MLA – 2009 Basics

Citing Your Sources 

Whenever you use somebodyelse's ideas in your researchpaper you must cite your sourcesby:

• 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 "commonknowledge":• 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

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 Twenty-first 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 AuthorIf 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 NumbersIf 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

• 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 PageKarper, 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

•  • 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!!!!