Mustang Style:
A Guide for Research
and Publication
Second Edition
Lisa G. Wilson,
Library Media Teacher
Revised for MLA 7
By Jeane Beno,
Library Media Teacher
March 2007
Rodriguez High School
5000 Red Top Road
Fairfield, CA 94534
707-863-7950
Last update 11/19/13
Page 2
Table of Contents
Sample Bibliographic Citations ...................................................................................................... 3
General rules ............................................................................................................................... 3
Annotated Bibliography .............................................................................................................. 4
Citation Machine ........................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
Print Sources: Books, Encyclopedias, and Magazines ............................................................... 4
Online Resources: Subscription Databases and Websites .......................................................... 6
Online Databases ................................................................................................................... 6
Internet Sites (not subscription databases) .............................................................................. 6
Parenthetical Documentation .......................................................................................................... 7
General Rules .................................................................................................................................. 7
Placing a Parenthetical Reference ........................................................................................... 7
Documenting a Direct Quotation ............................................................................................ 8
Documenting a Paraphrase or Summary................................................................................. 8
Research Paper Format ................................................................................................................... 8
Typing and Printing .................................................................................................................... 8
Heading ....................................................................................................................................... 8
Sample Research Paper, first page .............................................................................................. 9
Sample Works Cited Page .......................................................................................................... 9
Sample “Works Cited” page ....................................................................................................... 9
Plagiarism ..................................................................................................................................... 10
Evaluating Sources ....................................................................................................................... 11
Reliability: Authority and Authorship ...................................................................................... 11
Currency.................................................................................................................................... 11
Motivation ................................................................................................................................. 11
Opinion and Point of View ....................................................................................................... 11
Accuracy ................................................................................................................................... 11
Coverage ................................................................................................................................... 11
Final Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 11
Page 3
Bibliographic and Parenthetical Citations
At Rodriguez High School, students will use the Modern Language Association (MLA) 7th
Edition writing style guidelines for all writing assignments.
In academic research, students must fully document or cite all the sources they use (books,
magazines, webpages, etc.) in two ways: Parenthetical citations and Bibliographic citations.
Parenthetical Citations
Parenthetical citations are used within the body of the research paper to give credit to the source
of information. See pages 7 and 8 for details.
Bibliographic Citations
A full listing of all sources used in research on the last page of a paper is called a “Works Cited”
or “Bibliography”. The “Works Cited” lists only the sources you actually use in your paper. A
“Bibliography” lists all sources you may have referred to, but did not necessarily used in your
paper.
To fully document each source used in research, include the following elements in proper MLA
7 style:
Author(s)
Title of Article
Title of overall work (book, encyclopedia, website…)
City of Publication
Publisher or Sponsor
Copyright year or the date a webpage is created or last updated
Access date (for database and Internet)
Website address (url) is no longer required by MLA 7. However, if it is difficult to find the
webpage using a Google search, then include the web address.
General rules
1. Give the author’s name exactly as it appears on the title page, but list the last name first. Put
a period after the complete name.
Ellis, Sarah.
2. Provide the full title of the book, including any subtitle. If the book has a subtitle, put a colon
directly after the main title. Place a period at the end of the title and italicize the font of the
entire title.
Back of Beyond: Stories of the Supernatural.
3. Provide the following publication information in this order: the city of publication,
publisher’s name, and year of publication (copyright date). All of this information can be
found on the title page or the copyright page, which is generally found on the back of the title
page. Place a colon after the city, a comma after the publisher, and a period at the end.
New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books,1996.
Page 4
4. The entire citation should be double spaced with the first line at the left margin and all other
lines indented (hanging indent).
5. Alphabetize the list by the first word in the citation.
6. Sample basic book citation:
Ellis, Sarah. Back of Beyond: Stories of the Supernaturnal. New York: Margaret K.
McElderry Books. 1996. Print.
Annotated Bibliography
An annotated bibliography or works cited page includes not only the full citation, but also some
information about the content of the book, article, or website. For example:
Bates, J.D. Writing with Precision: How to Write So That You Cannot Possibly be
Misunderstood. New York: Penguin Books, 2001. Print. Discusses the principles of clear,
effective writing; offers help on preparing and writing specific kinds of material, such as
letters, memoranda, and reports.
EasyBib School Edition
EasyBib School Edition is a web-based tool that keeps you organized throughout the research
process and helps you avoid plagiarism. It will create citations for 64 different kinds of sources
and builds your Works Cited page in the style your teacher requires. You may also annotate
your bibliography and EasyBib will show you the correct way to add intext citations and
footnotes. Additionally, you may create virtual notes and outlines, evaluate websites for
credibility, search for more credible sources, and get valuable help through writing and citation
guides and tutorials. See a Librarian to register for EasyBib.
SAMPLE BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATIONS
The following examples will help guide you in creating your own citations.
Print Sources - BOOKS
Books
Parenthetical
Bibliographic
1 Author
(Hellman 202)
Hellman, Hal. Great Feuds in Medicine: Ten of the Liveliest Disputes Ever.
2 or 3 Authors
(McNab and
Younger 157)
4 or more
Authors
(Hine 78)
New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2001. Print.
