Introduction

So you’ve come up with an interesting research topic, found supporting information from a variety of sources, organized that information, and written the first draft of your research paper. You’ve completed most of the work of the research process, right? The answer is a resounding no. Unless you have collected important information about each source as you were taking notes, documented the sources you used within the text of your paper, and then made a list of the works you cited, you are not ready to move on. As a matter of fact, if you haven’t documented your sources correctly, you might be suspected of either deliberate or unintentional plagiarism. (Yikes! You don’t want to be in that situation.) We’re still talking about your first draft, so there would be time to fix the problem. But it’s easier to take care of your documentation responsibilities at the beginning of the research process than to scramble to fill in details shortly before the paper is due.

The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, commonly called the MLA Handbook, is the style guide we’ll focus on using because most English and humanities courses use it. If you follow the guidelines in the MLA Handbook, you will gain:

consistency in the way you format pages and identify sources
evidence that you’ve used others’ work to supplement and support your work
protection from accusations of plagiarism
credibility as a writer

Documentation is not difficult, but it is detailed. If you’re someone who dislikes doing detailed work, we’ll wait while you take a deep breath, put a big smile on your face and repeat to yourself, ”Documenting is easy, documenting is easy.” Ready? Let’s get started.

To Cite or Not to Cite?

Student deciding whether or not to cite a source.

Before you can document sources within the text of your research paper, you must know what information needs to be cited and what doesn’t. The key to avoiding plagiarism—there’s that word again—is to make sure to give credit when it is due. Hopefully this chart will help you figure out when that’s necessary.

Deciding When You Need to Give Credit

Need to Give Credit in the Text

Don’t Need to Give Credit in the Text

When you use the same words or even a unique phrase from someone else’s work or writing (direct quotation)
When you paraphrase or summarize information that is not common knowledge (indirect quotation)
When you use or refer to another person’s words or ideas from a magazine, book, newspaper, song, TV program, movie, web page, computer program, letter, advertisement, or any other medium
When you interview or talk to someone face-to-face, on the phone, or in writing (e-mail or otherwise), and use this information in part or in whole
When you copy any diagrams, illustrations, cartoons, charts, pictures, or other visuals
When you reuse or repost any electronically-available information, including images, audio, video, or other media from places such as e-books, websites, library databases, CDs, DVDs, iTunes, forums, and chat spaces

Basically, if your information is obtained from somewhere else or someone else, and isn’t something most people would know, document it.

When you share personal experiences, observations, or opinions
When you use common knowledge that’s available in at least five credible sources and is information you believe your readers already know—information that a person could easily find in general reference sources, or information that is not arguable or based on any particular way of thinking—for example, folklore, common sense observations, myths, and historical events (but not historical documents) (for example, July 4, 1776 is Independence Day and can be confirmed in more than five sources. Most people in the U.S. would know this fact)
When you state generally accepted facts (such as, “Eating fruits and vegetables every day is better than eating the same amount of candy and chips.”)
When you use work that you have created such as poster, artworks, videos, and podcasts
When you write results that you obtained through your own experiments (i.e., noting how many of your homeroom classmates wear black each day)

If you’re unsure about citing information, go ahead and cite.

Always identify the sources of direct quotations with parenthetical documentation (also called in-text or parenthetical citation). Whether the quotation is from someone’s spoken or written words—no matter how simple or unimportant they may seem—you must identify the source and page number, if applicable. Also identify the source and page number for indirect quotations (paraphrases), unless they consist of common knowledge.

Using what you learned from the chart above, decide if the following information requires documentation. If it does, click “Yes.” If it doesn't, click “No.”

Parenthetical Documentation

Now that you know what to cite in your research paper, let’s look at how and when to do that documentation. The good news is that MLA calls for parenthetical documentation (in-text citation) instead of footnotes or endnotes that some other style guides require. Using in-text citations, you can give immediate source information with minimal interruption to the flow of your paper; in addition, those citations have the information needed to find the longer, complete entries about the sources on your works cited page. Note: The terms parenthetical documentation, in-text citation, parenthetical citation, and in-text documentation are interchangeable and all mean the same thing.

