MLA Style Citations MRS. PITTALUGA 8 TH GRADE SCIENCE

Plagiarism  Plagiarism:  an act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author’s work as one’s own, as by not crediting the original author. (from  Plagiarism is stealing! Your grade will be affected if you plagiarize anything.

Citation Formats  MLA – Modern Language Association  Generally used by the humanities  Typically used in middle/high schools  APA – American Psychological Association  Generally used in education, psychology, and science  CMS – Chicago Manual of Style  Generally used in business, history, and the fine arts

Paper Format (Lab Reports)  One-inch margins on all sides  Easily readable font (Times New Roman, Arial, etc.) – DO NOT use Comic Sans or any cursive type fonts  12-point size font throughout the document  No title page – heading & title appear on the first page  Page numbers in right hand corner, ½” from top and right justified  Last name of author appears one space before page number  No extra spaces between paragraphs  One space after periods or other concluding punctuation

Works Cited Page  What should you cite?  Direct Quotes  Close paraphrasing  You do not have to cite information that is considered common knowledge.  If you didn’t write it, you MUST cite it!  List only sources you actually used.  List the complete title of the article, essay or book.  Alphabetize your list by the author’s last name OR the first main word in a title. (Hint: “the” is NOT a main word.)  Publication medium (print or electronic) is required.

Types of Sources  Books  Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publication city: Publisher, Year. Print.  Scholarly Journal  Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Journal Title Volume #. Issue # (year): Pages. Print.  Newspaper  Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Newspaper Title dd/month/yyyy, edition: page #. Print.  Magazine  Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Magazine Title dd/month/yyyy: page numbers. Print.

Types of Sources - Websites  Website – You must include the URL if the citation does not easily lead to the source.  Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Overall Website (if different than title of document). Version/Edition (if any). Publisher/Sponsor/”n.p.”, Date of publication/n.d. Web. Date of Access.  University of Oklahoma. "Astrophysicist find supermassive black holes in quasar nearest Earth." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 August Web. 30 August  Scholarly Journal on a Website  Same as a scholarly journal in print EXCEPT:  Change the medium to WEB  Include the Date of Access

Online Helpers      Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)  Cornell University Library  Be sure to check the website where you get the information – it may include the citation!

In-text Citations  Citations link to the Works Cited page  Give only the information needed to identify the source. Usually an author’s last name the page number are enough.