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MLA Documentation

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(note: this web version has more examples, due to space)

When you use the words or original ideas of another person in your writing, you need to document, or give credit to, the sources of those words or ideas. If exact words from the original are used, quotation marks are necessary. If you paraphrase, or restate the idea in your own words, quotation marks are not required, but documentation of the source is still required. 

There are several different formats for documentation. This page explains the MLA format (named for the Modern Language Association, which developed it).   In this format, you briefly identify your sources in the text of your paper, then give the full information in the "works cited" list at the end of the paper.

How to document quotations and paraphrasing is explained first, then how to do the "works cited" list is explained.

Parenthetical Documentation || Works Cited List

Format for Print Materials || Format for Online Materials || Help from a Human

In the MLA format, "parenthetical documentation" is used to briefly identify the sources of information you have borrowed in writing your paper. Parenthetical documentation should be integrated smoothly into the text of your paper, rather than listed separately.

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Works Cited

A list of works cited has all the sources that contributed ideas and information to your paper. (It is the same as a "bibliography.")  It is arranged in alphabetical order by the authors' last names or, if the source doesn't list an author, by the first word of the title (ignore "A," "An," and "The"). The following sample works cited list is in correct order. 

If you have a type of source not covered in the examples below, ask the librarian to show you the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th edition, or go to the MLA's web site at http://www.mla.org.

SAMPLE - All sources are integrated into one list, arrange alphabetically.

Typing should be double-spaced, with the second line of an entry indented 5 spaces.

Works Cited

Box, Scott. "One Father's Unique Perspective." Newsweek 5 Mar. 1999: 38. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO.

     Austin Community Coll. Lib., Austin, TX. 12 Feb. 2002 <http://search.ebscohost.com>.
"Parent." Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. 2003. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 13 Mar. 2003

     <http://search.eb.com>.
Parke, Ross. Fathers. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1981. 
Schorr, Burt. "States Cracking Down on Fathers Dodging Child-Support Payments." Wall Street

     Journal 26 Jan. 1993, eastern ed.: 33.
Sheppard, Lisa. "Father Involvement Shows Positive Outcomes." Urban Programs Resource Network.

     Apr. 2001. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 29 May 2003

     <http://www.urbantext.uiuc.edu/news030529.html>.

 

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The most BASIC RULES for works cited entries are:

BOOKS 

Last name, First name of author.   Title of book. City where published: Name of Publisher,

      year published.
MAGAZINES
Last name, First name of author (if given). "Title of Article."  Name of Magazine Date

     of issue:page numbers.
ONLINE MAGAZINE ARTICLE FROM SUBSCRIPTION DATABASE
Last name, First name of author (if given). "Title of Article." Name of Magazine Date

     of issue: page numbers. Name of Database. Name of Database Company. Library Used,

     City, State. Date of Access <url of the database home page>.

WEB PAGES

Last name, First name of author (if given). "Title of Web Page." Name of Overall Website. Date page was written.   
Publisher or Sponsor of Web Page. Date Accessed <url of the web page>.

Other Rules

For other than "public" web pages, when required information is not given: In the spot where the information should be, put the following abbreviations:

  • No date of publication - n.d.
  • No place of publication or no publisher -  n.p.
  • No page number - n.pag.
A second work by the same author: Instead of repeating the author's name in the works cited list, put 3 hyphens and a period (---.) and alphabetize as if the name were spelled out.

However there are many variations. Look at the examples for print and online sources below.

Remember, the following examples are not in the order you will list sources. Your list will be one alphabetical list. To make it easier to find the correct example, the following are divided into print and online sources. Within this, they are grouped by type of source (books, web sites, etc.).

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Works Cited - PRINT, INTERVIEWS, or VIDEO SOURCES

   

Works Cited

General encyclopedia, signed article  
Farber, Bernard.  "Family."  Encyclopedia Americana. 1999 ed.
Specialized encyclopedia, no author given  
"Fatherhood."  Encyclopedia of Sociology. Ed. T.E. Chen. 2 vols. New York:

     Putnam, 1990.
Book or pamphlet  
Parke, Ross.  Fathers.  Cambridge:  Harvard University Press, 1981.
Republished book  
Young, Marilyn. Family Life. 1972. New York: Doubleday, 1999.
Book with editors, not the first edition  
McKee, Lorna and Margaret O'Brien, eds. The Father Figure. 3rd ed. New York:

     Tavistock, 1982.
A work or chapter within a larger work  
Valsiner, Jaan. "The Father's Role in the Social Network of a Soviet Child."

