Grammar-Quizzes.com

 PRACTICE ON POINTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR

• Writing Summary
• Planning Guide
• Focus Topic
• Topic-Thesis
• Introductions
• Spatial Organization
• Copyright - Fair Use
• Fair Use Practice
• Plagiarism
• Plag Examples
• Citing Sources
• Citation Order
• Citation Practice
• Web Page Eval
• Evaluation Prac

Citing Your Sources

What is MLA Style?

 

The style recommended by the association for preparing scholarly manuscripts and student research papers concerns itself with the mechanics of writing, such as punctuation, quotation, and documentation of sources.

 

MLA style has been widely adopted by schools, academic departments, and instructors for nearly half a century. MLA guidelines are also currently used by over 125 scholarly and literary journals, newsletters, and magazines with circulations over one thousand; by hundreds of smaller periodicals; and by many university and commercial presses. MLA style is commonly followed not only in the United States but in Canada and other countries as well

 

The Modern Language Association does not publish its documentation guidelines on the Web. For an authoritative explanation of MLA style, see the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (for high school and undergraduate college students) and the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (for graduate students, scholars, and professional writers).

www.mla.org

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York:  The Modern Language Association of America. 2009. Print. 

 

Two Steps in Citing a Source

When ever you use borrowed information, you must cite its source (tell where the information came from.) There are two steps in citing a source

Step 1 :   An in-text citation — insert a short reference in the body of your paper.

Step 2:    A Works Cited page — prepare a separate page at the end of the paper. 

• Format the Works Cited page with one-inch margins (and same headings, margins and numbering used in previous pages.
• Center the words — Works Cited (no italics or quotation marks)
• Double spaced
• Indent second line
• List all pages used in a particular resource inclusively. (If pages 25 – 30 are used, list on your Works Cited pages as 25 – 30.
• For a resource entry, capitalize each word in the title except articles, prepositions and conjunctions unless it is the first word of the title: ( The Coming of Age in Samoa)

New 2009 Rules

• Include Medium of Publication:  DVD, Print, CD, Web
• URLs are no longer required for Web entries. One may be included in angled brackets: <http://www.site.com>  For long URLs, break only at slash marks (directories).
• Entries that were originally issued in print but later accessed from an online database should include the name of the online database in italics.
• Use italics instead of underlining (due to confusion with link underlines) for larger works such as books and magazines, and use quotation marks for smaller works such as articles and poems.

 

 

 

Citing Sources

In-text Citations

 

Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on the Works Cited page. The key word or phrase you provide to your readers in the text, must be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of the corresponding entry in the Works Cited List.

The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase.

 

In-text Example 

According to Hogue, he purpose of an in-text citation is to refer the reader to the works-cited list at the end of your paper. In-text citations are also called parenthetical references because they are enclosed in parentheses.  Place in-text citations immediately after the borrowed information, usually at the end  of a sentence, before the final period. (533)

or

The purpose of an in-text citation is to refer the reader to the works-cited list at the end of your paper. In-text citations are also called parenthetical references because they are enclosed in parentheses.  Place in-text citations immediately after the borrowed information, usually at the end  of a sentence, before the final period.  (Hogue 353).

The citation at the end of the sentence tells us that the information in the sentence came from page 353 of a work written by Hogue. If readers want more information about this source, they can go to the works-cited list and find this information under the name Hogue.   

 

Corresponding Listing in Works Cited 

Hogue, Ann. "The essentials of English: a writer's handbook. New York: Pearson Education, Inc. 2003. 353 – 533. Print.

 

 

 

Common Types of In-text Citations 

AUTHORS	IN TEXT CITATION
ONE AUTHOR	(Davis 64-65)
TWO OR THREE AUTHORS	(Hall and Hall 140)    If there are two or three authors, give all their names.
FOUR OR MORE AUTHORS	(Singleton et al. 345) If there are four or more authors, use the first author's name and the Latin abbreviation et al. (shortened from et al ii, "and others). Note the period after the abbreviation al.
ENTIRE ARTICLE ON ONE PAGE	(Allen)
AUTHOR ALREADY MENTIONED	(140) If you have already mentioned the author's name in the text, do not repeat the name in your citation.  For example, if you introduced the borrowed information with a phrase such as "According to Davis" or "As Hall and Hall wrote", give only the page number.
SAME AUTHOR, TWO DIFFERENT WORKS	(Tannen, Gender 220) (Tannen, You Just 47) When you use information in a paper from two different works by the same author, include a short name for each work to differentiate them. In the examples, an author named Tannen wrote two books.  The title of the first book is shortened to Gender, and the title of the second book is shorted ed to You Just.
NO AUTHOR	("Earthquakes" 212) If there is no author, use a short title in quotations marks.
ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLE	("Global Warming") For an encyclopedia article, use the author's name if you know it.  If you don't know it, use the title of the article in quotations marks.  You do not need a page number since encyclopedia articles are arranged alphabetically and your reader will be able to find the source easily.
ELECTRONIC RESOURCE	(J&J "Credo" screen 2) For an electronic source (online or CD-ROM) follow the same system as for print sources. If there are no page numbers, use whatever numbering system the source has --section number (abbreviated as "sec."), paragraph number (abbreviated as "par."), screen number--or use no number. (Hogue 355-56)

