MLA and AP Documentation Your step-by-step guide to avoiding plagiarism

MLA and AP DocumentationYour step-by-step guide to avoiding

plagiarism

Kristi JenkinsSomerset High School

When you are doing scholarly research, you must give credit to those whose work you are using.

One of the biggest misconceptions that young academic writers have is the belief that numerous sources indicate that you have not done any work.

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In reality, the opposite is true.

In research writing, the goal is effective synthesis and analysis of varied, reliable, timely sources.


When you begin your research, keep a running list of all the sources your information comes from. That includes all websites, books, newspapers, magazines, television shows, movies, news reports… Everything!

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=K5BvJhgHuR7krM&tbnid=I6CasOrvMpBgbM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://mutvsports.com/2009/02/10/lazar-getting-love-on-espncom/&ei=epuKU83lHOausASW5oAw&bvm=bv.67720277,d.b2k&psig=AFQjCNGn2pjTTb4BWFDqb7bgiwhQUOY2hQ&ust=1401679092996883


I recommend to my students to open a word document and keep it minimized. Each time you pull information from a website, copy and paste the URL onto the page. Don’t worry about the proper citation. You can polish it later. If you are handwriting, index cards work well, too.


You also need to mark in your text where the information comes from.

I recommend to my students to use something simple like highlighting or a numbering system that matches up to your list of sources.

Because it can be wasteful to print hardcopies of online research, I recommend you also save the cite as a favorite until you’ve complete your work.

Shakespeare was born in Stratford-On-Avon in 1564. The date is taken from baptismal records and is widely accepted as April 23.

While very little is known about the personal details of his life, scholars have pieced together a fascinating and controversial biography. Remarkably, William Shakespeare’s academic records show only completion of grammar school. There is little information until church records indicate a marriage to Anne Hathway.


www.shakespeare.org 1

www.thebard.com 2

www.elizabethanengland/bbc.com 3

222

1

3

What you have to remember here is that this is a system for you to keep track of where the information you are using is coming from.

There is no correct way. You will worry about documenting correctly at a final draft stage.

After all, in revision you may ultimately delete some early work.

http://www.shakespeare.org/

http://www.thebard.com/

http://www.elizabethanengland/bbc.com


You must cite everything! If it is not your original idea or theory, you must give credit for it. If it is not common knowledge, you must cite it. Also, do not forget that you have to cite pictures, graphs, charts, illustrations, etc.

A chart like this can be a great addition to your research. If you make the chart, great. If someone else created it, then cite it. Both APA and MLA have guidelines on how to cite artwork, charts, photos, logos, etc.


Once you are nearing final draft, you will focus on accurately documenting your sources.Documentation involves two steps: One is the Works Cited or Reference page. One is parenthetical or textual

notation.


Read the assignment carefully to be sure to use the correct documentation method. The two most widely used are MLA and APA. MLA was developed by the Modern

Language Association. In general, it is used in English, other languages, and the humanities.

APA was developed by the American Psychological Association. Because it emphasizes the date of publication, it is favored by the social, natural and biological sciences.


For young writers, it is easier to focus on the Works Cited or Reference page first because we have likely listed sources at some point in an assignment.

MLA uses a Works Cited page, which indicates that these are the books, articles, websites, documentaries etc. that are referenced within your work. APA calls this page References.


Often inexperienced writers confuse Works Cited or References with

Bibliography.

A bibliography is a list of everything that the writer read in preparing to write the piece, but some of that work may not actually be used in the writing.

Works Cited and References are not inter-changeable terms, but are specific to MLA and APA, respectively.

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It is not realistic for me to show you how to cite every possible type of source you will use. You will need to use the MLA or APA style guide, both of which are available in book format and many universities have reliable online citation guides.


The following samples show you how to cite the most common forms of publications in both MLA and APA.

There is also a reference sheet available either from your instructor or on my website.


Book Last name, First name. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.

Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin, 1987. Print.

Put the title in italics.

Medium of publication shows

if you used a printed source

like a book or an electronic source

such as a website.


Periodicals Magazine

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Medium of publication.

Buchman, Dana. "A Special Education." Good Housekeeping Mar. 2006: 143- 48. Print.

Newspaper Brubaker, Bill. "New Health Center Targets County's Uninsured Patients." Washington Post 24 May 2007: LZ01. Print.

Follow the same basic format as a magazine

except you have to

include the section of the

paper.


Websites

Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access. Use n.p. if

there is no publisher available and n.d if there is no

date.

Date of access is the

date you accessed the cite.

Davidson, Michael. The Heritage of College Football. Big Ten Conference, September 21, 2010. Web. August 10, 2014. www.bigten.org/football

The MLA does not require inclusion of the URL, but

many instructors prefer that it is included. It is

never incorrect to do so. If you

include it, place it at the end.

http://www.bigten.org/football

http://www.bigten.org/football


The Works Cited page will always be the last page. There are rules to creating a Works Cited, and those rules are non-negotiable.


.

List in alphabetical order by the first word

Works Cited is centered at the top with each word capitalized

Entries are single spaced with the hanging indent.

