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One way to avoid plagiarism is to properly cite your resources. The examples on this page are in the Modern Language Association (MLA) format and adapted from the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers 6th Edition, with 7th edition changes.  This is not an all inclusive list.  It represents only the more common sources you will most likely use.

Handouts of these examples are available in the media center, or you may print them from here.

Consult the MLA Handbook (available in the media center) or see Ms. Euvrard for more information.

Source:

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: Modern Language Association, 2003.

Hacker, Diana. Research and Documentation Online. Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. Web. 21 Oct. 2009. <http://image.mail.bfwpub.com/lib/feed1c737d6c03/m/1/Hacker_MLA2009Update.pdf>.

The Works Cited list:

•   The works cited list begins on a new page at the end of your paper
•   Center the title
•   Double space between the title and the first entry
•   Double space within each entry and between entries
•  Indent five spaces on the second and subsequent lines
•  List citations by author last name.  If there is no author, list by title, ignoring A, An orThe
  
  

Citations:

•   Use the author(s) complete name; put a period after the name
•   Use quotation marks for titles of magazine and newspaper articles, essays, short poems,  songs, and chapters of books
•   Italicize titles of books, magazines, newspapers and journals
•   Abbreviate the names of all months except May, June and July
•   Include the medium of publication designation, such as: Print, Web, DVD, PDF

Information you need:

• Name of author(s)
• Title of book (include sub-title, if one appears on the title page)
• Place of publication (city and state; if city is well-known , just use city)
• Name of publisher
• Copyright date (from back of title page)
• Page numbers

Examples:

Book with one author:

Salins, Peter D.  Assimilation, American Style.  New York: Basic Books, 1997. Print.

In-text citation: (Author last name, page #)  Example:  (Salins 23)

Book with two authors:

Reverse the name of the first author only.

Yans-McLaughlin, Virginia and Marjorie Lightman. Ellis Island and the Peopling of America: the Official Guide.

     New York: The New Press, 1997. Print.

In-text citation: (Authors last names, page #)  Example: (Yans-McLaughlin and Lightman 47-48)
If there are three authors, separate the names with commas.  If there are more than three authors, list the first author, and use et al.

Book with an editor:

Character Above All. Ed. Robert A. Wilson. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995. Print.

In text citation: (Title page number) Example: (Character Above All 249)

   

Information you need:

• Name of author, editor, or corporate author of the site. If there is no author, use the title. If there is no clear title, use Homepage or another description.  Do not italicize of put in quotations
• title of the web site italicizded.
• sponsor or publisher of the site
• Date of electronic publication or posting or latest update, whichever is most recent
• Medium (Web)
• Date when site was accessed
• Web address (optional)

Examples:

Entire Web site:

U.S. Department of Education. Home Page. U.S. Department of Education. n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2008.


Mortimer, Gail.  The William Faulkner Society Home Page.  William Faulkner Society. 1 Oct 2002.  Web. 21 Jan 2003. 
    
     <http://www.ed.gov/index.html>.

A work from a site:

Branham, Benjamin. "On Scalp Dance by Spjokane Indians." Modern American Poetry.University of Illinois at Urbana-Chanpaign. 2002.
        
        Web. 9 Sept. 2009.

 

Information you need:

• Name of the author(s)
• Title and subtitle of the article in quotations
• Name of the periodical in italics
• Volume and issue number of the periodical (if available)
• Date of the issue in which the article appears
• Page number(s) of the article
• Name of the database from which the article was accessed in italics
• Medium (Web)
• Date when information was accessed

Example:

 "The Pound Error." New Yorker. 9 June 2008: 123-127. SIRS Renaissance. Web.15 Oct. 2008.

In text citation: (Author or - if none is listed - the title. Abbreviate if necessary and put in quotations page number(s))

Example: ("The Pound Error" 124-25)

SmithBattle, Lee. "Examining Assumptions About Teen Mothers." American Journal of Nursing. 105.4 (2005): 13.

        General OneFile. Web. 8 Dec. 2009.

In text citation: (Author or - if none is listed - the title. Abbreviate if necessary and in put quotations page number(s))

Example: (SmithBattle 13)

 

Information you need:

• Author of the work
• Title of the work
• Title of the book
• Editor of the book
• Place of publication
• Date of publication
• Publisher
• Page numbers
• Medium (Print)

Example:

Williams, William Carlos. "At the Ball Game." The New Oxford Book of American Verse. Ed.

        Richard Ellmann. New York: Oxford Unity Press, 1976. 471. Print.

 

Information you need:

• Name of the author of the entry (found at the end of the article) - if available
• Title of the article
• Edition (if stated)
• Year of publication
• Medium (Print)

You do not have to list the place of publication or the publisher if the encyclopedia is updated frequently, such as Britannica or Encyclopedia Americana.

In some encyclopedias such as Britannica, the author's initials are at the end of the article.  The author's full names are listed elsewhere, usually in the front of the volume or in a list in the index volume.  In Britannica, the list of author's names is located in the Propaedia.

Example:

Shepperson, Jacqueline R. "Parasites." World Book Encyclopedia. 2005. Print.

Polis, Gary A. "Arachnids." The Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia. 15th ed. 1998. Print.


In text citation: (author last name page number(s))  Example: (Shepperson 236)

 

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Information you need:

• Name of the author (s)
• Title and subtitle of the article in quotations
• Title of the magazine italicized
• Volume and issue number
• Date of issue in which the article appears
• Page number(s) - If the article isn't printed on consecutive pages, write the first page number and a plus sign
• Medium (Print)

Ragavan, Chitra and Douglas Pasternak. "Coming to America." U.S. News and World Report. 18 Feb. 2002: 16+. Print.

In text citation: (Author's last name(s) page number(s)) Example: (Ragavan and Pasternak 17)

If the author is unknown:

"Brave Thinkers." The Atlantic. Oct. 2009: 68-75. Print.

In text citation: ("Article title" page number(s)) Example: ("Brave Thinkers" 70-71)

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The following represents just a quick reference guide for parenthetical citations. For more information consult the MLA Manual 6th Edition by Joseph Gibaldi and Documenting Sources in MLA Style: 2009 Update by Diana Hacker. Both are available in the media center.

Any time you reference something in your text, the reference must clearly point to the source in your works cited. 

• Include the author's last name and the page number(s) where the information was found in parentheses. Do not use commas or periods.  Example: (Jones 147-150)

If there are more than two authors, list their last names separated by commas. If there are more than three authors, you can either list all the last names or list the last name of the first author and use et al. Example:  (Smith, Jones, Roberts and White 239-240) OR (Smith, et al. 249-240)

• If your source does not have a page number, then just include the author's name without the page number

• If you use the author's name in the text you are citing, you do not have to include the last name, just the page number(s)

• If there is no author, use the title of the article or the book, shortened if necessary

Italicize the title if it is a book.
Use quotation marks if the article title is from a journal, periodical, or newspaper.
You can shorten the title if is long, as long as it can be clearly identified in the works cited list. For example, if the title of the article is "Ranking Black Scholars by the Numbers of Times Their Names Appear in the National Press"  then you can shorten it to: ("Ranking Black Scholars" 9-10)

If your quotation runs more than four lines in your paper, use a block quote by beginning a new line and indenting one inch from the left.  do not use quotaiton marks.

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There are several good online works cited generators on the web. All require you to fill in your citation information in a form, and will then generate the citation in the proper format. You may have to adjust the formatting, such as font type and size, as well as spacing. You also will still need to know how to find the citation information.  If you need help, ask Ms. Euvrard.

Here are a few citation generators:

• Son of Citation Machine
  
  

• Noodlebib Express
  

          You need to scroll down a little and click on Noodlebib Express

• Easybib
  
  

• Bibme

Print

 

 

Information you need:

•  Name of the author(s)

• ·Title of the article in quotations

• ·Name of the publication in italics

• ·Page number(s) of the article

•  Volume and issue number

•  Date of the issue in which the article appears

• ·Name of the database from which the article was accessed  in italics (JSTOR)

•  Date when information was accessed

• · Medium (Web)

 

Loewenber, Peter. "The Unsuccessful Adolescence of Heinrich Himmler." The American Historical

      Review. 76.3 (June 1971):612-641. JSTOR. Web. 6 Oct. 2008.
 

In-text citation: (Author last name page number(s))  Example: (Loewenber 613)

Print

 

Information you need:

• Name of the author(s)

• Title of the article in quotations

• Page number(s) of the article

• Name of the publication in italics

• Editor(s) of the volume

• Volume or Supplement number

• Place of publication

• Date of publication (Print)

 

Strandberg, Victor. "Cormac McCarthy." American Writers. Ed Jay Parker. Supplement 8. New

      York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001. 78-80. Print.

In text citation:  (Author last name page number(s)) Example: (Strandberg 78-79)

 

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