Works Cited, Parenthetical Citations, and Plagiarism How Not To Fail Your Research Project

What Is Plagiarism? When you write a research paper, you need to make sure you give credit to the sources you used to conduct your research and find your information. Plagiarism is presenting information you got from another source as your own. In order to give proper credit, MLA format REQUIRES you to have BOTH a Works Cited page and parenthetical (in-text) citations. If you do not have both of these components, whether intentional or unintentional, you have plagiarized.

How To Write A Works Cited Page You will use your MLA format source information to write your works cited page. If you wrote the source information on your notes in proper MLA format, all you really have to do is copy the information onto your PowerPoint. Your Works Cited slide must be written in MLA format. If you are not sure what that should look like, look back at the handout you received at the start of the research process. You can also look up MLA format online.

How To Write A Works Cited Page Your Works Cited page must be a slide by itself. It cannot have any other information on it. At the top center of the slide, title it Works Cited. Each of your entries should be alphabetized by the first word in the entry. Entries should be single-spaced, with a double space between each different source.

Sample Works Cited Page Works Cited Doe, John. The Life of Queen Elizabeth. Leesburg: LCHS Publishing, 2011. Print Elizabeth I. English Research Organization. 3 February 2011. Web. 20 February 2011. Smith, Jane. “Rulers of England”. History Reference Center 4.1 (2009): 15-30. Web. 20 February 2011.

Parenthetical (a.k.a. In-Text) Citations In addition to a Works Cited page, which gives the full bibliographic information for your sources, you must also include parenthetical (sometimes called in-text) citations as well. These parenthetical citations are like a shortened version of your full source citation. They let the reader know which source in your works cited that piece of information comes from. You need to cite after EVERY piece of information you took from another source, whether you directly quote it or you paraphrase it!!!!! If you have it on a note card, and you put it in your paper, you must cite it!!!!

Tips For Writing Parenthetical Citations Your parenthetical citations come after the sentence that your are quoting or paraphrasing, after any quotation marks, before the end punctuation. For book sources, include the author’s last name and the page number in parenthesis. Ex: (Doe 115). If the work does not have an author, use the title of the website/article instead. Ex: (Elizabeth I)

Sample Parenthetical Citations Queen Elizabeth I was a “Tudor queen who ruled during the 16th century” (Doe 154). She is most famous for ushering in a time of peace and prosperity for England (Elizabeth I). “Henry VIII was the father of Queen Elizabeth, one of England’s greatest rulers” (Smith). In his book, John Doe states that Elizabeth I“was largely influential in shaping the England we know today” (156).

Quoting vs. Paraphrasing Quoting means you write down the information from a source word for word. When quoting a source you must enclose the portion of the text in quotation marks as well as supply an in-text citation. Paraphrasing means you put the information from the source in your own words. You need to supply an in-text citation for paraphrased information as well.

How to Paraphrase Properly Look at your notes or the passage a few times, and then look away as you write your paraphrase. This will make it less likely that you will simply change a few words, and more likely that you will truly be putting the passage into your own words. Put any key words or phrases that appear word-for-word from the original text in quotation marks. Give an in-text citation for the information in proper MLA format.

A Few Tips for Quotations Make sure you use quotation marks to mark the beginning and the end of the quotation. Integrate your quotes into your writing, either by signaling to your reader that a quote is coming or by explaining how the quote relates to the topic of your paragraph. Don’t just drop and quotation into your paragraph without an explanation. Punctuation should come after the parenthetical citation. Question marks or exclamation points that are part of the quotation should come within the quotation marks.