English 1302 “To Cite or Not To Cite?” (It’s not really a question!)

An Introduction to Plagiarism and MLA Citation

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Lesson Objectives

• Learn about the concept of plagiarism, how it occurs, and if it is a problem.

• Learn the reasons for using a citation style, like MLA.

• Correctly utilize and identify MLA citation style for in-text and bibliographic citations.

What is Plagiarism?

• Merriam-Webster defines it as, “transitive senses : to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own : use (another's production) without crediting the source

intransitive senses : to commit literary theft : present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.”

•“Plagiarism”, as defined in our department policy, is, “the theft of words, phrases, sentence structures, ideas, or opinions.”

When does it occur?

Plagiarism occurs when any such information is taken from any source or person and--intentionally or unintentionally--presented or "borrowed" without mention of the source.

Plagiarism also occurs when materials from cited sources are reproduced exactly or nearly exactly but are not put in quotation marks.

Is it a problem?According to,

• Plagiarism.com, “Recent studies indicate that approximately 30 percent of all students may be plagiarizing on every written assignment they complete.”

• A Rutgers University study in 2003, “Thirty-eight percent of the undergraduate students completing the survey indicated they had engaged in one or more instances of cut & paste plagiarism using the Internet in the past year - paraphrasing or copying a few sentences of material from the Internet without citing the source.”

Avoiding Plagiarism• The best way to avoid plagiarism is to learn how to

use a citation style (like MLA) and then apply it consistently in all your work. If not, you may fail the assignment, course, or even get expelled.

Top 3 Reasons to Use Citation Styles

Avoid Plagiarism √

Gain Credibility for your work

Allow other people to learn more about your research

or

The Modern Language Association Citation Style (MLA

Citation)• MLA citation normally is used for English,

foreign language, and some humanities papers. Hence, this is very important since you will be required to use it many times in college.

MLA, like other citations styles consists of two things:

1. In-text Citations (Also called Parenthetical Citations)

2. Works Cited Page (composed of Bibliographic Entries)

**You must utilize both correctly to avoid plagiarism!

In-Text Citations

In-text citations of sources have two requirements:

1. They need to include enough information for the audience to find the source on the works cited page.

2. They need to include enough information so the audience knows where to find the borrowed material in the original source you used.

Examples

(Last Name Page #)

(Garcia 136)

Types of In-text CitationsIn-text citations can come in two main forms:

1. Author named within the signal phrase:

At one point, Cofer writes, “Growing up in a large urban center…I suffered from what I think of as cultural schizophrenia” (175).

2. Author not named within the signal phrase:

“On the other side, many Americans expressed surprise at the frequency with which French people spoke about money” (Carroll 313).

*As you can see, both styles of citations include the author’s last name and the page number.

Other forms of In-Text Citations

1. Two authors:(Johnson and Rodriguez 221)

2. Three or more authors:(York et al. 75) “et al.” means “and others”

3. A work with no page numbers (like a webpage):(Miller)

4. A work with paragraph numbers, but nopage numbers:(Flores, pars. 9-10).

5. A work by an author of two or more worksyou are citing in your paper:(Hawthorne, Scarlet Letter 92)

*You add the full title only if it is short.If it is a long title, you only use the firstone or two words.

Works Cited EntriesA Works Cited Page is composed of Works

Cited Entries, commonly called bibliographic entries. There are dozens of different types of sources, and there is an MLA work cited format for each one.

The most common formats are those for:

1. A book with one author

2. A book with two authors

3. A book with an editor

4. An article from a periodical (journals and magazines)

5. A webpage

A Book with One Author

The basic format for a book includes:1. The author’s name: Last Name, First Name.2. The book’s title, underlined: BookTitle.3. The city of Publication: CityofPublication:4. The publisher: Publisher,5. The date of publication: Year.

For example:(sample)Last, First. Book Title. City: Publisher, Year.

(example)Gilligan, Carol. In a Different Voice. Cambridge: Harvard Press, 1982.

A Book with Two+ AuthorsThe basic format for a book with two authors is nearly

identical to one with one author. You just need to add the second author’s name, but this time the second author goes First Name first, Last Name Last.

For example:

(sample)Last, First and First Last. Book Title. City: Publisher, Year.

(example)Embry, Carol and Joseph Addison. The lives of the Eighteenth Century Satirists. London: Penguin, 1796.

*Notice that when a citation does not fit on one line, the next line starts 5 spaces in from the first line.

A Book with an Editor (or two!)

The basic format for a book with an editor includes:1. The editor’s name: Last Name, First Name, (comma not a

period)

2. The abbreviation for editor (ed) or editors (eds): ed.3. The book’s title, underlined: BookTitle.4. The city of Publication: CityofPublication:5. The publisher: Publisher,6. The date of publication: Year.

For example:(sample)Last, First, ed. Book Title. City: Publisher, Year.

(example)Bloom, Harold, ed. Shakespeare’s Baudy. Stratford- upon-Avon: Globe Press, 1996.

