One of the biggest academic crimes is quoting or summarizing someone’s work without giving them due credit. This is known as plagiarism and could cut your academic career short in a ruthless way. To eliminate the chances of this happening, you need to cite your sources for your thesis or dissertation properly.
While a thesis is a document that precedes earning your degree at the university, a dissertation is a more advanced form for earning higher degrees like a doctorate. It’s time to find out everything you need to know about citing a thesis MLA correctly using our simple and straightforward guide.
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What You Should Know About MLA
The first step in knowing how to cite a thesis MLA is to know exactly what the MLA format means.
The MLA format means Modern Language Association format. It is one of the most popular citation methods in thesis and dissertations. No worries, it’s actually pretty easy to master as well. If you have to write research papers on subjects in the field of humanities, chances are you would have to use the MLA format. So far, there are thousands of magazines, newsletters, and scholarly journals cited in the MLA format.
Therefore, an MLA thesis can be a master’s level work and a shorter version of research work that’s compulsory before getting an undergraduate degree. Regardless of the purpose, being in the humanities discipline will almost always guarantee that you would have to learn how to cite a thesis MLA.
If you’re writing a standard research project for your MLA thesis, there are specifications that you must adhere to. From the headers and margin size to the location of the listed names and the format for listing, you need to pay attention to these details while citing your dissertation in MLA format.
Thankfully, many schools hold research seminars to guide students on citing a dissertation MLA the right way. Although your university may have given out handbooks to help you master the MLA format for your thesis, it’s always best to also explore online guides. Getting as familiar as possible with the MLA format will definitely pay off in the long run when you have a finished thesis with absolutely no mistakes.
However, if you don’t really need or want that skill, you can custom thesis writing help and spend your free time to reach for your own goals.
Guide To MLA Citation Dissertation
Here is a detailed walk through on how to do MLA citations correctly:
- Headers
This section contains relevant information on the paper, the author, and your topic. Here is a guide on how to format your header using the MLA format.- Be sure that the space from the top of the first page to the first line is one inch
- Your full name, instructor’s name, course, and date should be on separate lines and double spaced.
- The title should not be in bold or underlined. Also, do not type the title in capital letters.
- No period is necessary after your headings or the title of your paper.
- Indent your paragraphs
Example:
John Berlin
Professor Tokyo
Sociology 502
20 February 2022
The Effects of COVID-19 in the Adoption of Remote Work
It’s no secret that COVID-19 has changed the future of work as we know it. Now, it’s not a big deal to have people work from home instead of getting all dressed up for a typical 9-5 workday.
- Paper formatting
Since most professors prefer hard copies of your research paper, you need to pay attention to the type of paper formatting that will be used for your submission. Be sure to choose high-quality white paper online, and these will also have their unique specifications according to the MLA format. Here is our simple guide on paper formatting.- Recommended paper size is 8 ½-by-11-inch.
- Only one-inch margins are permitted for all pages. This is usually a default setting in most word processing programs.
- One-half-inch indentations are mandatory for the first word of every paragraph.
- Only use double spacing throughout your research paper.
- The standard font size is 12 points, and it’s best to use a font type that is easy to read. Recommended fonts are Times New Roman and Arial.
- Creating your title page
Although we already talked about creating your header, you can choose to have a title page as the cover of your research paper. While there are no official cover page guidelines for citing your thesis in MLA format, your heading must include the four major components we mentioned in the previous section.- Align the title to the center of the page without italics, bold, or underlined fonts. If your title includes the title of another source, you may include quotation marks or italics.
- Every text on the title page should be double spaced
- Use the title case format for your titles, which means capitalizing only the first letter of each word.
- Your full name, instructor’s name, the course title, and due date of the assignment should be on separate lines at the bottom third of the page.
- Including page numbers and a running head while citing in MLA
It may be necessary to include a page number alongside the running head in your research work. The running head refers to a short heading usually at the top right corner of your project page, including your name (as the author), any necessary general tips, and the page number.- Your last name should come before the page number and be separated by a single space.
- While this usually begins on the second page, your professor may specifically request that you include the running head on the first page as well.
- Using quotations
To effectively add emphasis, prove a point, or defend an argument in your research paper, you can also include quotes. However, this should only be sprinkled sparingly throughout your research work without being overused.Since you’ll be using quotes directly spoken or written by individuals, you would have to give credit. The best method for this is called an in-text citation. How do you include quotes in MLA format?- The name of the author shouldn’t be included in the sentence. Instead, this should be in parentheses after the sentence
- The quotes represent the direct statement or words of the author.
Example:
As the main character, we can get a bigger glimpse into his state of confusion when he states, “Nothing could have prepared me for the rude shock when I realized that the machine could double as my beginning and end” (Cesaro 254).
- Citing various media in MLA thesis
You can’t rule out the possibilities of having various media like graphs, data sets, images, and tables in your research paper. These are meant to provide more visuals to the reader and show how much you understand the subject matter. Therefore, it’s important to cite these properly as well. For images:- Place the image as close to the text as possible.
- Label the image starting with “Fig.”
- Include the MLA bibliography format citation below the image if you don’t plan to list it on the works cited page
Example:
Fig. 3. The Isle. “Geography of history’s most beautiful site, Paris.” Library of France, www.lof.gov/image/7373963/.
Best Way To Cite Your Thesis Or Dissertation
For both thesis and dissertations, the MLA format is usually the same. You will be required to state the type of degree you’re writing the paper for. This could be a Ph.D. dissertation or an undergraduate thesis. There are also crucial differences in citing your dissertation in MLA format if your source is a print document or gotten online. Here is an excellent example of how to cite your thesis in MLA.
- Citing your thesis and dissertation for print sources:
Last Name, First, and Middle Name. Title of the Dissertation/Thesis. Year of Publication. University, Degree type.
- Citing your thesis and dissertation for online sources:
Last Name, First, and Middle Name. Title of the Dissertation/Thesis. Year of Publication. University, Degree type. Name of Website, URL.
Here are some examples to give you a better idea of how this citation works:
Edsel, Colin Perry. A Study of the Role of Students of Economics in Determining the Impact of Supply and Demand in Advanced Societies. 2014. University of Westminster, BSc thesis.
Edsel, Colin Perry. A Study of the Role of Students of Economics in Determining the Impact of Supply and Demand in Advanced Societies. 2014. University of Westminster, Ph.D. dissertation.
Edsel, Colin Perry. A Study of the Role of Students of Economics in Determining the Impact of Supply and Demand in Advanced Societies. 2014. University of Westminster, Ph.D. dissertation. Statistics in Motion, www.statisticsinmotion.com/role-of-students-of-economics.
For in-text citations, you should follow this structure:
(Last Name of the Author page number)
Here is an example of in-text citation:
(Cesaro 254)
Citing MLA Thesis Help
So far, this detailed guide has introduced you to the structure necessary for citing a dissertation in MLA format. However, it’s okay if you’re still a little confused about how to go about this successfully. This is where a reliable dissertation service comes in. While you can get all the tips you need on how to cite a thesis paper in MLA format from your college, professor, teacher, or even other students at school, you can take advantage of possibility to pay for thesis.
All you have to do is order for your custom dissertation or thesis, and you’ll be assigned experts online that are ready to deliver within a short time. In all of these, it’s essential to pay extra attention to the specific instructions of your teacher or professor as the guidelines here are recommendations to help you achieve the best work. If this doesn’t follow the structure laid down by your college or university, you may end up missing vital marks.
