MLA Style Manual for Research Writing.pdf

MLA Style Manual
and
Its Application in Research Writing
Dr. Jayant M. Nandagaoli
Head
Department of Library & Information Science
HPT Arts and RYK Science College, Nashik-05

Introduction
 All academic research builds on the work that have been
done before it.
 The scholarship is gradually move forward with the
contribution of several scholars at various time.
 Research is an exploration of ideas, theories and principles.
It is to probe into the issues, solving a problem or making an
argument in relation to what others have written.
 It need to seek out and use materials beyond our personal
resources.
 The outcome of such an inquiry appears in the research
papers.

Research Paper
• Writing a research paper is a reporting of findings, conclusions,
establishing new facts, theories and principles. It is an intellectual
rewarding.
• Research Paper is generally based on a combination of Primary
Research and Secondary Research.
• Primary Research – study of subject through Firsthand Investigation.
(Includes- Analysis of Data, text, Survey, Observation, Laboratory Experiment etc.)
• Secondary Research – Examination of studies that other researchers
have done. (Include study of articles, books, reference sources, thesis, proceedings,
historical events & issues)
• Most academic papers depends at least partly on Secondary Research.
• Effective use of secondary research needs – searching, locating and
use of document sources in the academic research.

Information Sources for Secondary Research
• Knowing the information sources is very important for
research writing.
• Library could be a most reliable guide for academic
writings.
• Library acquires the resources after proper evaluation based
on relevance, authenticity and need of users.
• Once need to be well acquainted with library resources and
services and if possible should avail Orientation Program.
• Modern academic libraries typically offers resources in
Print and electronic form including – Primary, secondary
and tertiary documents.

Library Services and Resources
• Library Orientation, Reference Service, Referral Service, Ask a
Librarian.
• CAS and SDI Services, Bibliographic Services etc.
• Literature Search services- Author, Title, Subject search etc.
• Print Resources in Library- 1. Journals 2. Thesis 3. Textbooks 4. Treaties 5.
Handbooks 6. Reports (Research & Trend Reports) 7. Bound Volumes 8. Conference
Proceedings 9. Rare Books 10. Encyclopedia. 11. Thesaurus 12. Dictionaries 13. Almanac 14.
Year Books 15.Bibliographies 16. Abstracting and Indexing Journals 17. Biographies 18
Gazetteers 19. Maps & Atlas 20 Union Catalogue 21 Newspapers etc and many more.
• Electronic Resources in Library – Range of resources available
including – Online (Web based) – Offline, Open Access- Paid Access,
Full Text- Bibliographical Sources etc.
• Eg. – Abstract of English Studies, DOAJ, NList, UGC- Infonet, Scopus, EBSCO, Jstore,
Google Scholar, Web of Science, NPTEL, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, LEXIS-NEXIS, PubMed,
Academic Search, Emerald, Research Gate, Sherpa Romeo, DELNET, OCLC World Cat etc.

Academic Writing
 Academic writing is a form of written communication to
present new ideas - clearly and effectively.
 Secondary sources are very important in academic writing.
 It involves gathering source materials, taking notes,
recording facts, data and experts opinions etc.
 The goal of academic writing is not just to summarize the
work of others but to assimilate and report conclusions
based on our own research.
 One must fully documented the source carefully but it
should not overshadow our own ideas.

Presentation of Ideas from Research Paper
• No amount of research and documentation can compensate for a poor
presentation of ideas.
• Although, it needs fully document the facts and opinions that we draw
from research.
• Documenting the sources is just to support our statement and provide
concise information about the sources cited.
• Research paper should be able to put clear opinion and give evidence,
facts to refute other opinions if any.
• The reader of our paper should able to know the sources of information.
• The reader may wish to- 1. To confirm veracity of Information. 2. To read
more on the topic. 3. To know the source of opinions, quotations that we
cite.
• There should be uniformity and consistency in the writing and formatting
the research paper- This need world wide accepted Style Manuals.