Basic guidelines for in-text citations using MLA

There is never a comma or a “p.” between the author’s name and the page number, just a single space, for example, (Asimov 148).

Parenthetical citations are usually placed at the end of a sentence, before the period. They may, however, be placed in the middle of a sentence to (1) immediately follow a quotation or (2) make clear that the idea for part of the sentence came from one source, but another part of the sentence originated with a different source.

It is possible that dreams may express “profound aspects of personality” (Foulkes 184)
According to some, dreams express “profound aspects of personality” (Foulkes 184), though others disagree.
According to some, dreams express “profound aspects of personality” (Foulkes 184), though others call that idea “foolishness” (Ritter 18).

Cite the author’s last name and the page number (Rolf 93).

In the absence of an author, cite the title and the page number (The Essence of Dreams, 142).

If you are using more than one book by the same author, list the last name, comma, a shortened version of the title, and the page (Rolf, “Dream” 93).

If you identify the author and title in the text, just list the page number.

In his essay “Dreaming the Future,” Foulkes contends that comforting dreams are most important (102).

When citing a Web source in-text, you are not likely to have page numbers. Include the first part of the entry, whether it is a person’s name or a title. That rule applies to all sources without page numbers, such as films and songs, for example (Smith) or (“Polar Happiness”). If, however, that information has been mentioned in the text of your writing, parenthetical documentation will not be needed.

Put in quotation marks and cite if you use two or more of the source’s words in a row, or even a single word or label that is distinctive or noteworthy.

Historian Peter Reynolds has found late Renaissance writings in which Machiavelli contends that human beings are by nature “ungrateful” and “mutable” (74), and Montaigne thinks them “miserable and puny” (83).

If you include in your paper an idea or fact from a source and put it in your own words, you are paraphrasing. When paraphrasing a specific idea, the paraphrase must be followed by an in-text citation in the same way as a direct quotation. Not documenting a paraphrase is the most common cause of unintentional plagiarism.

Not documenting a paraphrase is a risk a student takes when writing a research paper.

If, in a paraphrase, you refer to the same source page for several sentences in a row, you don’t need to cite the source until you refer to a different page or end a paragraph. (If you use any direct quotations, however, you must cite them right away.) Be very specific with signal phrases, or else the reader will assume the entire paragraph is cited and does not include your own words. Again, not documenting a paraphrase is the most common cause of unintentional plagiarism.

If you summarize an entire work or the general idea of an entire work, you do not need to include a page number, but you DO need to include the author’s name (or work’s title, if there is no author named) in your text.

According to John Foulkes, all dreams have meaning.
The message of “Dreaming the Future” is that all dreams have meaning.

Punctuation for parenthetical documentation

Generally place a parenthetical citation before any punctuation required by your sentence. Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks UNLESS there is parenthetical documentation, in which case periods and commas go after the documentation.

She said, “Hurry up” (Thomas 14), before she ran through the door.
The doctor asked, “What is a human life worth?” (Lowe 391).
Note: The exception to this rule is a quotation ending in a question mark or exclamation point. Then use the appropriate punctuation inside the closing quotation mark, and follow the quotation with the documentation and a period.

End punctuation of block quotations comes before documentation.

They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room, and I had no more sense, so, I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping it would be gone on the morrow. By chance, or else attracted by hearing his voice, it crept to Mr. Earnshaw’s door, and there he found it on quitting his chamber. Inquiries were made as to how it got there; I was obliged to confess, and in recompense for my cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of the house. (Bronte 78)

Examples of parenthetical documentation

Several examples adapted from Susan Pierce’s website follow. They show the correct information and formatting for MLA in-text citations from different kinds of sources. These are only a few of the many possible kinds of citations. For a complete list, consult the newest edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Note that each citation for a print or PDF source is shown two ways; also note that if the same information comes from a web page (or other non-paginated) source, the citation is the same as that for a print or PDF source, but without the page number.

