The Modern Language Association of America (MLA) designed a documentation style that people practice in humanities and other disciplines. Basically, students and researchers have to internalize the MLA style’s guidelines. Also, they must follow a proper MLA format. In this case, in-text citations and their complementary work cited list entries are the primary features of the MLA style used by scholars to moderate an academic discourse.
Author-Page MLA Format
In-text citations in the MLA style paper conform to the author-page format. For instance, an author places a brief reference within a statement, which specifies the source material. Basically, it is important to mention the source of the paraphrased, summarised, or quoted material by considering the proper MLA format. In this case, there is an apparent distinction between borrowed ideas and original thoughts. Then, the MLA citation consists of a surname or the first element of the work cited entry and a page number or an equivalent locator, for example, “Jones 19” and “Michigan University par. 6.” Also, people place the parenthetical MLA in-text citation before the closing punctuation of the statement containing paraphrased material. In turn, the content of an in-text citation enables a reader to quickly identify the work cited entry of the source due to a similarity in the first word or set of words.
Proper MLA Works Cited
There is a particular order for elements incorporated in the MLA Works Cited. For instance, there are nine core elements and their specific arrangement pattern. They include the author, the title of the source, container’s title, version, number, name of the publisher, date of publication, and location. Basically, people use this organization of elements for all types of sources. Also, if any bibliographical element is not available, it is skipped for the proper MLA format. Then, writers implement the author’s name, source’s title, and location by using periods. Moreover, they separate the remaining elements by using commas. In turn, the authors may choose to provide other optional elements depending on their relevance to the sources’ usage in the text, for example, original publication date, city of publication, multivolume information, series name, and descriptions for unexpected works. Besides, there are no predefined formats for individual types of sources.
Academic Discourse
The MLA documentation style maintains the conversational rhetoric and supports antiplagiarism principles within the academic community. For instance, research is based on a continuous conversation among scholars. In this case, it requires a well-defined approach for mapping the progress of a discussion. Then, the authors use the proper MLA format to create a sense of structure in a multifaceted discourse. Also, the strategy enables them to respond to, build on, and refute existing publications. In turn, this style aids in avoiding plagiarism by providing a set of guidelines for recognizing the origin of a particular idea. Besides, writers incorporate in-text citations and MLA format Works Cited to acknowledge the works of other authors. Thus, researchers use the proper MLA format to facilitate scholarly writing.
Summing Up on Proper MLA Format
People use referencing in the proper MLA format through in-text citation and generation of work cited list entries. Basically, the MLA style guidelines describe specific techniques that allow for systematic discussion on a topic and the proper inclusion of external material in an essay.