How to use MLA for an Anthropology Citation
Anthropology is part of social science and focuses on the study of human cultures. When writing a paper on an anthropology topic several different citation styles can be used, including the Modern Language Association, or MLA. MLA is traditionally used for humanities papers, and the field of anthropology uses methods from humanities as well as science. The MLA style has different guidelines depending on whether the source material is from a journal, book or other source. Citations occur within the anthropology paper after direct quotes or paraphrasing.
Instructions
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Cite a direct quotation by placing quotation marks around the sentence. After the second quotation mark but before the period insert the citation in parentheses. In-text citations use the first author's last name followed by starting page number of the source. If there are three authors or less, use all of the authors' last names, i.e. Jackson, Heatherbell and Wolf. If there are more than three authors, provide the first author's last name followed by et al. -- i.e. Jackson, et al.
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2
Citing a source when the author's name appears in the sentence does not require the author's name in the parenthetical citation; only include the page number in the parenthesis at the end of the sentence. For example: Jackson stated that the weather greatly influenced the aboriginal mode of dress (476).
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3
Cite sources where the author is not known using parentheses as in step 2. However, in place of the author's last name insert the shortened title of the source followed by the page number. Place the shortened title in quotation marks if it is from a short piece of work, such as an article. Shortened titles from longer works such as shows, books or plays should be in italics.
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Include the author's first initial before the last name if you are citing sources from authors that have the same last names.
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Tips & Warnings
The American Anthropological Association uses the Chicago Manual of Style as their guide. However, MLA is used for some anthropology papers, particularly at colleges and universities, for papers that may not be published in journals but are required for coursework.
