MLA For Dummies

How and Why You Should Cite!

What is Plagiarism?
Plagiarism means using anothers work without giving them credit and saying that it is your own

Examples of Plagiarism

Copying and pasting text from online encyclopedias

Copying and pasting text from any web site

Using photographs, video or audio without permission or acknowledgement Using another students or your parents work and claiming it as your own even with permission

Using your own work without properly citing it! Quoting a source without using quotation marks-even if you do cite it
Citing sources you didnt use Getting a research paper, story, poem, or article off the Internet Turning in the same paper for more than one class without the permission of both teachers (this is called selfplagiarism)

What Do You Need to Cite?

Anothers Words? YES No Anothers Ideas? YES No

Dont Cite it! Quote and Cite it! Cite it!

Guidelines for avoiding plagiarism

Beware of "common knowledge."
You don't have to cite "common knowledge, BUT the fact must really be commonly known. That George Washington was the first U.S. president is common knowledge;

That George Washington was an expert dancer is not common knowledge

WHEN IN DOUBT, CITE!.

What is an Academic Source?

Authoritative: academic sources identify the qualifications and expertise of the writer. A source written by a recognized expert in a field is more likely to be trustworthy Sourced: academic writing is careful to credit the origins of information and ideas, usually by means of a reference list or bibliography. Peer-reviewed: other academics have read the source and checked it for accuracy. Objective: academic sources aim to examine a topic fairly. This does not mean that they never take a side, but that the source does not ignore alternative positions on the topic. Written for academics: academic sources target university lecturers, students, and professionals interested in the theoretical side of a topic.

When do you use MLA?

History English Humanities

Why Use MLA Format?

Allows readers to cross-reference your sources easily Provides consistent format within a discipline Gives you credibility as a writer Protects yourself from plagiarism

Two Main Concerns of MLA

Parenthetical

Works

Cited

List

Parenthetical Citations

When quoting any words that are not your own

Quoting means to repeat another source word for word, using quotation marks

When summarizing facts and ideas from a source

Summarizing means to take ideas from a large passage of another source and condense them, using your own words Paraphrasing means to use the ideas from another source but change the phrasing into your own words

When paraphrasing a source

Parenthetical Citations:
Author & Page Number
(Keeling 125)

Notice there is no p and no comma.

The struggle for identity is common during puberty (Keeling 125).

Parenthetical Citations:
Title & Page Number
Her distinctive writing style adds to her mystique (Plath 19). Often, articles, editorials, pamphlets, and other materials have no author listed; thus, give the first distinctive word of the title followed by page #

Parenthetical Citations:
Page Number Only

If you have already mentioned the authors name, put a page number only:

Keeling states that Plaths work stands in stark contrast to other confessional poets (58).

Parenthetical Citations:
How Often to Give Citations

When several facts in a row within one paragraph all come from the same page of a source, use one citation to cover them all. Place the citation after the last fact. The citation MUST be in the same paragraph as the facts!

WORKS CITED

List only those sources that you actually used. List the complete title of the article, essay, or book. Alphabetize your list by authors last names or the first main word in a title. Online sources usually follow the print format followed by the URL <URL>. (journals, newspapers, magazines, abstracts, books, reviews, scholarly projects or databases, etc.). Format

Authors last name first Double-space Left Margin

Indent second and third lines five spaces Most item separated by periods leave one space after ending punctuation. Place a period at the end of each entry.

WORKS CITED:

Specific Entries

Book:
Author. Title. City: Publisher, date.

Corti, Lillian. The Myth of Medea and the Murder of Children. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998.

Article in a Magazine:
Author. Title of Article. Title of Periodical Date: page(s).

Gerard, Jeremy. Review of Redwood Curtain. Variety April 5, 1993: p. 43.

WORKS CITED:

Specific Entries

Article in a Newspaper:

Author (if given). Title of Article. Title of Newspaper Complete date, section number or title: page(s).
Kerr, Walter. The Lives they Lived. The New York Times 29 December 1996, late ed.: sec. 1: 53.

Article or Story in a Collection of Anthology:

Author. Title. Book Title. Editor. City: Publisher, date. Pages.

Franklin, Benjamin. The Speech of Miss Polly Baker. Benjamin Franklin: The Autobiography and Other Writings. Ed. Kenneth Silverman. New York: Viking, 1986. 209-213.

WORKS CITED:

Specific Entries

Article in a Scholarly Journal:

Author. Title of Article. Journal Title Volume number (complete date): pages covered by article.
Witham, Barry B. Images of America. Theatre Journal 34 (May 1982): 223-232.

Encyclopedia

Title of Article. Title of Encyclopedia. Year of the edition. Plath, Sylvia. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2005 ed.

Works Cited Page: The Sample

Ahthe internet!

Author, A. (date). Title of document [Format description]. Retrieved from http://URL