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(1) MLA CITATION METHOD (The Modern Language Association)

MLA style refers to a standard way of citing (giving credit to) source material in your text as approved by the Modern Language Association. This method gives proper credit to the authors of the works you use when reporting on research topics. There are different citation methods which other classes may require, but the MLA is standard for literature and humanities courses. As you write your paragraphs in your research reports—paraphrasing your source material most of the time— the necessary citation information goes in parenthesis after you quote or paraphrase a source. At the end of the paper a section called Works Cited appears. With the information in parenthesis in the text, the reader can find the name of the author’s book in the list of Works Cited and any other information he or she needs. Refer to the MLA Handbook for Writer of Research Papers or assorted internet sites (like easybib) for more comprehensive info.

CITING REFERENCES IN YOUR TEXT (Parenthetical Documentation)

The major advantage of MLA styles over other styles is that it makes footnotes unnecessary. The most practical way to indicate to the reader what information you derived from each source, and where in the work you found the material, is to use a brief parenthetical citation. Usually the author’s last name and a page number are sufficient for the reader to locate the source in your list of Works Cited. There are two ways to cite references in the body of your text.

AUTHOR'S NAME IN TEXT

Include the author’s name within the body of the sentence you have written.

Cohen states that “An alternative strategy is the use of heterogeneous groups that are trained to use their members as resources” (14).

Note the citation (14) indicates that page 14 of the article by Cohen is where you found the information.

AUTHOR'S NAME NOT IN TEXT, USED IN REFERENCE

The author’s name need not be part of your sentence but you may wish to refer to material from a particular source to support a point you are making, as in the following example:

At one time many children with IQ scores of 75 who were adapting poorly to school would have been placed in special programs for youngsters with mental retardation; they are not being placed there today (Reschly 173).

Note that the author’s last name and the page where the information is located are in parentheses.

Note that the punctuation mark that concludes the sentence, clause, or phrase containing the borrowed material always follows the parenthetical citation.

Your citation method may vary depending upon the types and number of sources you are using. The following include the examples you are most likely to encounter.

MATERIAL FROM TWO AUTHOR'S / TWO BOOKS USED TOGETHER

If you wish to include two or more books in a single parenthetical reference, cite each work as you normally would in a reference, and use semicolons to separate the citations, as in the following example:

Executive function is another key factor in the poor performance of children who are mentally retarded (Baumeister and Brooks 18-21; Sternberg 123).

TWO AUTHOR’S / EDITOR’S NAME IN TEXT

Both ConDavis and Schleiffer agree on these traits (40;43).

MULTIPLE TEXTS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

If Jones wrote several books that you are using throughout your paper, then (Jones 348) is not a helpful citation. In this case you must indicate the title of the particular book that the quote (or paraphrase) comes from.

“Students who are thrown out of their homes for addiction should serve as an examples for those of us who do not use drugs” (Jones, Education in America 348).

UNSIGNED / ANONYMOUS ARTICLE (which you generally should NEVER use in a research paper anyway).

Just give the article title, magazine or newspaper name, and page number (“Holocaust” Life 137).

INTERNET CITATION Type your quote or paraphrase and then do the following, depending on the situation:

(Jones) if an author is credited

("Stop Abortion Now" web) title of article if no author given

(article1/stopit.html) FULL web address if no other identifying information is provided

(2) WORKS CITED PAGE

The list of Works Cited appears at the end of your research papers and is a separate page. Begin each entry flush with the left margin; if an entry runs more than one line, indent the subsequent line(s) one-half inch from the left margin. Double-space the entire list. This list is arranged alphabetically by author’s/editor’s last name (or title if the source is anonymous, or web-site address if no other information is provided). SEE SAMPLE WORKS CITED PAGE (SEPARATE HANDOUT).

Remember: there should always be a one-to-one relationship between parenthetical references in your text and those on your Works Cited page. If a source appears on your Works Cited list, you must have used and cited (credited) that source within the body of your text; conversely, if a source is cited in the body of your text, the source must be listed on your Works Cited page. No exceptions.

The format of a particular source depends on what kind of source it is and how many authors are credited. The examples given below represent virtually every situation you will encounter at this point in your academic careers. Titles of books, movies, and television shows are italicized; “quotation marks” are used for magazine or newspaper articles and short stories. Follow the examples, including the specific punctuation marks provided, when you create your Works Cited pages.

Book with One Author: Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York: New American Inc., 1946.

Book with Two Authors: Palmer, R.R., and Joel Colson. A History of the Modern World. New York: Alfred Knopf, 1964.

Two or More Books by the Same Author

Borroff, Marie. Language and the Past: Verbal Artistry in Frost, Stevens, and Moore. Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 1979.

---, ed. Wallace Stevens: A collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice, 1963.

Book with More Than Three Authors: Jones, Robert, et al. Go Fly a Kite. London: Princeton Publishers, 1997.

Book – No Author (Use Editor’s Name): Hines, Eileen, ed. The Great Myth. St. Paul: Winston Publishers, 1996.

Work from an Anthology

Miner, Horace. “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema.” Contemporary Sociological Literature. Ed. J.F. Hoff. San Diego:

Casa Press, 1974, 189-233.

Item from a Reference Book with Author of Articles

Cleland, Hugh G. “Child Labor.” The Encyclopedia Americana. 1998 edition

Item from a Reference Book without Author of Articles

“Cuban Missile Crisis.” The History of America. Ed. John Doe. Vol. 4. New York:

H.W. Wilson Co., 1994, 23.

Magazine/Newspaper Article with Author: Shappard, R. Z. “A Case of Upscale Homicide.” Time 17 Jan. 1985: 25-28.

Article in Scholarly Journal with continuous pagination between issues

Bulliet, Richard W. “Twenty Years of Islamic Politics.” Middle East Journal. 53 (1999): 189-200.

Article in Scholarly Journal with new pagination every issue

Haynes, George W. “The Debt Structure of Small Businesses.” Journal of Small Business Management. 37.2 (1999): 1-19.

Article in an Online Reference Database

“Parks, Rosa.” Encyclopedia Brittanica Online. Vers. 99.1. 1994-1999. Encyclopedia Brittanica. 27 Feb. 1999. .

Article from an Online Publication

Boisrouvray, Albina. “Orphans and HIV.” Earth Times. 31 October 1999. .

PRINT SOURCE = A source you located in PRINTED FORM, on paper, as REQUIRED for your “Communist Witch Hunt” reports.

DIGITAL SOURCE = A source you found on-line via a web site, database, or any other NON-PRINT form that involves a computer in ANY way.

AUTHORLESS SOURCES = NOT ALLOWED for your “Communist Witch Hunt” reports, and generally discouraged for ANY research.

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