1. Using MLA Style for Citing Sources 2016
ELA 10/11
Using MLA Style for
Citing Sources 2016

2. Introduction After completing this tutorial, you will understand:
what it means to cite your sources;
why it is necessary;
when it is necessary;
the information needed to cite; and
how to cite using MLA style.

3. Background Information
To cite a source is to tell the reader whose ideas are included in your paper and where these ideas were found.

4. Background Information
There are formats, or rules, to follow for citing sources. ELA courses here use MLA style (there are others). Websites and manuals describe the rules: here, I recommend the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue.

5. Why do we use citations? Citations help us evaluate information.
Citing publication date helps to evaluate the currency of the source.
Naming the author and publisher allows us to consider the reputation of each.

6. Why do we use citations?
It helps to avoid plagiarism by requiring you to credit others for their work.
Those who do not cite sources in collegiate work can be expelled for academic dishonesty.

7. Information to Cite Always cite:
facts, statistics, or any other information that is not considered “common knowledge”;
direct quotes from sources;
summaries of sources; and
paraphrases of sources.

8. Forms of a Citation
A citation has two forms, both of which are necessary:
Parenthetical citation (in-text)
Works Cited page (end of text)

9. Parenthetical Citations-Basics
An in-text citation is a parenthetical citation.
The parenthetical citation is a short indication (in the text of your paper) that a source is cited. (It is called a parenthetical citation because you put parentheses around the citation.)
These are usually provided at the end of the sentence containing your information.

10. Parenthetical Citation Examples
A study of the early Republican Party before revealed that.... (Foner 33).
Eric Foner 's study of the early Republican Party revealed that….(33).

11. Parenthetical Citation Notes
If there is no page (common online), only list first information in citation (name or title).
Long titles can be abbreviated to three or four words in parenthetical citations only (for example: “House Debate Continues Long Into Night” to “House Debate Continues”).

12. Works Cited page-Basics
The Works Cited page gives the complete information about the source.
The list is arranged in alphabetical order according to the first information listed (author, title), and it appears at the end of the research paper.
Pay attention to punctuation (commas, periods) in citations.

13. General Citation Format
Author. Title. Title of container (self contained if book), Other contributors (translators or editors), Version (edition), Number (vol. and/or no.), Publisher, Publication Date, Location (pages, paragraphs URL or DOI). 2nd container’s title, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location, Date of Access (if applicable).

14. Citation Specifics-Container
Episodes, articles, songs, web pages are often part of a larger work (tv show, journal or magazine, album, web sites), called a container.
“Yellow Submarine” is contained on Yellow Submarine.
“Farewell, Fair Senate” is contained on The New York Times.

15. Citation Specifics-Location
Location is where the information can be found online. Most online sources will NOT use pages or paragraphs.
Because web addresses are not static (i.e., they change often) and because documents sometimes appear in multiple places on the web (e.g., on multiple databases), MLA encourages the use of citing containers such as Youtube, JSTOR, Spotify, or Netflix in order to easily access and verify sources. However, MLA only requires the www. address, so eliminate all when citing URLs.

16. Citation Specifics-Location
Many scholarly journal articles found in databases include a DOI (digital object identifier). If a DOI is available (for example: DOI: /science ), cite the DOI number instead of the URL.
Online newspapers and magazines sometimes include a “permalink,” which is a shortened, stable version of a URL. Look for a “share” or “cite this” button to see if a source includes a permalink. If you can find a permalink, use that instead of a URL.

17. Citation Specifics-Publisher
If the publisher name (found typically at the bottom of the site as the copyright or © holder) is the same as the website name, only list it once (in italics).

18. Citation Specifics-Missing Info
Most information you will find (including publisher and publication date)
Leave out information that you cannot locate. Commonly, this would include:
Other contributors
Version
Number
Pages, paragraphs
2nd Container (if not using database)

19. Works Cited Example: Web Page
Dean, Cornelia. "Executive on a Mission: Saving the Planet." The New York Times, 22 May 2007, Accessed 12 May 2016.

20. Works Cited: Book Foner, Eric. Free Soil, Free Labor, Free
Men: The Ideology of the Republican
Party before The Civil War. Oxford University Press, 1970.

21. Works Cited Page Format
To Do a Hanging Indent
Highlight the text you’d like to create a hanging indent for.
In the ruler bar, click the arrow that points up
Drag the arrow to the half-inch mark
Works Cited
Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. Anchor Books, 1997.
Lundman, Susan. "How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow, Accessed 6 July 2015.

22. Other Citation Questions?
Use the Purdue OWL!
Ask the teacher!