Merced County ROP MLA Documentation in Research Papers The Purpose of Documentation 1) to identify (cite) other people s ideas and information used within your essay or term paper, 2) to indicate the authors or sources of these in a Works Cited list at the end of your paper. Citation Principles for Essays and Term Papers Avoiding Plagiarism Quotations, paraphrases, and ideas from someone else s work must be identified (cited) within essays, term papers, and any other written assignments. The original author or source must be named and quoted material must be either set within quotation marks or in a block format as described below. Citing Sources Within Your Paper Whenever you use a quotation from an author, or summarize or paraphrase a person s ideas or research, you must identify (cite) the source. The citation is written within parentheses ( ) at the end of the quoted or paraphrased piece and shows: the last name of the author(s) of the work, unless already stated, or the first few words of the Works Cited list entry (usually the title) if the author is not known the page number (if available) if the quotation or paraphrase was taken from a non- Web, printed source. How to Cite Short Quotations (4 typed lines or fewer) When you incorporate a direct quotation into a sentence, you must cite the source. The examples which follow include a quotation taken from page 8 in a book by Floyd Bertram: Bertram states, The learning module enabled students to overcome the difficulties associated with the transition into college (8). OR The conclusion is that the learning module enabled students to overcome the difficulties associated with the transition into college (Bertram 8). How to Cite Long Quotations (more than 4 typed lines) If the quotation will run to more than 4 lines of type in your paper, you must use a block format in which the quotation is indented 1 inch from the left margin no quotation marks. How to Cite Summaries or Paraphrases Even if you put information in your own words by summarizing or paraphrasing, you must cite the original author or researcher. For example, a paraphrase of Bertram s earlier quotation might be identified as follows: The information helped students adjust to college (Bertram 8). OR Bertram states that this information helped students adjust to college (8). C:\DOCUME~1\GOMES.L\DESKTOP\MLAAND~1\MERCED~1.DOC 1
Some Tips for MLA Citation If the author s name is unavailable, use the title of the article or book or Web source, including the appropriate capitalization and quotation mark/underlining/italics format. EXAMPLE: ( Asthma Rates Increasing C4) Use and between multiple authors, but for more than 3 authors name only the first, followed by et al. EXAMPLE: (Smith and Jones 391) e.g. (Brown et al. 14) Fit quotations within your sentences, making sure the sentences are grammatically correct. Where you need to leave out part of a quotation to make it fit grammatically or because it contains irrelevant and/or unnecessary information, insert ellipses. If you must add or slightly change words within a quotation for reasons of grammar or clarity, surround the change with square brackets. EXAMPLE: Brown argued we [need to] base our decisions on these results (12). Access the MLA Website (www.mla.org) and select MLA Style and then FAQ for current information on documenting Internet sources. Sample Paragraph Over the past ten years, researchers in the field of cognitive psychology have examined the study strategies employed by students, for example, comprehension monitoring, and note-taking schemes. However, in a personal interview, Foley reported that the majority of these studies have focused on the learning strategies of college students in the United States, in Europe and in the Commonwealth nations. Other researchers have agreed and have stated, few efforts have involved a determination of study... strategies employed by college students outside of the western democracies or the Commonwealth nations (Smith and Jones 82). Downing, Carter and McManus noted few activities involve a comparison of the behaviors of study across nations (154). Yet Brown pointed out the following: Through cross-national investigation we can often view our national practices [sic] from new positions. Moreover, as we learn more about how students study in different parts of the world, we may also begin to see how cultural, political, and educational factors influence learning. (15) C:\DOCUME~1\GOMES.L\DESKTOP\MLAAND~1\MERCED~1.DOC 2
Tips for Your Works Cited (See the Sample Works Cited Page and Explanation of Works Cited Listings on page 4 of this handout.) Works Cited starts on a separate page at the end of your paper. Only those sources you have cited within your paper should be included as entries in Works Cited. The list is double-spaced. The first line of each entry is flush-left and subsequent lines are indented ½-inch (hanging indent). The list is in alphabetical order. The author s last name, if known, is the first piece of information in each entry. The order of information, formatting, and punctuation within each entry are important. (Note: Underlining is generally still used in MLA format but is equivalent to italics.) Sample Works Cited Page Works Cited Asthma Rates Increasing. Winnipeg Free Press 12 Dec. 1999: C4+. Australia. Bureau of Statistics. Suicide Rates among Teenagers. Canberra: Bureau of Statistics, 2002. Behavior. