How MLA Prevents Plagiarism
…format In-Text Citations.
…format my Works Cited page.
…determine if a source is valid.
For more help…
MLA
 Allows readers to easily and
accurately cross-reference your
sources.
 Provides consistent style of
documentation for research papers
and projects in the humanities and
English fields.
MLA protects EVERYONE against
plagiarism and academic dishonesty.
According to Dictionary.com, plagiarism is “the unauthorized use or close imitation of
the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's
own original work .”
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Books
Anthologies
Journals/Periodicals
Magazines
SOME Websites
› Website
extensions:
 .org, .edu,
.gov
› News Sources:
 CNN, NY
Times,
Orlando
Sentinel
Personal or
Commercial
Websites:
› Blogs
› Wikipedia
› About.com
› GeoCities.com
› Personal
Websites
› Spark Notes
 Be Careful of Bias
Sources!!!

Quoting a source word for word
 Paraphrasing a source by putting another writer’s
ideas into your own words
 Summarizing the main points of a source in your
own words
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Let’s say you find a quote from a text that supports your argument in
your essay…
Here’s the selection of text: “She tore off
the battered hat and shook out her dark
pretty hair.”
Here’s the author: John Steinbeck
Here’s the page number:197
Integrate your quotes smoothly.
Soon after meeting the peddler, Elisa “tore off the battered hat and shook out her
dark pretty hair” (Steinbeck 197).
Your own words
Quote from text
Soon after meeting the peddler, Elisa “tore off the battered hat and shook out her
dark pretty hair” (Steinbeck 197).
In parenthesis, indicate author’s
last name and page #
As you can see, the citation
has been smoothly
incorporated into the sentence.
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If a quotation extends more than 4 lines, set it off from your
text by beginning a new line, indenting 1”, and typing it
double-spaced, without adding quotation marks.
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A colon ( : ) generally introduces the quote. The in-text
citation comes at the end of the last line of the quotation.
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If the block quote is in the middle of the paragraph, continue
the paragraph on a new line without indenting.
At the conclusion of Lord of the Flies, Ralph and the other boys realize the
horror of their actions:
The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to
them now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of
grief that seemed to wrench his whole body. His voice rose under the
black smoke before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by
that emotion, the other little boys began to shake and sob too. (168)
The Basics
The Works Cited page should be its own page at
end of your essay
Label the page Works Cited. Do not italicize,
underline or put the words Works Cited in
quotations.
Entries are listed alphabetically.
Double space all citations.
Indent the subsequent line of each citation five
spaces, so you create a hanging indention.
From a Book
Author last name, First name. Title of book. City of
Publication: Publishing Company, Year Published.
Print.
Once you’ve established the format for each entry, it’s just a
matter of plugging in the correct information.
Author’s last name and first name
Book title
Johnson, Roberta. Gender and Nation in the Spanish
Modernist Novel. Nashville: Vanderbilt UP, 2003.
Print.
City of publication
Publishing company
Year published
From an Anthology
Selection Author last name, First name: “Title of
Selection.” Title of Anthology. Editor of Anthology.
City of Publication: Publishing Company, Year
Published. Page numbers of selection. Print.
Now, let’s plug in the information. Also, take notice the
indentions in the entry.
Selection author last name, first name
Title of selection
Title of anthology
More, Hannah. “The Black Slave Trade: A Poem.” British Women
Poets of the Romantic Era. Ed. Paula R. Feldman. Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins UP, 1997. 472-82. Print.
Editor of anthology
Publishing company
Year published
Page numbers of selection
City of
publication
From an Article on an Online Database
Author Last name, First name. “Title of Article.” Title of
Journal. Version number and Issue Number (Year of
Publication): Page numbers of Article. Title of
Database. Web. Date Accessed.
Author last name, first name
Title of article
Tolson, Nancy. “Making Books Available: The Role of
Early Libraries, Librarians, and Booksellers in the
Promotion of African American Children’s
Literature.” African American Review 32.1 (1998): 916. JSTOR. Web. 5 June 2008.
Title of journal
Page numbers
of article
Title of database
Date YOU accessed
article
Version
# and
Issue #
Year of
publication
For a more comprehensive list about the various MLA documentation
formats, go to the Valencia College Library website.
http://valenciacollege.edu/library/documentation.cfm
Here, you will find style guides for both MLA and APA formats.
Once you’ve found your source guide, it’s just a matter of plugging in
the appropriate information.
Works Cited
Blocker, Clyde E., Robert H. Plummer, and Richard C. Richardson, Jr. The
Two-Year College: A Social Synthesis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: PrenticeHall, 1965. Print.
It’s a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. Perf. James Stewart, Donna Reed,
Lionel Barrymore, and Thomas Mitchell. RKO, 1946. Film
Picasso, Pablo. Guernica. 1937. Museum of Mod. Art, Spain.
Piper, Andrew. “Rethinking the Print Object: Goethe and the Book of
Everything.” PMLA 121.1 (2006): 124-38. Print.
Quade, Alex. “Elite Team Rescues Troops Behind Enemy Lines.” CNN.com.
Cable News Network, 19 March 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.

Text resources:
› MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th Edition.
› Brief McGraw-Hill Handbook 2009 MLA Update, Student Edition
Valencia Communications Student
Support Centers (Click the link to find your nearest location)
 Online resources:

› Valencia Library MLA Resource Page
http://valenciacollege.edu/library/documentation.cfm
› OWL Purdue
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
 East
Campus, 4-120
http://valenciacollege.edu/east/academicsuccess/writing/
 Winter Park Campus, Room 136
http://www.valenciacollege.edu/wp/cssc/
 West Campus, 5-155
http://valenciacollege.edu/west/lss/communications/writing.cfm
 Osceola
Campus, 3-100
http://valenciacollege.edu/osceola/learningcenter/writing.asp