Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism:
Documentation Guidelines
http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/citing.htm
In academic communities, the ethics of research demand that writers be credited for their work and their writing.
Not to do so is to plagiarize, to intentionally or unintentionally appropriate the ideas, language, key terms, or work
of another without sufficient acknowledgement that such material is not one's own.
1. MLA: In-text Parenthetical Citations
http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/within.htm
The Modern Language Association (MLA) guidelines require that you cite the quotations, summaries,
paraphrases, and other material used from sources within parentheses typically placed at the end of the sentence in
which the quoted or paraphrased material appears. The parenthetical method replaces the use of citational footnotes.
These in-text parenthetical citations correspond to the full bibliographic entries found in a list of references at the
end of your paper. (Note that the titles of works are underlined rather than placed in italics.) Unless otherwise
indicated, on-line sources follow the same pattern as print versions.
Single author named in parentheses.
The tendency to come to terms with difficult experiences is referred to as a "purification process" whereby
"threatening or painful dissonances are warded off to preserve intact a clear and articulated image of
oneself and one’s place in the world" (Sennett 11).
Single author named in a signal phrase.
Social historian Richard Sennett names the tendency to come to terms with difficult experiences a
"purification process" whereby "threatening or painful dissonances are warded off to preserve intact a clear
and articulated image of oneself and one’s place in the world" (11).
Two or more authors.
Certain literacy theorists have gone so far as to declare that "the most significant elements of human culture
are undoubtedly channeled through words, and reside in the particular range of meanings and attitudes
which members of any society attach to their verbal symbols" (Goody and Watt 323).
Corporate author (organization, association, etc.).
The federal government has funded research concerning consumer protection and consumer transactions
with online pharmacies (Food and Drug Administration 125).
Works with no author.
Several critics of the concept of the transparent society ask if a large society would be able to handle the
complete loss of privacy ("Surveillance Society" 115).
Two or more works by the same author.
In his investigation of social identity, The Uses of Disorder, Sennett defines adulthood as a stage where
people "learn to tolerate painful ambiguity and uncertainty" (108).
In a surprising move, Richard Sennett combines the idea of power with that of virtue: "the idea of strength
is complex in ordinary life because of what might be called the element of its integrity" (Authority 19).
Work found in an anthology or edited collection.
(For an essay, short story, or other document included in an anthology or edited collection, use the name of
the author of the work, not the editor of the anthology or collection, but use the page numbers from the
anthology or collection.
Lawrence Rosenfield analyzes the way in which New York’s Central Park held a socializing function for
nineteenth-century residents similar to that of traditional republican civic oratory (222).
Bible passage.
Unfortunately, the president could not recall the truism that "Wisdom is a fountain to one who has it, but
folly is the punishment of fools" (New Oxford Annotated Bible, Prov. 20-22).
Secondary source of a quotation (someone quoted within the text of another author).
As Erickson reminds us, the early psychoanalysts focused on a single objective: "introspective honesty in
the service of self enlightenment" (qtd. in Weiland 42).
Web page.
Abraham Lincoln's birthplace was designated as a National Historical Site in 1959 (National Park Service).
Note: Internet citations follow the style of printed works. Personal or corporate author and page number
should be given if they exist on the website.
2. Constructing a List of Works Cited in Your Paper
Most style manuals require you to assemble a list of the works that you have cited in your paper. This list, included
at the end of your paper, is termed "Works Cited" in MLA style.
ARTICLES FROM JOURNALS
Article from a Printed Journal
Brown, Erella. "The Lake of Seduction: Silence, Hysteria, and the Space of Feminist Theatre." JTD: Journal of
Theatre and Drama 2 (1996): 175-200.
Article with multiple authors
Jones, Graham, Sheldon Hanton, and Declan Connaughton. “What is This Thing Called Mental Toughness? An
Investigation of Elite Sport Performers.” Journal of Applied Sport Psychology 14 (2002): 205-218.
Article from an Online Journal
Evnine, Simon J. "The Universality of Logic: On the Connection between Rationality and Logical Ability."
Mind 110.438 (2001). 31 July 2001 <http://www3.oup.co.uk/mind/>.
Full-Text Journal Article from a Database
Holton, Woody. "The Ohio Indians and the Coming of the American Revolution in Virginia." The Journal
of Southern History 60.3 (1994): 453-478. JSTOR. Duke U Lib., Durham. 31 July 1998 <http://www.jstor.org>.
ARTICLES FROM MAGAZINES
Article from a printed magazine
Gawande, Atul. "The Man Who Couldn't Stop Eating." The New Yorker 9 Jul. 2001: 66-75.
Article from an online magazine
Saletan, William. "The Ethicist's New Clothes." Slate 16 August 2001. 17 August 2001
<http://slate.msn.com/framegame/entries/01-08-16_113959.asp>.
Full-text article from a database
Gore, Rick. "Pharaohs of the Sun." National Geographic Apr. 2001. Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale Group. Duke
U Lib., Durham. 21 Aug. 2001.