 

 

 

 

Citing Sources

Works-cited List

 

The second step in citing sources is to

• list all the sources that you actually used in your paper. (Don't include sources that you read but didn't use.)
• List them alphabetically by last name of the author or, if there is no author, by the first word of the title (disregarding A, An and The).
• Include information about each source as follows. 
• Pay close attention to punctuation and capitalization, and indent the second line five spaces
• Place at the end of the paper.  (On this web page, the citation is located at the bottom of the page.)

Common types of Work-cited citations:

 

Books |    Articles from Magazines, Journals & Newspapers |   Internet Documents

For more detailed explanations of how to use these formats, consult the official style manual for the format you are using. Ask a librarian to show you one of these books: 1) MLA Style Manual and 2) Guide to Scholarly Publishing (REF PN 147 G444 1998)
Online Citation Creator:  Warlick, David. "Son of Citation Machine." The Landmark Project, Apr 2006.Web. <http://www.citationmachine.net>  20 May 2010.

 

Books

 

Author	Title	Publisher City	Publisher Name	Year	Medium
				1962
Hitchcock, Alfred.	Alfred Hitchcock's Ghostly Gallery .	New York:	Random House,	1962.	Print.

 

1. Author's last name, first name middle initial  (followed by a period)
2. Title of Book (in italics and followed by a period)
3. City of Publication (followed by a colon)
4. Name of Publisher  (followed by a period)
5. Year of Publication (followed by a period)
6. Medium of Publication (followed by a period)

 

AUTHORS	BOOK CITATION
One author	Hitchcock, Alfred. Alfred Hitchcock's Ghostly Gallery. New York: Random       House, 1962. Print.
Two or three authors	Stewart, David W. and David H. Furse. Effective Television Advertising: A Study of 1000 Commercials. Lexington: Lexington Books, 1986. Print. 1) last name, first  2) first name last name.     List first author's last name, followed by first name, and middle initial (if any); then, second author's first name, middle initial (if any), and last name.
Four or more authors	Holloway, Susan D., et al. Through My Own Eyes: Single Mothers      and the Cultures of Poverty. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1997. Print. If there are four or more authors, use the first author's name and the Latin abbreviation et al. (shortened from et al ii, "and others). Note the period after the abbreviation al.
Editor(s) rather than author(s):	Baughman, Cynthia, ed. Women on Ice: Feminist Essays on the      Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan Spectacle. New York: Routledge, 1995. Print.

 

 

 

Articles from Periodicals

Magazines

Authors	Title	Magazine Name	Date	Pages	Medium
	"Certified Organic"
Underwood, Ann and Karen Springen.	"Certified Organic."	Newsweek	3 Sept. 2002:	70 –71.	Print.
(unknown)	"Why Our Economy is Failing."	Daily News	19 May 2010:	3 – 5.	Print.

 

1. Author's last name, first name middle initial
2. Title of Article (enclosed in quotation marks with a period before final quotation mark)
3. Title of Magazine (in italics and followed by a period)
4. Day (if given) Month (abbreviated except May, June, and July) Year:  (followed by a colon)
5. Page numbers of article (if the article is not printed on consecutive pages)   (followed by a period)
6. Medium of Publication (followed by a period)

 

Journal Articles

Authors	Title	Journal	Vol. & No.	Date	Pages	Medium
	"Effectiveness      of . . . "		Vol 288, No.11
Hodnett, et al.	"Effectiveness of Nurses as Providers of Birth Labor Support in North American Hospitals"	The American Journal of Anesthesiology	288.11	(2002):	1373-81.	Print.

