… My instructor keeps talking about MLA format. What's that? A: The Modern Language Association (MLA) answers this question with the following statement: All fields of research agree on the need to document scholarly borrowings, but documentation … your work, whether you give credit or not (see our section on "fair use" rules) Most cases of plagiarism can be avoided, however, by citing sources. Simply acknowledging that certain material has been borrowed, and providing your audience with the information necessary to find that source, is …