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Referencing and Citation

Modern Language Association (MLA) (9th edition)

In scholarly writing, MLA style is integrated to refer to the sources that have been leveraged. It is a system that has been widely adopted for over 50 years in classrooms and continues to be used by scholars, journal publishers, and academic and commercial presses around the world. Typically, the MLA style of citation is adopted by writers as well as students working on papers related to different subjects under the discipline of humanities, such as:

  • English Studies (Both Language and Literature)
  • Foreign Languages and Corresponding Literature
  • Literary Criticism
  • Comparative Literature
  • Cultural Studies

Reference
Modern Language Association of America. (2021). MLA Handbook (Ninth ed.). Modern Language Association of America.

Format & Example

In-Text Citation
A paraphrase restates another’s idea (or your own previously published idea) in your own words

Reference List

Basic format
Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. *City of Publication, Publisher, Publication Date.

     The City of Publication should only be used if the book was published before 1900

Work by one author

Standard Format
(Author’s Last Name Page Number)

 

Example 
(Irizarry 13)

Standard Format
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Book: Subtitle if any. Edition if given and is

     not first edition, Publisher name. Year of publication.

Example
Irizarry, Rafael. Introduction to Data Science: Data Analysis and Prediction Algorithms      with R. CRC Press, 2020.

Work by two authors
 

Standard Format
(Last Name of First Author and Last Name of Second Author Page Number)

 

Example 
(Warren and Farmer 25)

Standard Format
Last Name, First Name of First Author, and First Name Last Name of Second Author.       Title of Book: Subtitle if Any. Edition if given and is not first edition, Publisher                 Name, Year of publication.

Example
Warren, Carl, and Amanda Farmer. Survey of accounting : with Warren's metric                 analysis. Cengage, 2021.

Work by three or more authors

 

Standard Format
(Last Name of First Author et al. Page Number)

 

Example 
(Gatling et al. 62)

Standard Format
Last Name, First Name of First Author, et al. Title of Book: Subtitle if Any. Edition if             given and is not first edition, Publisher Name, Year of publication.

Example

Gatling, Ginger, et al. Enterprise Information Management with SAP. Galileo Press,           2012.

Work by organization or corporate author

*A corporate author may include a commission, a committee, a government agency, or a group that does not identify individual members on the title page.

Standard Format
(Organization Name Page Number)

 

Example 
(Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants 17)

Standard Format
Organization Name. Title of Book: Subtitle if Any. Edition if given and is not first                   edition, Publisher Name, Year of publication.

Example
Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Qualification Programme.                   Module D: Taxation : Learning Pack. 3rd ed., HKICPA, 2012.

Work by author and editor
 

Standard Format
(Author’s Last Name Page Number)

 

Example 
(Mackail 45)

Standard Format
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Book title: Subtitle, edited by First name Last name         of Editor, Publisher Name, Year of publication.

Example
Mackail, J.W. Latin Literature. Edited by Harry C. Schnur, Collier, 1962.


Reference
Modern Language Association of America. (2016). MLA Handbook (Eighth ed.). Modern Language Association of America.

In Text Citation

Reference List

Work by one author

Standard Format
(Author’s Last Name Page Number)

Example 
(Pardo 30)

 

Standard Format
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Place of publication: publisher. Year of       publication. Source of ebook. URL. Date of access


Example
Pardo, Scott. Statistical Analysis of Empirical Data : Methods for Applied Sciences.           Springer, 2020. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?                                            direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=2466051&site=ehost-live. 8 Sept. 2020


Reference
Modern Language Association of America. (2016). MLA Handbook (Eighth ed.). Modern Language Association of America.

In Text Citation

Reference List

In print

(Hicks 233-249)

Standard Format
Author's Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article: Subtitle if Any.” Journal title, vol.               Volume Number, no. Issue Number, Date of Publication, pp. First Page Number-          Last Page Number.

Example
Hicks, Ben J. “Lean information management: Understanding and eliminating waste.”      International journal of information management, vol. 27,  no. 4, 2007, pp. 233-249.


Reference
Modern Language Association of America. (2016). MLA Handbook (Eighth ed.). Modern Language Association of America. 

