English 1302
“To Cite or Not To Cite?”
(It’s not really a question!)
©Davidjulian.com
An Introduction to Plagiarism and MLA Citation
Lesson Objectives
• Learn about the concept
of plagiarism, how it
occurs, and if it is a
problem.
• Learn the reasons for using
a citation style, like MLA.
• Correctly utilize and
identify MLA citation style
for in-text and
bibliographic citations.
What is Plagiarism?
•“Plagiarism”, as defined in our
department policy, is, “the theft of words,
phrases, sentence structures, ideas, or
opinions.”
• Merriam-Webster defines it as, “transitive
senses : to steal and pass off (the ideas or
words of another) as one's own : use
(another's production) without crediting
the source
intransitive senses : to commit literary theft
: present as new and original an idea or
product derived from an existing source.”
When does it occur?
Plagiarism occurs when any such
information is taken from any
source or person and-intentionally or unintentionally-presented or "borrowed"
without mention of the source.
Plagiarism also occurs when
materials from cited sources are
reproduced exactly or nearly
exactly but are not put in
quotation marks.
Is it a problem?
According to,
• Plagiarism.com, “Recent studies
indicate that approximately 30
percent of all students may be
plagiarizing on every written
assignment they complete.”
• A Rutgers University study in 2003,
“Thirty-eight percent of the
undergraduate students
completing the survey indicated
they had engaged in one or
more instances of cut & paste
plagiarism using the Internet in
the past year - paraphrasing or
copying a few sentences of
material from the Internet without
citing the source.”
Avoiding Plagiarism
• The best way to avoid plagiarism is to learn how to use
a citation style (like MLA) and then apply it consistently
in all your work. If not, you may fail the assignment,
course, or even get expelled.
or
Top 3 Reasons to Use Citation Styles
Avoid Plagiarism √
Gain Credibility for your work
Allow other people to learn more
about your research
The Modern Language Association
Citation Style (MLA Citation)
• MLA citation normally is used for English,
foreign language, and some humanities
papers. Hence, this is very important since
you will be required to use it many times in
college.
MLA, like other citations styles consists of
two things:
1.
In-text Citations
(Also called Parenthetical Citations)
2.
Works Cited Page
(composed of Bibliographic Entries)
**You must utilize both correctly to avoid
plagiarism!
In-Text Citations
In-text citations of sources
have two requirements:
1. They need to include enough
information for the audience
to find the source on the works
cited page.
2. They need to include enough
information so the audience
knows where to find the
borrowed material in the
original source you used.
Examples
(Last Name Page #)
(Garcia 136)
Types of In-text Citations
In-text citations can come in two main forms:
1. Author named within the signal phrase:
At one point, Cofer writes, “Growing up in a large
urban center…I suffered from what I think of as
cultural schizophrenia” (175).
2. Author not named within the signal phrase:
“On the other side, many Americans
expressed surprise at the frequency with
which French people spoke about money”
(Carroll 313).
*As you can see, both styles of citations include
the author’s last name and the page number.
Other forms of In-Text Citations
1.
Two authors:
(Johnson and Rodriguez 221)
2.
Three or more authors:
(York et al. 75)  “et al.” means “and others”
3.
A work with no page numbers (like a webpage):
(Miller)
4.
A work with paragraph numbers, but no
page numbers:
(Flores, pars. 9-10).
5.
A work by an author of two or more works
you are citing in your paper:
(Hawthorne, Scarlet Letter 92)
*You add the full title only if it is short.
If it is a long title, you only use the first
one or two words.
Works Cited Entries
A Works Cited Page is composed of Works
Cited Entries, commonly called bibliographic
entries. There are dozens of different types of
sources, and there is an MLA work cited
format for each one.
The most common formats are those for:
1.
A book with one author
2.
A book with two authors
3.
A book with an editor
4.
An article from a periodical (journals and
magazines)
5.
A webpage
A Book with One Author
The basic format for a book includes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The author’s name: Last Name, First Name.
The book’s title, underlined: BookTitle.
The city of Publication: CityofPublication:
The publisher: Publisher,
The date of publication: Year.
For example:
(sample)
Last, First. Book Title. City: Publisher, Year.
(example)
Gilligan, Carol. In a Different Voice. Cambridge:
Harvard Press, 1982.
A Book with Two+ Authors
The basic format for a book with two authors is nearly identical
to one with one author. You just need to add the second
author’s name, but this time the second author goes First
Name first, Last Name Last.
For example:
(sample)
Last, First and First Last. Book Title. City:
Publisher, Year.
(example)
Embry, Carol and Joseph Addison. The lives of the
Eighteenth Century Satirists. London: Penguin,
1796.
*Notice that when a citation does not fit on one line, the next line
starts 5 spaces in from the first line.
A Book with an Editor (or two!)
The basic format for a book with an editor includes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The editor’s name: Last Name, First Name, (comma not a period)
The abbreviation for editor (ed) or editors (eds): ed.
The book’s title, underlined: BookTitle.
The city of Publication: CityofPublication:
The publisher: Publisher,
The date of publication: Year.
For example:
(sample)
Last, First, ed. Book Title. City: Publisher, Year.
