Cite Your Sources: MLA Style

This guide provides information on citation styles, how to read a citation and how to avoid plagiarism.

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MLA Style

MLA style is used in writing courses as well as the humanities disciplines such as English and comparative literature. The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers is not available online. Print copies are available at the Reference Desk at the PSU Library.

MLA maintains the MLA Style Center which provides examples of using the style and in depth discussions about its various elements. The site includes the excellent Using MLA Format page which bills itself as "Learn Everything You Need to Know About MLA Style".

Another helpful web site providing guidance and examples of MLA style is Purdue's Online Writing Lab (OWL), and Massey University Online Writing and Learning Link.

Using Automatic Citation Generators Video

Citing Indigenous Traditional Knowledge

Oral Traditions and Traditional Knowledge of Indigenous can be cited as an interview, an oral presentation or a sound recording.

• If the information has been recorded (for example, as an audio file or an interview transcript), follow the ordinary directions for citing the appropriate for of media.
• If the information was not recorded, but was gained for a personal (unpublished) interview, list the interview by the name of the interviewee. Include the descriptor "Personal Interview" and the date of the interview. You may include the person's name, the name of the indigenous group or nation to which they belong, their location, and the date of the communication.
• For speeches, lectures, or other oral presentations (including conference presentations), start with the speaker's name. Then, five the titles of the speech (if any) in quotation marks. Follow with the title of the conference or meeting and then the name of the organization. Name the venue and the city (if the name of the city is not listed in the venue's name). Use the descriptor that appropriately expresses the type of presentation (e.g., Address, Lecture, Reading. Keynote Speech, Guest Lecture, Conference Presentation).
• In all cases, capitalize not only the name of the indigenous groups and nations (e.g., Crow, Seminole, Narragansett), but also most terms derived from indigenous culture (e.g., Oral Tradition, Elder, Traditional Knowledge, Vision Quest).