How To Cite An Essay In MLA

Written By: John T. Berg

Published On: Oct 20,2023

If you come from the background of academic writing then I am sure you have heard about the term citation thrown out on your face. Citation is an essential and important aspect of writing; it is considered to be the ethics of writing domain. Through citation, you are actually giving proper credit to the content source. As it is our professional and personal duty to do so.

There are several citation styles like APA, Chicago, Harvard, and MLA, the main stance behind using these citation styles is to avoid the act of plagiarism. Here we will talk about:

MLA citation style.
How can we cite different internet sources?
Why is it important to cite external information?

What is MLA citation style?

Citing an essay in MLA format is a crucial and important skill for any student or researcher. This type of format is widely adopted in humanities, and knowing how you can cite sources can clearly make your essay and research paper credible and easier for readers to follow.

The MLA format, which is recommended by the MLA Handbook, acts as a standard for formatting a paper in MLA style. It basically provides you with a roadmap which organizes your paper in a well-presentable way. One of the main elements of the MLA format is the work cited page. This is the page where you provide the information cited by adding a bibliography or references.

Main components of MLA citation

Entirely dependent on the specific source, its characters like author name or date of publishing, and several other factors, the MLA citation is basically different by their form. But there are some of the core components of MLA citation which are listed below:

How to cite your essay in MLA format

Citation isn’t that hard that you have to take the proper training neither it is that easy. Rather it is a straightforward process once you have gone through the process once. Following are some of the main components which need to be known:

Author name of the source: The author’s name is considered to be the starting point. If there are multiple writers then incorporate the first names of all the authors separated by commas.
Essay Title: The title of the essay is also mentioned after the author's name.
Title of the website: If the essay is published on the website, then in the citation the website’s title is also mentioned.
Publication date: The date of essay publication is also mentioned.

In-text citations:

The intext-citation while writing a research paper or essay is essential when you are quoting someone’s idea in your own words. In MLA it typically includes the author’s last name and the page number as well in the parenthesis. For example:

“According to (last name of author), this research finds detailed insights (page no).

The difference in citing the essays: The style or formatting of an essay is basically entirely dependent on where you have found it. It doesn’t matter whether you have found the essay online or a printed essay, such technicalities can clearly save you from MLA citation errors.

Printed Essays

For essays found in print, you will have to follow the general citation style and structure for citation. So, you must make sure that you have all the essential and needed details which include the author's name, page title, the editor’s name (if it’s there), the page numbers and the information related to the publication.

Online Essays

Citing online essays requires you to include the URL and the access date of your citation. This helps your readers locate the original source. Here's an example of citing an online essay: This will automatically help your reader to locate the original source following are the examples of citing an online essay and it will make it quite clear about the overall structure of MLA citation.

Smith, John. "The Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity." Environmental Studies, www.example.com/environmental-studies/climate-change-impact, Accessed 10 October 2023.

Significance of MLA style:

Following MLA strategies for citing your sources is not just about adopting the rules and regulations; rather it's about upholding academic honor. The way of properly citing the essays and research basically helps you to avoid copying past scenarios which is plagiarism and by giving credit to the original authors whose work you are referring to. Provides you with a great image of credibility and trustworthiness.

As explained above the importance of citing essays or research paper is essential and crucial, whether you are going for any of the formats like; APA, MLA, CHICAGO or any of other advanced citing styles. It is time-consuming and there is a great chance of human error as well. But with the advancement of technology and in every sector, new technology like AI is integrated with our manual tasks so that the occurrence of errors can be eliminated. The solution to this problem is provided by Get All Papers.

Get All Papers for the Rescue…

Get All Papers is your go-to solution which basically is the integration of AI technology with natural language processing (NLP). It provides different services related to free essay writing which is also known as bot essay writing for students in schools. We also come footfront with thesis generators as well. But the functionality of providing citation styles whether you are looking for APA, MLA or Chicago we got all of it. You can rely on us if you are looking for good grades in assignments and research papers.

Conclusion…

In conclusion, understanding the art of citing an essay in MLA format is a well-defined skill if you are a researcher or student. The MLA format is recommended by the most renowned and universally well-adopted language association which is Modern Language Association. It basically offers a structured and well-organized way to acknowledge your sources. It doesn’t matter whether you are writing a research paper, an essay or any other academic work, following the above-defined rules will make your work credible.