Bryant logo

ROSLYN HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA CENTER

Using MLA Format to Cite and Document Sources for Research Papers

MLA format provides a standard way of citing references in your text and in the list of works at the end of your paper. This allows the reader to view the full publication information of your sources. The proper formatting your sources is required for all research.

Parenthetical Documentation - Citing References in Your Text

MLA style requires that within your text, you indicate to the reader, the source from which you obtained your information. When someone else's thoughts or words are used as a direct quote, paraphrased, or discussed in your writing, you MUST document the source. Unless stating one's own personal opinions, drawing conclusions, or writing creative material, ALL facts, background data and ideas come from some place else, and they must be acknowledged. This is done in three ways:

1. The author's name may be a part of the sentence, with a page number in parenthesis, as follows:

Benton states "an alternative strategy is the use of groups that are trained to use their members as resources" (14). (refers to page 14 - punctuation for sentence is after the reference)

2. The author's name is not part of your sentence, but you wish to cite a given source in support of a point you are making or provide information, as follows:

Cooperative groups are an essential part of the education of students in the classroom, and a major component of educational practice. (Benton 25). (Refers to author and page, notice punctuation).

3. Since electronic documents (Internet, CD/ROM, databases) do not have page numbers, make a direct reference in your text to the name of the author and the title of the source for these references, as follows:

The information contained in Benton's Educational References website supports the theory that children do not need to be placed in special programs in order to succeed.

  1. Important to Note:
    1. Always note citation information from your sources while looking at them, including page numbers.

    2. You must formulate your full bibliographic citations in order to know what word to use for parenthetical reference. The author's last name or first word of the title is used for parenthetical reference is the first word of the bibliographic citation.

    3. Every parenthetical reference MUST have a corresponding citation in your resource list (bibliography or works cited page) at the end of the paper.

    4. Please see your teacher or librarian for additional assistance.
Footnotes and Endnotes

Sometimes teachers ask for footnotes or an endnote page. You can do this by consecutively numbering each reference you are documenting in your text (this can be done through the Microsoft Word program.) List those consecutive items in order, by number, on the bottom of the page for footnotes, or on a separate page, entitled Endnotes. Use the parenthetical format for each item. You still need to include a bibliography, works cited, or works consulted page as well as footnotes or endnotes.

Works Cited List (Bibliography) - Citation Formats

Works Cited, refers to all sources that are quoted, cited or mentioned in a paper, and is placed at the end of a paper. This list was traditionally called a Bibliography (a list of printed material), but since we are likely to use non-printed formats such as including digital, video, etc., the term has changed. Your teacher will inform you which kind of citation list to prepare.

  •         Begin the list on a new page and number each page, continuing the page numbers of the text.
  •          Capitalize and center the correct heading on the top of the page.
  •          Arrange the list of resources in alphabetical order by the first word in each entry (this will be author or title).
  •          The second and each subsequent line in each citation are indented five spaces from left margin.
  •          Double-space the entire list, both between and within entries.

The formats presented within this style guide are for sources you are most likely to use while doing research for high school papers. You might use other materials that will require additional style formatting guidance. You may ask your teacher or librarian for assistance, or refer to a published manual of style. The formats used to compile this summary document are from the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed., 2003.

The following web site will enable you to create bibliographic citations by simply filling in the information needed for each format. Remember to select MLA format.

http://citationmachine.net

In addition, the following web sites will provide detailed information, particularly valuable for correctly citing various Web pages:

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sources/ - everything you need to know to cite sources from Dartmouth
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocMLA.html - excellent for parenthetical references.
http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/humanities/list.html - excellent for all formats of citations.
http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/cite/within.htm - excellent for all formats of citiations from Duke.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html - format guide for MLA
http://www.westwords.com.guffey/mla.html - format guide for MLA
http://www.lib.ohio-state.edu/guides/mlagd.html#bookone - format guide
http://www.thewritesource.com/mla.htm - format guide for MLA style

Citation Formats

BOOKS - One or more authors or editors

Author Last name, First name. Title of Book. Place of publication: Publisher, date of publication.

Author Last name, First name and Author first name, Last name. Title of Book. Place of publication:

Publisher, date of publication.

Editor Last name, First name, ed. Title of Book. Place of publication: Publisher, date of publication.

Friel, John C. The 7 Best Things Smart Teens Do. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, 2000.

Passman, Donald S. and Randy Glass. All You Need to Know About the Music Business. NY: Simon and Schuster, 2002.

Guinn, John, ed. The St. James Opera Encyclopedia. Mt. Kisco, NY: 1996.

BOOKS - No author

Title of Book. Place of publication: Publisher, date of publication.


American environmentalism. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 2002.

BOOKS - Part of a book (such as an essay, poem, article or story from a collection (anthology).

Author of selection Last name, First name. "Title of Selection." Title of Anthology. Editor of anthology. Place of publication: Publisher, date of publication. Page(s).
Lippman, Matthew. "Hallelujah Terrible." The Best American Poetry 1997. Ed. James Tate. NY:
Scribner, 1997. 132.

BOOKS - ENCYCLOPEDIA article

Author last name, first. "Title of article." Encyclopedia. Year ed.