PDF Files and Pagination

If the source is a PDF file, which requires Acrobat Reader to open, it will have page numbers and resemble the original page in a book, magazine, or journal. You will notice that in PDF files there is often a difference between the page numbers Acrobat Reader assigns to the document and the page numbers that appear in the body of the original page. This is because the PDF file adds metadata (information about the information) and it expands the number of pages. To avoid confusion, cite the page number that appears in the body of the original page within the PDF file. This way, readers can find the page number whether they are looking at the information in a PDF file or the same information in print (or another paginated format). Of course, if no page number appears in the body of the original page, you should use the page number assigned by the PDF file.

One author: Cite one author by his/her last name.

Print or PDF source

Friedman writes, “I feel about globalization a lot like I feel about the dawn” (37).
A study indicated that globalization had the potential to be a new beginning (Friedman 37).

Electronic source:Exactly the same as above, but without a page number

Two or three authors: Two or three authors are cited with all last names.

Print or PDF source

Frank and Jones stressed that schools need all-day kindergarten (45).
Even isolated economies welcome globalization (Turner, Allen, and Brown 166).

Electronic source: Exactly the same as above, but without a page number

More than three authors: Give the first author’s last name followed by et al. (meaning “and others”).

Print or PDF source

Turner et al. theorized that even isolated economies welcome globalization (166).
Even isolated economies welcome globalization (Turner et al. 166).

Electronic source: Exactly the same as above, but without a page number

Corporate author: Cite the name of the government agency, corporation, organization, or association that produced the work as the author. If the name is long, it is better to give the name in the text, not in parentheses.

Print or PDF source

Acceptable: A study demonstrates that controlling automobile emissions will reduce global warming (United States Environmental Protection Agency 84).
Better: A study prepared by the United States Environmental Protection Agency demonstrates that controlling automobile emissions will reduce global warming (84).

Electronic source: Exactly the same as above, but without a page number

No author (anonymous works): If no author is given, provide a short version of the title in quotation marks (for article or chapter titles) or in italics (for book titles).

Print or PDF source

Article

The study, “Nuclear Weapons Testing,” indicated that “environmental radioactivity from the testing of nuclear weapons diminished after the major nuclear powers declared a moratorium on atmospheric testing in 1963” (55).
“Environmental radioactivity from the testing of nuclear weapons diminished after the major nuclear powers declared a moratorium on atmospheric testing in 1963” (“Nuclear” 55).

Book

The statistics in Vietnam War Statistics show that the United States government did not accurately report the number of North Vietnamese who were killed (147).
Statistics from the Vietnam War show that the United States government did not accurately report the number of Vietnamese who were killed (Vietnam 147).

Electronic source: Exactly the same as the article and book examples above, but without a page number

Two or more works by the same author: If you have two or more works by the same author(s), cite the last name of the author(s) with an abbreviated title. For example, if you have two works by John Taylor and Mark Stevens, one of which is an article, “Using Exercise to Control Your Weight,” and the other a book, Ten Steps to a Slimmer You, give the entire title of the article or book in your text, but give an abbreviated title if you use parenthetical documentation.

Print or PDF source

(in your text)

In “Using Exercise to Control Your Weight” Taylor and Stevens state that although “people on diets alternate between gaining and losing weight” (10), there is no definitive evidence showing that diets help overweight adults.
Ten Steps to a Slimmer You shows the benefits of exercising energetically at least one hour a day (Taylor and Stevens 38).

(in parenthetical documentation)

Although “people on diets alternate between gaining and losing weight” (Taylor and Stevens, “Using Exercise” 10), there is no definitive evidence showing that diets help overweight adults.
One of the most important steps in losing weight is to exercise energetically at least one hour every day (Taylor and Stevens, Ten Steps 38).

Electronic Source: Exactly the same as above, but without a page number

Indirect sources: When you use quotations or paraphrases in your paper, whenever possible you should quote from the original source rather than a secondary one. Sometimes, however, you may need to quote or paraphrase text from a work an author has quoted in his work, and you cannot obtain the original source. In that case name the person the author is quoting in your text and use the word qtd. (abbreviation for quoted) in your parenthetical documentation.

Print or PDF Format

For example, if you located an article by John Barker who discussed the works of the literary scholars Mark Jones and Peter Taylor, and you wanted to paraphrase what John Barker said about them, your in-text citation would be as follows:

The essays of the contemporary literary scholars Mark Jones and Peter Taylor show them to be post-Modernist critics (qtd. in Barker 54).

