LibGuides: MLA Guide for Word 2019: Home

Welcome!

Welcome to the MLA Guide. Follow the tabs to the left for step-by-step instructions on how to format and document sources used in your research papers according to the APA citation style. Get started by selecting the "Margins, Font, & Spacing" tab to the left.

Photograph of the Standard Shelving Location in the CCC Library

MLA Books

MLA Handbook by The Modern Language Association of America
Call Number: LB2369 .M52 2021
Relied on by generations of writers, the MLA Handbook is published by the Modern Language Association and is the only official, authorized book on MLA style.
MLA Guide to Digital Literacy by Ellen C. Carillo
Publication Date: 2019-10-30
This guide helps students understand why digital literacy is a critically important skill: their education, future careers, and participation in democratic processes rely on it. Hands-on, structured activities give students strategies for evaluating the credibility of sources, detecting fake news, understanding bias, and more. Readings and writing prompts support specific concepts, including how to craft a research question and effectively conduct searches. An appendix contains three sample lesson plans.

MLA Style 101 Course
Explore the MLA template of core elements with this introductory course. Each of the nine videos highlight one of the elements—like author, version, or publisher—and provides guidance on how to find publication information in various types of sources.

Why Cite?

Why do we cite?

When a scholar or researcher writes a research-based paper, new knowledge is created. The credibility of the new knowledge depends on the credibility of the sources that author uses. When we write research-based papers, we show our sources because it gives greater authority to our conclusions. It also helps us avoid committing plagiarism.

Why are there different styles?

In addition to APA, there are other styles: MLA, Chicago, Harvard, AMA, etc. Why so many? Each style is ideal for a different type of scholarship. The Chicago style, for example, is perfect for historians because of the way it handles footnotes. The AMA style, on the other hand, is better suited to medical research. This guide covers the APA style, which is popular in the social sciences.