BOOKS
Book with a Single Author
Fleming, Thomas. Liberty!: The American Revolution. New York: Viking, 1997.
Book with two authors
Sennett, Richard, and Jonathan Cobb. The Hidden Injuries of Class. New York: Vintage Books, 1972.
Book with three or more authors
Schwartz, David, Steve Ryan, and Fred Wostbrock. The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows. New York: Facts on
File, 1995.
Electronic Book
Norman, Richard. The Moral Philosophers. New York: Oxford UP, 1998. Duke University Libraries, Durham, NC.
14 Aug. 2001 <http://www.netlibrary.com>.
Article within a book
Cassel, Jeris, and BethAnn Zambella. "Without a Net: Supporting Ourselves in a Tremulous Atmosphere." "LOEX"
of the West: Teaching and Learning in a Climate of Constant Change. Ed. Thomas W. Leonhardt. Greenwich, CT:
JAI Press, 1996. 75-92.
Encyclopedias and other multi-volume works
Lumiansky, R.M. "Chaucer." The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia. 15th ed. 1998.
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
Article from a printed newspaper
Holden, Stephen. "Frank Sinatra Dies at 82; Matchless Stylist of Pop." New York Times 16 May 1998, natl. ed.:
A1+.
Article from an Online Newspaper
Wright, Steven. "Curriculum 2000 Draws Criticism." The Chronicle 25 Jan. 2001. 7 Nov. 2001
<http://www.chronicle.duke.edu/story.php?article_id=21459>.
Newspaper Article from an Online Database
Cowell, Alan. "Britain Faces Flurry of Illegal Migrants Using Channel Tunnel." New York Times 3 Sept. 2001, late
ed. Expanded Academic ASAP. Duke U Lib., Durham. 19 Oct. 2001 <http://infotrac.galegroup.com/menu>.
PRIMARY SOURCES
Letter (unpublished)
Miller, Ella. Letter to Ella V. Rinker. Mar. 1865. Ella V. Rinker and Reuben E. Hammon Papers. Rare Book,
Manuscript and Special Collections Lib., Duke U, Durham.
Motion picture
Platoon. Prod. Arnold Kopelson. Dir. Oliver Stone. Perf. Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, and Charlie Sheen.
Videocassette. Hemdale Film Corporation, 1986.
Interview (unpublished)
Elloie, Pealie Hardin. Interview with Kate Ellis. Rec. 15 July 1994. Audiotape. Behind the Veil: Documenting
African-American in the Jim Crow South. Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Lib., Duke U.
Online (Digitized) Collections
Eaton, Seymour. Sermons on Advertising. Seymour Adair Eaton, 1907. Emergence of Advertising in America. Rare
Books, Manuscript, and Special Collections Lib., Duke U. 23 Aug. 2001 <http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/dynaweb/
eaa/databases/printlit/@Generic__BookTextView/1851>.
3. Plagiarism Defined
Academic communities, then, demand that writers credit others for their work, and that the source of their material
clearly be acknowledged. Not to do so is to plagiarize, to intentionally or unintentionally appropriate the ideas,
language, key terms, or findings of another without sufficient acknowledgment that such material is not one’s own.
As the Modern Language Association defines this transgression:
Scholarly authors generously acknowledge their debts to predecessors by
carefully giving credit to each source. Whenever you draw on another’s work, you
must specify what you borrowed whether facts, opinions, or quotations and where
you borrowed it from. Using another person’s ideas or expressions in your writing
without acknowledging the source constitutes plagiarism. Derived from the Latin
plagiarius ("kidnapper"), plagiarism refers to a form of intellectual theft. . .In
short, to plagiarize is to give the impression that you wrote or thought something
that you in fact borrowed from someone, and to do so is a violation of
professional ethics. (Joseph Gibaldi, MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly
Publishing. 2nd. ed, New York: MLA, 1998: 151).
Plagiarism encompasses a range of errors and violations. Though the charge of plagiarism can be leveled against
writers who incorrectly or neglect to cite borrowed materials, it most often tempts students who find themselves in
the dire straits of having to complete a written assignment without previously having undertaken the laborious and
time-consuming process of research, reading, note-taking, interpretation, and analysis. Wholesale copying from
sources is an easy way to fill up the page and to turn something—anything—in on time. In all cases, it is far better to
contact one’s instructor and honestly to discuss with him or her a strategy for completing an assignment rather than
to risk humiliation and judicial redress. Instructors will, within reason and to the best of their abilities, help you to
get your papers started and help you to make progress with your work. You will do yourself and your instructors
justice if you openly and squarely discuss the circumstances of your progress or lack thereof.
On occasion, students accused of plagiarism have claimed that their plagiarism has occurred without their
knowledge or intent. Since ignorance of convention is not a reasonable defense, it is best to become thoroughly
acquainted both with the various ways in which plagiarism is construed, and with the conventions of source
attribution and proper documentation. Some students seem to believe that there are different degrees of plagiarism,
some not as a bad as others. No distinctions are made between any of the following acts. All constitute instances of
plagiarism.