(example)
Bloom, Harold, ed. Shakespeare’s Baudy. Stratfordupon-Avon: Globe Press, 1996.
An Article from a Periodical
The basic format for an article or periodical includes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The author’s name: Last Name, First Name.
The article’s title in quotation marks: “ArticleTitle.”
The title of the periodical, underlined: Journal (no period)
The volume and/or issue: Vol.Issue
The year of publication in parentheses: (Year):
The inclusive page range: starting page-ending page.
For example:
(sample)
Last, First. “Article Title.” Journal Vol.Issue (year):
start-end page.
(example)
Khan, John. “The Chinese Theatre.” Journal of
Drama Studies 74.5 (2003): 145-68.
A Webpage
The basic format for a webpage includes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The name of the author or corporate author (if known): Last, First.
The site’s title, underlined: SiteTitle.
The names of any editors: Ed. First Name Last Name.
The date of publication or last update: Day Month Year.
The name of any sponsoring organization: Sponsor.
The date of your access: Day Month Year.
The URL in angle brackets <>: <http://www.siteurl.com>.
For example:
(sample)
Last, First. Site Title. Ed. First Last Name. 01 Jan
1999. Sponsor. 5 May 2005. <http://www.
phoenixprints.com>.
*Because webpages are unregulated, there is a great degree of
variation on whether it will have all these pieces of information. If
your site does not, skip that piece and move on to the next one.
Now for some practice!
Which of the following examples is a correctly
formatted citation for a one author book,
where the quoted material comes from
page 75?
(Jones, 75)
(Jones, p.75)
(Jones 75)
(Jones page 75)
Correct!
(Jones 75)
In text citations for one author books only
contain the author’s last name and the page
number. You should not put a comma, “p.” or
“page.”
Next
Sorry!
In text citations for one author books only
contain the author’s last name and the page
number. You should not put a comma, “p.” or
“page.”
Try Again?
Next
Which of the following examples is a correctly
formatted citation for a two author book,
where the quoted material starts on page 84
and ends on page 86?
(Garica and Lo, 84-86)
(Garica and Lo 84-86)
(Garica & Lo 84-86)
(Garica & Lo 84 to 86)
Correct!
(Garica and Lo 84-86)
In text citations for two author books contain
the authors’ last names separated by “and”,
and the page number. When there is a range
of pages, you put the starting page, a dash,
and then the ending page.
Next
Sorry!
In text citations for two author books contain
the authors’ last name and the page number.
When there is a range of pages, you put the
starting page, a dash, and then the ending
page.
Try Again?
Next
The example below is what kind of a
bibliographic citation?
Erickson, Leif. “How I discovered America.” Journal of
Viking Studies 24 (1991): 25-42.
Periodical
Book with one author
Webpage
Newspaper
Correct!
Periodical
Bibliographic citations that have “” quotation
marks, automatically should tell you that it is a
selection in another publication. Therefore,
these types of citations are either journal,
magazine, or newspaper articles (all
periodicals).
Next
Sorry!
Bibliographic citations that have “” quotation
marks, automatically should tell you that it is a
selection in another publication. Therefore,
these types of citations are either journal,
magazine, or newspaper articles (all
periodicals).
Try Again?
Next
In the following citation, what part of it is
incorrect?
Holland, Merlin, and Miller, John. The Big Book of Stories.
Chicago: Altamira Press, 2000.
City
2nd Author’s Name
Publisher
1st Author’s Name
Correct!
2nd Author’s Name
Bibliographic citations list the first author’s
name “last name” first and “first name” last, but
all other authors are listed “first name” first and
“last name” last.
Next
Sorry!
Bibliographic citations list the first author’s
name “last name” first and “first name” last, but
all other authors are listed “first name” first and
“last name” last.
Try Again?
Finish
What you learned & What’s
Next?
In this lesson you learned:
1. about plagiarism,
2. the importance of citation styles,
3. and how to use MLA citation style.
Now you should look at the following pages
for good resources, and then apply what
you have learned to write your fully
documented research paper!
Good Luck!
Web Resources
Besides the hyperlinked resources that can explain more about
plagiarism and its consequences, in this and the next slides there
are several links that are excellent for looking up hard to find
information about MLA formats.
Modern Language Association
This link will help you see the current version of
MLA. In addition, they normally have web updates
that can be downloaded and handed to students in
order to help them see what has changed since the
last edition (or what is shown in their book).
http://www.mla.org
Web Resources (con’t)
Diana Hacker’s Website
This is the best link available for free that gives all
the current formats for both in-text citations and
bibliographic entries. Students should bookmark
this link and use it when they are in need of extra
information. It will become incredibly useful when
writing papers and the needed formats are not in the
book. This site also contains the formats for
sources retrieved from databases like EBSCO or
Infotrack. It even had a sample MLA paper so
students can see what a properly formatted paper
looks like.
http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/humanities/english.html
Web Resources (con’t)
NoodleTools
There are many sites that help create bibliographic
entries to a works cited page. They cannot always
be trusted to create good entries, so they should be
used with care. However, NoodleTools has both a
subscription and a free service that will help
students format a couple citations. Students can
use this to check if they have done theirs correctly.
It a good tool to check your work!
http://www.noodletools.com/