How to Cite a Dissertation MLA?

Citing a dissertation in your paper seems challenging until you explore our MLA citation guidelines. Our experts prepared tips on how to organize sources in your work correctly. Here you will find all about in-text citations and citing sources in the works-cited list. Read the article and learn the basics of MLA citation masters dissertation. You can also facilitate the process using an MLA citation generator.

MLA dissertation citation is the application of special referencing rules for in-text citations as well as formatting works-cited entries. MLA stands for the Modern Language Association and is used in the humanities. A dissertation is a work written to earn an advanced degree at a university. When writing their assignments, students refer to dissertations for interesting ideas, and it’s obligatory to cite the source they use. The MLA format has a set of rules outlining how to organize different sources, including dissertations. The MLA 9th edition is used as a citation guideline.

Dissertation citing is frequently confused with citing a thesis paper. But you should specify the type of degree (M.A. thesis or Ph.D. dissertation) after the name of the university. MLA dissertation citation rules concern citing online and printed sources, and dissertations with one or several authors. Read on and explore all ins and outs of MLA reference lists and in-text citation formatting.

A dissertation is a stand-alone work written under the auspices of an institution. It’s a unique type of source that requires you to specify the author, title, date of publication, the institution granting the degree, city, and type of degree. The 9th MLA style edition includes these elements for the reference list entry.

For example, Mitter, Jesse. A History of Money in Poland: From the 1700s to the Present. 2018. Northwestern U, Ph.D. dissertation.

By the way, an MLA citation online dissertation requires the website name and URL after the type of degree. For example, Wilson, Jesse. Pedagogical Practices in the Teaching of English as the Second Language. 2015. Northwestern U, Ph.D. dissertation. ProQuest, search.proquest.com/docview/305212264?accountid=7432.

As you can see, firstly, we give the author’s last name, then write the first name, separating them with a comma. If there are two authors, you should reverse only the first name, followed by ‘and’ and the second name in normal order (e. g. Wilson, Bob, and Bob Wilson). For three or more authors, write only the first name and then add “et al.” (e. g. Wilson, Bob, et al.). The thesis title should be italicized. If it’s a part of a larger source, add quotation marks and do not italicize the dissertation title.

In this section, we will focus on the in-text MLA citation for dissertation. This citing method is quite widespread since students and writers resort to someone’s ideas and thoughts in their papers. To look credible, every time they paraphrase, summarize or give quotes, they need to back up their writing with in-text citations. The in-text citation structure consists of the author’s last name followed by the page number in parenthesis. Look at the example, “Photoionization rates are essential in the propagation of streamers and are therefore important in simulations of computational codes.” (Wilson 14). As you see, there’s any punctuation mark dividing the surname and the number. We don’t put the contracted words p. or pp. before the page number.

Ph.D. candidates have at least three dissertation copies: one each for the candidate, the dissertation supervisor, the university library, and sometimes an archive. The unpublished dissertations aren’t widely read. But if you found an unpublished dissertation with interesting ideas and want to cite it in your paper, there are several rules. The in-text citation may have two forms of the author’s surname: narrative and parenthetical. Using the narrative format, you should simply write the author’s surname. The parenthetical format uses the dissertation author’s surname in parentheses, for example, (Malzone).

If you list the unpublished dissertation in the works-cited entry, consider the following template. The writer’s surname, dissertation title, date, and university name. As you see, it’s quite an easy way to cite a dissertation since you don’t have to search for the publisher and city. For example, Rossetti, Alex. The Effects of Government on the Stock Market. 2019. Alberta University.

If you need to cite a dissertation accessed from a database using the Modern Language Association style, you can use the surname of the author in the narrative and parenthetical formats. In-text citation in the narrative form includes only the author’s surname, for example, Corey. The parenthetical style correspondingly requires the author’s surname in parentheses, for example, (Corey). You should resort to the in-text citation method every time you quote, paraphrase, or summarize the dissertation author’s ideas.

The works-cited entry will include the dissertation writer’s surname, title, date, university name, online repository or database, and URL. For example, Smith, Justin. Measurement of Photoionization Rates in Air. 2019. The University of New Mexico. Digital Repository, https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ece_etds/478/.

You can also speed up the citing process and benefit from an online citation generator. It’s a fast and reliable solution to create high-quality referencing in your paper. All you need is to insert the required information on the dissertation in the corresponding lines and have your citation generated in seconds. With an MLA dissertation citation generator, you will get a free, accurate, and fast citation without ads. If there’s any missing information the machine will alert you, and you will add the necessary details for a complete citation. If you want to add some details, the automatically generated citation can be edited easily.

So let’s take a look at what you need to do to create a perfect MLA citation. If the dissertation is available online, you can choose the type of work and insert the URL. The generator will find the source and compile a top-quality citation. You can also choose the option to cite a source manually. Firstly, select whether a dissertation is available in print or an online database. Then specify whether it was in a publication or unpublished. Add the dissertation title, university name, and year. Include contributors, their positions, and names. Then you should provide in-print publication information, like publisher, city, year, and pages. Add annotation if needed. As you see, an MLA citation masters dissertation generator is a very helpful solution for dedicating more time to the content of your paper rather than organizing sources.

We hope you have found a lot of useful information on MLA dissertation citations. There’s nothing complicated in organizing a reference list entry and in-text citations in MLA format. If you have any issues, use a special citation machine or contact our experts. We will assist you with any questions relating to MLA paper formatting.