MLA 7 Documentation Guide Table of Contents Click on a section title to go directly to the section or scroll from top to bottom. The Works Cited Page Format General Guidelines for Works Cited Entries Works Cited Formats for Print Sources Works Cited Formats for Computer Sources Works Cited Format for Other Sources General Guidelines for Internal (or Parenthetical) Citations Prepared for McNicholas High School students with help from Purdue OWL and Indiana University Writing Center September 2010 1
MLA Documentation 7th Edition The purpose of documentation is three-fold: 1. to give credit to one s sources 2. to establish the credibility of one s sources 3. to provide a path to each individual source In fact, the writer s job is to offer enough information on the works cited page and in the text so that readers can find the sources themselves. There are two basic elements of documentation: 1. the works cited page and 2. the internal (or parenthetical) citations. Internal citations signal to the reader that you have borrowed information from a source and direct the reader to the works cited page. The works cited page then gives the reader the publication information he/she needs to establish source credibility and to find the source if desired. Therefore, each source that is used in the body of the paper should be listed on the works cited page, and, conversely, each source on the works cited page should be referenced in the body of the paper. The Works Cited Page Format 1. Center the title Works Cited (12 pt. with no quotation marks around the word, no bold, no italics) at the top of the page. 2. Arrange the sources in alphabetical order by the first thing that appears in the works cited entry. This is usually the last name of the author or (if no author is given) the first important word of the title (not a, an, or the). 3. Double space everything on the works cited page, even though the examples shown here are single spaced to conserve paper. 4. Use hanging indent for the entries. The first line of each entry starts at the left margin, while all subsequent lines of each entry are indented ½ inch. To set the hanging indent, right click to get to the paragraph menu. Under indentation, special, choose hanging and 0.5. 5. Create the works cited page as a separate page, following the last page of the body of the document and paginated with the rest of the paper. That is, if the paper ends on page 5, the works cited page would be identified as page 6. 6. Text should be 12 pt. Times New Roman (or similar font). 7. Click here to view a sample works cited page from the Purdue Online Writing Lab. General Guidelines for Works Cited Entries 1. Each entry on the works cited page contains several parts: author, title, publication information, medium of publication, and for electronic sources only date of access. Specific examples are shown below. Pay particular attention to formatting and punctuation. 2
2. If a format calls for an author but there is no author listed on your source, skip it and begin with the title. If there is no publisher or date available, put n.p. in the place where the publisher should be and n.d. where the date should be. If there are no page numbers given, put n. pag. in the place where the pages should be. 3. Months are abbreviated in MLA style, except for May, June, and July. 4. Medium of publication for all print sources is Print. 5. If you have two or more works by the same author, follow the appropriate format for the type of source. Leave first source by that author as is, replace author name on additional sources with three hyphens and a period. Alma, Jean. Ferry Boats and Fairy Tales. Greentree, 1996. Print. - - -. Origin of the Fairy Tale. Bantam Books, 1998. Print. Works Cited Formats for Print Sources Listed below are the most commonly used formats. For additional formats (including government publications, videos, pamphlets, voice recordings, etc.), visit the Purdue Online Writing Lab. 1. Book with one author Author s lastname, Firstname. Title of the Book. Publisher s name, publication date. Ludlum, Robert. The Bourne Supremacy. Bantam, 1986. Print. 2. Book with two or three authors Author s Lastname, Firstname, and Firstname Lastname. Title of Book. Publisher s name, publication date. Gesell, Arnold, and Frances L. Smith. Child Development: An Introduction to the Study of Human Growth. Harper, 1949. Print. 3. Book with four or more authors 3
If there are more than three authors, you may choose to list all the authors in the order in which their names appear on the title page as above in Book with two or three authors OR you can list only the first author followed by the phrase et al. (Latin for "and others") in place of the subsequent authors' names. (Note that there is a period after al in et al. Also note that there is never a period after the et in et al. ) Author s Lastname, Firstname of first author listed et al. Title of Book. Publisher s name, publication date. Gilman, Sam, et al. Hysteria beyond Freud. U of California P, 1993. Print. 4. Work with an editor Author s Lastname, Firstname. Title of the Book. Ed. Firstname Lastname of editor. Publisher s name, publication date. Dreiser, Theodore. Sister Carrie. Ed. Kenneth S. Lynn. Rinehart, 1959. Print. 5. Article in an academic/scholarly journal Author s lastname, Firstname. Title of the article. Title of the Journal. Volume. Issue (Date published): pages. [Note: this is from volume 92, issue 6, year 1983, pages 30-37.] Posen, Sheldon. Brooklyn s Dancing Tower. Natural History 92.6 (1983): 30-37. Print. 6. Article in a magazine (weekly) Author s lastname, Firstname. Title of the article. Title of the Magazine Day Month Year Published: pages. Miller, Tyler. The Vietnam War: The Executioner. Newsweek 13 Nov. 1978: 70. Print. 7. Article in a magazine (monthly) 4
