The MLA FormatAvoiding Plagiarism and Documenting Sources

Adapted by Amy Gibson for HHS from :Amy Ferguson

Richland College LibraryFall 2009

Goals• Use proper MLA in-text documentation• Prepare a properly formatted Works Cited

list.• Understand how and why to avoid plagiarism.

A+

What is the MLA Format?

See “Essentials of

the MLA Format”

Handout.

The Format

The Works Cited Page

I will show you online resources to help with formatting!

Why Must We Cite Our Sources?

To lend authority and credibility to our work.

To allow readers to cross-reference your sources easily

To provide consistent format for writing papers within a discipline

To acknowledge our academic debtsAvoid Plagiarism

PLAGIARISM

To plagiarize is to give the impression that you have written or thought something that you

have borrowed from someone else.

From the Latin

word plagiarius —

kidnapper

Why Does Plagiarism Matter?

You may fail your class or

be expelled.

Plagiarism in your professional career can result in being sued, fired, and publicly embarrassed.

Cite your Sources!

1. Provide in-text documentation

2. Provide a citation in the “Works Cited” list for every source cited in the paper.

You Must Cite Your Source When…

Quoting any words that are not your own

Summarizing facts and ideas from a source

Paraphrasing a source

When using factual information

that is not common knowledge

COMMON KNOWLEDGE:

Examples: General Custer lost the battle at Little Big

Horn.

Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States, was born in 1804 and died in 1869.

Information that appears in 5 or more sources

Anatomy of a Citation

Cooper, Mary H. “Global Warming Update.” CQ Researcher 1 Nov. 1996: 1-24. Print.

“Early Warning Sings: Spreading Disease.” Global Warming. Union of Concerned Scientists, n.d. Web. 27 Aug. 2009.

McKibben, Bill. The End of Nature. New York: Anchor, 1989. Print.

Medium

• Just added to the new MLA guidelines: Must state the medium of each source

• “Web” does not necessarily mean website

• Print, Web, Film, DVD, Radio, Television, Photograph, Interview, Lecture, email, PDF file, MS Word file, JPEG file, MP3 file,

Citing a Book

Becker, Gary S. "The Age of Human Capital." Education in the Twenty-first Century. Ed. Edward P. Lazear. Staford: Hoover, 2002. 3-8. Print.

Author. “Chapter of Book.” Title of Book. Name of Editor. Volume. Series. Imprint. Page Numbers. Additional info. Medium.

Citing a Magazine Article

Whitley, Glenna. “Duel on the Nile.” D Magazine Feb. 1989: 64-67+. Print.

Author. “Title of the article.” Title of Magazine Date: Pages. Medium.

Image SourcesTime Cover: http://images.google.com/hosted/lifeNewsweek Cover: http://www.flickr.com/photos/forallofus/

Newspaper Articles

Birnbaum, Mary C. “Information-Age Infants: Technology Pushes the Frontiers of What Babies Know.” Dallas Morning News 23 Aug. 1994: 5C. Print.

Author. “Title of Article.” Title of Newspaper Date: Edition: Section and Page Numbers. Medium.

Image: Newspapers 2 by Arjun Kartha from www.sxc.hu

Citing a Journal Article

Author. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Date): Page Numbers.

Badami, Mary Kenny. “A Feminist Critique of Science Fiction.” Extrapolation 18.1 (1976): 236-59.

Image by James w Davis from en.wikipedia.org

Articles from Full- Text Databases

Citation. Database. Medium. Date of Access.

Best, Michel. "Global Warming: Ignorance Is

Not Bliss.“ Time Magazine. June 2001:

10. EBSCOHOST. Web. 20 July 2003

Citing Web Sources

Author. “Title of Page.” Additional Info. Title of Site. Date. Page Numbers. Publisher. Medium. Access Date.

Newhall, Brent P. "Beowulf." Encyclopedia Mythica. 17 Mar. 2002. Web. 20 Sep. 2005

Parenthetical (In-Text) Documentation

• Points to the specific source in your Works cited list and the location of information in source

• Provide– The Author (or Title)– Page number

Parenthetical Documentation

The education and ability of the people provide the United States with its greatest asset (Becker 3).

Source:Becker, Gary S. "The Age of Human Capital." Education in the

Twenty-first Century. Ed. by Edward P. Lazear. Staford: Hoover,

2002. 3-8. Print.

According to Gary S. Becker, human capital is the greatest form of capital in the 21st century (3).

Rules for Long Quotations

• For quotations of 4 or more lines : Start on a new line, with the entire quote indented one inch from the left margin; maintain double-spacing. Omit quotation marks.

• Your parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark.

• When quoting verse, maintain original line breaks.

Long Quotation example

Nelly Dean treats Heathcliff poorly and dehumanizes him throughout her narration:

They entirely refused to have the dog in bed with them, or even in their room, and I had no more sense, so, I put it on the landing, hoping it would be gone on the morrow. By chance, it crept to Mr. Earnshaw's door, and there he found it. Inquiries were made as to how it got there; I was obliged to confess, and in recompense for my cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of the house. (Bronte 78)

What if the source doesn’t have an author?

Most college graduates earn at least 23 percent more than those with just a high school diploma ("Rising" 35).

Source:

"The Rising Value of a College Education." Presidency. Sping 2004:

35. Print.

No page number?

Just skip it!

The evidence clearly proves that the benefits of a college education outweigh the cost of earning a degree (Porter).

Source:Porter, Kathleen. "The Value of a College Degree." ERIC Digest. ERIC Clearinghouse: ED470038. U.S. Dept. of Education. 2002. Web. 26 May 2006

Remember

• Always write down complete information about your sources while you are at the library!

How Can I Get Information about MLA Format?

Refer to the printable handouts at:

http://bit.ly/bMNtTRhttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/06/

http://citationmachine.net/

Ask a Librarian!