How MLA Prevents Plagiarism

…format In-Text Citations. …format my Works Cited page.

…determine if a source is valid.

For more help…

MLA Allows readers to easily and

accurately cross-reference your sources.

Provides consistent style of documentation for research papers and projects in the humanities and English fields.

MLA protects EVERYONE against plagiarism and academic dishonesty.

According to Dictionary.com, plagiarism is “the unauthorized use or close imitation of

the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's

own original work .”

Books Anthologies Journals/

Periodicals Magazines SOME Websites

› Website extensions: .org, .edu, .go

v› News Sources:

CNN, NY Times, Orlando Sentinel

Personal or Commercial Websites:› Blogs› Wikipedia› About.com› GeoCities.com› Personal

Websites› Spark Notes

Be Careful of Bias Sources!!!

Quoting a source word for word Paraphrasing a source by putting another writer’s ideas into your own words Summarizing the main points of a source in your own words

Here’s the selection of text: “She tore off the battered hat and shook out her dark pretty hair.”

Here’s the author: John SteinbeckHere’s the page number:197

Let’s say you find a quote from a text that supports your argument in your essay…

Integrate your quotes smoothly.

Soon after meeting the peddler, Elisa “tore off the battered hat and shook out her dark pretty hair” (Steinbeck 197).

Soon after meeting the peddler, Elisa “tore off the battered hat and shook out her dark pretty hair” (Steinbeck 197).

Your own words Quote from text

In parenthesis, indicate author’s last name and page #

As you can see, the citation has been smoothly incorporated into the sentence.

If a quotation extends more than 4 lines, set it off from your text by beginning a new line, indenting 1”, and typing it double-spaced, without adding quotation marks.

A colon ( : ) generally introduces the quote. The in-text citation comes at the end of the last line of the quotation.

If the block quote is in the middle of the paragraph, continue the paragraph on a new line without indenting.

At the conclusion of Lord of the Flies, Ralph and the other boys realize the

horror of their actions:

The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them

now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that

seemed to wrench his whole body. His voice rose under the black smoke

before the burning wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the

other little boys began to shake and sob too. (168)

The Basics

The Works Cited page should be its own page at end of your essay

Label the page Works Cited. Do not italicize, underline or put the words Works Cited in quotations.

Entries are listed alphabetically.

Double space all citations.

Indent the subsequent line of each citation five spaces, so you create a hanging indention.

From a BookAuthor last name, First name. Title of book. City of

Publication: Publishing Company, Year Published. Print.

Once you’ve established the format for each entry, it’s just a matter of plugging in the correct information.

Johnson, Roberta. Gender and Nation in the Spanish Modernist Novel. Nashville: Vanderbilt UP, 2003. Print.

Book titleAuthor’s last name and first name

City of publication Publishing company Year published

From an AnthologySelection Author last name, First name: “Title of

Selection.” Title of Anthology. Editor of Anthology. City of Publication: Publishing Company, Year Published. Page numbers of selection. Print.

Now, let’s plug in the information. Also, take notice the indentions in the entry.

More, Hannah. “The Black Slave Trade: A Poem.” British Women Poets of the Romantic Era. Ed. Paula R. Feldman. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1997. 472-82. Print.

Selection author last name, first name Title of selection Title of anthology

Editor of anthology City of publication

Publishing company Year published Page numbers of selection

From an Article on an Online Database

Author Last name, First name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal. Version number and Issue Number (Year of Publication): Page numbers of Article. Title of Database. Web. Date Accessed.

Tolson, Nancy. “Making Books Available: The Role of Early Libraries, Librarians, and Booksellers in the Promotion of African American Children’s Literature.” African American Review 32.1 (1998): 9-16. JSTOR. Web. 5 June 2008.

Author last name, first nameTitle of article

Title of journal Version # and Issue #

Year of publication

Page numbers of article

Title of database Date YOU accessed article

For a more comprehensive list about the various MLA documentation formats, go to the Valencia College Library website.

http://valenciacollege.edu/library/documentation.cfm

Here, you will find style guides for both MLA and APA formats.

Once you’ve found your source guide, it’s just a matter of plugging in the appropriate information.

Works Cited

Blocker, Clyde E., Robert H. Plummer, and Richard C. Richardson, Jr. The

Two-Year College: A Social Synthesis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-

Hall, 1965. Print.

It’s a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. Perf. James Stewart, Donna Reed,

Lionel Barrymore, and Thomas Mitchell. RKO, 1946. Film

Picasso, Pablo. Guernica. 1937. Museum of Mod. Art, Spain.

Piper, Andrew. “Rethinking the Print Object: Goethe and the Book of

Everything.” PMLA 121.1 (2006): 124-38. Print.

Quade, Alex. “Elite Team Rescues Troops Behind Enemy Lines.” CNN.com.

Cable News Network, 19 March 2007. Web. 15 May 2008.

Text resources:› MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th Edition.› Brief McGraw-Hill Handbook 2009 MLA Update, Student

Edition

Valencia Communications Student Support Centers (Click the link to find your nearest location)

Online resources:› Valencia Library MLA Resource Pagehttp://valenciacollege.edu/library/documentation.cfm

› OWL Purduehttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/

East Campus, 4-120http://valenciacollege.edu/east/academicsuccess/writing/

Winter Park Campus, Room 136http://www.valenciacollege.edu/wp/cssc/

West Campus, 5-155http://valenciacollege.edu/west/lss/communications/writing.cfm

Osceola Campus, 3-100http://valenciacollege.edu/osceola/learningcenter/writing.asp