1. Author's last name, first name middle initial
2. Title of Article (enclosed in quotation marks with a period before final quotation mark)
3. Title of Journal (in italics )
4. Volume
5. Year  (enclosed in parentheses and followed by a colon)
6. Page numbers of article   (followed by a period)
7. Medium of Publication (followed by a period)

 

 

 

Newspaper Articles

Author	Title	Newspaper	Date & Edition	Pages	Medium
Schevitz, Tanya.	"Universities Face Student Deluge."	San Francisco Chronicle	4 Sept. 2009 late ed.:	C12.	Print.
Bakeman, Paul.	"Tritons Win Nationals."	Peninsula Weekly [Palos Verdes, CA]	3 Dec. 2009:	A1.	Print.

1. Author's last name, first name middle initial
2. Title of Article (enclosed in quotation marks with a period before final quotation mark)
3. Name of Newspaper (in italics )
4. Date and Edition (if any)  (enclosed in parentheses and followed by a colon)
5. Page numbers of article   (followed by a period)
6. Medium of Publication (followed by a period)

 

 

Internet

Web Pages

MLA  no longer requires the use or URLs as they change often and may occur in multiple places.

If a URL is required by an employer or instructor, include the URL in angled brackets and break long URLs only after directory slashes.

 

Authors	Web Page Title	Sponsoring Agency	Date of Publication	Medium	Web Address (optional)	Date of Access
	"MLA Formatting and Style Guide "
Stolley, Karl.	"MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources (Web Publications)."	The OWL at Purdue,	2010.	Web.	<http://owl.english.purdue.edu /owl/resource/747/08//>	18 May 2010.
DeBono, Steve, Terri Rosen.	"Accidental Hero: Benefits of Forensics."	PBS - KQED,	2002.	Web.	<http://www.pbs.org/ accidentalhero/>	10 Jan. 2003.
CNN and Reuters.	"Boston Columnist Resigns Amid New Plagiarism Charges."	Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.,	19 Aug. 1998.	Web.		6 Mar. 2009.

 

1. Author's last name, first name middle initial (if available).
2. Title of Web Page (Publication) (enclosed in quotation marks with a period before final quotation mark)
3. Sponsoring Agency (followed by a comma)
4. Date of publication or date modified  (followed by a period)
5. Medium   (followed by a period)
6. Web Address (optional)
7. Date accessed   (followed by a period)

 

Music

Composer/ Writer	Title & Album	Performers	Conductor/ Producer	Distributer	Release Year	Medium
	"Title"
Beethoven, Ludwig van.	The 9 Symphonies.	Perf. NBC Symphony Orchestra.	Cond. Arturo Toscanini.	RCA,	2003.	CD.
Sting.	"Every Breath You Take." Synchonicity.	Perf. The Police	The Police, Hugh Padgham.	A & M,	1983.	Vinyl record (7").
Cobain, Kurt , et al.	"Smells Like Teen Spirit." Nevermind.	Nirvana.	Butch Vig.	Geffen,	1991.	Audiocassette.
Nirvana.	"Smells Like Teen Spirit." Nevermind.			Geffen,	1991.	CD

 

List sound recordings so that they can easily be found. Generally, citations begin with the artist name. However, they can also be listed by composers (comp.) or performers (perf.). Otherwise, list composer and performer information after the album title.

1. Composer / writier. (followed by a period)
2. Title & Album  (followed by a period)
3. Performers (optional)   (followed by a period)
4. Conductor / Producer (optional)   (followed by a period)
5. Distributor (followed by a comma)
6. Release Year  (followed by a period)
7. Medium   (followed by a period)

 

 

Movie

Title	Director	Performers	Studio / Distributer	Release Year	Medium
The Birds
The Birds	Dir. Hitchcock.	Perf. Tippi Hedron.	Universal Pictures,	1963.	Film.
Ed Wood.	Dir. Tim Burton.	Perfs. Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette.	Touchstone,	1994.	DVD.
Citizen Kane.	Dir. Orson Welles.	Perfs. Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton.	RKO Radio Pictures,	1945.	Film.

 

1. Title. (in italics)
2. Name of director   (followed by a period)
3. Performers (optional)   (followed by a period)
4. Film Studio (followed by a comma)
5. Release Year  (followed by a period)
6. Medium   (followed by a period)

 

Also see:  MLA Works Cited: Other Common Sources  Purdue Owl 

 

Resources

1. Purdue OWL. MLA Formatting and Style Guide. The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 21 Apr. 2010. Web. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/11> 20 May 2010.
2. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York:  The Modern Language Association of America. 2009. Print.