MLA stands for Modern Language Association of America. It is a set of rules for publications, including research papers.
There are two parts to MLA citations: In-text citations and the Works Cited List.
In MLA, you must "cite" sources that you have paraphrased, quoted or otherwise used to write your research paper. Cite your sources in two places:
In the body of your paper where you add a brief In-Text citation in parenthesis.
In the Works Cited List at the end of your paper where you give complete information for the sources you used.