An Article from a PeriodicalThe basic format for an article or periodical includes:1. The author’s name: Last Name, First Name.2. The article’s title in quotation marks: “ArticleTitle.”3. The title of the periodical, underlined: Journal (no period)4. The volume and/or issue: Vol.Issue 5. The year of publication in parentheses: (Year):6. The inclusive page range: starting page-ending page.

For example:(sample)Last, First. “Article Title.” Journal Vol.Issue (year): start-end page.

(example)Khan, John. “The Chinese Theatre.” Journal of Drama Studies 74.5 (2003): 145-68.

A WebpageThe basic format for a webpage includes:1. The name of the author or corporate author (if known): Last, First.2. The site’s title, underlined: SiteTitle.3. The names of any editors: Ed. First Name Last Name.4. The date of publication or last update: Day Month Year. 5. The name of any sponsoring organization: Sponsor.6. The date of your access: Day Month Year.7. The URL in angle brackets <>: <http://www.siteurl.com>.

For example:(sample)Last, First. Site Title. Ed. First Last Name. 01 Jan 1999. Sponsor. 5 May 2005. <http://www. phoenixprints.com>.

*Because webpages are unregulated, there is a great degree of variation on whether it will have all these pieces of information. If your site does not, skip that piece and move on to the next one.

Now for some practice!

Which of the following examples is a correctly formatted citation for a one author book, where the quoted material comes from page 75?

(Jones, 75) (Jones, p.75)

(Jones page 75)(Jones 75)

Correct!(Jones 75)

In text citations for one author books only contain the author’s last name and the page number. You should not put a comma, “p.” or “page.”

Next

Sorry!

In text citations for one author books only contain the author’s last name and the page number. You should not put a comma, “p.” or “page.”

Try Again? Next

Which of the following examples is a correctly formatted citation for a two author book, where the quoted material starts on page 84 and ends on page 86?

(Garica and Lo, 84-86) (Garica and Lo 84-86)

(Garica & Lo 84 to 86)(Garica & Lo 84-86)

Correct!

In text citations for two author books contain the authors’ last names separated by “and”, and the page number. When there is a range of pages, you put the starting page, a dash, and then the ending page.

Next

(Garica and Lo 84-86)

Sorry!

Try Again? Next

In text citations for two author books contain the authors’ last name and the page number. When there is a range of pages, you put the starting page, a dash, and then the ending page.

The example below is what kind of a bibliographic citation?

Erickson, Leif. “How I discovered America.” Journal of Viking Studies 24 (1991): 25-42.

Periodical Book with one author

NewspaperWebpage

Correct!

Bibliographic citations that have “” quotation marks, automatically should tell you that it is a selection in another publication. Therefore, these types of citations are either journal, magazine, or newspaper articles (all periodicals).

Next

Periodical

Sorry!

Try Again? Next

Bibliographic citations that have “” quotation marks, automatically should tell you that it is a selection in another publication. Therefore, these types of citations are either journal, magazine, or newspaper articles (all periodicals).

In the following citation, what part of it is incorrect?

Holland, Merlin, and Miller, John. The Big Book of Stories. Chicago: Altamira Press, 2000.

City 2nd Author’s Name

1st Author’s NamePublisher

Correct!

Bibliographic citations list the first author’s name “last name” first and “first name” last, but all other authors are listed “first name” first and “last name” last.

Next

2nd Author’s Name

Sorry!

Try Again? Finish

Bibliographic citations list the first author’s name “last name” first and “first name” last, but all other authors are listed “first name” first and “last name” last.

What you learned & What’s Next?

In this lesson you learned:1. about plagiarism,2. the importance of citation styles, 3. and how to use MLA citation style.

Now you should look at the following pages for good resources, and then apply what you have learned to write your fully documented research paper!

Good Luck!

Web ResourcesBesides the hyperlinked resources that can explain more about plagiarism and

its consequences, in this and the next slides there are several links that are excellent for looking up hard to find information about MLA formats.

Modern Language AssociationThis link will help you see the current version of MLA. In addition, they normally have web updates that can be downloaded and handed to students in order to help them see what has changed since the last edition (or what is shown in their book).

http://www.mla.org

Web Resources (con’t)

Diana Hacker’s WebsiteThis is the best link available for free that gives all the current formats for both in-text citations and bibliographic entries. Students should bookmark this link and use it when they are in need of extra information. It will become incredibly useful when writing papers and the needed formats are not in the book. This site also contains the formats for sources retrieved from databases like EBSCO or Infotrack. It even had a sample MLA paper so students can see what a properly formatted paper looks like.

http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/humanities/english.html

Web Resources (con’t)

NoodleToolsThere are many sites that help create bibliographic entries to a works cited page. They cannot always be trusted to create good entries, so they should be used with care. However, NoodleTools has both a subscription and a free service that will help students format a couple citations. Students can use this to check if they have done theirs correctly. It a good tool to check your work!

http://www.noodletools.com/