APPENDIX A Brief Documentation Guide for MLA In college, it is particularly important that writers let readers know which words or ideas were borrowed and from where. Known as documentation, this identification process properly and clearly indicates the use of other people s words and ideas. Improper or incomplete documentation can lead to plagiarism, a serious offense normally considered a form of cheating or fraud. When writers document sources, they must follow specific rules for citing the research materials they use. This brief guide provides the basic rules of what is called the MLA (Modern Language Association) system of documentation, which is the most common system for composition courses. This guide is not intended to cover all possible types of sources you might use, just some of the more common ones. For more information on correctly using other people s ideas, see Lessons 37 and 38, or go to Research and Documentation Online at hackerhandbooks.com/resdoc. MLA Format for In-Text Citations Provide an in-text citation every time you quote, paraphrase, or summarize a source (see Lesson 37). Your citation, which usually includes both source and page number, should appear after sentences that refer to a source. Follow the models below for examples. ONE AUTHOR Every day, around thirty-four new food products alone are introduced. The dizzying array of new items reflects a microsplitting of problems to create more must-have new solutions (Hammerslough 14). Hammerslough points out that [e]very day, around thirty-four new food products alone are introduced. The dizzying array of new items reflects a micro-splitting of problems to create more must-have new solutions (14). TWO OR THREE AUTHORS More than 90 percent of the hazardous waste produced in the United States comes from seven major industries, all energy-intensive (Romm and Curtis 70). 431
432 Appendix A: Brief Documentation Guide for MLA FOUR OR MORE AUTHORS Boys tend to get called on in the classroom more often than girls ( Oesterling et al. 243). CORPORATE AUTHOR OR GOVERNMENT PUBLICATION Physical activity has been shown to protect against certain forms of cancer either by balancing caloric intake with energy expenditure or by other mechanisms (American Cancer Society 43). UNKNOWN AUTHOR According to a recent study, drivers are 42 percent more likely to get into an accident if they are using a wireless phone while driving ( Driving Dangerously 32). Religious Work Consider the words of Solomon: If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink (New Revised Standard Bible, Prov. 25.21). SOURCE WITHOUT PAGE NUMBERS There is no definitive correlation between benign breast tumors and breast cancer (Pratt). INDIRECT SOURCE In discussing the baby mania trend, Time writers claimed, Career women are opting for pregnancy and they are doing it in style (qtd. in Faludi 106). MLA Format for a List of Works Cited At the end of your paper, you must provide a list of the sources from which you quoted, paraphrased, or summarized. Put the entire list in alphabetical order using the author s last name first and the title as it appears on the title page of the source. If your source has no author, alphabetize it by the first main word of the title. Double-space your Works Cited page. Begin each entry at the left margin and indent the subsequent lines five spaces. Books ONE AUTHOR Hammerslough, Jane. Dematerializing: Taming the Power of Possessions. Cambridge Perseus, 2001. Print.
Appendix A: Brief Documentation Guide for MLA 433 TWO OR THREE AUTHORS Douglas, Susan J., and Meredith W. Michaels. The Mommy Myth: The Idealization of Motherhood and How It Has Undermined Women. New York: Free P, 2004. Print. FOUR OR MORE AUTHORS Foster, Hal, et al. Art Since 1900. New York: Thames, 2005. Print. UNKNOWN AUTHOR National Geographic Atlas of the World. 9th ed. Washington, DC: Nat. Geographic, 2010. Print. EDITOR OR COMPILER Byrne, Patrick H., ed. Dialogue Between Science and Religion. Scranton: U of Scranton P, 2005. Print. EDITOR AND AUTHOR Ellison, Ralph. Living with Music: Ralph Ellison s Jazz Writings. Ed. Robert G. O Meally. New York: Modern, 2002. Print. EDITION NUMBERS Honderich, Ted, ed. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005. Print. ANTHOLOGY Singer, Peter, and Renata Singer, eds. The Moral of the Story: An Anthology of Ethics Through Literature. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. Print. A WORK IN AN ANTHOLOGY Roberts, Deborah. Unmasking Step-Motherhood. Rise Up Singing: Black Women Writers on Motherhood. Ed. Cecelie S. Berry. New York: Doubleday, 2004. 127 32. Print. SIGNED ARTICLE IN A REFERENCE BOOK Cheney, Ralph Holt. Coffee. Collier s Encyclopedia. 2004 ed. Print. UNSIGNED ARTICLE IN A REFERENCE BOOK Sonata. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 4th ed. 2000. Print.
