ENGL 10 (Baker, Summer 2024): MLA Citation Style

A citation is the basic information that you need to find an article, book, or other resource. 

Citations are a form of shorthand -- they look complicated because they cram a lot of information into just a few lines, but once you learn how to read them they begin to make sense.

Citation formats vary depending on the academic discipline, but an article citation will always tell you:

• The author's name
• The title of the article
• The name of the magazine or journal in which it appears
• The volume number of the magazine or journal (and sometimes the issue number)
• The page numbers on which the article is located
• The date when the article was published

A book citation will tell you:

• The author's name
• The title of the book
• The publication date
• The city in which the book was published
• The book's publisher