mla format: the important things to know. when you report on research, you must explain where you...
TRANSCRIPT
On the last page of your paper, you list all your sources of information. In APA format, this page is titled “References.”
In MLA format, this is called your “Works Cited” page.
The important thing is to make it easy for your reader to find the source on the “Works Cited” list.
For this reason, your in-text citation must begin with the same words that begin your entry on the “Works Cited” list.
Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.
Here is the model for an article or essay from a collection. You would use this model to cite a reading from our text, Quest 3:
Lastname, First name. "Title of Essay." Title of
Collection. Ed. Editor's Name(s). Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page range of entry. Medium of Publication.
Anderson, Jack. “Going to Norway." Quest 3 Reading
and Writing. Ed. Pamela Hartmann and Laurie
Blass. New York: Mcgraw-Hill, 2007. 172-173. Print.
Tips to remember:
*Copy the punctuation exactly.
*If information is missing, leave it out and go on to the next thing.
"Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.” Time 30 June 1947:1. Print.
(Note that there is no author given, so the title of the article comes first.)
Notice that:
*All dates are in MLA format.
*If you don’t know the author, you omit it and go to the title.
Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). “Title of Web Page.” Name of Site. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.
O’Brien, Barbara. “What Do Buddhists Believe?” Name of Site. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.
Now, you need to find the name of the main website:
Remember that pages of a website are like the pages in a book.
The name of the main website is like the title of a book.
O’Brien, Barbara. “What Do Buddhists Believe?” About.com. Buddhism. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.
Next, you need to figure out who is responsible for this website. It may be an institution or organization. The a name may or may not be the same as the name of the website.
O’Brien, Barbara. “What Do Buddhists Believe?” About.com. Buddhism. The New York Times Company, date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.
Next, you need to find the date that the page your are citing was created.
To do this, go back to your original long URL:
O’Brien, Barbara. “What Do Buddhists Believe?” About.com. Buddhism. The New York Times Company, n.d. Medium of publication. Date of access.
The medium of publication is “Web.” The date of access is the date that you found the page on the Internet.
O’Brien, Barbara. “What Do Buddhists Believe?” About.com. Buddhism. The New York Times Company, n.d. Web. 28 March 2011.