Avoid Top Citation Mistakes (MLA) - Part 1

Avoid Top Citation Mistakes (MLA) - Part 1

Yes, it's tedious. Yes, it's possible the 1 hour in your life you'll never get back. But unfortunately, citations are the KEY to getting the grade and avoiding plagiarism. It is imperative that you follow these quick tip advice to avoid. 

For this blog post, we're going to talk about just MLA. 

We're only going to discuss IN-TEXT citation and the COVER PAGE. For the REFERENCES/WORKS CITED PAGE, stay tuned for PART 2 of the blog.

MLA

1. DO NOT USE COMMA FOR THE IN-TEXT CITATION

You only have the author's last name and the page number. 

- One author: (Howard 26) 

- Two authors: (Howard and Stern 26)

- Three authors: (Howard, Jones et al. 26)

- 3 + authors: (Howard et al. 26)

- No authors, use title: ("How to make a sandwich"23) 

Make sure you put a "." at the end of "et al"

2. DO NOT USE COMMAS TO SEPARATE AUTHORS FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES

Sometimes you have authors from different sources in one sentence that you have to quote. 

Make sure it is organized alphabetically. 

- Using 2 different sources: (Avias 27; Howard 26)

- Using 3 different sources: (Avias 27; Howard 26; Sasaki and Chan 849)

3. DO NOT MESS THE ORDER OF THE DETAILS AT THE TOP LEFT CORNER

It is uncommon to see MLA paper using title pages. This is because professors are looking for more concise papers and it’s a good way to save paper.

Also, most professors mark essays using Turnitin.com which would not require a physical copy.

At the top left hand corner of the MLA page, you insert the information that the professor would need to identify your paper.

Make sure it is double-spaced and in size 12 font Times New Roman.

[NAME]

[LECTURER NAME]

[COURSE NAME]

[DATE - NO SHORT FORMS OR PUNCTUATIONS - DAY MONTH YEAR]

4. DO NOT UNDERLINE/BOLD YOUR TITLE

Most students tend to underline their essay titles. You do not underline the essay title. You do not bold the essay title. 

The essay title must be in the same font size and style as the rest of the paper. You would use Title Case for the title. You must also centre the title in the middle of your paper. 

Title case means to capitalise the first letters of all words except for articles and prepositions.

5. DO NOT STICK THE LAST NAME AND THE PAGE NUMBER TOGETHER 

For MLA papers, the page number goes on the top left corner of the papers. 

Again, use size 12 Times New Roman font unless stated otherwise by the professor. 

There should be a gap between the last name and the page number. Most students tend to stick them together. 

Here is an example of how everything should look like when you follow our steps. 

Here