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mla-referencing

MLA 9 referencing for humanities: Works Cited, container system, (Author Page) in-text citations, headline capitalization. Use for papers requiring MLA style.

karlsune@vhsgreed

Install

openclaw skills install @vhsgreed/mla-referencing

MLA 9 Referencing

Build MLA 9th edition citations: a Works Cited list using the container system, parenthetical (Author Page) in-text citations with no comma or year, and headline capitalization.

Steps

  1. Read references/mla-quickref.md, then match the source type:

    • Book: Author, A.A. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.
    • Journal (container system): Author, A.A. "Title of Article." Journal Name, vol. x, no. x, Year, pp. xx-xx.
    • Web page: Author, A.A. "Title of Page." Site Name, Day Month Year, URL.

  2. In-text: parenthetical (Smith 12), no comma, no year, page number only when the source has pages. Narrative: Smith (12) argues ... Two authors: Smith, John, and Jane Doe in the list; (Smith and Doe 12) in text. Three or more: (Smith et al. 12) from the first citation.

  3. Apply the MLA signatures:

    • Headline capitalization for titles (capitalize major words), not sentence case
    • Article/web titles in quotation marks; container titles (journals, sites, books) in italics
    • DOI/URL written without https:// (MLA 9 convention): doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx
    • Access dates discouraged; include only when the source has no publication date and the instructor requires it
    • Date format: Day Month Year (12 March 2024)

  4. The container system: a source can live in a container (journal, edited volume, website, database). After the source title comes the container title, other contributors, version, number, publisher, publication date, location (pages/URL). Second containers (a chapter in an anthology republished on a database) repeat the pattern after the first container's location.

  5. Works Cited: alphabetical by lead author surname, hanging indent. No separate bibliography; sources consulted but not cited stay out.

  6. Verify: every in-text citation matches a Works Cited entry by author name, and every entry is cited at least once in the text.

Pitfalls

  • MLA never uses a comma between author and page: (Smith 12), never (Smith, 12).
  • No years in in-text citations; the year lives only in the Works Cited entry.
  • URLs without https://; drop http://www. where it reads clean.
  • Missing authors start the entry with the title; alphabetize by the first word ignoring articles.

Provenance

Clean-room summary of MLA Handbook 9th edition conventions for agent use, authored 2026-09-03. Part of the referencing skill family with apa-7-referencing, harvard-referencing, oxford-referencing, and ieee-referencing.