Electronic Source: Exactly the same as above, but without a page number

Check your knowledge of parenthetical documentation using the following sentences. Each sentence has at least one error in MLA citation format or usage. Use the Take Notes Tool to write your response. When you’re finished, check your understanding.

A major reason families succeeded in the 1950s was that “federal assistance programs were much more generous and widespread than they are today.” (Coontz, p. 62).

Check Your Understanding

Should end with “ . . . today’ (Coontz 62).” No period required after today; no “p” required.

According to Stephanie Coontz, in the 1950s “federal assistance programs were much more generous and widespread than they are today” (Coontz 62).

Check Your Understanding

Should end with “ . . . today’ (62).” Author’s name is used earlier in the sentence, so the second author mention is incorrect.

Stephanie Coontz argues that it was the generosity and availability of federal aid programs that made families seem so successful and reliable in the 1950s.

Check Your understanding

Should end with “ . . . 1950s’ (62).” The page number was missing.

Even politically conservative scholars admit that we “should not hide from students that Colombus and other European explorers were often brutal” (Cheney, 267.)

Check Your Understanding

Should end with “ . . . brutal’ (Cheney 267).” The comma between Cheney and the page number is incorrect. Also the period should go outside of the parentheses.

Lynne Cheney is forced to admit that students should learn that even European explorers were “often brutal (Cheney 267).”

Check Your Understanding

Should end with “ . . . brutal’ (267).” Author’s name is used earlier in the sentence, so the second author mention is incorrect. Also the closing quotation mark should come at the end of the quotation, not after the citation.

Lynne Cheney concedes that students must be told the errors of our European past (p. 267).

Check Your Understanding

Should end with “ . . . past (267).” Using “p.” before the page number is nonstandard.

Writing a Works Cited Page

The most important thing to know is that to avoid being accused of plagiarism, you MUST have a works cited page at the end of your research paper. It provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and be able to read any sources you cite in the essay. Each source you cite in the essay must appear in your works cited list; likewise, each entry in the works cited list must be cited in your text.

The next thing to know is that a bibliography and a works cited page are NOT the same thing, and MLA style calls for a list of works cited. Whereas a bibliography lists all sources consulted in preparing a paper, a works cited page lists only those sources that are actually cited in the paper. (For comparison, the list of sources at the end of this lesson is done in Chicago style instead of MLA and is a bibliography, not a list of works cited.)

Entire books are dedicated to listing and discussing literally dozens of possible ways to write a works cited entry in MLA style. We’re going to focus on some of the main types of sources you might use while writing a research paper, but there are many other types of materials that won’t be used as examples here. When in doubt, consult the latest MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers or some of the up-to-date, well-respected university writing centers online. Ask your teacher for suggestions about such sites.

Some Types of Works Cited Entries

Print Books

An image of a book that student may have to cite in a research paper.

One Author: Arrange the information in four groups, each followed by a period and one space. (1) Author’s or editor’s name; (2) the title italicized; (3) the city of publication: publisher, and date; (4) the medium of publication.

Costanzo, Gayle. Living in Southern California. San Diego: Prentice, 2007. Print.
Costanzo, Gayle, ed. Living in Southern California. San Diego: Prentice, 2007. Print.

More than one author: Invert the first name, but then put the others in proper order.

Two authors: Costanzo, Gayle, and Adria Pease.
Three authors: Costanzo, Gayle, Adria Pease, and Ralph Ziti.
Four or more authors: Costanzo, Gayle, et al.

Corporate author: American Management Corporation.

Unknown author: Begin with the work’s title, i.e., Bridges

Two or more works by the same author: Use the author’s name only for the first entry. For other entries, use three hyphens followed by a period, which must stand for exactly the same name(s) in the first entry. List the titles in alphabetical order, ignoring articles A, An, or The at the beginning of a title.

True, Tracy. The Famous Line. Chicago: U of Chicago, 2006. Print.
---Growing Old Gracefully. New York: Penguin, 2003. Print.

Articles in periodicals

Article in a magazine: List in order (1) the author’s name; (2) the title of the article in quotation marks; (3) the italicized title of the magazine; (4) date and page numbers separated by a colon; (5) the medium of publication.

