MLA Presentation Text Version

• Documenting your sources shows you have done your research and formed opinions based on facts. With documentation, your reader sees you have held yourself accountable for reaching an informed conclusion.

• Documenting your sources helps you avoid plagiarism and credit your sources for their original ideas. Plagiarism is a serious offense, as it can result in not receiving credit for an assignment, being dismissed from a university or college, or, in severe cases, can result in a large fine or jail time. As you can see, documentation is very important.

There are really two types of MLA documentation we are interested in right now:

• Internal documentation
• External documentation

Internal documentation uses:

• parenthetical citation: is documentation, contained within parentheses at the end of a sentence, of the author and source for. Used in MLA style of documentation.

• signaling phrases: means the inclusion, within a sentence, of the author or source's name—generally, at the start of the sentence. Examples: "According to Maggie Smith, " or "In To Kill a Mockingbird."

External documentation uses:

works cited, which is documentation at the end of your paper listing the sources you have referenced within your paper.

When to Cite Information

What makes citing tricky is it is tough to know when to cite and sometimes it is difficult to find an author's name. For example, you must give credit to the author for any idea that is not common knowledge. This includes paraphrasing or summarizing the information.

If the fact is generally known by many people, you do not have to give credit to an author/source. If you wrote "In 1776, the Declaration of Independence voiced the freedoms sought by the Colonists," you would not need to give a source. Most people already know what the Declaration of Independence was, and when it was written.

Internal Documentation

As stated previously, there are two ways you may give credit to a source within your paragraphs: signaling phrases and parenthetical citations.  

Signaling phrases such as "According to Stacy Brown," or "Brown states that…" are used to include the name of the author within the sentence. It is appropriate to include a page number in parentheses ( ) at the end of the sentence.

Parenthetical citations use parentheses, ( ), to include the author's name and page number at the end of a sentence.

What do you do if you cannot find an author's name? First, look more closely. Authors' names for articles on web sites and in encyclopedias often appear at the very end of the article (and in small print).

If you have searched carefully and still cannot find an author for the information, you may use the name of the source instead. For example, you might write "According to Pamplona Today," or "Pamplona remains one of the world's most popular tourist attractions due to the exciting and brutal nature of the running of the bulls (Pamplona Today, 80)."

Some out of the ordinary examples:

• more than one author with the same name
  
  (M. Shelley, 224) (P. Shelley, 321)

• more than one work with the same name
  
  (Joyce, Portrait 132) (Joyce, Ulysses 312)

• citing an indirect source
  
  (Taylor, qtd. in Johnson 2:450)

Citing Electronic Sources Internally

When citing parenthetically, always use the author’s name first. If it is not available, use the article title. If it is not given, use the title of the website. Note: Article titles are put in quotation marks, while the title of a website is placed in italics or underlined.

When using signaling phrases, use the name of the author in the signaling phrase, and then give the page number at the end of the sentence, in parentheses. If there is no pagination, place the article title in parentheses. If the article title is not given, use the title of the website.

Citing Electronic Sources for the Works Cited Page

When citing your electronic source in your works cited page, record as much information as possible. Take a look at the following example:

 Rayburn, Kevin. "1920s Timeline." The 1920s. 2 January 2000   
<http://homer.louisville.edu/~kprayb01/1920s.html >.

The name of the author comes first, with the last name followed by the first name. Note the punctuation used: with the comma between the last and first name and the period after the last name.

Next, the article name is included and placed in quotation marks, with the period residing inside the quotation marks.

The name of the website is then recorded, underlined, and followed by a period.

The date the information was accessed is important to document. It clues your reader in to how current your research is.

Lastly, the Web address (url) is provided to help readers access any information in which they might be interested. 

Formatting the Works Cited Page

The works cited page gives the information a reader might need if they are interested in locating your source. In order to help someone locate the sources you have used, organize the page according to MLA style.

• List each source in alphabetical order.

• Do not put numbers next to the list of entries.

• Double line spaces between each entry. Single line spacing within each entry.

• Indent five spaces for second line of each entry.

• All one font, all the same normal size. Do not use multiple sizes or styles of fonts.

• Works cited page must have a page number in upper right corner, the same as all other pages.

• The words Works Cited are normal size font, centered, not underlined, not boldface in quotes.

Formatting the Research Paper

The old adage “dress for success” is true. In order for your paper to be a success, it has to be organized and laid out in a fashion that makes it easy for your readers to access your information. This slide gives you the criteria for creating a document that is easy on the eyes. 

• page number (with your name) on every page
• double line space for all lines, including heading
• centered title, but no boldface, no underlining all caps, no quotation marks
• five -spaces indents at first line of each paragraph
• margins = 1 inch, with page number one-half inch from top

It is necessary to create your paper in a word processing document and attach it as a file, so you can include all of these numbering and spacing requirements. If you do not know how to create and attach a word processing document as a file, please contact your instructor for directions.

When you come across something you are unsure how to format or cite, take a look at the following for help. When in doubt, look it up!

1. easybib.com
   
   
   • The Easybib site helps you to create a works cited page by having you fill in information about your source. Once you fill in the information, the site formats the entry for you.

2. University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center site http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocMLA.html
   
   
   • The University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center is a site offering many examples of formatting and citing specific types of sources. The link provided will take you directly to the page with more information on works cited pages and internal documentation. The home page for this writing center offers other examples of writing you may be interested in, as well.

3. Perrine’s Structure, Sound, and Sense pp 23-31
   
   
   • Perrine’s (the text for this class) offers some great examples of documenting sources and provides a nice example of a  works cited page.

If you have not started writing your research paper, now is the time. If you have begun your writing, be sure to cite appropriately—and when in doubt, look it up! Happy writing!