MLA 7th Sullivan Library @Dominican College

Updated 11/30/2012

What is MLA? MLA = Modern Language Association Humanities, Language & Literature

Manuals for: research papers (on reserve at front

desk) High school and undergraduates

scholarly publication Graduates, faculty, and researchers

What are the style rules? 12 point Times New Roman font or other

similar type of font 1” margins around all edges Double spaced throughout No title page – instead put your

information at the top of the first page

What do I need? Title page (beginning of first page) Main body of paper (rest of first page

and beyond) List of References (end)

Title Page (from Purdue OWL)

Why cite? Gives credit to the researchers Shows which sources contributed to

your learning and intellectual growth Allows readers to easily find the sources

to further their own knowledge Prevents accidental plagiarism by you

Did you know. . . ? That it is plagiarism to:

Copy the words, ideas, graphs, images, etc. of others without proper credit

Cut and paste various ideas together from different sources without proper credit

Use the same paper in more than one class without permission

Edit material between quote marks without proper notice (look in the MLA 7th manual for instructions on how to do it properly)

What should I cite in my paper? What works you used What you took from each source

Quotations Paraphrases of sentences or ideas

Where in the work you found the material Page numbers

Citing what you found(body of paper) Author / Page system:

… character of the protagonist” (Tennyson 998).

In-text citations

are a roadmap to

your works cited page

Ways to cite properly Two places to put Author info (page info

goes at the end in parentheses):

In the starting signal phrase:The research by Davis supported … (13).

In parentheses at the end: … habitual use of opium during the writing”

(Davis 13).

In-text citing1 authorSignal phrase: Williams said “Dreams

are a reality” (13).In the parentheses: …reality”(Williams

13).

2 authorsSignal phrase: Williams and Robinson

remarked “Dreams are a reality” (13). In the parentheses: …reality” (Williams

and Robinson 13).

In-text citing3 authors Signal phrase: Williams, Robinson, and Smith

said “Dreams are a reality” (13).In the parentheses: …reality” (Williams,

Robinson, and Smith 13).

4+ authors – must match works cited page. List them all, *OR* use et al.

Signal phrase: Williams et al. said “Dreams are a reality” (13).

In the parentheses: …reality” (Williams et al. 13).

Paraphrasing vs. Quoting Two ways to insert an idea into your

paper Direct quotation

Requires author information requires a page number (when available)

Paraphrasing Requires author information requires a page number (when available)

Direct Quotation Example Author in signal phrase

Agar writes “everyone uses the word language and everybody these days talks about culture. . . . ‘Languaculture’ is a reminder, I hope, of the necessary connection between its two parts” (60).

Author / page # in parentheses … and furthermore, “ ‘languaculture’ is a

reminder . . . of the necessary connection between its two parts” (Agar 60).

What is paraphrasing? More than changing the word order

of a few words More than just summarizing

Synthesizing (putting together) the information

Expressing what you have learned to the reader

Paraphrasing Example Using a signal phrase for author to begin the

sentence has the advantage of letting your reader know in advance that it is not your idea(s), but parenthetical citations are okay, too.

Snippet from an original source:Some of Dickinson’s most powerful poems

express her firmly held conviction that life cannot be fully comprehended without an understanding of death.

- Wendy Martin, Columbia Literary History of the United States, pg. 625

Paraphrasing Example Plagiarism:Emily Dickinson firmly believed that we cannot

fully comprehend life unless we also understand death. (ideas taken from the original quote)

Proper citation:As Wendy Martin has suggested, Emily

Dickinson firmly believed that we cannot begin to understand life unless we also understand death (625).

Unique phrases in paraphrases If you want to use a unique or exact

phrase from the original text within your paraphrase: Wendy Martin states that Dickinson held fast

to the belief that “life cannot be fully comprehended” without a person also taking the time to reflect on what death means to them (625).