Fay, J. Michael. "Land of the Surfing Hippos." National Geographic Aug. 2004: 100+. Print.
Lord, Lewis. “There’s Something about Mary Todd.” US News and World Report 19 Feb. 2001: 53. Print.

Note about dates: If the magazine is issued monthly, give just the month and year. If it’s issued weekly, give the exact date. Abbreviate the names of the months except May, June, and July. Notice that the dates are written in what’s known as the universal method: day month year, with no commas.

Article in a daily newspaper: List in order (1) author’s name, if known; (2) title of the article in quotation marks; (3) italicized name of the newspaper; (4) date; (5) page number (including section letter); (6) medium of publication. If the article does not appear on consecutive pages, use a plus sign (+) after the page number.

Brummitt, Chris. “Indonesia’s Food Needs.” Boston Globe 6 Feb. 2005: A7+. Print

Unknown author: Begin with the work’s title, i.e., “Tackling the Blues”

For articles appearing on consecutive pages: Provide the range of pages. When an article does not appear on consecutive pages, give the number of the first page followed by a plus sign (107+).

Electronic sources

There are multitudes of ways to write works cited entries for electronic sources because information on these sources varies widely. A major change in the latest edition of the MLA Handbook is this: MLA style no longer requires a Web address (URL) in citations for online sources. MLA style does call for a sponsor or publisher for most online sources, though. If a source has no sponsor or publisher, use the abbreviation n.p. (for no publisher) in the sponsor position. If there is no date of publication or update, use n.d. (for no date) after the sponsor. Most entries for electronic sources end with the date you accessed the information. Here are just two brief examples. The possibilities are endless, so find an up-to-date, reliable source of information about MLA formatting.

An entire website: Halsall, Paul. Internet Modern History. Fordham U, 26 May 2009. Web. 19 Jan. 2011.

Short work from a website: Shiva, Vandana. “Bioethics: A Third World Issue.” Native Web, n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2010.

There are ways to write citations for works of art, cartoons, advertisements, recordings, films or videos, radio or television programs, live performances, e-mails, interviews, personal letters, and the list goes on and on.

Looking at a works cited page can answer many of your questions. You can view an example with explanatory notes here. Scroll down to page seven to see the list of works cited. Browse the rest of the paper to learn how parenthetical documentations are woven into the text.

Citation generators: Shortcut or Long Way Around?

There are several online citation generators, software tools that promise to create citations based on information you input. All you have to do then is copy the citation and paste it on your works cited page. Doesn’t that sound great?

Well . . . sort of. The truth is that the rules built into the software don’t cover every situation, and the output is only as accurate as the input. If you enter a typo, error, or leave out some data, your results will be inaccurate. Even the citation generators themselves warn users to review results carefully. (Wasn’t this supposed to be a shortcut?) So, the paradox of citation generators is like that of the grammar checker on your word-processing software. Both are useful to the extent that you already thoroughly understand the rules and can accept or reject the output.

Bottom line: a style manual—the MLA Handbook in your situation—is the authority for citation and formatting rules.

Test Your Understanding

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Resources

Note: Project Share lessons and resources’ lists are prepared using the Chicago Manual of Style.

Resources Used in This Lesson: Bibliography

Hacker, Diana, and Barbara Fister. Research and Documentation in the Electronic Age. 5th ed. (Boston:Bedford/St. Martins, 2010.)

Keables, Harold. “Documentation.” The Keables Guide to Writing. Iolani School.

Paoli, Dennis, et al. “New MLA Online Tutorial.” Tutorials. Hunter College Libraries.

Pierce, Susan. “MLA 2009 In-text Citation for Print and Electronic Sources.” English 103. Google.com. 2010.

“Research and Citation Resources.” The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab. 2011.

Roth, Robert. “Exercise #2: MLA Format for In-Text Citations.” English 122: English Composition – Dr. Roth – Fall 2003. Middlesex Community College. 2003. Accessed January 17, 2011.

“What is plagiarism? (and why you should care).” Fair Use & Plagiarism. Pete’s Power Point Station. Accessed January 14, 2011.