Brown, Norman. "India." Encyclopedia Americana. 2002 ed.

  • If there is no author, use "title of article" as the first piece of information.
  • Encyclopedia articles are signed by a contributing author whose name may appear at the end of an article.

BOOKS - Multivolume work

Include the number of the volume you are using between the title and the publication information.

Johannsen, Robert. "Abraham Lincoln." The American Presidents. Vol. 2. Danbury, CT: Grolier, 1989.

MAGAZINES & NEWSPAPERS (periodicals)

Author Last name, First name. "Title of Article." Name of Magazine day month year: page(s).

Stone, Steve and Jenifer Lin. "Spamming the World." Newsweek 19 August 2002 : 42-44. (weekly)

Lemley, Brad. "The Next Ice Age." Discover September 2002: 34 - 40. (monthly)

"Nuclear Safety Flaws are Found." New York Times 11 August 1999 : A14. (no author)

SCHOLARLY JOURNALS

Author(s). "Title of Article." Name of Journal Vol.issue (Year) : pages.

Applebee, Arthur. "Engaging Students in the Disciplines of English." English Journal" 91.6 (2002) : 23-29.

VIDEO PRODUCTIONS
Secrets of the Titanic. Videocassette. National Geographic, 1986.

PERSONAL INTERVIEWS (Interview by writer of research paper)

Suozzi, Tom. Personal interview. 15 May 2002

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES - INTERNET Web Sites
Formats differ for e-mail; web pages; on-line books, subscription services, images, sounds, etc. Follow links to home pages to locate information. The format below is for web pages from Internet web sites.

Carefully evaluate electronic sources. Not all web sources are legitimate for the purposes of research

When documenting resources from the Internet one must give the reader as much information as possible to identify the source. Web pages often do not provide all of the necessary information, so if items are missing they cannot be included. The entry should consist of the following items in this order, as available:

  1. Author or editor. [last name, first name].
  2. "Title of page or document." [exact page you are using in quotation marks].
  3. Title of the site or homepage [underlined - site name where page came from].
  4. Date posted (or last update). [format is - day Monty year].
  5. Sponsoring organization. [government agency, university, business, organization].
  6. Date accessed. [format is - day Month year[
  7. Electronic address <URL>.
Author(s). Name of Page. Title of Site or Homepage. Date of Posting/Revision. Name of 
institution/organization affiliated with the site.  Date of Access <URL>
 
Johnson, Steven. "The Bill of Rights." Thomas Legislative Information on the Internet. October 1999.
Library Of Congress. 12 January 2004 < http://memory.loc.gov/const/bor.html>.
 

Subscription databases - library sponsored access to databases through subscription services.

Providing as much of the information that is available and identifiable, the entry should consist of the following piecies of information:

  1. Publication information for the source [see format model below]
  2. Name of the specific Database.
  3. Name of the service or publisher of database.
  4. Name of library from which you retrieved the article.
  5. <URL of the database>.

SUBSCRIPTION DATABASES FORMAT MODEL

Author last name, first. "Title of Article". Name of Magazine, etc. Date of item: page. Database name. Subscription service. Name of library where you retrieved article. Date accessed <URL of the database>.

The following examples from high school library database subscriptions. When using other database services (Bryant Library's for example) citiation help is often available on the site or follow this model,

2. How to Cite Specific Electronic Resources Retrieved from the Internet MLA Style: Subscription databases & eBooks

Libraries pay for access to databases through subscription services. When you obtain articles from subscription services the citation looks like a periodical reference plus Internet location information. Use the format below, and remember to correctly use all punctuation including commas, periods, quotation marks, brackets, and underlining. Give as much as the information that is available and that you can identify.

EBSCOHOST

Roland, Alex. "The Great Shuttle Debate." Popular Mechanics. 1 June 2005. MasterFILE Select
EBSCOHOST. Roslyn High School Library. 3 June 2005 <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/search?vid=1&hid=19&sid=658ec504-c7c9-4417-99d9-8d47836510a8%40sessionmgr9>.

Elsevier Science Digest
Hillevi, C. "A school-based intervention to promote dietary change". Journal of Adolescent Health June 2005: 529. Science Direct. Elsevier. Roslyn High School Library. 20 May 2005
<http://www.sciencedirect.com>.

Facts on File - Issues and Controversies
"Update: Stem-Cell Research. "Issues and Controversies, 4 March 2005. FACTS.com. Facts on File News Service. Roslyn High School. 20 May 2005 <http://www.2facts.com>.

NewsBank InfoWeb
Merzer, Martin. "High Storm Cycle is Here to Stay." The Miami Herald 8 September 2004:1A
Newsbank. 15 September 2004 <http://infotrac.galegroup.com>

ProQuest - Newsday Database
Hirsh, Deborah. "Technology Camp Getting a Handle on Careers." Newsday.
Proquest Newspapers. Roslyn High School. 13 September 2004<http://proquest.umi.com/login>.

 
 

The Bryant Library, 2 Paper Mill Road, Roslyn, NY 11576
Phone: 516-621-2240 u Adm Fax: 516-621-2542 u Ref Fax: 516-621-7211