Faculty of Letters and

Humanities Monographs
English Department S6
Prof. BITARI Wissam

MLA guide 8th edition

In text-citation : (citing books, articles, magazines)

Include an in-text citation when you refer to, summarize, paraphrase, or quote
from another source. For every in-text citation in your paper, there must be a
corresponding entry in your reference list.
MLA in-text citation style uses the author's last name and the page number
from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken, for example: (Smith 163). If
the source does not use page numbers, do not include a number in the
parenthetical citation: (Smith).

1. Paraphrasing :
One study found that the most important element in comprehending non-native
speech is familiarity with the topic (Gass and Varonis 163).
2. Quoting :
One study found that “the listener's familiarity with the topic of discourse
greatly facilitates the interpretation of the entire message” (Gass, et al 85).
Gass and Varonis found that “the listener’s familiarity with the topic of
discourse greatly facilitates the interpretation of the entire message” (85).

Note: For quotations that are more than four lines of prose or three lines of
verse, display quotations as an indented block of text (one inch from left margin)
and omit quotation marks. Place your parenthetical citation at the end of the
block of text, after the final punctuation mark.
 In addition to awareness-raising, practicing listening to accented speech has
been shown to improve listening comprehension. This article recommends
developing listening training programs for library faculty and staff, based on
research from the linguistics and language teaching fields. Even brief
exposure to accented speech can help listeners improve their
comprehension, thereby improving the level of service to international
patrons. (O'Malley 19)

In-text citation (citing web pages)

Cite web pages in text as you would any other source, using the author if known. If
the author is not known, use the title as the in-text citation.
Your in-text citation should lead your reader to the corresponding entry in the
reference list. Below are examples of using in-text citation with web pages.

1. Entire website with author:

In-text citation
Parents play an important role in helping children learn techniques for coping with
bullying (Kraiser).

2. Web page with no author:

In-text citation
The term Nittany Lion was coined by Penn State football player Joe Mason in
1904 ("All Things Nittany").
 In-text citation : (videos)

Your in-text citation will depend on whether you have the author's last name.
Basically, you will want to cite in-text whatever appears first in the citation on
your Works Cited page. If you are referencing a specific part of the video, MLA
format also requires that you specify the time in the video when that part begins.

1. In-text citation with author:

(Last name, 00:01:15 - 00:02:00).
2. In-text citation with no author or same author and uploader:
("Title of video," 00:01:15 - 00:02:00).
Here is an example of a video cited in MLA :

In-text citation would be like this :

("Berkeley College," 00:00:30-00:00:45).

References OR Cited works

Citing videos (Songs, clips) from youtube or other navigators :

The general format for citing online videos in MLA style is as follows:
"Title of video." YouTube, uploaded by Screen Name, day month year,
www.youtube.com/xxxxx.
If the author of the video is not the same as the person who uploaded the video,
your citation would be formatted as follows:
Author last name, First Name. "Title of video." YouTube, uploaded by Screen
Name, day month year, www.youtube.com/xxxxx.
Example of citation with different author and uploader:
Beyoncé . "Sorry." YouTube, uploaded by BeyFan123, 17 December 2016,
www.youtube.com/xxxx.
Example of citation with no known author or same author and uploader:
"Day in the Life." YouTube, uploaded by janedoe, 19 December 2016,
www.youtube.com/xxxx.
"File Your FAFSA Today!" YouTube, uploaded by berkeleycollege, 16 January,
2019, https://youtu.be/HaFACQA5SFY

Citing articles :

The 8th edition of the MLA Handbook recommends using the following core
elements in every citation. If elements are missing from the source, they should
be omitted from the citation.
Author.
Title of source.
Title of container,
Other contributers,
Version,
Number,
Publisher,
 Publication date
Location.
For online sources:
• Include the URL (without http:// or https://). Angle brackets are not used
around it.
• Use DOIs (digital object identifiers) when possible.
• Citing the date when an online work was consulted is optional.
• Placeholders for unknown information like n.d. (“no date”) are no longer
used.