Style Manual
• A style manual is a set of standards for the writing, formatting, and
design of documents.
• A style manual establishes standard style requirements to
improve communication by ensuring consistency both within a
document, and across multiple documents.
• Style manuals are books that illustrate how to correctly format and
record information.
• They are most frequently consulted for information on formatting
citations, but they also include a variety of other information that is
useful for research, including where to find information for the
bibliography, general rules of punctuation, formatting footnotes,
spacing, indention, form of author's name, etc.
• There are several different styles used in research with style manuals
for each style such as – MLA, APA, Chicago, ASC etc

MLA Style Manual
• MLA style is most commonly used to cite sources within the language arts,
cultural studies, and other humanities disciplines.
• MLA style is a referencing method developed by the Modern Language
Association of America.
• Founded in 1883 by teachers and scholars, the Modern Language
Association (MLA) promotes the study and teaching of language and
literature.
• The MLA publishes the MLA Handbook Plus (“Handbook Plus”) as an
online resource made available by annual subscription. (Currently 9th
Edition 2021)
• Handbook contents – 6 Chapters-
1. Research and Writing 2. The Mechanics of Writing 3. The Format of the Research
Paper
4. Documentation: Preparing the List of Works Cited
5. Documentation: Citing Sources in the Text
6. Abbreviations.

MLA Format
• MLA format deals with the paper formatting.
• Chapter-3 – Gives in-depth guidelines, examples, and visual samples
for easily formatting research paper.
MLA Paper Formatting Basics
 Use white 8 ½ x 11” paper (A4).
 Make 1 inch margins on the top, bottom, and sides.
 The first word in every paragraph should be indented one half inch.
 Indent set-off or block quotations one half inch from the left margin.
 Use Times New Roman or Arial font of 12 point size. Make sure that
italics look different from the regular typeface.
 Double space the entire research paper, even the Works Cited page.
 Leave one space after periods and other punctuation marks.
 Use one-inch margins around the entire page.

Running Head & Page Numbers in MLA
 A running head is a brief heading that is placed in the top right corner of every page in
a project. The Modern Language Association Style Center (online) states that the
running head consists of: Last name of the paper’s author and Page number.
 The last name and page number should be separated by a single space.
 Do not place the word “page” or use an abbreviation, such as p. or pg., before the page
number.

Formatting the Header in MLA
 Begin one inch from the top of the first page and flush with the left margin.
 Type your name, your instructor’s name, the course name and number, and the date on separate
lines, using double spaces between each.
 Double space once more and center the title. Do NOT underline, bold, or type the title in all
capital letters.
 Do not place a period after the title or after any headings
 Double space between the title and first lines of the text

Formatting Numbers in MLA
Use of Numerals
 If the work calls for frequent use of numbers (such as a scientific study or statistics),
use numerals that precede measurements.
Example: 247 milligrams & 5 pounds
 Arabic Numbers
When including a number in a paper, spell out the number if it can
be written as one word (such as six) or two words (such as sixty-
two).
 For fractions, decimals, or longer numbers, type them out using digits. For larger
numbers, write the number itself (Handbook 82-84)
Here are a few examples: one, 2 ½, three, 8 ½, 17.953, eighteen, twenty-seven, forty-four, one hundred, 101, 247, 5,306
 If the number comes before a unit of measurement or label, type the number using
digits.
Eg. - 4 pounds, 8 tablespoons, 3-5 years, chapter 9, 3 July 2018, 25 King Street,
5:00 a.m..

Using Footnotes and Endnotes
 Footnotes and Endnotes are a form of in-text citation used commonly by
historians.
• MLA style requires you to cite sources using parenthetical in-text
citations, not notes. However, you can still use footnotes and endnotes in
MLA style for other purposes:
1. Citing a lot of sources at once
2. Providing any extra explanation needed about your citation or translation practice.
3. Elaborating on ideas
4. Providing additional examples that don’t fit into the main text
• Footnotes appear at the bottom of the relevant page, while endnotes
appear at the end of the paper, just before the Works Cited list. MLA
allows the use of either type, but stick to one or the other.
• Need to Cite a source in the middle of your text, place a superscript
Arabic number at the end of the sentence.
• Superscript numbers should be sequential throughout the paper, beginning
with the number- 1.

