Documentation for Research Papers

Ms. Lowder

English II

Some things to remember

• Conduct research first

• Then type rough draft

• Do not add extra space between paragraphs. Indent paragraphs by three spaces.

• Do not use the words “I, me, my, our, us, we” in your paper. It should be more formal than that.

MLA Documentation

• Used in humanities courses -- English, religion, art, theater, speech, drama, and some history

• Also called in-text or parenthetical documentation

• Eliminates the need for footnotes and allows the reader to see source information within text of paper

MLA Documentation

• Every time you use a quote or paraphrase in your paper, you will need to make sure you also

• 1. Tag it

• 2. Cite it

• 3. Include it on your works cited page

• Missing any of these steps will result in a failing paper grade.

Quotes

• Anytime you copy information down word for word from another source, that is a quote

• A quote does NOT have to be something someone said in another text, i.e. something with quotes around it already

• Quotes are usually short – 1 to 2 sentences in length, or even partial sentences

• You place quotation marks around a quote once you put it in your paper, and you MUST cite it in your paper

Paraphrase

• When you use someone else’s idea but put it in your own words, that’s a paraphrase.

• Paraphrases are generally short – 1 to 2 sentences in length or even parts of sentences.

• Paraphrases do NOT need quotation marks but MUST be cited in your paper.

Summary

• A summary is an extended paraphrase.

• It occurs when you paraphrase a larger amount of text and make it more concise as you put it in your own words.

• Summaries do not need quotation marks, but they do need to be cited in your paper.

Tagging

• Tags alert the reader that a quote or paraphrase is about to occur or has just occurred, depending on the location of the tag.

• Tags help your writing flow and prevent choppiness when incorporating quotes and paraphrases.

Tagging Examples - Website

• According to John Bell, “the death penalty is inhumane and unconstitutional” (“Death to Death”).

• The tag is at the beginning and is the author’s name; the citation is at the end and is the article name.

• “The death penalty is inhumane and unconstitutional,” suggests John Bell (“Death to Death”).

• Here, the quote comes first, then the tag, then the citation.

• Notice the location of the comma and the period.

Tagging Examples – Books/Mags

• Politician John Bell argues that “the death penalty is inhumane and unconstitutional” (7).

• In this example, I tag the quote with the author’s name and then only have to put the page number of the quote in the citation.

• This only works assuming I have one author named John Bell and only one work by him.

• Another version would be-

• Politician John Bell argues that “the death penalty is inhumane and unconstitutional” (Death Matters, 7).

• This would be necessary if he had multiple works I was using in my paper.

Tagging Continued

• If you don’t know the author’s name, or to add variety to your tagging methods, you may also do this:

• “Death to Death” asserts that “the death penalty is inhumane and unconstitutional” (www.death.com).

• In this case, I’ve tagged the quote with the article name and used the website address as my citation.

• This is not ideal; try to avoid using a url in your citation if at all possible.

Tagging continued

• In your paper, you should try to tag your quotes and paraphrases in a variety of ways.

• Alternate tagging with the author’s name and the article name.

• Also alternate placing your tagging information at the beginning and end of your sentences.

• Finally, change the wording of your tagging whenever possible.

What should YOU do?

• Your final paper will need 7 sources cited within the text. These citations should be a combination of quotes, paraphrases, and summaries.

• Note that you may cite a particular source more than once, but you must cite 7 different sources to earn a passing grade.

• One of the five sources must be a NON-INTERNET source (book, magazine, newspaper, encyclopedia, interview of an expert, etc.)

Continued

• The rule of 2/3, 1/3 applies to this paper. No more than 1/3 of the paper information should be from other sources; the majority of the opinions and ideas should come from you.

• Make sure your sources are credible and worthy of use.

• Read p.464-479 in your language book to help you further.

Due Date• I will be checking your rough drafts on

Thursday 1/17/13.• These rough drafts should be typed, with

several sources/citations included, and should be 2 or more pages in length for full credit. Remember, you should double space with 1” margins and size 10 or 12 font.

• Your final copy should be 5 or more typed pages plus a works cited page and is due on Friday, February 1, 2013.

Works Cited Page

• The works cited page is a listing of the sources you USED in your paper.

• It is NOT a list of all sources you looked at but decided not to use – that’s a bibliography.

• Your works cited page must have a minimum of 5 entries on it because you must use at least 5 different sources in your paper.

• Your language book has good information on this p.662-669

Format of Works Cited Page

• Works Cited is centered and placed at the top as a title.

• Your works cited page must have a minimum of five entries.

• Each entry is double-spaced from the next.

• If an entry continues onto a second line, that entry is single-spaced and the second line is indented.

Format cont’d.

• No bullets or numbers are used.

• The entries are listed in alphabetical order by the author’s last name or the title of the work if the author is unknown.

• The first line of each entry begins at the left hand margin.

Website Citation on Works Cited Page

• Greenhouse, Linda. “Selective Empathy.”

Death Penalty Information Center.

3 December 2009. 17 March 2010. <www.deathpenaltyinfo.org>.

This is an example of an online source with an author.

Website Citation on Works Cited Page

• Example of a website without an author listed.

• “The Death Penalty Will Only Cause Me

More Pain.” Death Penalty Home

Page. 19 March 2010. <www.death

penalty.org>.

Works Cited Format Cont’d

• Use the pages I listed from your language book for information about how to cite books, magazines, interviews, etc.