Author s lastname, Firstname. Title of the article. Title of the Magazine Month Year Published: pages. Amelar, Sarah. Restoration on 42nd Street. Architecture Mar. 1998: 146-50. Print. 8. Article in a newspaper If there is more than one edition available for that date (as in an early and late edition of a newspaper), identify the edition following the date (e.g., 17 May 1987, late ed.). If the newspaper is a less well-known or local publication, include the city name and state in brackets after the title of the newspaper (e.g., Post and Courier [Charleston, SC]). Author s lastname, Firstname. Title of the article. Title of the Newspaper Day Month Year Published: pages. Brubaker, Bill. "New Health Center Targets County's Uninsured Patients." Washington Post 24 May 2007: A4. Print. 9. Article in an encyclopedia or other alphabetically-arranged reference book Title of Article. Title of Book. Edition or Date. Japan. The Encyclopedia Americana. 2004 ed. Print. Works Cited Formats for Computer Sources 1. Whenever possible, follow the guidelines for print sources (author, title, publication information), followed by specific information about the electronic path. That additional information must include the date on which you accessed the site because electronic sources may change and/or disappear. Academic journal format from above. Day Month Year Accessed. Denning, Peter J. Business Designs for the New University. Educom Review 31.6 (1996). Web. 23 June 1998. 5
2. MLA 7 does not require a URL as this designation is often unwieldy and difficult to enter, and the other information provided should lead the reader to the source. If a teacher requires the URL, add it in carets at the end of the entry (e.g. <www.mcnhs.org/news.html>). Be sure to remove any hyperlink that Word tries to create for you by right-clicking and choosing Remove Hyperlink. 3. Medium of publication for anything found via the internet is Web. 4. Work from an online service or database Most of the databases from the McNicholas Library have a citation tool that will create a works cited entry for a specific source for you. Be sure to choose MLA 7 as your documentation style. You can then copy/paste the entry into your works cited page or bibliography, but make sure that you format according to the page-formatting guidelines above (i.e. hanging indent, double-space, etc.)! Cite articles from online databases (e.g. Student Resource Center, Newsbank, World News Digest) and other subscription services just as you would print sources but add the title of the database italicized and the date of access. Note: Previous editions of the MLA Style Manual required information about the subscribing institution (name and location). This information is no longer required by MLA. Applicable print format from above. Title of Database. Day Month Year Accessed. Nelson, Nathan. Nature's Rotary Electromotors. Science 29 Apr. 2005: 642-44. Science Online. Web. 5 Mar. 2009. 5. A Web Site (as a whole) Only list an author, editor or compiler if there is an individual(s) named. Do not include an organization as author. The exception to this is a government document. See Purdue Online Writing Lab for information on government documents. Lastname, Firstname of editor, author, or compiler. Title of Site. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), Date of resource creation. Day Month Year of Access. Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory. Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003. Web. 10 May 2006. 6. Individual Page on a Web Site 6
Only list an author, editor or compiler if there is an individual(s) named. Do not include an organization as author. The exception to this is a government document. See Purdue Online Writing Lab for information on government documents. Lastname, Firstname of editor, author, or compiler. Title of Page. Title of Site. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), Date of resource creation. Day Month Year of Access. Howard, Daniel. "How to Make Vegetarian Chili." ehow.com. ehow, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2009. 7. Email (including email interview) Lastname, Firstname of author of message. Subject Line. Message sent to Firstname Lastname. Day Month Year sent. Neyhart, David. "Re: Online Tutoring." Message to Joe Barbato. 1 Dec. 2000. E-mail. Works Cited Formats for Other Sources 1. Personal Interview Personal interviews refer to those interviews that you conduct yourself. If you conduct an interview via email, follow the format for email included above in computer sources. Lastname, Firstname of interviewee. Personal interview. Day Month Year. Punner, Pete. Personal interview. 1 Dec. 2000. 7
General Guidelines for Internal (or Parenthetical) Citations 1. Each time you use a piece of information from an outside resource in the text of your paper, you must include an internal or parenthetical citation. This signals to the reader that the information is not yours and directs him/her to the works cited page. 2. The source information required in a parenthetical citation depends upon the source s entry on the works cited page. A citation includes the first thing that appears in the works cited entry, plus a page number if there is one. Often the first thing in an entry is the author s last name, but not always. Place a citation in parenthesis at the end of a sentence BEFORE the final punctuation. ex. (Smith 132). 3. Retain punctuation from the works cited page in your citation. In other words, if something is in quotes on your works cited page, it should be in quotes in your citation. If something is in italics on your works cited page, it should be in italics in your citation. 4. If a work has two or three authors, use all last names in citation. ex. (Taylor and Johnson 65). If work has 4 or more authors, use first author plus the abbreviation et al. ex. (Jones et al. 78). 5. If what should appear in the citation already appears in the sentence you are citing, remove that information from your citation. 6. If you are using a quote from someone other than the author of the work, put the abbreviation qtd. in in front of your standard citation. ex. (qtd. in Smith 132). 7. Use ethics in determining when to cite by remembering to give credit where credit is due. You do not need to cite familiar proverbs, well-known quotations or common knowledge. Remember, this is a rhetorical choice, based on audience. If you're writing for an expert audience of a scholarly journal, for example, they'll have different expectations of what constitutes common knowledge. 8