MLA FORMATResources, Sample Page, and Citation Examples

Why Do We Cite Our Sources?• Give credit where credit is due

• Provide “breadcrumb trail” of research

• Allow audience to look further into your topic

• Allow audience or fellow scholars to critique and/or improve your work

• Provide validity to your final product

• Practice proper formatting for college papers! Making these habits now is better in the long run.

Hetler, Veronica. “hassession8.” Power Point presentation. Northside College Preparatory High School, Chicago, IL. 4 October 2012.

How Do We Cite Our Sources? MLA Resources•MLA Formatting – Purdue OWL

•General Formatting (link)•Electronic Sources- look at ALL the different types of electronic sources- articles on web pages, images, whole websites, etc.- (link)

MLA Reminders:• For this project , your citations may be from the biography,

other print sources, web-sites, articles, electronic images, or videos. Whatever helps you with the project.

• The Works Cited page is a list of ALL sources used.

• MLA now requires all citations to include the medium or a publication marker: • Print – books, magazines, journals etc. • Web – web-sites (to include images, video, or audio you found on

websites) Please include the URLs!• Television, DVD, MP3, etc. – for audio/video sources in tangible or

ITunes form

Sample MLA Page

How To Cite Electronic Text SourcesHere are some common features you should try and find before citing electronic sources in MLA style. Not every Web page will provide all of the following information. However, collect as much of the following information as possible both for your citations and for your research notes:

• Author and/or editor names (if available) • Article name in quotation marks (if applicable) • Title of the Website, project, or book in italics. (Remember that some

Print publications have Web publications with slightly different names. They may, for example, include the additional information or otherwise modified information, like domain names [e.g. .com or .net].)

• Any version numbers available, including revisions, posting dates, volumes, or issue numbers.

• Publisher information, including the publisher name and publishing date.

• Take note of any page numbers (if available). • Medium of publication. (Web, Print, DVD, iTunes, etc.)• Date you accessed the material. • URL (if required, or for your own personal reference). IT IS REQUIRED FOR THIS PROJECT!

Sample Electronic Source Citations

Last Name, First Name. “Page or Article Title.” Web-Site Name. Institution/Organization Affiliated with Site, date of resource creation (if available or n.d.). Medium of Publication. Date of Access. <Link>.

SAMPLE

Gorney, Cynthia. “Girl Power in Brazil.” National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 2012. Web. 3 Oct 2012. <http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/09/girl-power/gorney-text>.

◼How to do it.▪In-Text Citations The Basics for any source.▪Electronic Sources

▪Begin your direct citation with a quotation mark “ End it with a quotation mark too “Hi” No punctuation must go inside the quotation mark, unless it is an exclamation point (!) or a question mark (?).

▪Put the first name of the Web citation in the parenthesis after the quotation. This name could be the author’s, the article’s, or the film’s name. The next item should be a shortened name of the website.

▪Periods always go after the parenthesis.▪Fake Sample:▪“Hi” (Harned, jonescollegeprep.org).

MLA IN-TEXT CITATIONS

▪ Sample:▪“Regardless of partisanship, the current electoral system

is largely supported across the country” (Beck, BBC News).

▪If you use any two articles from the same site, you must use the article’s shortened name in the parenthesis instead.▪“Regardless of partisanship, the current electoral system

is largely supported across the country” (Beck, “Australia Election”).

▪“About 100 Australians are believed to have travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight with IS, with authorities warning they present a serious threat to domestic security” (Marquez, “Iran to Give Australia IS Data”).

Both of these articles came from www.bbc.com, therefore the articles’ shortened titles are used instead)

SAMPLE MLA IN TEXT CITATION

You need to find the original source if you want to do that. You could misinterpret or misread the information otherwise!

SPECIAL NOTE: NEVER CITE A QUOTATION IN A QUOTATION FOR A

PAPER!

WHAT ABOUT USING YOUR OWN WORDS?

▪Original Quote:▪“Regardless of partisanship, the current electoral

system is largely supported across the country” (Beck, BBC News).

▪If you put the information in your own words, you should still use in text citations if you know what source you are directly referring to in the paper! You still do not end the sentence with a period in that case.▪ Mandatory voting is still supported across Australia

despite political bickering (Beck, BBC News).

▪Do not end a paragraph with a citation. A paragraph must have a transitioning sentence linking it to the next paragraph.

PUTTING THE DOCUMENT IN YOUR OWN WORDS, WITH CITATIONS!

Voting in Australia is a mandatory system, wherein an individual will be fined if he or she does not vote. There have been debates recently to end the system. “Regardless of partisanship, the current electoral system is largely supported across the country” (Beck, BBC News). Nevertheless, both political parties, the Liberals and Labors, would face different results if the system were changed (Beck, BBC News). However, this situation could change to due recent events.

SAMPLE IN TEXT CITATION & WITH YOUR OWN WORDS STYLE

This page always goes:- at the end of a paper,

- on its own page, - and follows regular

MLA style!

MLA WORKS CITIED PAGE