MLA Documentation 7th edition

1. MLA Documentation7th edition Coconino Community College Staff Information Resources & Library Services Updated Aug. 2009

2. Modern Language Association (MLA) • Used to document papers in the languages, arts & humanities.

3. The process of documentation requires that you acknowledge those whose work you have: • Summarized • Paraphrased • Quoted “ ”

4. Two different types of documentation are required when borrowing from outside sources: • In-text (parenthetical) citations • Works Cited page • To avoid plagiarism, you must include both types of documentation in a paper or project. • To learn more about plagiarism, visit our Avoiding Plagiarism Workshop

5. In-text citation facts: • In-text citations are placed within parentheses • Author’s last name and the page number(s) where the information was found is typically included • There is no punctuation or abbreviations for “page number” in the citation • Ending punctuation is added after the citation

6. In-text citations allow: • The reader to identify where your original ideas end and where borrowed material begins • The reader to identify where one piece of borrowed material ends and where another begins, in the case of multiple sources • The reader to find complete publication information for the source in the alphabetically arranged list of works cited that follows the text of your paper

7. You may choose to include the author’s name either in your text or within the citation. Examples: • Medieval Europe was a place both of “raids, pillages, slavery, and extortion” and of “traveling merchants, monetary exchange, towns if not cities, and active markets in grain” (Townsend 10). • Townsend argues that Medieval Europe was a place both of “raids, pillages, slavery, and extortion” and of “traveling merchants, monetary exchange, towns if not cities, and active markets in grain” (10).

8. When citing two or more works by the same author in your paper: • Include the title name or a shortened version of it in the in-text citation Examples: • Shakespeare’s King Lear has been called a “comedy of the grotesque” (Frye, Anatomy 237). • For Northrop Frye, one’s death is not a unique experience, for “every moment we have lived through we have also died out of into another order” (Double Vision 85).

9. Citing a text by two or three authors Examples: • The authors point out a number of books that is appropriate for quality multicultural education (Rico and Mano 83-90). • Rico and Mano point out a number of books that are appropriate for quality multicultural education (83-90).

10. Citing a source by more than three authors: • If your source has more than three authors, either use the first author’s last name followed by et al. (which is Latin for “and others”) or list all of the last names.

11. Citing a source by more than three authors: Examples: • The conclusion drawn from a survey on the growth of the Internet, conducted by Martin et al., is that global usage will double within two years (36). • Recent figures on the growth of the Internet indicate that global usage will double within two years (Martin, Ober, Mancuso, and Blum 36).

12. Works Cited Pages… • Start at the top of a new page • Continue the pagination from the text • Center the words “Works Cited” at the top of a new page • Double space throughout the entire document • Alphabetized by author’s last name (if no author is listed, use the chapter, journal title etc. as referenced in the parenthetical citation ) • Include only one space between each piece of information in the entry • Construct a hanging indent for each entry

13. The typical format for a book: Last name of author. First name of author. The Book Title. Place of publication: Publisher’s name, publication year. Media type. • For “media type” you will choose from “print” or “web” depending upon what format the source borrowed from was located.

14. Book with one author: Example: Tompkins, Jane. West of Everything: The Inner Life of Westerns. New York: Oxford UP, 1992. Print.

15. Anthology (a collection of essays or stories): Cisneros, Sandra. “Geraldo No Last Name.” Literature and the Writing Process. 7th edition. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X. Day and Robert Funk. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2005. 363-4.Print. • NOTE: the title of an article is in “quotations“ and the title of a collection is italicized.

16. Electronic Source Facts: • MLA documentation no longer requires URL addresses for electronic sources. You should include a URL as supplementary information only when the reader probably cannot locate the source without it or when your instructor requires it. • If you supply a URL, put it immediately following the date of access, a period, and a space. Enclose the URL in angle brackets and conclude with a period.

17. Electronic Sources Include, In Order: • Name of the author (last name, first name) • Title of the work • Title of the overall Web site (italicized), if distinct from item 2 • Version or edition used [rarely found] • Publisher or sponsor of the site; if not available, use N.p. • Date of publication; if nothing is available, use n.d. • Media type (Web) • Date of access (day, month, and year)

18. Web sites: Examples: Antin, David. Interview by Charles Bernstein. Dalkey Archive Press. Dalkey Archive P, n.d. Web. 21 Aug. 2007. Salda, Michael N., ed. The Cinderella Project. Vers. 1.2. U of Southern Mississippi, Oct. 2005. Web. 15 May 2008.

19. Research Databases Include: Author’s last name, first name. “Article title.” Journal Title Volume number. Issue number (date of publication): page numbers. Database Name. Media type. Date of access (day month year).

20. Research Databases Example: Chan, Evans. “Postmodernism and Hong Kong Cinema.” Postmodern Culture 10.3 (2000): n. pag. Academic OneFile. Web. 5 June 2008.

21. Disclaimer This workshop is not meant to replace the Modern Language Association (MLA) Handbook for Writers, 7th edition. To verify the information given here or to find more information and examples, please refer to the current MLAHandbook. Copies are located at the CCC Library on the Lone Tree and the 4th Street campuses.

22. Works Cited Modern Language Association of America. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Paper. New York: Modern Language Association of America. 2009. Print.