MLA Citation
 

01/22/07

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MLA Citation

 

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I.  Introducing Quotes

MLA requires writers to cite their sources for both direct and indirect quotes.  Here are some examples of how to incorporate quotes in research papers.

·         Dr. Dixon says that “most people respond poorly to hypnopaedia” (27).

·         Webb explains, “All students at the University of Georgia are studious and conscientious” (56).

·         Based on his research, we can assume Melson thinks we have treated our environment poorly (48).

·         The author argues that “subjecting students to excessive homework results in shrunken brains” (Jones 78).

·         The article’s author comments on the qualities of a good teacher in the 1920s (Bueller 87).

·         Patterson states, “Cannibalism will solve the issue of world hunger” (126).

II.  Paper Format

·         Maintain one inch margins on all sides of the paper.

·         The header margin is ½ inch (upper right).  The header consists of your last name and page number and is placed on each page.

·         Do not include a separate title page!

·         The paper’s title is centered two lines beneath the date.  The title is not underlined, placed in quotation marks, typed in a larger font, or put in bold type.

III.  Works Cited (from OWL at Purdue University)

bulletBegin your works cited list on a separate page from the text of the essay under the label Works Cited (with no quotation marks, underlining, etc.), which should be centered at the top of the page. Make the first line of each entry in your list flush left with the margin. Subsequent lines in each entry should be indented one-half inch. This is known as a hanging indent.
bulletDouble space all entries, with no skipped spaces between entries.
bulletKeep in mind that underlining and italics are equivalent; you should select one or the other to use throughout your essay.
bulletAlphabetize the list of works cited by the first word in each entry (usually the author's last name)

Format (from OWL at Purdue University)

·   Books

Author(s). Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.

·         Book with one author
Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. Denver: MacMurray, 1999.
·         Two books by the same author

(After the first listing of the author's name, use three hyphens and a period for the author's name. List books alphabetically.)

Palmer, William J. Dickens and New Historicism. New York: St. Martin's, 1997.

---  The Films of the Eighties: A Social History. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1993.

·         Book with more than one author

Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Boston:    -----Allyn, 2000.

If there are more than three authors, you may list only the first author followed by the phrase et al. (the abbreviation for the Latin phrase "and others") in place of the other authors' names, or you may list all the authors in the order in which their names appear on the title page.

·         Book with a corporate author

American Allergy Association. Allergies in Children. New York: Random, 1998.

·         Book or article with no author named

Encyclopedia of Indiana. New York: Somerset, 1993.

"Cigarette Sales Fall 30% as California Tax Rises." New York Times 14 Sept. 1999: A17.

For parenthetical citations of sources with no author named, use a shortened version of the title instead of an author's name. Use quotation marks and underlining as appropriate. For example, parenthetical citations of the two sources above would appear as follows: (Encyclopedia 235) and ("Cigarette" A17).

·         Anthology or collection

Peterson, Nancy J., ed. Toni Morrison: Critical and Theoretical Approaches. Baltimore: -------Johns Hopkins UP, 1997.

·         A part of a book (such as an essay in a collection)

Harris, Muriel. "Talk to Me: Engaging Reluctant Writers." A Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers ---One to One. Ed. Ben Rafoth. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2000. 24-34.

·         Article from a reference book

"Jamaica." Encyclopedia Britannica. 1999 ed.

·         An article in a periodical (such as a newspaper or magazine)

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Source Day Month Year: pages.

·         Essay in a journal with continuous pagination

Allen, Emily. "Staging Identity: Frances Burney's Allegory of Genre." Eighteenth-Century ----Studies 31 (1998): 433-51.

·         Essay in a journal that pages each issue separately

Duvall, John N. "The (Super)Marketplace of Images: Television as Unmediated Mediation ----in DeLillo's White Noise." Arizona Quarterly 50.3 (1994): 127-53.

·         A web site

Author(s). Name of Page. Date of Posting/Revision. Name of institution/organization --------affiliated with the site. Date of Access <electronic address>.

·         Web site examples

Felluga, Dino. Undergraduate Guide to Literary Theory. 17 Dec. 1999. Purdue University.     ---15 Nov. 2000 <http://omni.cc.purdue.edu%7Efelluga/theory2.html>. Purdue Online ------Writing Lab. 2003. Purdue University. 10 Feb. 2003 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu>.

·         An article on a web site

It is necessary to list your date of access because web postings are often updated, and information available at one date may no longer be available later. Be sure to include the complete address for the site. Also, note the use of angled brackets around the electronic address; MLA requires them for clarity.

Author(s)."Article Title." Name of web site. Date of posting/revision. Name of institution or ---organization affiliated with site. Date of access <electronic address>.

·         Article on a web site

Poland, Dave. "The Hot Button." Roughcut. 26 Oct. 1998. Turner Network Television. 28 -----Oct. 1998 <http://www.roughcut.com>.

"Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format." Purdue Online Writing Lab. 2003. ----Purdue University. 6 Feb. 2003 <http://owl.english.purdue.eduhandouts/research/

·         An article in an online journal or magazine

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume. Issue (Year): Pages/Paragraphs. Date ---of Access <electronic address>.

·         An article from Galileo

Author’s name.  “Title of Article.”  Original Source of Article Date of original source ------------publication page numbers.  Name of database used.  Name of the service.  Name of --------library or library system, city, state abbreviation.  Date of access <URL of service’s ----------homepage>.

Liss, Neil J.  “What We Talk about When We Talk about Social Studies.”  Social Studies  -------94:6  Nov/Dec 2003:  245 – 250.  Academic Search Premier.  EBSCOHost.  GALILEO.  ---Lanier Technical College Library, Gainesville, GA.  25 Sept. 2004 <http://galileo.usg.edu>.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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