1. Article in a monthly magazine:

Swedin, Eric G. “Designing Babies: A Eugenics Race with China?”The

Futurist, May/June 2006, pp. 18-21.
2. Article in a magazine article from an online database: ProQuest

Poe, Marshall. “The Hive.” Atlantic Monthly, Sept. 2006, pp. 86-
95. ProQuest, search.proquest.com/docview/223086760/1FF29321A1C34D09P
Q/1?accountid=13158.
3. Article in a weekly magazine:

Will, George F. “Waging War on Wal-Mart.” Newsweek, 5 July 2004, p. 64.

4. Article in a daily newspaper:

Dougherty, Ryan. “Jury Convicts Man in Drunk Driving Death.” Centre Daily
Times, 11 Jan. 2006, p. 1A.
5. Article in a scholarly journal:

Stock, Carol D. and Philip A. Fisher. “Language Delays Among Foster Children:
Implications for Policy and Practice.” Child Welfare, vol. 40, no. 3, 2006, pp.
445-462.
6. Article in an online magazine:
Schumaker, Erin. "What's the Deal with 'Natural' Sunscreen?" Huffington Post, 5
July 2016, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/does-natural-sunscreen-
work_us_57767571e4b0a629c1a98df8.

Citing books :

The 8th edition of the MLA Handbook recommends using the following core
elements in every citation. If elements are missing from the source, they should
be omitted from the citation.
Author.
Title of source.
Title of container,
Other contributers,
Version,
Number,
Publisher,
Publication date
Location.
For online sources:
• Include the URL (without http:// or https://). Angle brackets are not used
around it.
• Use DOIs (digital object identifiers) when possible.
• Citing the date when an online work was consulted is optional.
• Placeholders for unknown information like n.d. (“no date”) are no longer
used.

1. Print book:
Rollin, Bernard E. Science and Ethics. Cambridge UP, 2006.

2. Book by a group author:

American Medical Association. American Medical Association Family Medical
Guide, 4th edition, Wiley, 2004.

3. Article or chapter within an edited book:

Winne, Philip H. “Self-regulated Learning Viewed from Models of Information
Processing.” Self-regulated Learning and Academic Achievement, edited by
Barry J. Zimmerman and Dale H. Schunk, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001,
pp. 153-190.

4. Translation:

Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. Translated by Anthony Briggs, Viking, 2006.

5. E-Reader book (such as Kindle):

Tetlock, Phillip E., and Dan Gardner. Superforecasting: The Art and Science of
Prediction. Kindle edition, Crown, 2015.

Citing images from Facebook or Instagram

Author Last Name, First Name or Account Name. Description of

Post. Facebook, Day Month Year of Post, Time of Post, URL. Accessed Day
Month Year post was viewed.
See this example :
Rick Mercer Report. Spread the Net Challenge Winners 2016. Facebook, 23 Mar.
2016, 9:00 a.m., www.facebook.com/rickmercerreport. Accessed 26 June 2016.

Abbreviating Months
In your works cited list, abbreviate months as follows:
January = Jan.
February = Feb.
March = Mar.
April = Apr.
May = May
June = June
July = July
August = Aug.
September = Sept.
October = Oct.
November = Nov.
December = Dec.

Citing images from Instagram

To correctly cite an Instagram photo, you must take the following pieces of
information into consideration:

1. Instagram account holder’s name (or username)

2. Photo title or description
3. Names of any other contributors
4. Date photo was published on Instagram
5. Date it was accessed
6. Photo URL

Use the following structure to cite an Instagram photo in MLA 8:

Account holder’s Last name, First name or Username. “Photo Title or

Description.”* Instagram, Other contributors, Date photo was published, URL

(without // or //).

*If no title is available, create a simple description and do not place it in italics
or quotation marks.

Here’s how the above example would be cited in MLA 8:

National Geographic. Photo of Bering Sea. Instagram, photographed by Corey

Arnold, 2 Apr. 2017, www.instagram.com/p/BSaisVuDk7S/?taken-by=natgeo.

Abbreviating Months
In your works cited list, abbreviate months as follows:
January = Jan.
February = Feb.
March = Mar.
April = Apr.
May = May
June = June
July = July
August = Aug.
September = Sept.
October = Oct.
November = Nov.
December = Dec.