McNab, David, and James Younger. The Planets. London: Yale University
Press, 1999. Print.
Hine, Darlene Clark, et al. Black Women in America: An Historical
Page 5
Corporate
Author or
Group
Editor or
compiler
(American
Medical Assoc.
15-20)
(Monk 71)
A work within
a work
(Lerman 74)
Encyclopedia. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1993. Print.
American Medical Association. American Medical Association Handbook of
First Aid and Emergency Care. New York: Random House, 2005. Print.
Monk, Linda R., ed. Ordinary Americans. Virginia: Close Up Publishing,
1994. Print.
Lerman, Leo. “Some People and Places.” The New York Times book
Review 31 Dec. 1950:5+. Reprinted in Contemporary Literary
Criticism Vol. 25 Ed. Jean C. Stine. Detroit: Gale Research,
1983. 74. Print.
ENCYCLOPEDIAS
Place quotation marks around the article title and italicize the encyclopedia title. When citing a
very familiar encyclopedia, like World Book, do not give the full publication information. You
only need to include the year published and the edition number, if provided.
Encyclopedia
Parenthetical
Bibliographic Citation
Familiar
Encyclopedia,
No Author
Article with
signed Author
(“Dinosaur” 277)
“Dinosaur.” World Book Encyclopedia. 2007. Print.
(Peterson 126)
Peterson, Barbara Bennett. “Rita Hayworth.” The Scribner Encyclopedia of
American Lives. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1999. Print.
MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS (in print)
1.
2.
3.
4.
General Rules
Give the author’s name just as you do for books.
The title of the article is placed in quotation marks with a period at the end of the title.
The magazine title is italicized followed by the date.
Provide the complete date beginning with the day and abbreviating the month, followed
by a colon and the page numbers of the article.
Magazine
Article
(Beschloss)
Beschloss, Michael. “The Ford Effect.” Newsweek 8 Jan. 2007: 30-33.
Print.
Newspaper
Article
(Farmer)
Farmer, Paul. “A Family Affair.” Daily Republic 19 Dec. 2006: D:1.
Page 6
Print.
Online Resources: Subscription Databases and Websites
Online Databases (InfoTrac, ABC-CLIO, etc.)
General Rules
1. These citations work very much like print citations. Most of the articles you will find in
InfoTrac and ABC-CLIO are simply reproduced from print resources and placed online.
2. You must include the article title in quotes, the title of the book, newspaper, magazine, and
database italicized, the date the article was published (if available), and the date you accessed
the information. The Web address (url) is optional.
Examples
Databases
Parenthetical
Bibliographic Citation
InfoTrac
(Downs)
Downs, David. "Music Mix Maestro." Wired Jan. 2009: 50.
InfoTrac
“The case of the
teen brain.”
World Book
Online
(Hartman)
Student Edition. Web. 22 Mar. 2010.
"The case of the teen brain." New York Times Upfront 8 Feb.
2010. Student Edition. Web. 22 Mar. 2010.
Hartman, John. "Argentina." World Book Online Reference
Center. 2007. Web. 12 Feb. 2007.
Internet Sites (not subscription databases)
General Rules:
1. To cite a webpage, at the minimum you must include the title of the work or web article, the
main web site if different from the title of the work, and the date you accessed the page. The
web address (URL) is now optional, however include it if the web page is difficult to find
using a Google search.
2. Also include the following information if available: author, name of sponsoring organization
or company – use N.p. if not available, and the date the web page was last updated – use n.d.
if no date is available.
Examples:
“Obama Follows Clinton's Path But Hopes for a Different Ending.” CNN.com. Cable News
Network, 18 Aug. 2009. Web. 18 Aug. 2009.
“Taking Part in the Active Lifestyle Program.” The President’s Challenge. N.p. 25 Mar. 2007.
Web. 11 Jan. 2010.
Page 7
Parenthetical Documentation
The term “parenthetical documentation” sounds much more complicated than it is. This
style allows your reader to easily recognize the experts or authorities cited in the paper.
According to Write It: A Guide for Research, “sources used in research are documented in two
ways. First, a parenthetical note acknowledges the source of information within the text of the
paper. Second, a complete citation is listed on the final page of a research paper under the title
“Works Cited” or “Bibliography” (Bankhead, Nichols and Vaughn 17). The whole point of
citing sources is to allow the reader to quickly and easily locate the original source of
information.
General Rules
1. The parenthetical reference contains the author’s last name and the page number where the
material can be found. For example: (Taylor 128)
2. The parenthetical reference comes before the punctuation mark that ends the sentence,
clause, or phrase containing the quoted or paraphrased material.
3. If the author is referred to in the sentence, you do not need to repeat the author’s name in the
parenthetical reference. For example: According to Encalada, long distance runners are the
most fit of all athletes (38).
4. If the quotation is long—taking up more than four lines of your paper—set the quotation off
from the rest of the paper by beginning a new line and indenting the whole quote one inch
from the left margin. For these long quotes, double space but do not use quotation marks.
