Note: This has the MLA rules from the new 7th edition of the MLA Handbook, 2009.

Parenthetical Documentation || Works Cited List

Format for Print Materials || Format for Videos || Format for Online Source from Library Databases || Format for Online Sources From the Web

Help from a Human

• The general rule is to cite the source right in the text of your paper. If the reader wants to get more information, they go to the Works Cited list at the end of your paper. 
  
  If the author's name is mentioned in your writing (this is called a "signal phrase"), you only need to put the page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence. The reader can then consult the list of Works Cited (explained below) at the end of the paper to get the complete citation.
  
  NOTE: Some sources, especially those on the Web, do not give page numbers. The general rule is to use a section number if it is given; otherwise just use the author name or, if no author is given, the first words of the title.
  

  Ross Parke notes that "natural fathers aren't the only ones raising children on their own. As more families split up, social workers note that stepfathers increasingly are being called on to bring up other people's kids" (52). According to Bernard Farber in Encyclopedia Americana, there is a trend toward waiting to marry and toward postponing the birth of the first child (6). According to the web site Our Fathers, "Almost 20 percent of fathers ask for child custody after divorce."

• You may decide not to highlight the source of some of your derived information.  In such cases, at the end of the sentence enclose in parantheses both the author's last name and the page referred to. The reader can then consult the list of Works Cited at the end of the paper to get the complete citation.

  At the turn of the century many men worked long hours, which "entailed their absence from the family for most of the day: that was not a rejection of fatherhood but a necessary element of it" (McKee and O'Brien 54). Child support payments can be withheld from wages in 45 states (Schorr 33).

• For publications with no author given, you should include the first 2-3 key words from the title and the page number in parentheses.

  "Fathers today no longer know who they are or what their wives and children expect from them" ("Fathers Confused" 5), and this increases the likelihood they will abandon their families.

• If possible, you should quote or paraphrase material from the original source, but if you do use material that is within someone else's work, include the abbreviation qtd. in ("quoted in") and then refer to the source where you got the information. Use qtd. in even if it's a paraphrase and not a quote.

Dr. Ann Rudolph contends that fathers who bond with their infant children are more likely to maintain lifelong contact (qtd. in Parke 112).

DO I HAVE TO DOCUMENT EVERYTHING?

One of the hardest parts of documentation is deciding how far to go in documenting sources. If you mention that Los Angeles suffered an earthquake in January 1994, do you have to show where that information came from? No. This is considered "common knowledge," even if you didn't know on your own. This can get tricky. When in doubt it is probably a good idea to include the documentation. Ask a librarian or your instructor for advice on specific situations.

 

Works Cited

Box, Scott. "One Father's Unique Perspective." Newsweek 5 Mar. 1999: 38. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 12 Feb. 2009.

"Parent." Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2008. Web. 13 Mar. 2009.

Parke, Ross. Fathers. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000. Print.

Schorr, Burt, Jr. “States Cracking Down on Fathers Dodging Child-Support Payments.” Wall Street Journal 26 Jan. 2009, eastern ed.: 33. Print.

Sheppard, Lisa. "Father Involvement Shows Positive Outcomes." Urban Programs Resource Network. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Apr. 2001. Web.

29 May 2009.

How to format the works cited page

"Hanging indent" for entries. Drag lower margin marker to right a half inch.. Top of page and sides have 1" margins.

There are many variations for Works Cited entries. Look at the examples for print, video, and web 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 video and online library and Web sources.

Works Cited - PRINT and INTERVIEWS

Farber, Bernard. “Family.” Encyclopedia Americana. 2007 ed. Print.

“Fatherhood.” Encyclopedia  of Sociology. Ed. T.E. Chen. Vol 2. New York: Putnam,

        1999. Print.

Parke, Ross. Fathers. Cambridge: Harvard University  Press, 2000. Print.
          

Young, Marilyn. Family Life. 1972. New York: Doubleday, 1999. Print.

McKee, Lorna, and Margaret O’Brien, eds. The  Father Figure. 3rd ed. New York: Tavistock,

Valsiner, Jaan. “The Father’s Role in the Social Network of a Soviet Child.”The Role of 

Wooster,  Bernard. “Child Support Laws Should Be Tougher.” Family Values: Opposing Viewpoints.         

Wornen, Henry. “The  Father and His Sons.” Modern Literature 27.3 (1995): 179-85. Rpt. in Twentieth

"Fathers Confused by Changing Family Roles." Family Monthly Oct. 1980: 5. Print.
         

Gold, Jeannye. “When Fathers Raise Children Alone.” U.S. News and World Report. 12 Apr.

1999: 51-52. Print.

Larson, Eric. “Cross-Cultural Studies of Fatherhood.”  Journal of Marriage and the Family 11.4 (1998):

Schorr, Burt, Jr. “States Cracking Down on Fathers Dodging Child-Support Payments.”  Wall Street Journal

United States.  Dept. of Justice. Child Support Payment Laws. Washington: GPO, 2007. Print.

Works Cited - VIDEOS

When Fathers Desert Families. Prod. Project Hope. Maxwell, 2008. DVD.    

Online video 

Barack Obama Podcast: On Fatherhood. barackobama.com. 17 June 2007. YouTube. Web. 5 May 2009.

Works Cited - ONLINE SOURCES

• When two dates are listed in a citation, the first one is the publication date; the second is when you accessed it.
• If a URL for an article from a database is very long, just list the basic URL for the database first page.
  
  

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

       MasterFILE Premier. Web. 12 Feb. 2009.
 
    

Coltrain, Scott. Family Man: Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equity. New York: Oxford,
       
     1996. NetLibrary. Web. 7 Feb. 2009.

       

Gerry, Judy O. "Balancing Employment and Fatherhood." Journal of Family Issues 18.6 (1997): 386-402.

Griest, Stephanie. “Program Offers Help for Young Fathers.” Austin American-Statesman 27 Apr. 1999: E4.

O'Neale, Sondra. "Fathers, Gods, and Religion: Perceptions of Christianity and Ethnic Faith in James

Works Cited - ONLINE SOURCES FROM THE WEB

Willison, Marilyn Murray. “Family Issues." Washington Post. Washington Post, 1 May 2009. Web.

"Parent." Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2008. Web. 13 Mar. 2009.
	  

Sheppard, Lisa. "Father Involvement Shows Positive Outcomes." Urban Programs Resource Network. University

Why Fathers Are Getting Child Custody More. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 June 2008. 

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

Or you can telephone for help.

The URL for this page is
http://library.austincc.edu/help/mla/

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