference, if not quite as brief, will be clear. You should usually include the first unique piece of information. Insert the information in square brackets, such as [Edition.], [Publisher], [Editor], [Translator].

Format of Works Cited list

• Alphabetise the entries by the author’s Surname.
• When putting works in alphabetical order, ignore initial articles such as "the", "a", or "an". For example the title The Best of Canada would be alphabetised as if it started with the word Best instead of the word The.
• If the title begins with a number, alphabetise it as if the number was spelled out. For example the title 5 Ways to Succeed in Business would be alphabetised under F as if it had started with the word Five.
• Use left alignment and double line spacing (no extra space between entries).
• All lines after the first line of each reference should be indented half an inch form the left margin - a hanging indentation.

This is what a hanging indentation looks like.

Capitalisation

• For the title of each item type, capitalise each word except for smaller words in the middle of the title such as to, a, an as, the, in, etc.
• Example: "Building Libraries in Exile: The English Convents and Their Book Collections in the Seventeenth Century."

No matter what type of source you’re using, there is a correct way to reference it. This guide covers the most common examples, but if you don’t see yours here, don’t worry. Here are some options to help you figure it out:

• Email us infolib@iadt.ie with the details of the source, and we will get back to you with advice.

• Check out the official MLA 7th manual to find out how to reference what you're looking for. You can also see the official MLA website for some citation examples.

• Have a look at Cite Them Right, a book which covers the common referencing styles and includes instructions on how to reference lots of niche types of sources. 

Source: Columbia College