The MLA Style of Documentation

Plagiarism (Don’t Steal Other People’s Ideas )

3 Plagiarism Plagiarism means you have presented other people’s facts, ideas, or words as if they were your own – whether you did so deliberately, carelessly or unconsciously. You must give credit to all sources of information. Material must be credited whether the wording was copied or put in your own words.

4 Avoiding Plagiarism Plagiarism (from Latin plagiare "to kidnap") is the practice of claiming, or implying original authorship, or incorporating material from someone else's written or creative work, in whole or in part, into one’s own without adequate acknowledgment.

5 Documentation In-text CitationWorks Cited

6 In-text Citation

7 Three ways of incorporating other writers' work into your own writing: Quoting Paraphrasing Summarizing

8 In-Text Citation The original passage: Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Bibliographic Data Author: James Lester Book: Writing Research Papers Page Number: 46

9 An acceptable summary Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46).

10 In-Text Citation A legitimate paraphrase: In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46).

11 A plagiarized version Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material while taking notes.

12 In-Text Citation Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263). Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263). Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263). Bibliographic Data Author: William Wordsworth Book: Lyrical Ballads Place of publication: London Publisher: Oxford Date of publication: 1967

13 Electronic Sources In-Text Citation: Electronic Sources One online film critic stated that Fitzcarraldo is "...a beautiful and terrifying critique of obsession and colonialism" (Garcia, "Herzog: a Life" ). In his article, "Herzog: a Life", Garica stated that Fitzcarraldo is "...a beautiful and terrifying critique of obsession and colonialism". Bibliographic Data Author: Elizabeth Garcia Title of the article: "Herzog: a Life" Title of online periodical: Online Film Critics Corner Date of posting: 2 May 2002 Date of access: 8 May 2006 URL:

14 Examples of In-text citations According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 70 percent of the World’s fishing areas are in danger. “No matter where you look in the world, on average, 90 percent of the fish are gone, “ says biologist from Dalhousie University in Canada.

15 Works Cited

Works Cited Page A complete list of every source that you make reference to in your essay Provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any sources cited in your essay.

17 A Sample Works Cited Page Smith 12 Works Cited Dickens, Charles. Bleak House New York: Penguin, David Copperfield New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, Miller, J. Hillis. Charles Dickens: The World and His Novels. Bloomington: U of Indiana P, Zwerdling, Alex. “Esther Summerson Rehabilitated.” PMLA 88 (May 1973):

Most citations should contain the following basic information: Author’s name Title of work Publication information Works Cited

19 Sample Bibliographic Data Books The name of the author Title of the book Title of the article or chapter Date of publication Place of publication Publisher

20 Works Cited Page: Books Basic Format Last name, First name. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.

21 Works Cited Page: Books Example Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin Books, 1987.

22 Sample Bibliographic Data Electronic Sources Name of the author Name of the website/the online book or periodical Title of the article or selection Date of posting or last update Date of access URL between carets

23 1) Basic form of a book with an author Sidel, Ruth. On Her Own: Growing Up in the Shadows of the American Dream. New York: Penguin, Last name First name CommaPeriod Title: underlined & capitalized PeriodColon Comma Publisher Year of Publication Place of Publication Indent: five spaces

24 An Entire Web Site Basic Format Name of Site. Date of Posting/Revision. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sometimes found in copyright statements). Date you accessed the site.

25 An Entire Web Site Example The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. 26 Aug The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. 23 April 2006.

26 An Article in a Web Magazine Basic Format Author. "Title of Article." Title of Online Publication. Date of Publication. Date of Access.

27 Kroloff, Charles A. "54 Ways You Can Help the Homeless.“ Earthsystems.org Home Page. 26 Mar Last name First name Title of the article Title of web site Date of Access Electronic address

28 An Article in a Web Magazine Example Bernstein, Mark. "10 Tips on Writing The Living Web." A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites. No. 149 (16 Aug. 2002). 4 May 2006.

29 Reference