Citation of Sources in MLA Style
 Reader of the paper are ought to know the sources of information.
 The reasons are –
* The reader may wish to confirm the veracity of the information.
* To read up more on it
* To determine the significance of that opinion to our argument.
* Reader may wish to know whose opinion we are quoting.
• Thus we must cite the source of each piece of evidence used and
opinions of authorities quoted.
• Citing the sources is also a matter of Academic Honesty and to avoid
the Plagiarism is also very important.
• MLA Prescribed - Citation of the resources to be reported in two parts
e.i. - 1. In the Text Citation and 2. Works Cited

In-Text Citation in MLA
 Direct Quotation – From the another sources to enhance and expand the
writing and ideas.
 Quoting others opinions, statements, conclusions and finding from the
work is essential in academic writings.
 Due credit should be given in order to avoid plagiarism – Crediting the
woks from research paper is called – “In-Text Citation”
 Most of the quotations should be phrased in own words and the overuse
of direct quotation should be avoided.
 Quotes should not take up the majority of your paper. Quotes should be
sprinkled sparingly throughout the paper.


- Short quotations in the text-
- Enclose the quotation within double quotation marks.
- Provide the author and specific page number in-text citation, and
include a complete reference on the Works Cited page.
- Punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and semicolons should
appear after the parenthetical citation.
For examples:
1. According to Foulkes's study, dreams may express "profound aspects of
personality" (184). (In prose Citation)
2. Is it possible that dreams may express "profound aspects of
personality" (Foulkes 184)? (Parenthetical Citation)
[Every source that is cited in text citation should be corresponding
full reference in Work Cited at the end]

- Parenthetical In-Text Citation- MLA in-text citation examples
1. MLA is the second most popular citation style (Smith and Morrison
17–19).
2. According to Smith and Morrison, MLA is the second most popular
citation style (17–19).
3. APA is by far “the most used citation style in the US” (Moore et al. 74),
but it is less dominant in the UK (Smith 16).
4. Moore and colleagues state that APA is more popular in the US than
elsewhere (74).
• Combining citations
If a sentence is supported by more than one source, can combine the
citations in a single set of parentheses. Separate the two sources with
a semicolon.
Eg. - Livestock farming is one of the biggest global contributors to
climate change (Garcia 64; Davies 14).

Consecutive citations of the same source
If need to cite the same source repeatedly within a paragraph, then it can
include the full citation the first time you cite it, then just the page number
for subsequent citations.
Eg. - MLA is the second most popular citation style (Smith and Morrison 17–19). It is
more popular than Chicago style, but less popular than APA (21).
• Citing different sources with the same author name
Cite more than one work by the same author, add a shortened title
Of the work followed by page number.
Citing multiple sources by the same author
(Butler, Gender Trouble 27)
(Butler, “Performative Acts” 522)

- Citing sources indirectly
Sometimes need to cite something that found quoted in a secondary
source. If possible, always seek out the original source and cite it directly.
If you can’t access the original source, make sure to name both
the original author and the author of the source that you accessed.
• Use the abbreviation “qtd. in” (short for “quoted in”) to indicate where
you found the quotation.
Eg.
Marx defines “the two primary creators of wealth” as “labour-power and
the land” (qtd. in Luxemburg, ch. 26)

