MLA Keeps it Simple
• If more than one city is listed for place of publication, just use the first city listed.
• If several dates of publication are listed, just use the latest.
• If any information is not available, - such as author, place of publication, date of publication, pages etc., - just leave it out.
Note: If there is no author, begin your citation with the title.
• Write any dates that need to include day, month, and year in this order: Day Month Year.
• Abbreviate months (except May, June and July)
• If place of publication is not a well known city, add the state abbreviation. For example: Novato, CA.
WORKS CITED PAGE
How to Make Your Works Cited Page
• Use a separate piece of paper.
• Title the page Works Cited.
• For each citation, begin your first line at the left margin; if information runs over onto more than one line, indent each following line 5 spaces. (If your pesky computer refuses to allow you to indent, bring the line down, create the indention, and bring the line back up.)
• Arrange all sources in one list, alphabetically by first word, which will generally be either the author's last name or the first important word of the title; ignore any initial - A, An, or The.
• Double space between citations.
• To list two or more items by exactly the same author, give the author's name in the first entry only. For each additional entry by the same author, type three hyphens and a period followed by the title, etc.
CLICK TO SEE EXAMPLE /
• Use a separate piece of paper.
• Title the page Works Cited.
• For each citation, begin your first line at the left margin; if information runs over onto more than one line, indent each following line 5 spaces. (If your pesky computer refuses to allow you to indent, bring the line down, create the indention, and bring the line back up.)
• Arrange all sources in one list, alphabetically by first word, which will generally be either the author's last name or the first important word of the title; ignore any initial - A, An, or The.
• Double space between citations.
• To list two or more items by exactly the same author, give the author's name in the first entry only. For each additional entry by the same author, type three hyphens and a period followed by the title, etc.
CLICK TO SEE EXAMPLE /
PARENTHETICAL ENCLOSURE
A brief parenthetical citation in MLA style is simple and economical; it contains only enough information to enable your reader to find the sources you will be citing on the Works Cited Page.
This method does not use footnotes to identify a source when it is referred to in your paper. Instead, it works by linking brief parenthetical citations in your text to an alphabetical list of works at the end of your report. Think of the ( ) as a hyperlink that takes your reader directly from the words you have quoted or paraphrased in your text to the exact citation in your Works Cited list that more fully describes the sources in which you found your information.
Where do I put the brief parenthetical citation in the text of my paper?
Place the parenthetical reference where a pause would naturally occur, preferably at the end of a sentence. The citation precedes the punctuation mark that concludes the sentence, clause or phrase containing the borrowed material.
Example: In his work on creek sharks, Forbes concludes that they are not entirely extinct (23).
A citation directly after a quotation follows the closing quotation mark.
Example: It may be so that what one expert says is true, namely that "creek sharks are not entirely extinct" (Forbes 23).
FAQs about Parenthetical Enclosure
What information will the citations in my paper contain?
A citation usually contains the author's name and the page on which you found the particular piece of information you are citing. The citation (Donaldson 35) indicates that your information came from page 35 of a work by an author named Donaldson.
If you wrote the author's name in your paper to make it clear whose work you are referring to, you only the need the page number (35).
What if there aren't any pages?
Just use the author's name. (Donaldson).
What if 2 pages or more are being cited from the source?
Separate them with a hyphen. (Donaldson 12-13)
What if I have two different works by the same author in my list?
You will need to include shortened titles to tell them apart if you have more than one work by the same author. (Donaldson Skydiving 20) or (Donaldson Parachutes 10) should get the point across.
What if there isn't any author?
Use title and page (Weight Lifting 12). If you mentioned the title in your paper, just use the page (12).
What if I am citing an encyclopedia?
Look at your citation guide. You are citing either the author or title of an article found in the encyclopedia, not the encyclopedia per se.
What if the citation is for a textbook with lots of authors?
In the parenthetical enclosure keep it simple, use only the first author listed in your citation.
What if I want to cite 2 references for the same point?
Include 2 parenthetical enclosures - one for each citation - at that point in the text.
What if...?
* Use common sense. The general rule is to be simple and economical and yet give just enough information to enable your reader to locate the correct source in your Works Cited list.
This method does not use footnotes to identify a source when it is referred to in your paper. Instead, it works by linking brief parenthetical citations in your text to an alphabetical list of works at the end of your report. Think of the ( ) as a hyperlink that takes your reader directly from the words you have quoted or paraphrased in your text to the exact citation in your Works Cited list that more fully describes the sources in which you found your information.