Do not number the entries, use bullets or dashes.


Book

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.

Gleick, J.L. (1987) Chaos: Making a New Science. New York, NY: Penguin.

The author is

listed with

initials instead of the given name.

List the city and postal

code for the state

without periods.


Periodicals Magazine Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages.

Henry, W. A., III. (1990, April 9). Making the grade in today's schools. Time, 135, 28-31.

Newspaper

Schultz, S. (2005, December 28). Calls made to strengthen state energy policies. The Country Today, pp. 1A, 2A.

If the article is printed on only one page, use

p. You use pp. to show that it spans multiple pages.

The letters indicate the section (Sports, Editorials, Lifestyle, etc.) of the paper that the article is in.

Many academic articles have more than one author. This shows you how to list multiple authors. The example below shows only one author.


Websites

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Online Periodical, volume number(issue number if available). Retrieved from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Bernstein, M. (2002). 10 tips on writing the living Web. A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites, 149. Retrieved from http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writeliving. This is

clarifying that you are using an electronic source.

The URL is listed after the word from as long as it will fit on the same line. It may

appear from these examples that you need to put the URL on its own line, but that is just due to the

font size.

http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/



http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writeliving




The References page will always be the last page. There are rules to creating References, and they are non-negotiable.


List in alphabetical order by the first word

Do not number the entries, use bullets or dashes.

References is centered

Single space entries with a hanging indent


A Works Cited or References page provides the reader only half of the needed information.


To complete documentation, you must match the information in the text to the sources. MLA calls this

parenthetical notation.

APA calls this in-text citation.


If you use a direct quote, you note the source immediately following the quote. If you paraphrase information, you note the source at the end of the paragraph.

Shakespeare was born in Stratford-On-Avon in 1564. The date is taken from baptismal records and is widely accepted as April 23 (Smith 28).

“It is remarkable how much we are forced to speculate on the life of a man of whom so many instantly recognize his image and his work” (Jones 291). Remarkably, William Shakespeare’s academic records show only completion of grammar school. There is little information until church records indicate a marriage to Anne Hathway (Smith 32).

You can see in this paragraph, the writer used

information from two different sources from the

notations.


In-text citation works the same way in APA except that you include the date of publication with the author’s name and page number. Shakespeare was born in Stratford-On-Avon in 1564. The date is taken from baptismal records and is widely accepted as April 23 (Smith, 2012, p. 28).

“It is remarkable how much we are forced to speculate on the life of a man of whom so many instantly recognize his image and his work” (Jones, 1998, p. 291). Remarkably, William Shakespeare’s academic records show only completion of grammar school. There is little information until church records indicate a marriage to Anne Hathway (Smith, 2012, p. 320.


If you use a signal phrase, you will only note the page number for MLA or the date and page number for APA. According to noted Shakespeare scholar William Jones, “It is remarkable how much we are forced to speculate on the life of a man of whom so many instantly recognize his image and his work” (291).

The AP notation would be (1998, p. 291).


Your notations in the text must match the Works Cited or References page and vice-versa.

You cannot have a piece listed as a source, but not reference it in the text, nor can you have a notation in the text that does not match anything in the Works Cited or on References page.


Plagiarism is easy. The good news is

documentation is, too.

You just have to be careful. If it is not your original observation or knowledge, then give credit.

It is academic fair play!

Plagiarism is the most serious academic crime, and the penalties are severe.

It is easier than ever to plagiarize.

It is also easy to get caught.



You are ready to write!

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Works Cited A+ Photograph. Collegeandfinance.com. Web. June 23, 2014.

APA Style Guide. Photograph. Amazon.com. Web. June 23, 2014.

Bailey, Jonathon. Viper Logo. Art. Plagiarismtoday.com. Web. June 23, 2014.

Books. Photo. Themusesantacruz.com. Web. June 23, 2014.

Cut and Paste. Art. Timeshighereduction.co.uk. Web. June 23, 2014.

ESPN.com. Photo. Techhoops.com. Web. June 23, 2014.

Gears. Animation. Wonderfulengineering.com. Web. June 23, 2014.

Half house. Art. Thewisemanconcept.com. Web. June 23, 2014.

MLA Style Guide. Photograph. Amazon.com. Web. June 23, 2014.

New York Times. Photo. Businessinsider.com. Web. June 23, 2014.

Newsweek Cover. Photo. Robyncooke-Styleguide.co.za. Web. June 23, 2014.

Pizza half. Photograph. Buyadoo.com. Web. June 23, 2014.

Referee. Photograph. Rapgenius.com. Web. June 23, 2014.

Research. Art. Cerjhu.edu. Web. June 23, 2014.

Sandal. Photo. Allwomenstalk.com. Web. June 23, 2014.

Sourceforge Logo. Art. Sourceforge.net. Web. June 23, 2014.

The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. June 23, 2014.

Turnitin Logo. Art. Currentit.PSU.edu. Web. June 23, 2014.

You Tube Logo. Art. Metalinsider.com. Web. June 23, 2014.

Documents

MLA and AP Documentation Your step-by-step guide to avoiding plagiarism