- Parenthetical In-Text Citation-
• - No Author – Use the title and page number in Parentheses. ( )
• - One Author – Author’s last name and page number in Parentheses.
(Wilson 151)
• - Two Authors – Last name of both author separated by and followed
by the page number in Parentheses. (Wilson and Sagen 151)
• - Three Plus Authors – Last name of first listed author followed by
et al and page number in Parentheses. (Wilson et al. 151)
• - Editor – Last name of editor and page number in Parentheses.
(Castillo 74)
• - Corporate authors – Organization’s name with appropriate
abbreviations followed by page number in Parentheses. (United
States, Dept. of Education 82)

- Long Quotations in the text-
- -More than four lines of prose or three lines of verse.
- - Place quotations in a free-standing (Hanging Indention) block of text
and omit quotation marks.
- - After the introductory sentence, add a colon, and then start the quote
on a new line indented 1/2 inch from the left margin while maintaining
double-spacing.
• - Parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation
mark.
• - Always introduce block quotes in your own words.
• Eg.
The reader quickly becomes familiar with Nick Carraway’s relationship with Jay Gatsby, as the very first mention of the character illustrates both his
admiration and disdain:
Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction—
Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn. If personality
is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about
him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of
those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away. (Fitzgerald 4)
•
-

Works Cited Format of MLA
 In MLA style, the list of Works Cited (also known as a reference list or
bibliography) appears at the end of your paper. It gives full details of
every source that has cited in the text.
• The layout is similar to the rest of an MLA format paper:
- Title the page Works Cited, centered and in plain text (no italics, bold,
or underline).
- Alphabetize the entries by the author’s last name.
- Use left alignment and double line spacing (no extra space between
entries).
- Use a hanging indent on entries that run over onto additional lines.
- Continue the Same header.

Works Cited Entry Format of MLA
 MLA provides nine core elements that you can use to build a reference
for any source.
 Author. “Title of the Source.” Title of the Container, Other
contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.
 Source is a part of a larger work (e.g. a chapter in a book, an article in a
periodical, a page on a website) are enclosed in quotation marks.
 The titles of self-contained sources (e.g. a book, a movie, a periodical, a
website) are always italicized.

Citing a Book
 1. Book (Single Author)-
Works Cited entry
Smith, Thomas. The Citation Manual for Students: A Quick
Guide. 2nd ed., Wiley, 2020.
In-text citation
Parenthetical: (Smith 13)
Narrative: Smith (13)
 2. Book (Two Authors)
Works Cited entry
Smith, Thomas, and Barbara Michelle Williams. The Citation Manual for
Students: A Quick Guide. 2nd ed., Wiley, 2020.
In-text citation
Parenthetical: (Smith and Williams 13)
Narrative: Smith and Williams (13)

Citing a Book
• 3. Book (Three+ Authors)
Works Cited entry
Smith, Thomas, et al. The Citation Manual for Students: A Quick
Guide. Wiley, 2020.
In-text citation
Parenthetical: (Smith et al. 13)
Narrative: Smith and others (13)
 4. Book (Corporate Authors)
Works Cited entry
Academic Writing Association. The Citation Manual for Students: A
Quick Guide. 2nd ed., Wiley, 2020.
In-text citation
Parenthetical: (Academic Writing Association 13)
Narrative: Academic Writing Association (13)

Citing a Chapter of Book
• Andrews, Kehinde. “The Challenge for Black Studies in the Neoliberal
University.” Decolonising the University, edited by Gurminder K.
Bhambra et al., Pluto Press, 2018, pp. 149–144.

Citing a Article of Journal
• Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of
Journal, vol. Volume, no. Issue, Month Year of
publication, pp. Pages, https://doi.org/DOI.
• 1. Article (Single Author)
Works Cited entry
Andreff, Wladimir. “The Evolving European Model of Professional
Sports Finance.” Journal of Sports
Economics, vol. 1, no. 3, Sept. 2000, pp. 257–
76, https://doi.org/10.1177/152700250000100304.
In-text citation
Parenthetical: (Andreff 260)
Narrative: Andreff (260)