434 Appendix A: Brief Documentation Guide for MLA Periodicals ARTICLE IN A MONTHLY MAGAZINE Stone, Richard. Dinosaurs Living Descendants. Smithsonian Dec. 2010: 54-62. Print. ARTICLE IN A WEEKLY MAGAZINE Luscombe, Belinda. The Myth of the Slippery Bachelor. Time 14 Dec. 2011: 51-53. Print. ARTICLE IN A JOURNAL Shaw, Adrienne. What Is Video Game Culture? Cultural Studies and Game Studies. Games and Culture 5 (2010): 403-24. Print. ARTICLE IN A NEWSPAPER Northington, Hope. Literary Capital Draws Visitors. Mobile Press- Register 7 Feb. 2011: C1. Print. UNKNOWN AUTHOR Consumer Confidence Suffers Sharper Fall Than Expected. Associated Press. New York Times 31 July 2002: C6. Print. EDITORIAL Terry Schiavo s Affliction. Editorial. Boston Globe 5 Apr. 2005: A14. Print. LETTER TO THE EDITOR Levy, Ronald. Distorted View of Israel. Letter. Boston Globe 1 Aug. 2002: A18. Print. Electronic Sources PROFESSIONAL SITE: ENTIRE WEB SITE United States Government. The White House. U.S. Govt., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2011. PROFESSIONAL SITE: SPECIFIC PAGE United States Government. Educate to Innovate. The White House. U.S. Govt., n.d. Web. 6 April 2011. Disability Services Online. Stephen F. Austin State University. SFASU, 2008. Web. 8 June 2011.
Appendix A: Brief Documentation Guide for MLA 435 PERSONAL WEB SITE Kilbourne, Jean. Home page. Jean Kilbourne, 9 Sept. 2007. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. ARTICLE FROM AN ONLINE MAGAZINE OR NEWSPAPER Greenwald, Glenn. The Art of Neoconservative Innuendo. Salon.com. Salon Media Group, 20 Sept. 2007. Web. 22 Sept. 2010. ONLINE BOOK Wharton, Edith. The Age of Innocence. New York: Windsor, 1920. Google Books. Web. 8 Nov. 2011 ARTICLE FROM AN ONLINE DATABASE Rice, Raymond J. Cannibalism and the Act of Revenge in Tudor- Stuart Drama. Studies in English Literature, 1500 1900 44.2 (2004): 297-317. Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 9 Jan. 2009. E-MAIL message Balbert, Peter. Re: The Hemingway Hero. Message to the author. 15 Mar. 2009. E-mail. posting to an online discussion Ponterio, Bob. Re: European Constitution. Foreign Language Teaching Forum. University at Buffalo, 7 Apr. 2005. Web. 9 Apr. 2010. Other Sources ADVERTISEMENT Nike. Advertisement. Vogue Nov. 2001: 94-95. Print. INTERVIEW Dole, Bob. Interview by Terry Gross. Fresh Air. Natl. Public Radio. WBUR, Boston. 12 Apr. 2005. Radio. PAMPHLET Administrative Office of the United States Courts. Bankruptcy Basics. Washington: GPO, 2006. Print. FILM OR DVD The King s Speech. Dir. Tom Hooper. Perf. Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush, and Guy Pearce. Weinstein/ Anchor Bay, 2010. DVD.
436 Appendix A: Brief Documentation Guide for MLA SOUND RECORDING Palmer, Keke. The Game Song. So Uncool. Atlantic, 2007. CD. TELEVISION OR RADIO PROGRAM Lawrence of Arabia: The Battle for the Arab World. PBS. WSRE, Pensacola, FL. 20 Sept. 2007. Television. PUBLISHED INTERVIEW Gould, Stephen Jay. Life s Work: Questions for Stephen Jay Gould. New York Times Magazine 2 June 2002: 18. Print.