Works Cited and MLA

Parenthetical Documentation!

Lindsey Flory , Cynthia Betts

What is Citing?

• A “citation” is a way to inform your readers that the material in your paper or document came from another source. Citing also gives your readers the information necessary to find the source or sources of the information cited.

• Citing material that comes from another source is a way to avoid plagiarism and give credit to the original author.

Rules for Citing Information:

• Always give credit to the authors of information, ideas, and terms that are not your own.

• Always give the reader information that is essential to locating any cited works you have used.

• Arrange the entries in alphabetical order by first word.• When there is no author, you must begin with the title. • Make sure you always use the format suggested by your

instructor. • Do not use the words: “A,” “An,” and “The,”when they are the

first word in titles of books and corporate authors when alphabetizing.

• Always be certain that your commas, periods, and spaces are properly positioned.

• Make certain your paper is double spaced.• Always title the works cited section “Works Cited.”• Always use the hanging indentation tool for any citations.

Hanging Indentations

Step 1: Copy and paste your citation into a Microsoft Word document.

Step 2: Highlight your citation.Step 3: Click on Format, next click on

paragraph located under Format.Step 4: Click on Special located under

Paragraph and choose Hanging to indent your citation.

What is MLA?

• Modern Language Association, also known as MLA was created in 1883.

• MLA guidelines entail that you cite reviews, quotations, rephrased sentences, summaries and any other information used from outside sources by placing them in parentheses, which are normally positioned at the end of the quoted or summarized sentence.

• MLA is the suggested style for preparing academic and research papers.

• MLA is usually used in writing and in language courses.• MLA is another way of listing sources besides a

bibliography.

Guide Lines for MLA

• Always use a legible font.• Leave only one space after punctuation

marks. • Make margins one inch on all sides and

always indent the first line of a paragraph a half inch.

• Make sure all pages are numbered in numerical order in the top right hand corner.

Sources That Must be Cited

• All direct quotes• Any ideas that are summarized or

rephrased• All opinions associated with another

persons ideas• Any information that is contained in your

work that can be argued or conflicted• All information that you may obtain from

charts, graphs, or tables• Any summarizations of dialogues or

interviews

How to citeBook• Author’s last name, author’s first name.

Title of book. Edition. Publishing City: Publishing Company, Publishing Year.

Web page• Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name.

"Page Title--The title of the specific page, not the web site." Site Title. Publishing or last revision date . Organization. Date Accessed <URL include http:// >.

Examples of Citing in MLA Style

• Ex 1: Book- Okuda, Michael, and Denise Okuda. Star Trek Chronology: The

History of the Future. New York: Pocket, 1993. • Ex 2: Web site- Lynch, Tim. "DSN Trials and Tribble-ations Review." Psi Phi:

Bradley's Science Fiction Club. 1996. Bradley University. 8 Oct. 1997 <http://www.bradley.edu/campusorg/psiphi/DS9/ep/503r.html>.

• Ex 3: Magazine- Di Rado, Alicia. "Trekking through College: Classes Explore Modern

Society Using the World of Star Trek." Los Angeles Times 15 Mar. 1995: A3.

• Ex 4: Encyclopedia article- Sturgeon, Theodore. "Science Fiction." The Encyclopedia

Americana. International ed. 1995.

Thanks for listening!

Works citied

"About the MLA ." www.mla.org. 03/26/2007. mla. 22 Mar 2007 <http://www.mla.org/cgi-shl/docstudio/docs.pl >.

"MLA Formatting and Style Guide." owl.english.purdue.edu. purdue. 23 Mar 2007 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/>.