Citing Quotes Using MLA Style

Citing quotes properly is an essential part of academic writing, ensuring that you give credit to the original authors while also lending credibility to your own work. The Modern Language Association (MLA) style is widely used in humanities and liberal arts disciplines for citing sources, including quotes. This style guide provides a set of rules and guidelines for properly citing quotes in your essays, research papers, and other written assignments. In this article, we will explain the basic principles of citing quotes using MLA style and provide you with concrete examples to help you navigate the process effectively.

To cite quotes in MLA style, you should first introduce the quote within your text and include the author’s last name and the page number in parentheses at the end of the quote or paraphrased section. For example, if you’re quoting a book written by Jane Doe on page 50, your citation would look like this: (Doe 50). Note that the author’s name should be written in its natural order (last name, first name).

In case you mention the author’s name within your text, you can simply include the page number in parentheses at the end of the quote or paraphrased section. For instance, “According to Jane Doe, ‘quote goes here’ (50).” This method is commonly used when the author’s name is used to introduce the quote or when the author is already mentioned in the sentence.

If there are no page numbers available, such as in the case of an online source, you can omit the page number from the citation. Instead, use a recognizable section heading or a paragrap-number (if available). Furthermore, if the source consists of divided sections like chapters or paragraphs, you can indicate these instead of page numbers. For instance, (Doe, chap. 7) or (Doe, para. 5).

In case you’re using a direct quote with more than four lines, you should treat it as a block quote. Start the quote on a new line, indenting it by 1 inch or 2.54 cm from the left margin. Ensure that you maintain double-spacing and avoid using quotation marks. At the end of the block quote, include the author’s name and the page number in parentheses. For example:

According to Jane Doe, this issue is of great importance:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Curabitur faucibus dolor velit, ac cursus nisi eleifend eu. Donec pharetra cursus orci non convallis. (Doe 50)

When citing sources by multiple authors, include all the authors’ names in the order they appear on the source. However, if there are more than three authors, you can list the first author’s name followed by et al. For instance, (Doe, Smith, and Johnson 25) or (Doe et al. 25).

Lastly, remember to include a full bibliographic citation of the source in your Works Cited page at the end of your paper. The Works Cited page provides all the necessary details for the reader to locate the source. Refer to the MLA style guide or an online citation generator for detailed instructions on how to format different types of sources (books, articles, websites, etc.) in the Works Cited page.

In conclusion, properly citing quotes using MLA style adds credibility to your academic writing and ensures you give credit to the original authors. By following the guidelines outlined in this article, you can confidently integrate quotes into your work while adhering to the established standards of the MLA style.