Paraphrasing Tips Re-read the text until you grasp its meaning Physically cover the text up! Re-write the quote from memory Look over your work:

Any unique phrases you would not normally use need to be put in quotes (with a page number!)

Try to use different words than the author did If it is close to the original idea, try again or ask

for help

Works Cited Formatting Located at the end of your paper, on a

new page Every source in the paper has an entry One word at the top of the page,

centered:Works Cited

[Not bolded, italicized, or in quote marks]

Works Cited Formatting Entries in alphabetical order by (the

first) author’s last name usually, or, if needed, the title of the work

Double spaced Hanging indents used for references of

2+ lines Cite the work of individuals whose ideas,

research, or theories have influenced your paper

Citing an item implies you have read it

MLA Author info (all items)

Reverse the first author’s name. Smith, Jane

For works with multiple authors, only the first author’s name is reversed. Smith, Jane, Corey Jefferson, and Bob Pluck.

For four or more authors, write out the names in full OR use et al. Smith, Jane, et al.

Do not abbreviate names unless you only have the abbreviation, not the full name

Works Cited - BooksLast Name, First Name Middle Name. An Italicized Title with All Significant Words Capitalized: An MLA Example. City of Publisher: Publisher Name, year. Medium of publication.

Smith, David Will. Running Home: An American Sprinter’s Story. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 2004. Print.

Jones, Beth and Keith Jair, eds. Geriatric Physical Therapy Within the Hospital. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis, 2009. Print.

Works Cited - ArticlesLast Name, First Name Middle Name. An Article

Title Not Italicized: With All Significant Words Capitalized. Name of Journal Italicized, volume#.issue# (year): page#-page#. Print.

For articles found in databases:Last Name, First Name Middle Name. An Article

Title Not Italicized: With All Significant Words Capitalized. Name of Journal Italicized, volume#.issue# (year): page#-page#. Database name italicized. Web. Date of access.

Article ExamplesSanchez, Raul. Outside the Text:

Retheorizing Empiricism and Identity. College English, 74.3 (2012): 234-246. Print.

Correll, Michael, Mary Whitmore, and Matthew Gleicher. Exploring Collections of Tagged Text for Literary Scholarship. Computer Graphics Forum, 30.3 (2011): 731-741. Academic Search Elite. Web. 5 Feb. 2012.

Works Cited: MagazinesMcEvoy, Dermot. “Little Books, Big

Success.” Publisher’s Weekly 30 Oct. 2006: 26-28. Print.

Tyre, Peg. “Standardized tests in college?” Newsweek, Newsweek, 16 Nov. 2007. Web. 7 Feb 2012.

The second magazine article is treated like a website since it is found online.

Works Cited - Websites Generally includes the following information:

Name of the author, editor, etc., when available Title of the website Title of overall website (if distinct from work title) Publisher or sponsor. If unavailable: n.p. Date of publication. If unavailable: n.d. Medium of Publication (Web) Date of access (day, month, year)

Works Cited - WebsitesLast Name, First Name Middle Name. A Website

title with All Significant Words Capitalized. Overall website name. Publisher, Publication date. Web. Access date.

Committee on Scholarly Editions. “Guidelines for Editors of Scholarly Editions.” Modern Language Association, Modern Language Assn., 29 June 2011. Web. 7 Feb 2012.

Works Cited - Websites

If the URL is required, state as shown:Eaves, Morris, Robert Essick, and Joseph Viscomi, eds.

“The William Blake Archive.” Lib. of Cong., 8 May 2008. Web. 15 May 2008. <http://wwww.blakearchive.org/

blake/>

Note that the name of the title of the page and the title of the overall website were the same, so the archive name does not need to be mentioned twice. You skip instead to the publisher information (Lib. Of Cong.).

More help with MLAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22CPQoLE4U0

(MLA 7th) Title: MLA Style Essay Format – Word

Tutorial Username: peakdavid Occupation: University Professor, Media and

Communications

MLA Sample Paper: OWL @ Purdue http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resourc

e/747/13/