MLA Format Guide - 9th edition

The UACCM Code of Conduct states:

"Students of the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton (UACCM) are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that respects the rights of other members of the UACCM community and conforms to the rules and regulations of the College and the laws of the State of Arkansas and the United States of America." 

A list of unacceptable student behavior and misconduct is then listed. The list defines the act of plagiarism as, "To appropriate ideas, which are not common knowledge, or writings of another and represent them as one’s own (see Academic Honor Code for more details)". The Academic Honor Code elaborates:

"In extreme cases of cheating and/or plagiarism, the Vice Chancellor for Academics may bring the allegations to the attention of the Vice Chancellor for Student Services for possible Student Discipline and Misconduct violations. The Vice Chancellor for Student Services will determine if Student Judicial Procedures should be followed in addition to any Academic Honor Code decisions already made."

Properly citing the sources used in our work and properly formatting the information and ideas we state in those works prevents us from committing plagiarism and consequently being removed from the university and/or facing additional repercussions. The Library recommends you familiarize yourself with what is considered "common knowledge," or in other words, what does and does not require a citation. If you are not sure whether or not something should be cited, ask your instructor about it, as over-citation can also sometimes weaken writing.

Consult the full UACCM Code of Conduct and Academic Honor Code for more information. 

The following video explains how in-text (parenthetical) citations are generally used in MLA-style writing for the 9th edition and how to format citations for your Works Cited page.

The general format for in-text citations is (Last name Page #).

When including in-text citations in your writing, you must include the parenthetical citation after your sentence, outside of your quotation marks, and before your punctuation. For example: 

"She looks around the room, taking in the swags of green, the holly berries, red roses and dried magnolia leaves set as centerpieces on all the tables" (Stockett 324).

If the author is mentioned in the sentence, their name does not need to be added in the in-text citation. For example: 

Stockett wrote, "She looks around the room, taking in the swags of green, the holly berries, red roses and dried magnolia leaves as centerpieces on all the tables" (324).  

However, if you are going to mention an author by their last name you need to have used their full name earlier in the text. Only use their full name once - the first time you mention them - then only refer to them using their last name. Unless you are using the author's name and the source title in your sentence to introduce your quote, you must include the author's last name in your in-text citations.

When using a quote that is 4 or more lines long, you do not have to use quotation marks, but you must ident your quote 1/2 an inch and begin it on a new line. The citation will come after the punctuation. For example:

Nelly Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him throughout her narration: 

They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room, and I had no more sense, so, I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping it would be gone on the morrow. By chance, or else attracted by hearing his voice, it crept to Mr. Earnshaw's door, and there he found it on quitting his chamber. Inquiries were made as to how it got there; I was obliged to confess, and in recompense for my cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of the house. (Bronte 78)

When citing poetry in your writing, keep the format as close to the original as possible, and indent this as well, since it will likely include more than 4 lines. You can also only write what lines of the poem you used if you are not pulling it from a larger book or work of poems. For example:

Success is counted sweetest

By those who ne'er succeed.

To comprehend a nectar

Requires sorest need. (Dickinson, lines 1-4)

If you are quoting less than four lines of poetry, separate each line with a forward slash. For example: "Success is counted sweet / By those who ne'er succeed" (Dickinson, lines 1-2).

The basic format for creating citations in MLA 9th edition is:

Author's Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. Title of Longer Work or "Title of Shorter Work." Title of Container,                          Contributor, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication Year. URL or DOI.

Citation formatting notes:

• After the first line of each entry, use a hanging indent (instructions for adding a hanging indent are under the MLA Essay Format section of this guide).
• When including author names:
• 1 author - Last name, First name Middle name or Initial
• 2 authors - (in subsequent order) Last name, First name Middle Name or Initial and First name and Last name
• 3+ authors - Last name, First name Middle Name or Initial, et al.
• When citing book titles, use italics for longer works and quotation marks for shorter works.
• Use italics for names of databases. 
• For editions, if there is more than one edition, order 1st/2nd/3rd ed.
• If there is no author for a webpage or web article, begin your citation with the title of the article.

Example Citations: