MLA DocumentationIn-text citations, citing sources appropriately, corresponding to the Works Cited

When to Cite Sources in the Paper Whenever you quote from a source.

When borrowing ideas from a source, even when you use your own words by paraphrasing or summarizing.

When you borrow factual information from a source that is not common knowledge.

The Common Knowledge Exception Facts that are widely known and about which

there is no controversy. IE: Major dates in history, famous people and

their accomplishments (Neil Armstrong/moon), the Superbowl occurs toward the end of January.

When in doubt, cite the source.

The Basics of In-text Citations As close as possible to the borrowed material,

indicate in parentheses the original source and the page number in the work that material came from.

Period comes after the parenthesis.

No comma between author and page. Quotation marks (when directly quoting) are before

the parenthetical citation.

Example From the very beginning of Sesame

Street in 1969, kindergarten teachers discovered that incoming students who had watched the program already knew their ABCs (Chira 13).

Example Explicated The parenthetical tells readers two things:

The info about Sesame Street came from somewhere other than the writer…in this case Chira.

The ideas came from page 13 in Chira’s work The full bibliographic information appears on the

Works Cited page at the end of the essay Chira, Susan. “Sesame Street At 20: Taking

Stock.” New York Times 15 Nov. 1989: 13.

Example “One thing is clear,” writes Thomas

Mallon, “plagiarism didn’t become a truly sore point with writers until they thought of writing as their trade […] Suddenly his capital and identity were at stake” (3-4).

Notices Author’s last name omitted in parenthesis

because it appeared in the narrative.

Ellipsis […] used when parts of the original quotation are left out.

When there is No Author Some sources are anonymous Cite the first word/words that appear on the

Works Cited…typically the article title Truncate the title if it is long to the first few

key words Include page number

Example of No Author Example: Simply put, public relations is

“doing good and getting credit” for it (“Getting Yours” 3).

The Works Cited entry is as follows: “Getting Yours: A Publicity and Funding

Primer for Nonprofit Organizations.”

People 32.1 (2002): 3-12.

When there are multiple works by the same author Parenthetical citation that lists only author

and page number is not enough to distinguish.

Include author’s name, abbreviated title, and page number.

Example of Multiple Works by Same Author The thing that distinguishes the amateur from

the experienced writer is focus; one “rides off in all directions at once,” and the other finds one meaning around which everything revolves (Murray, Write to Learn 92).

Notice: a comma between name and title, but no comma between title and page

General Guidelines for Documenting Sources Lead-ins

Multiple Authors

No Page Numbers

Lead-ins (better known as author tags) The first time a source is cited, use a narrative

lead-in Give the author’s full name and credentials Current title/position, level of expertise,

background Boosts ethos Once established, the last name only is sufficient

Lead-in can come at the beginning, the middle, or the end.

Multiple Authors If source has more than one author, list

them in the same order that appears on Works Cited

Ex: Herman, Brown, and Martel predict dramatic changes in the earth’s climate in the next 200 years.

No Page Numbers Many internet cites don’t have page numbers;

DO NOT NUMBER PAGES YOURSELF. PDF files often have them, but HTML files

don’t Just list the author or title in the parenthetical. Will need to take special care when framing

sources that don’t have page #s.

Example without Page Numbers It is now theoretically possible to recreate an

identical creature from any animal or plant by using the DNA contained in the nucleus of any somatic cell (Thomas).