How to Write MLA Research Paper: MLA Citation Style Guide

Modern language association (MLA) has laid down certain rules regarding the proper style and writing of the research paper. This rule is generally referred to as the citation style. For citation of proper sources, the MLA citation style uses a two part system of parenthetical documentation. These are Citations in the Text and Works Cited list. Citations in the Text are generally used to point to an alphabetical Works Cited List. This part appears at the end of the paper and these two references are used to identify and thereby credit the sources which have been used in the paper. This will also allow the others to get an access of the materials used in the research paper and at the same time will lend credibility to the research paper.

There are several steps that you need to keep in mind while you write a MLA research paper.

• You will have to arrange the list of references that you have used in alphabetical order and you need to go by the names of the author. The name of the author will be followed by the books by the author which you have referenced. This will be followed by the articles that you have taken reference from.
• You need to put double space between all the lines.
• If you do not get the name of the author, you can use the surname of the author and make the list according to the alphabet of the surname.
• Except May, June and July you should not forget to abbreviate all the month names.
• If you find that the article in any magazine or newspaper which you have used as a reference, is not limited to one page but continues to some other page, then you can include only the first page. Rest of the pages can be indicated by a plus sign.
• You should cite the original source as is reprinted on the book or the journal article, news paper or magazine.
• If you have taken reference from any website, put the title of the webpage, the entire name of the web site, the organization that made the post, the date on which the page was created and the last date on which it was updated. At the same time, do not forget to mention the date when you visited the site.
• If you have referred to some magazines from the internet, give the full date of the article and the date on which you took the reference. In case of a journal, mention the volume, issue number and the date when the journal was published.

It is essential to give brief details of the references in the citation as this will allow the reader to identify it. Some general pointers when doing MLA citation for research papers:

• Cite only the necessary information. Unnecessary information should not crowd your citation page.
• The material that you use for the parenthetical references should not repeat the information given in the text.
• The parenthetical reference should always come before the punctuation mark that generally concludes the sentence.

Keep in mind these basic pointers and have a paper which is perfectly cited.

1. By Malik at 6th April, 2010

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