MLA – 2009 Basics
Citing Your Sources
Whenever you use somebody
else's ideas in your research
paper you must cite your sources
by:
• Listing the complete source
citation in your works cited
list.
• Acknowledging the source in
the text of your paper (in-text
documentation).
Citing Your Sources
You must cite your sources
when...
1.
Quoting any
words that are not your
own. Quoting means to
repeat another source
word for word, using
quotation marks "".
• 2.
Summarizing
facts and ideas from a
source.
Summarizing means to
take the key ideas
from another source
and shorten
them,
using your own words.
3.
Paraphrasing a source.
Paraphrasing means to put somebody
else's ideas into your own words. You can
not simply change one or two words! That
is plagiarizing!!!
4.
When using factual
information that is
not common
knowledge.
What is Common Knowledge
Common knowledge is information that appears
in more than 5 sources.
Examples of information that is "common
knowledge":
• General Custer lost the battle at Little Big
Horn.
• Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United
States, was born in 1804 and died in 1869.
BE SMART!!!!!!
•If in doubt, cite
your source!
Works Cited Page
• At the end of your paper, you must provide a
Works Cited page that lists all the sources you
cited in your paper.
• Do not include sources that you did not cite in
your paper.
• The MLA format requires that you provide
information about the source so that somebody
could find it. You must provide this information in
a specific format based on the type and medium
of the source.
Format of the Works Cited Page
• Begin "Works Cited" on a new sheet of paper
• Title it Works Cited in the center of the first line
• Begin each entry at the left margin and indent all
additional lines of the entry by a half (1/2) inch. This is
called Hanging Indentation.
• Arrange entries in alphabetical order
– If no author is provided for a source, alphabetize the
source by its title
– If you use more than 1 source by the same author, only
provide the author's name for the first source. For each
additional source, use three dashes (- - -)in place of the
author's name
–Example:
.
McKibben, Bill. The End of Nature. New York: Anchor, 1989.
Print. - - -.
- - -. "Happiness Is...." The Ecologist Feb. 2007: 32-39. Print
• Do not list sources that you did not use in your
paper!!!!
How To Cite Books
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Information you will need about the book:
Author's (or Editors) name: For the first author, list the last name, then
first name. List all authors first name first (Ex: Jones, Bob and Sally Smith).
Title of the part or selection of the book (in quotes)
Title of the book (in italics)
Name of the editor, translator, or compiler
Edition used
Number(s) of volume(s) used
Series name, if any is given
Imprint: city of publication, name of publisher, and year of publication
Title of database or website (for web books only)
Page numbers of the selection from the book. Do not give page numbers
for reference book entries that arranged in alphabetical order.
Medium: Print or Web
Book Examples:
• Article from a Typical Reference Book
Dinwiddie, Gniesha Y. "Education, USA." International Encyclopedia
of the Social Sciences. Ed. William A.
Darity. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. Print.
• A Typical Book
Friedman, Thomas. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twentyfirst Century. New York: Farrar, 2005. Print
• A Typical eBook
Reiman, Alan, and Roy Edelfelt. Careers in Education. 4th ed.
Chicago: VGM Career, 2004. VGM Professional
Careers Ser. NetLibrary. Web. 31 Oct. 2009.
In-Text Documentation
• In-text documentation is
sometimes called
parenthetical
documentation because
it requires the use of
parentheses ( ).
• For every fact or idea you
borrowed from another
source, you must provide
the author's last name
and the page of the
source. There are two
ways you can do this:
1. Begin the quote or paraphrase with the
author's last name and end the borrowed
information with the page number in
parentheses.
For example:
According to Gary S. Becker, human capital,
"the knowledge, information, ideas, skills,
and health of individuals," is the greatest
form of capital in the 21st century (3).
2.
Or, provide the author's last name and the
page number inside parentheses at the end of
the borrowed information. For example:
Human capital, "the knowledge, information,
ideas, skills, and health of individuals," is the
greatest form of capital in the 21st century
(Becker 3).
Special Situations:
More than 1 Author
• 2 or 3 Authors
• Only invert the name of the first author.
• Examples:
Lester, James D., and James D. Lester, Jr. Writing
Research Papers: A Complete Guide. 10th ed. New
York: Longman-Addison, 2002. Print.
Benton, Jeremy B.,Andrew N. Christopher, and
Mark I. Walter. "Death Anxiety as a
Function of Aging Anxiety." Death Studies 31.4
(2007): 337-50. Print.
• No Author
If the source you borrowed information from
does not list the author's name, use the first
significant word of the title. Use quotation marks
and italics as appropriate. For a review of when
to italicize or use quotation marks for a title see
www.docstyles.com/mlacrib.htm#Sec32.
For Example: The difference in earnings between
the average American with just a high school
diploma and the average American with a college
degree has increased in the past twenty years,
with most college graduates earning at least 23
percent more than those with just a high school
diploma ("Rising" 35).
• No Page Numbers
If the source does not have numbered pages, you
are not required to provide a page number.
Example: Since 1998, our earth has experienced
the five hottest years in recorded time, with the
hottest year being 2005 (Choo).
However, you may provide the number of the
paragraph, if possible.
Example: The evidence clearly proves that the
benefits of a college education to an individual
and society prevail over the cost of earning a
college degree (Porter par. 11).
How to Cite Web Pages
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Information you will need about the source:
Author or editor (if given)
Title of article. essay, entry or project accessed (in quotes)
Title of web site, database, periodical, or professional site (underlined)
Any additional information required for a comparable type of source
Publisher or organization sponsoring the Web site. Use "N.p." for no
publisher, if not given.
Date of material (if given) or use "n.d." for no date (if not given)
Date you accessed the information
Only provide the URL (address of Web page) if the website is difficult to
find (enclosed in brackets <
>).
Many times you will have to consult a Web page other than the one you are
viewing to identify author, date, and/or page publisher. Examine the home
page or page just before the one you are viewing. You will usually not be
able to find all of the information listed above.
Examples
•
Typical Web Page
Karper, Erin. "Creating a Thesis Statement." The OWL at Purdue. Purdue
University, 28 Sept. 2006. Web.
31 Mar. 2007.
•
Web Page with No Author
"Alzheimer's Disease." MedlinePlus. U.S National Library of Medicine, 2007.
Web. 2 Apr. 2007
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No Author and No Date Given
"Cars, Trucks, & Air Pollution." Clean Vehicles. Union of Concerned
Scientists, n.d. Web. 3 Aug. 2009.
Web Site Would be Difficult to Find Without URL
Eaves, Morris, Robert Essick, and Joseph Viscomi, eds. The William Blake
Archive. Lib. Of Cong., 28 Sep. 2007.
Web. 20 Nov. 2008. <http://www.blakearchive.org/blake/>.
And Relax!!!!