• 2. Article (Two Authors)
Works Cited entry
Andreff, Wladimir, and Paul D. Staudohar. “The Evolving European
Model of Professional Sports Finance.” Journal of Sports
In-text citation
Parenthetical: (Andreff and Staudohar 260)
Narrative: Andreff and Staudohar (260)

• 3. Article (Three + Authors)
Works Cited entry
Andreff, Wladimir, et al. “The Evolving European Model of Professional
Sports Finance.” Journal of Sports
In-text citation
Parenthetical: (Andreff et al. 260)
Narrative: Andreff and others (260)

• 3. Article (Corporate Author)
Works Cited entry
Michigan State University. “The Evolving European Model of
Professional Sports Finance.” Journal of Sports
In-text citation
Parenthetical: (Michigan State University 260)
Narrative: Michigan State University (260)

Citing a Newspaper Article (Print)
• Three + Authors
Works Cited entry
Popkin, Gabriel, et al. “Global Warming Could Unlock Carbon from Tropical Soil.” The
New York Times, 12 Aug. 2020, p. D3.
In-text citation
Parenthetical: (Popkin et al.)
Narrative: Popkin and others
• Unknown Author and No Date
Works Cited entry
“Global Warming Could Unlock Carbon from Tropical Soil.” The New York
Times, p. D3. Accessed 20 Aug. 2020.
In-text citation
Parenthetical: (“Global Warming”)

Citing a YouTube Video
• 1. Author and Uploader
Works Cited entry
Liu, Jessica. “Develop a Theoretical Framework in Three Steps.” YouTube, uploaded
by Scribbr, 20 Aug. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y1BAqOnhMM.
In-text citation
Parenthetical: (Liu 01:15–02:11)
Narrative: Liu (01:15–02:11)
• 1. Only Uploader
Works Cited entry
“Develop a Theoretical Framework in Three Steps.” YouTube, uploaded
by Scribbr, 20 Aug. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y1BAqOnhMM.
In-text citation
Parenthetical: (“Develop a Theoretical Framework” 01:15–02:11)

Citing a Webpage
(including online newspapers and magazines)
• 1. Three + Authors with Full Date
Works Cited entry
Slat, Boyan, et al. “Whales Likely Impacted by Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” The Ocean
Cleanup, 10 Apr. 2019, www.theoceancleanup.com/updates/whales-likely-impacted-by-
great-pacific-garbage-patch.
In-text citation
Parenthetical: (Slat et al.)
Narrative: Slat and others
 2. Two Authors have Date
Works Cited entry
Slat, Boyan, and Chris Worp. “Whales Likely Impacted by Great Pacific Garbage
Patch.” The Ocean Cleanup, www.theoceancleanup.com/updates/whales-likely-impacted-
by-great-pacific-garbage-patch. Accessed 28 Aug. 2020.
In-text citation
Parenthetical: (Slat and Worp)
Narrative: Slat and Worp

Citing a Dictionary Entry
• 1 (More than Three Authors, Editors)
Works Cited entry
Brown, James, et al. “Perseverance.” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, edited
by Edward Michael Sanchez and Bernie Nelson, Revised ed., Merriam-
Webster, 2020, p. 278.
In-text citation
Parenthetical: (Brown et al.)
Narrative: Brown and others
Show format
• 2. (Unknown Author, Editors)
Works Cited entry
Sanchez, Edward Michael, and Bernie Nelson, editors. “Perseverance.” Merriam-Webster’s
Collegiate Dictionary, Revised ed., Merriam-Webster, 2020, p. 278.
In-text citation
Parenthetical: (Sanchez and Nelson)
Narrative: Sanchez and Nelson

Citing a Dictionary Entry
• 3. (No Authors and no Editors)
Works Cited entry
“Perseverance.” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Revised ed., Merriam-
Webster, 2020, p. 278.
In-text citation
Parenthetical: (“Perseverance”)

Thank You
Dr. Jayant M. Nandagaoli
Head
Department of Library & Information Science
HPT Arts and RYK Science College, Nashik-05

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