MLA Citation and Documentation

By Benjamin SynUCD Writing Center

What’s New In 7th Edition? No More Underlining!

Underlining is no more. MLA now recommends italicizing titles of independently published works (books, periodicals, films, etc).

No More URLs! While website entries will still include authors, article names, and website

names, when available, MLA no longer requires URLs. Writers are, however, encouraged to provide a URL if the citation information does not lead readers to easily find the source.

Publication Medium. Every entry receives a medium of publication marker. Most entries will be

listed as Print or Web, but other possibilities include Performance, DVD, or TV. Most of these markers will appear at the end of entries; however, markers for Web sources are followed by the date of access.

New Abbreviations. Many web source entries now require a publisher name, a date of publication,

and/or page numbers. When no publisher name appears on the website, write N.p. for no publisher given. When sites omit a date of publication, write n.d. for no date. For online journals that appear only online (no print version) or on databases that do not provide pagination, write n. pag. for no pagination.

FormatWhere things go and why

Margins & Alignment

Leave an exactly one inch (1”) margin: At the top At the bottom On both sides

Align all text flush with the left margin There are only two exceptions to this

rule:▪ Titles (including “Works Cited”) are centered▪ Page numbers are flush with the right margin

Spacing

Unless your professor says otherwise, DOUBLE-SPACE EVERYTHING. In previous versions of MLA there were

parts, such as block quotations and the works cited page that had different spacing.

However, under current MLA guidelines, everything needs to be double-spaced.

Page Numbers

• Page numbers are:• In the header, one-

half inch from the top.

• Flush with the right margin

• Go on every page, including the first page and the Works Cited page(s).

Heading

Unless your professor insists on it, do not include a title page. Instead, on your first page you need to have four elements:

Your nameYour professor’s nameThe courseThe date the assignment is due

Title

Rules for your title: DOs:▪ Double-space and center your title beneath the date▪ Capitalize these words of your title:▪ The first▪ The last▪ All principle words

DON’Ts▪ Italicize/underline your title and do not put quotation marks around

your title (unless your title mentions the title of another work)▪ Put a period at the end of your title▪ Capitalize these (unless they are the first or last word):▪ Articles▪ Prepositions ▪ Coordinating conjunctions▪ The to in infinitives

CitationsGiving credit where it’s due

Activity

Use the first page of the Samuel Greengard’s scholarly article “Censored!” to:1) Create a properly formatted

Works Cited entry

2) Create parenthetic citations for these quotes

a) Samuel Greengard writes, “Many observers criticized Google for bowing to pressure from the Chinese government” (________).

b) Several Asian nations including China and India “use Internet censorship to dominate the political dialogue” (________).

c) Professor Andrew Lih offers, “In many countries, censorship is a deeply entrenched practice” (________).

Paraphrase or Quote?

A citation can either be a paraphrase of the ideas in your own words or a direct quote from the original text. Paraphrase▪ To paraphrase means to restate information from a source

in an original way▪ Even though you are paraphrasing, you must ALWAYS cite

the source’s author Direct Quotations▪ Retain the meaning and credibility of the original source▪ Capture exact language that supports your point; in many

instances, they capture language that is unusual, well crafted, striking, and/or memorable.

Commas and periods are always placed inside the quotation mark: Modern poems, like T.S. Eliot’s “The Hollow Men,”

are a pleasure to read. Exception: When using in-text citations,

your comma will go outside the quotation marks and parenthetical: “The Dead,” a short story in James Joyce’s

Dubliners, depicts a man coming to terms with his own mortality: “His soul had approached that regions where dwell the vast hosts of the dead” (176).

