MLA Documentation The primary source for MLA documentation should be The MLA Style Guide for Writers (latest edition) or a college English handbook published after Spring 2009. Double-spacing is an important element of MLA documentation. In some of the examples below, I have not doublespaced, but you must double space throughout your papers when using MLA style. You also need to keep in mind that if you have a small computer screen or if you print out this webpage, the formatting may be lost. When you use the words or original ideas of another person in your writing, you need to document, or give credit to, the sources of those words or ideas. If exact words from the original are used, quotation marks are necessary. If you paraphrase, or restate the idea in your own words, quotation marks are not required, but documentation of the source is still required. Some Notes About Quotes Use quotes rarely and only when the writer says something profound. Paraphrase when you can, but be sure to document. Each direct quote must be introduced or have a tag (Examples: According to Jane Parker, West contends, Jones says, etc.). Sandwich your quotes with an introduction and some commentary. Click here for crucial information on the use of quotes. Parenthetical Documentation In the MLA format, "parenthetical documentation" is used to briefly identify the sources of information you have borrowed in writing your paper. Parenthetical documentation should be integrated smoothly into the text of your paper, rather than listed separately. The general rule is to cite the source right in the text of your paper; give the author's last name, then the page number. For example: (Smith 6). The reader can then consult the list of works cited at the end of the paper to get the complete citation. When citing poetry, give the line numbers, rather than page or paragraph numbers. If more than one poem from the same author is cited in a paper, you will need to give the first few lines of the title as well. For example: (Frost lines 5-12) or (Frost "Mending Wall" lines 5-12). Internet sources do not give page numbers (unless you are dealing with a PDF file). The general rule is to use the author name or, if no author is given, the first words of the title. For example: (Smith) or ("California's Best"). If the author's name is mentioned in your tag, you only need to put the page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence. For example: Ross Parke says, "[N]atural fathers aren't the only ones raising children on their own" (52). Here is an example of how to cite a paraphrase: According to Bernard Farber, there is a trend toward waiting to marry and toward postponing the birth of the first child (6). This example citation is used when there are two authors: At the turn of the century, many men worked long hours, which "entailed their absence from the family for most of the day" (McKee and O'Brien 54). When there are four or more authors, use this format. "Et al." is Latin for "and others." For example: (Smith et al. 56). For publications with no author given, you should include the first 2-3 key words from the title and the page number in parentheses. For example: The majority of fathers today "no longer know who they are or what their wives and children expect from them" ("Fathers Confused" 5). When paraphrasing or summarizing information derived from several sources, you may document at the end of the paragraph. For example: In order to achieve Nirvana, one must follow the Eight Noble Path ("Nirvana"; Ross 92). When an author quotes another person (an indirect quote), another format is required. For example, if Roger Smith is the writer of the article and he is quoting Jane Doe, the parenthetical citation should read: (Doe qtd. in Smith 13) or (qtd. in Smith 13). When citing plays or long poems, use division (act, scene, canto, book, part) and lines, not page numbers. For example, in Shakespeare's Hamlet: (2.3.22-27). For Byron's Don Juan: (1.37.4-8). Below is the correct way to cite a literary book with chapters: (Eliot 163; ch. 23). Block Quotes Use the block quote format when prose is more than four typed lines or poetry more than three typed lines and do not use quotation marks. Indent one inch on the left side, double space, and do not indent on the right. The author and page number should follow in parentheses (or line nos. in poetry). After each block quote, you should have a comment that ties the quote to the point you are trying to make. The Works Cited Page Instead of a bibliography, the MLA format calls for a Works Cited page. In your works cited page, it is important to use the correct indentation, alphabetical order, and spacing. All entries should be double spaced. Alphabetize your list of sources by the last name of the author. If there is no author, alphabetize by the first word of the title (a, an, and the do not count). The first line of each entry is flushed left to the margin. The second and subsequent lines use hanging indentation (they are indented one-half inch from the left margin). In longer papers (master's theses, dissertations), a Works Consulted page is often included to cite all the references which you may have referred to or used in your research but which are not directly quoted or paraphrased in your paper. Below is a sample Works Cited page, with an example of: (1) how you should cite a written work from an anthology, and (2) how you should cite from an online source.  Works Cited Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." Short Fiction: Classic and Contemporary. Eds. Charles Bohner and Lyman Grant. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002. Print. Oates, Joyce Carol. "Where are you Going? Where Have you Been?" Celestial Timepiece: A Joyce Carol Oates Homepage. 13 Dec. 1996. Web. 25 Feb. 2008. For more examples, see the sample Works Cited page in your handbook and in other examples linked below. MLA Crib Sheet MLA PowerPoint Presentation KnightCite (automatically formats your Works Cited ) MLA Tutorial Research Using the Web MLA Documentation Guide Sample Research Paper (with MLA DOC) Plagiarism Video Funny Plagiarism Video (You Tube) Other Online Tutorials (some specific to ACC) Library Guide for English Classes ACC Library Help Writing and Citing ** Please follow MLA Documentation guidelines when writing papers in my class. Please contact me for a conference or utilize tutoring services if you need extra help. Created by Becky Villarreal, Austin Community College, 2009