Citing your sources

(MLA style)

Albany High School Library

Ms. Scheuer

Fall 2020

Why cite your sources?

• Right thing to do: �give credit for information & ideas
• Show you've read & understand experts' research & findings
• Meet professional standard or practice

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(“Keep Calm and Cite Your Sources”)

In-text citations

When to use in-text citations

With MLA style, help your reader locate the material you are citing and use in-text citations.

Whenever you use a quote or paraphrase, include the author and page number (just before the period). If there are no page numbers, just put the author. If there is no author, use a short title.

Is it possible that dreams may express "profound aspects of personality" (Foulkes 184)?

Examples of in-text citations

1. Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).�
2. Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263).�
3. Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).

Works Cited list

Works Cited list overview

• Last page of paper should list Works Cited.
• Include any work you cite in your paper, but don’t include background research.
• If you use the encyclopedia to learn about your topic, don’t cite it -- do not include this in your Works Cited.
• Begin on a separate page at the end of your research paper.

Three easy steps

1. Set up Works Cited page with:
• Heading (centered, not bold)
• Double spaced
• 12 pt font
• Hanging indent
2. Copy format so you’ll get punctuation and order correct.
3. Replace elements with your source.

• New, separate page at end of paper
• Heading is centered (not bold)
• 12 point font
• Double-spaced
• Hanging indent

1. Set up your Works Cited page

Notice hanging indent.

First line = no indent

Second line = ½ inch indent

Notice double space, with no extra space between entries

Notice heading is centered and not bold, not underlined

Pro Tip for hanging indent

Format →

Align & indent →

indentation options →

special options

Author Last, First Name. Title of Book. Original Publication Date, Publisher, Publication Date.

Notice hanging indent.

First line = no indent

Second line = ½ inch indent

Notice punctuation:

Use periods after name, title of book & at very end.

Use commas in other places.

Notice title of book is in italics and capitalized.

2. Copy basic citation format

Basic citation for online article

Author Last, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Container. Publisher or organization, Publication Date, URL. Date of Access.

Dates: if you can find a specific date of publication, use this.

If you cannot find date of publication, include date of access.

Container is the larger work the article is part of. Examples include::

• Website name
• Newspaper title
• Academic journal

Notice title of article is in quotation marks and capitalized.

Example of citation for online article

Mehta, Jal, and Sarah Fine. “High School Doesn’t Have to Be Boring.” New York Times, March 30, 2019. www.nytimes.com/2019/03/30/opinion/sunday/fix-high-school-education.html.

Container is in italics. Spell out full name.

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Leave out publisher if it is the same as the name of the website. Don’t repeat information.

Notice title of article is in quotation marks & capitals..

Publisher information for online article

Look for copyright or sponsoring organization at bottom of page.

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When to leave this out:

If this is the same as the name of the website, leave it out. Do not repeat information.

From SF Gate article

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Notice: ©2020 Hearst

Example of citation for online article

Graff, Amy. “SF Broke a 128-year-old Temperature Record Last Week.” SFGATE, Hearst, October 19, 2020, https://www.sfgate.com/weather/article/S-F-broke-a-128-year-old-temperatures-record-15658329.php.

Caps: remember to change capitalization of article title.

Include publisher from the copyright at the bottom of the website. It’s different from the name of website.

ProTip: paste article title without formatting using Ctrl-Shift-V.

3. Replace elements for your source

Demo: replace elements for your source

Use Ctrl+Shift+V to paste w/o format

Don’t include publisher (because it’s the same as website name)

Three easy steps

• Set up Works Cited page with:
• Heading (centered, not bold)
• Double spaced
• 12 pt font
• Hanging indent
• Copy format so you’ll get punctuation and order correct.
• Replace elements with your source.

Tricky situations: multiple authors

• 2 authors: write in order listed in book. Second author is in normal order.
• Ex: Walden, Miriam and Mary Ann Scheuer.
• If 3+ authors, write et al. after first author
• Ex: Walden, Miriam, et al.

Tricky situation: no author

“Millions of COVID Symptom Study App Users Are Helping the Hunt for a COVID-19 Vaccine. Here’s How.” COVID Symptom Study. October 9, 2020, https://covid.joinzoe.com/us-post/covid-vaccine-trials.

Notice you just begin with title of article.

Tricky situation: Capitalization rules

MLA format specifies that article titles & book titles should be capitalized.

Even if the original is not capitalized, make sure you use capitals in your works cited list.

“Millions of Covid Symptom Study App Users Are Helping the Hunt for a Covid-19 Vaccine. Here’s How.”

Tricky situation: do I include the publisher?

If the publisher is same as website

→ just leave this field blank.

Remember, don’t repeat information.

Notice: Only write New York Times once. Do not repeat information.

Tricky situation: no date

If no date is listed, include the date of access (this is when you used the website).

“Why Air Quality Is Important.” National Weather Service, U.S. Department of Commerce, www.weather.gov/safety/airquality. Accessed October 30, 2020.

Date of access: comes at the end.

Tricky situation: multiple dates??

For books that have been previously published, include both original date of publication and the date of the book you are using.

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Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. 1937. Penguin Books, 1994.

Date of publication: this is the version I am using.

Original date this is when the book was first published.

Final step:

Final version: Works Cited page

• Use new page at end of paper
• Label it: Works Cited
• Use hanging indent
• List entries in A-->Z order

What about citation machines?

You need to understand format to check your work. You are smarter than the machine!

Recommendations:

• ZoteroBib (zbib.org)
• Google’s new Tools
• NOT EasyBib (way too many ads)