In Text Citation

Reference List

Work by one author
 

(Magnusone 1167-1226)

Standard Format
Author's Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article: Subtitle if Any.” Journal title, vol.               Volume Number, no. Issue Number, Date of Publication, pp. First Page Number-          Last Page Number. doi:xx.xxxx OR Database name, URL of database (without               https://).

Example
Magnusone, William. “Regulating Fintech.” Vanderbilt Law Review, vol. 71, no. 4,             2018, pp. 1167-1226. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?                                direct=true&db=bsu&AN=129748888&site=ehost-live.

Work by two authors
 

(Hollander and Hertz 75-77)

Standard Format
Author's Last Name, First Name, and Second Author's First Name Last Name. “Title         of Article: Subtitle if Any.”  Journal title, vol. Volume Number, no. Issue Number,           Date of Publication, pp. First Page Number-Last Page Number. doi:xx.xxxx OR             Database name, URL of database (without https://).

Example
Hollander, Dave, and Kaenan Hertz. “The Fintech journey.” Best's Review, vol. 117,         no. 7, 2016, pp.75-77. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?                              direct=true&db=bsu&AN=119249360&site=ehost-live.


Reference
Modern Language Association of America. (2016). MLA Handbook (Eighth ed.). Modern Language Association of America. 

In Text Citation

Reference List

In print

(Progovac 259-266)

Standard Format
Author of Paper, and Author of Paper. “Title of Paper.” Title of Published                                 Proceedings: Proceedings of  the Title of Conference, Location, Date. Edited by            Editors Names, Publisher, Year, pp. page numbers

Example
Progovac, Ljiljana. “What Use is Half a Clause?” The Evolution of Language:                   Proceedings of the 7th International Conference (EVOLANG7), Barcelona, Spain,        12-15 March 2008. Edited by Andrew D.M. Smith, et al., World Scientific, 2008, pp.      259-266.


Reference
Modern Language Association of America. (2016). MLA Handbook (Eighth ed.). Modern Language Association of America. 

Web pages

In Text Citation

Reference List

Webpage with no author

(“In-service Training for Staff in Special Educational Settings.”)

General Format
“Title of Web Page” Title of Website, Publisher (if applicable), Publication Date,                 Location (URL). Date of Access(optional unless the source has no date).

Example
“In-service Training for Staff in Special Educational Settings.” Training,                     Education Bureau, 31 October 2011, 

     https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/teacher/qualification-training-development/training/in-           service-training/index.html.



YouTube

In Text Citation

Reference List

YouTube video

(South China Morning Post)

General Format
Screen name OR Last Name, First Name or Initial (if available) of the creator. “Video       Title.” Internet Site, Publisher (if applicable), Publication Date, Location (URL).

Example
South China Morning Post. “Possible Covid-19 infection spread in Hong Kong's               nightlife hub of Lan Kwai Fong.” YouTube. 19 March 2020,                                           www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw3yz65Ol1o&feature=youtu.be.


Reference
Modern Language Association of America. (2016). MLA Handbook (Eighth ed.). Modern Language Association of America.

For AI-generated text:

MLA does NOT recommend treating AI tool(s) as author(s), and therefore, citation and referencing would follow the rules for "source with no known author".

Example:

ChatGPT

In Text Citation

Reference List

Contents generated by AI tools

Standard Format

("Abbreviated Title")

 

Example

("Describe Prisoner's Dilemma")

Standard Format
“Title / Abbreviated title of the prompt.” prompt. Title of Container (e.g., ChatGPT), Version,
         Publisher, the Date content was generated, url

Example
“Describe Prisoner's Dilemma Under the Framework of Fame Theory.”
          prompt. ChatGPT on Poe.com. 3.5-turbo version, Poe, 28 March 2023,
          https://poe.com/chatgpt.

 

For AI-generated image:

Caption

Suggested format:

Fig. _. “Prompt inputted to generate the image” prompt, Name of AI tool, Version, Developer/ Provider, Creation date, URL.

 

Example:

Fig. 3. “Academic library with 4 students having discussion in an open learning space, American Cartoon style” prompt, Stable Diffusion XL, Stability AI, 2 Sep 2024, https://poe.com/StableDiffusionXL


Reference:

Modern Language Association of America. (2023). "How do I cite generative AI in MLA style?" MLA Style Centre. https://style.mla.org/citing-generative-ai. Accessed 1 November 2024.