Placing a Parenthetical Reference
To keep your writing flowing smoothly, place the parenthetical reference at the first natural
pause in the sentence. Often this is at the end of the sentence, but it might also be placed at the
end of a clause or phrase containing the cited material. For example:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” Charles Dickens wrote of the
eighteenth century (22).
The following examples will help you format your paper.
Page 8
Documenting a Direct Quotation
“Many teenage boys now drink five or more cans of soda a day. Each can contains the equivalent
of about ten teaspoons of sugar” (Schlosser and Wilson 143).
Documenting a Paraphrase or Summary
Contrary to commonly held beliefs, the people of the American colonies had an advanced
understanding of the technology of farming, surveying land, and building construction (Burns).
Research Paper Format
Typing and Printing






Choose Times New Roman font with a type size of 12 point.
Print on one side of the paper only.
Justify the lines of your paper at the left margin
Double-space the entire paper, including the heading, quotations, and the list of works
cited.
Indent the first word of a paragraph one-half inch or five spaces.
All margins (top, bottom, left, and right) should be one inch.
Heading

The heading should be placed in the upper left corner and must include the following
information, all on separate lines, with a double-space between the lines:
o Your name
o Your teacher’s name
o Class name
o Date
Page 9
Sample Research Paper, first page
Smith 1
Johnny B. Good
Mrs. Adams
American Government
January 16, 2007
Free Speech in Public Schools
The United States Supreme Court has addressed the issue of free speech in
Sample Works Cited Page
America’s public schools on numerous occasions. Perhaps the most well known
Sample “Works Cited” page
Works Cited
Hellman, Hal. Great Feuds in Medicine: Ten of the Liveliest Disputes Ever. New
York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2001. Print.
Hine, Darlene Clark, et al. Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia.
Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1993. Print.
Page 10
Plagiarism
According to the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers:
The purpose of a research paper is to synthesize previous research and scholarship with
your ideas on the subject. Therefore, you should feel free to use other persons’ words,
facts, and thoughts in your research paper, but the material you borrow must not be
presented as if it were your own creation. When you write your research paper, remember
that you must document everything that you borrow—not only direct quotations and
paraphrases but also information and ideas. (Gibaldi 69)
Any of the following would constitute plagiarism:
 Submitting another writer’s paper as your own
 Copying a part of another writer’s paper and incorporating it into your paper
 Quoting a source word for word without using quotation marks and a citation
 Paraphrasing and/or summarizing another’s ideas without giving a citation
 “Cutting and pasting” from electronic sources without crediting the source
(Giles and Richards 16).
Public Domain
Some information is commonly known by many, many people and is accepted as
common knowledge or public domain. This kind of information does not need to be cited. For
example, every high school student knows that George Washington was the first President of the
United States. You would not need to cite that fact in a paper. However, if you include in your
paper that the electors of the Federal Convention unanimously elected him President, you must
cite your source.
Plagiarism is the theft of the ideas or intellectual property of another and is therefore a very
serious offense. Be very careful to give credit in your paper to all information, ideas, and
concepts that are not your own.
Page 11
Evaluating Sources
An information literate person knows how to access, evaluate and use information. How do you
decide if information is accurate? A great starting place for reliable information is our Rodriguez
High School Library. All of the books at the RHS library were picked by a professional librarian
to support our students. Likewise, the online databases and Internet pathfinders on our webpage
have also been evaluated for quality and reliability.
The following are some things to consider when evaluating websites (Irwin):
Reliability: Authority and Authorship
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Who is the author?
Have you heard of this author before?
What are the author’s credentials and/or education?
What is the sponsoring institution or organization?
Have you heard of this institution before?
Currency
1. When was the page first published?
2. When was it last updated?
3. Does the date matter? If you are researching Shakespeare, it probably doesn’t matter that the
webpage is five years old. However, if you are looking for new cancer treatments, then five
years is far too outdated to be useful.
Motivation
1. Is the author’s motivation in making the page stated or unstated?
2. How does the author describe his or her motivation?
3. Why do you think the author created this page?
Opinion and Point of View
1.
2.
3.
4.
What point of view is expressed in this site?
How does the opinion affect the trustworthiness of the information?
Does the opinion invalidate the argument being made?
What information might have been left out because of the author’s opinion?
Accuracy
1. Does the page present consistent information?
2. Has the author edited the page for spelling and grammar?
Coverage
1. Is this page: Scholarly or academic? Popular? A Joke? Written by a lunatic?
2. Does the information seem complete? Why or why not?
3. What, if anything is left unmentioned or ignored?
Final Analysis
Do you think your teacher would want you to use this page? Why or why not?
Page 12
Works Cited
Bankhead, Betty, Janet Nichols and Dawn Vaughn. Write It: A Guide for Research. Englewood,
CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1999. Print
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th ed. New York: The Modern Language
Association of America, 2009. Print.
Giles, Beth, and Ann Richards. In Grand Style: A Guide for Research, 4th ed. Available at
Grandview High School, 20500 E. Arapahoe Road, Aurora, CO. Print.
Irwin, Ken. Criteria for Website Evaluation. University of Michigan Shapiro Undergraduate
Library, 25 Jan. 2007 < http://www.lib.umich.edu/ugl/guides/evaluation/>.