Using Quotation Marks Correctly

In-Text Citations

When you reference any outside material, provide a citation You MUST provide a citation for any information or idea that is not

your own or common knowledge Citations are:

Are in parentheses Immediately after a quotation or paraphrase But before the punctuation

Inside the parentheses you need two things:1. Author’s last name▪ If a source doesn’t have a known author, use an abbreviated title▪ If you are using several works by the same author, you will need to

include the author’s name and an abbreviated title

2. Page(s) referenced▪ If the author is mentioned in the sentence, only the page number is in the

parenthetic citation

In-Text Citation

Author’s name in the text (6.3)

In-text Citation (MLA)

Author’s name in reference (6.3)

In-text Citation

Citing Indirect Sources (6.4.7)

Block Quote

• Direct quotations that go over four lines need to be turned into block quotes:

• Use a colon to introduce quote

• Indent quote 1”• Omit quotation marks• The parenthetic

comes after the period

Works CitedA list of all the sourcesfrom the text

Format of the Works Cited List

New page Double-space throughout The title “Works Cited” is centered, one

inch from top Each entry is

Flush with left margin▪ Subsequent lines are indented one-half inch,

which is called hanging indention Alphabetized by author’s last name▪ Or title if author is unknown (ignoring A, An, or

The)

An Article in Scholarly Journal (MLA 5.4.2.)

Author(s). “Article Title.” Journal Volume.Issue (Year):

Page(s). Medium.

Connelly, Deborah S. “To Read or Not To Read:

Understanding Book Censorship.” Community & Junior

College Libraries 15.2 (2009): 83-90. PDF file.

Article in a Newspaper/Magazine(MLA 5.4.5. & 5.4.6)

Author(s). “Article Title.” Newspaper/Magazine

Day Month Year: Page(s). Medium.

Wines, Michael. “China: Censors Bar Mythical

Creature.” New York Times 30 Mar 2009: 8.

Print.

A Book (MLA 5.5.4.)

Authors. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year

of Publication. Medium.

Karolides, Nicholas J., Margaret Bald, and Dawn B. Sova.

100 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World

Literature. New York: Checkmark Books, 1999. Kindle

file.If you have a source with four or more authors, you can offer the first author and replace the rest with the phrase et al. (“and others”).

A Work in an Anthology (MLA 5.5.6.)

Author. “Title of Chapter/Poem/Short Story/etc.” Title of Book. Editor.

Edition. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication.

Page(s). Medium.

Rosenblatt, Roger. “We Are Free to Be You, Me, Stupid, and Dead.”

Language Awareness. Eds. Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and

Virginia Clark. 10th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. Print.

Entry in a Reference Book(MLA 5.5.7.)

“Entry.” Title of Reference Book. Edition. Year.

Medium.

“Censorship.” Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed.

1989. Print.

A Work Cited Only on the Web(MLA 5.6.2.b.)

Author(s). “Page.” Website. Publisher (or N.p.), date of publication (or

n.d.). Medium. Date of access. (<url>.)

“The Right to Sext: Sending Nude Photos of Oneself is a Right.”

ncac.org. Natl. Coalition Against Censorship, 26 Mar. 2009. Web.

15 Apr. 2009. <http://www.ncac.org/

The-Right-to-Sext-Sending-Nude-Photos-of-Oneself-is-a-Right>.

A Periodical in an Online Database(MLA 5.6.4.)

Author(s). “Article.” Newspaper/Magazine Day Month Year:

Page (or n. pag.). Database. Medium. Date of access.

Rich, Motoko. “Amazon Ranking Errors Ignite a Twitter-Fed

Outrage.” New York Times 14 Apr. 2009: 1. Academic Search

Premier. Web. 15 Apr. 2009.

A Film or Video Recording(MLA 5.7.3.)

Title of Film. Director. (Performances, Producer,

Writer, etc.) Distributer, Year. Medium.

This Film Is Not Yet Rated. Dir. Kirby Dick.

Independent Film Channel, 2006. Film.

Final Thoughts

Taking a few minutes towrap up the loose ends

Activity Answers

1) Works Cited entry:

Greengard, Samuel. “Censored!” Communications of the ACM 53.7 (2010): 16. Print.

2) Parenthetic citations:a) Samuel Greengard writes, “Many observers criticized Google

for bowing to pressure from the Chinese government” (16).

b) Several Asian nations including China and India “use Internet censorship to dominate the political dialogue” (Greengard 16).

c) Professor Andrew Lih offers, “In many countries, censorship is a deeply entrenched practice” (qtd. in Greengard 16).

Resources

MLA UCD Writing Center MLA Handbook for Writers of Research

Papers (7th) The OWL at Purdue ▪ “MLA 2009 Formatting and Style Guide”

Questions

Now is the time to ask Next time, your grade could be at stake

The EndThank you very much.