MLA Citation

1. MLA Citation The no nonsense, straight forward, sometimes you have to figure stuff out yourself review

2. What this is not • I will not be covering the exact Works Cited page format for every type of entry you may do. • In other words, go look them up and follow the examples: it’s what we all do. • It’s worth asking: why is this so hard?

3. Good Resources • Purdue OWL • http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ • Cornell University Library • http://www.library.cornell.edu/resrch/citmanage/mla • Purchases an official MLA handbook from any of the campus bookstores.

4. My theories • Why students struggle • Not Understanding the Purpose • Thinking They Have to Memorize It • Pure Laziness?

5. What is citation • Citation is a highly standardized and formatted way of showing where your research came from. • In theory, it allows readers of your paper to go find those sources and learn more for themselves. • It also protects you from charges of plagiarism, which sadly, are rampant at your level of University education.

6. Kinds • There are many different kinds of citation • MLA • APA • Chicago • And more • They vary slightly in formatting requirements • They are discipline significant

7. APA • The sciences tend to use APA. • There is method to the madness • An APA in-text citation has to include the year of the reference (MLA does not) • Timeliness and currency of info in science is often more important than it is in the Humanities

8. Titles • Books, films, plays, and other large form pieces are placed in italics. • From Inquiry to Academic Writing • Hamlet • Dateline NBC • “Articles, short poems, individual television episodes, etc. are placed in quotation marks.” • “White Privilege: The Invisible Knapsack” • “The Road Not Taken” Capitalize Every Word Except Articles and Minor Prepositions (unless they are the first word)

9. Basic components • In-text citations • This is parenthetical information included in the text of your actual essay that lead the reader to the full reference on the Works Cited page. • Works Cited Page • This is the final page of the essay (a separate page) that lists the full publication information of the resource used and quoted in the paper.

10. Publication info • Author • Title of book or article • Title of Journal or magazine that article is in • Publishing City • Name of Publisher • Volume and Issue # (for journals) • Year of publication • Page numbers of article

11. Sample works cited • http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/12/ • Alphabetical by author • Alphabetical by title when author is unavailable • Indentation of entries that go long • “Works Cited” centered at top of page

12. On Citation Generators • Many resources exist to generate citations for you if you just plug in the information • Word has this built in • Websites like Son of Citation Machine • I am not opposed to you using them. But they can be wrong or add info into the citation not needed • It’s worth knowing the formats to essentially check if the generator result is correct

13. Info Not Needed • Database you got the article from (i.e. Academic Search Premiere) • Access date when the source is from the library database • Access date only need for a website citation • P. – as in (p. 35) for page 35 • Often put before page numbers. Don’t. • “Volume” or “Issue” • The words themselves not needed. Just require the number.

14. Book • Leroux, Marcel. Global Warming: Myth Or Reality?: The Erring Ways of Climatology. New York: Springer, 2005. Print. • Last name of author first • Italicized book title • Print at end (this is new as of 2009)

15. Journal article • Nordhaus, William D. "After Kyoto: Alternative Mechanisms to Control Global Warming." American Economic Review 96.2 (2006): 31-34. Print. • Quotations around article title • Italicized title of journal it’s in • Volume 92, issue 2 • Page numbers inside journal

16. Website • Shulte, Bret. "Putting a Price on Pollution." Usnews.com.6 May 2007. Web. 24 May 2009. • Author, if known • Title of Individual Page • Title of Master Site (in italics) • Date of Posting/Last Update (note date format) • Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec • URL no longer needed as of 2009 • Date of Access

17. Web Versus Print • This is confusing for many students. • Though you might get an article via the web through the library database, it’s still a print source. • The journal exists in print. • Only use the word “Web” in the citation if the resource is ONLY a web site.

18. Common variations • More than one source by same author. • Insert - - -. For author name of subsequent entries. • Leroux, Marcel. Global Warming: Myth Or Reality?: The Erring Ways of Climatology. New York: Springer, 2005. Print. • - - -. Economic Theory and Global Warming. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003. Print.

19. Common variations • No author • Start with title • "Blueprint Lays Out Clear Path for Climate Action." Environmental Defense Fund. Environmental Defense Fund, 8 May 2007. Web. 24 May 2009.

20. A whole lot of authors • If three names then list them all • Note: second and third names are first name first • If more than three, list first name and insert et al • Latin for “and others” • Smith, Jim, Bob Jones, and Carrie Elwood. “This is Our Article.” Generic Journal 45.4 (2012): 45-67. Print. • Smith, Jim, et al. “Jim Wrote This With 10 Other People.” Generic Journal 45.4 (2012): 45-67. Print.

21. In-text citations • Come inside the text of the essay immediately following: • Paraphrases • Quotes

22. Quotes • According to some, dreams express "profound aspects of personality" (Foulkes 184), though others disagree. • According to Foulkes's study, dreams may express "profound aspects of personality" (184). • Punctuation comes out of quoted material and is moved after the parenthetical. • Author’s name needed only if not signaled in the actual sentence. • Sentence must read grammatically correct as if the quotation wasn’t there.

23. attribution • There is some debate, but quote attribution sounds better (to me) before the quote. • “It sounds better to attribute a quote before the actual quote” (45), according to Pepper. • According to Pepper, “It sounds better to attribute a quote before the actual quote” (45).

24. Quotes without author • The author concludes, "Of all the things that happened there, that's all I remember" (“Blueprint”). • "Blueprint Lays Out Clear Path for Climate Action." Environmental Defense Fund. 8 May 2007. Web. 24 May 2009.

25. Website In-text Citations • Websites have on true pages, so you never need a page number. • Old forms of MLA (and maybe APA still) would require you to cite the paragraph number of the quote on a webpage. This is dumb. • Because nobody counts paragraphs. They do a control-F search for the phrase and the browser takes them straight to it.

26. Therefore • An in-text citation for a website quote may not be needed at all if the author is mentioned in the sentence. • Smith says, “MLA citation is hard.” • Since there’s no parenthetical citation, I can assume this is a website. • Remember, if you don’t make the author clear in the sentence context, then their name should be in the citation but with no page number.

27. Continued Reference • Unless you switch sources, MLA allows the reader to assume that the parenthetical is the same source as the one before it. Hence, no need for the author’s name each time. • The author states, “something interesting” (Smith 34). Now I say something else. And continue. I’m about to quote Smith again. “I am quoting Smith” (67). Smith’s name doesn’t have to go into the parenthetical because I’m allowed to assume the citation is from the same place as before.

28. Block quotes • Use a block quote when the quoted material exceeds four lines of text in your essay. • Indent the quote away from left margin and left justify all the lines • Remove quotation marks • No end punctuation needed but citation is Smith says, This is a really reallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreally really reallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreally really reallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreally really reallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreally really reallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreally long quote (45)

29. Omitted words • In an essay on urban legends, Jan Harold Brunvand notes that "some individuals make a point of learning every recent rumor or tale . . . and in a short time a lively exchange of details occurs" (78). • Show you removed words from the original quote with a . . .

30. Adding words • Jan Harold Brunvand, in an essay on urban legends, states: "some individuals [who retell urban legends] make a point of learning every rumor or tale" (78). • Place added words in brackets to show that they are yours • Done to provide context

31. Paraphrase • These are your own words, but the material or information came from a resource • Special piece of knowledge • Statistic • Barker reports that 84% of students plagiarized at least one paper in high school (56). • Format is essential to the same as for a quote, just without the quotation marks • Period still comes after parenthetical