     The Role of the Father in Child Development. Ed. Michael E. Lamb. New York:

     John Wiley & Sons,1981. 187-201.
Work reprinted in a collection and given a new title  
Wooster, Bernard. "Child Support Laws Should Be Tougher." Family Values: 

     Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego: Greenhaven, 1998. 10-14. Rpt. of "Deadbeat

     Dads." Reader's Digest Jan. 1996: 29-34.
Previously published scholarly article reprinted in a collection   
Wornen, Henry. "The Father and His Sons." Modern Literature 27 (1995): 179-85.

     Rpt. in Twentieth Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Michael Stewart. Vol. 89.

     Detroit: Gale, 1999. 404-410.
Magazine article, no author given  
"Fathers Confused by Changing Family Roles."  USA Today Oct. 1980: 5.
Magazine article with an author  
Gold, Jeannye. "When Fathers Raise Children Alone." U.S. News and World Report

     12 Apr. 1999: 51-52.
Scholarly journal article(volume number goes after journal name)  
Larson, Eric. "Cross-Cultural Studies of Fatherhood." Journal of Marriage

     and the Family 11.3 (1998): 212-18.
Newspaper article with author  
Schorr, Burt.  "States Cracking Down on Fathers Dodging Child-Support Payments."

     Wall Street Journal 26 Jan.1983, eastern ed.: 33.
Government document  
United States. Dept. of Justice. Child-Support Payment Laws. Washington: GPO,

     1991.
Interviews
(in-person and from an outside source)
 

Vargas, Carmen. Personal interview. 8 November 2005.

Jensen, Alfred. Interview. Nightline. ABC. KVUE, Austin, TX. 24 May 2004.

Film or video recording  
When Fathers Desert Families.  Prod. Project Hope. Videocassette. Maxwell, 2002.

 

Works Cited - ONLINE SOURCES

   

Works Cited

Full text periodical article from online database to which the library subscribes (first date is date of publication; second date is day you accessed it.)  
Box, Scott. "One Father's Unique Perspective." Newsweek 5 Mar. 1999: 38.

     MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Austin Community Coll. Lib., Austin,TX.

     12 Feb. 2007 <http://search.ebscohost.com>.
E-book from online database to which the library subscribes  
Coltrain, Scott. Family Man: Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equity. New York: Oxford,

1996. NetLibrary. OCLC. Austin Community Coll. Lib., Austin, TX. 7 Feb. 2007

<http://www.netLibrary.com/index.asp>.
      
Scholarly journal article from an online database to which the library subscribes (volume number goes after journal name)  
Gerry, Judy O., and Julie Meyer. "Balancing Employment and Fatherhood."

     Journal of Family Issues 18 (1997): 386-402. Sociological Collection. EBSCO.

     Austin Community Coll. Lib., Austin, TX. 21 July 2006<http://search.ebscohost.com>.
Newspaper article from an online database to which the library subscribes  
Griest, Stephanie Elizondo.  "Program Offers Help for Young Texas Fathers."

     Austin American-Statesman 27 Apr. 1999. InfoTrac Newspapers. Gale. Austin

     Community Coll. Lib., Austin, TX. 21 July 2006 <http://find.galegroup.com>.
Work reprinted in a collection (give information about where originally published first, then about reprint source)  
O'Neale, Sondra. "Fathers, Gods, and Religion: Perceptions of Christianity and

     Ethnic Faith in James Baldwin." Critical Essays on James Baldwin. Ed. Fred

     Stanley and Nancy Burt. N.p.: Hall, 1988: 125-43. Rpt. In Contemporary

     Literary Criticism. Austin Community Coll., Austin, TX. 12 Dec 2006

     <http://galenet.galegroup.com>.
Newspaper article with author from a free online source   
Willison, Marilyn Murray. "Family Issues." Washington Post 1 May 2002.

     2 May 2006<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A146-2002May2.html>.
Online encyclopedia, no author given  
"Parent." Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. 2003. Encyclopaedia Britannica.

     13 Mar. 2007<http://search.eb.com>.
World Wide Web page (Give general title of web site, if known, after title of particular page. First date is date of publication; second date is day you accessed it.)  
Sheppard, Lisa. "Father Involvement Shows Positive Outcomes." Urban Programs 

     Resource Network. Apr. 2001. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

     29 May 2003 <http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/news/news980413g.html>.
World Wide Web page with "missing" information
(Often all the information asked for in the above example isn't there. Here there was no author, publication date or publisher.)
 
"Why Fathers Are Getting Child Custody More." 30 June 2004 

     <http://www.geocities.com/~dadpower>.


If
you have questions, you can e-mail the librarian for help

Or you can telephone for help.


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