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Ed. Wentworth Morris. Boston: Houghton, 1993. Bertram, Floyd. The Tragedy of Youth. 2nd ed. New York: Macmillan, 2002. Brown, Kate L. Attitude and Change in College Students. Canadian Journal of Sociology 10.2 (1999): 10-15. Downing, Lyn, James C. Carter, and Thomas Mans. Students in Our Midst. Toronto: Doubleday, 2001. Foley, Peter. Personal interview. 24 July 2002. Haverson, Timothy M., Joan Wark, and Anne Wong. Pseudoscience and Antiscience. American Psychologist 53.2 (1999). 174-75. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Mount Royal College Lib., Calgary, AB. 20 Jan. 2002. North - Further Problems. n.d. 6 Nov. 2001 <http://klinzhai.iuma.com/~dreuss/seuss/zax.meta.html>. Smith, Fiona M., and Wendy Jones. The College Student. Cross-Cultural Education. Ed. Charles Wood. London, ON: MacMillan, 2002. 75-105. C:\DOCUME~1\GOMES.L\DESKTOP\MLAAND~1\MERCED~1.DOC 3
Sample References for Books One author / edition is stated Bertram, Floyd. The Tragedy of Youth. 2nd ed. New York: Macmillan, 2002. Two or more authors Downing, Lyn, James C. Carter, and Thomas Mans. Students in our Midst. Toronto: Doubleday, 2001. More than three authors / alternative format Hacker, Maria E., et al. The Two-Year College: A Social Synthesis. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice, 1999. Multivolume work Churchill, Winston S. A History of the English-Speaking Peoples. 4 vols. New York: Dodd, 1956. The Bible and other sacred writings The Holy Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondermann, 1978. Sample References: Articles or Chapters in Edited Books or Encyclopedia Chapter with known author(s) in an edited book Smith, Fiona M., and Wendy Jones. The College Student. Cross-Cultural Education. Ed. Charles Wood. London, ON: MacMillan, 2002. 75-105. Article or definition in an encyclopedia, author unknown Russian. The Encyclopedia Americana. 1994 ed. Article or definition in a dictionary, author unknown, on CD-ROM Raphael. The Canadian Oxford Dictionary. CD-ROM. Toronto: Oxford UP, 1998. Sample References: Periodical and Journal Articles Journal article with one author Brown, Kate L. Attitude and Change in College Students. Canadian Journal of Sociology 10.2 (1999): 10-15. Journal article with more than one author, accessed via a library-subscription, full-text database Haverson, Timothy M., Joan Wark, and Anne Wong. Pseudoscience and Antiscience. American Psychologist 53.2 (1999): 174-75. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Mount Royal College Lib., Calgary, AB. 20 Jan. 2002. Newspaper article, author unknown, multiple pages Asthma Rates Increasing. Winnipeg Free Press 12 Dec. 1999: C4+. Magazine article Rose, Michelle. Trends in Education. Maclean s 18 July 1997: 42-43. C:\DOCUME~1\GOMES.L\DESKTOP\MLAAND~1\MERCED~1.DOC 4
Sample References: Internet Sources Website with one author King, Lynn. Dragons and Mythological Beasts. 1993. 6 Sept. 2002 < http://www.cave.org/dragons.htm>. Website, author unknown, no date North - Further Problems. n.d. 6 Nov. 2001 <http://klinzhai.iuma.com/~dreuss/seuss/zax.meta.html>. Article or definition in an encyclopedia, author unknown, found by web search Masks. Britannica Online. Mar.1997. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 15 May 2002 <http://www.eb.com:180>. Electronic newspaper article found by web search (not from a library-subscription, fulltext database) L Abbé, Sonnet. Three Out of the Box. Globe and Mail 17 July 2004. 21 July 2004 <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/articlenews/tpstory/lac/20040717/bkpoe M17//?query=poem>. Electronic journal article, found by web search (not from a library-subscription, fulltext database) Denning, Peter J. Business Designs for the New University. Educom Review 31.6 (1996). 23 Apr. 2002 <http://educom.edu/web/pubs/review/reviewarticles/31620.html>. Sample References: Other Kinds of Resources Government report Alberta. Alberta Health. Proposals for Day Care. Edmonton: Alberta Health, 1989. (Note: The publisher is the same as the author.) Government report with identified author, found as full-text by web search Sosiak, Al. Evaluation of Recent Trends in Water Quality in the Elbow River Upstream from Glenmore Reservoir. Alberta Environment, Water Sciences Branch. 1999. 14 Aug. 2002. <http://www3.gov.ab.ca/env/water/reports/elbow River Trends>. ERIC document / not previously published Strieff, Paul R. Criteria for Designing Evaluation of TESOL Programs. ERIC, 1970. ED 140 385.7 599. (Note: The Document Reproduction Service number is key to finding the document.) Review of a movie, in a journal Kauffmann, Stanley. A New Spielberg. Rev. of Schindler s List, dir. Steven Spielberg. New Republic 13 Dec. 1993: 30. Audiovisual media Creation vs. Evolution: Battle of the Classroom. Dir. Ryall Wilson. Videocassette. PBS Video, 1992. (Note: For videos, the producer and director must be identified.) C:\DOCUME~1\GOMES.L\DESKTOP\MLAAND~1\MERCED~1.DOC 5
Course website / Blackboard site Reynolds, Walter. EDUC 1212 Pedagogy. Key Points page. Sept. 2003-Dec. 2003. Humanities Dept., MRC. 14 Sept. 2003 <http://courseware.mymrc.ca/courses/1/educ-1212-081_pedagogy_200304/content/_82391_1/key_points.doc>. NOTES: C:\DOCUME~1\GOMES.L\DESKTOP\MLAAND~1\MERCED~1.DOC 6