Where do I put the brief parenthetical citation in the text of my paper?
Place the parenthetical reference where a pause would naturally occur, preferably at the end of a sentence. The citation precedes the punctuation mark that concludes the sentence, clause or phrase containing the borrowed material.
Example: In his work on creek sharks, Forbes concludes that they are not entirely extinct (23).
A citation directly after a quotation follows the closing quotation mark.
Example: It may be so that what one expert says is true, namely that "creek sharks are not entirely extinct" (Forbes 23).
FAQs about Parenthetical Enclosure
What information will the citations in my paper contain?
A citation usually contains the author's name and the page on which you found the particular piece of information you are citing. The citation (Donaldson 35) indicates that your information came from page 35 of a work by an author named Donaldson.
If you wrote the author's name in your paper to make it clear whose work you are referring to, you only the need the page number (35).
What if there aren't any pages?
Just use the author's name. (Donaldson).
What if 2 pages or more are being cited from the source?
Separate them with a hyphen. (Donaldson 12-13)
What if I have two different works by the same author in my list?
You will need to include shortened titles to tell them apart if you have more than one work by the same author. (Donaldson Skydiving 20) or (Donaldson Parachutes 10) should get the point across.
What if there isn't any author?
Use title and page (Weight Lifting 12). If you mentioned the title in your paper, just use the page (12).
What if I am citing an encyclopedia?
Look at your citation guide. You are citing either the author or title of an article found in the encyclopedia, not the encyclopedia per se.
What if the citation is for a textbook with lots of authors?
In the parenthetical enclosure keep it simple, use only the first author listed in your citation.
What if I want to cite 2 references for the same point?
Include 2 parenthetical enclosures - one for each citation - at that point in the text.
What if...?
* Use common sense. The general rule is to be simple and economical and yet give just enough information to enable your reader to locate the correct source in your Works Cited list.
ILLUSTRATIONS AND GRAPHICS
How to give credit for ILLUSTRATIONS AND GRAPHICS
(photographs, maps, line drawings, prints, graphs or charts)
• Don't use parenthetical enclosure for crediting illustrations used in your paper.
• Don't include this information on the "Works Cited" page.
• Write the information directly beneath the illustration that you have placed in your paper.
• Start with Fig. (abbreviation for Figure) and give the image a number.
• In the case of an image, write the name of the artist (last name, first name) and the “title of work”, if known, or describe piece in your own words.
• "rpt. in" stands for "reproduced in." Give the source in which it was reproduced. Follow the format for the medium: book, magazine, etc.
(photographs, maps, line drawings, prints, graphs or charts)
• Don't use parenthetical enclosure for crediting illustrations used in your paper.
• Don't include this information on the "Works Cited" page.
• Write the information directly beneath the illustration that you have placed in your paper.
• Start with Fig. (abbreviation for Figure) and give the image a number.
• In the case of an image, write the name of the artist (last name, first name) and the “title of work”, if known, or describe piece in your own words.
• "rpt. in" stands for "reproduced in." Give the source in which it was reproduced. Follow the format for the medium: book, magazine, etc.
Plagiarism
The act of presenting someone else's words or ideas as your own is called plagiarism. It is an academic offense; it is an ethical offense, and it is illegal.
Plagiarism has always been a problem in schools, but now, because of the ease of "cut and paste", digital plagiarism has become one of the downsides of the Internet. Students should be aware that there are now on-line services such as Plagiarism.org and Turnitin.com that teachers can use to automatically scan students' papers. These services highlight any portions of the text that have been lifted from an existing web source and incorporated into a student's work.
Examples of plagiarism also include using another student’s writing as your own or citing a source that you didn’t really use.
To avoid plagiarism:
///Always write your paper in your own words.
///Never quote or paraphrase material without citing the source of the material.
///Never copy or "cut and paste" from a source without using quotation marks - even if you cite it.
///It's that simple!
Plagiarism has always been a problem in schools, but now, because of the ease of "cut and paste", digital plagiarism has become one of the downsides of the Internet. Students should be aware that there are now on-line services such as Plagiarism.org and Turnitin.com that teachers can use to automatically scan students' papers. These services highlight any portions of the text that have been lifted from an existing web source and incorporated into a student's work.
Examples of plagiarism also include using another student’s writing as your own or citing a source that you didn’t really use.
To avoid plagiarism:
///Always write your paper in your own words.
///Never quote or paraphrase material without citing the source of the material.
///Never copy or "cut and paste" from a source without using quotation marks - even if you cite it.
///It's that simple!