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Citation Information
The key to avoiding plagiarism (i.e. legal troubles) is knowing the proper citation format that is required. Generally, unless otherwise stated, all projects are to be in MLA format. Quite frequently, APA format is used. For a complete guide to all referencing and citation styles, please see the following website:
Since MLA is the most commonly used citation method, a brief guide is provided below:
MLA
Citing sources in the text
In MLA style, references to sources are placed in the text of the paper in order to briefly identify sources for readers and enable them to locate the source of the cited information in the Works Cited list. These parenthetical references should be kept as brief and as clear as possible.
Give only the information needed to identify a source. Usually the author's last name and a page reference are all that is needed for this identification.
Place the parenthetical reference as near as possible to the material being documented, and where a pause would naturally occur, preferably the end of a sentence.
Parenthetical material should complement, not repeat information that is given in your text. If you include an author's name in a sentence, you do not need to repeat it in your parenthetical statement.
The parenthethical reference should precede the punctuation mark that concludes the sentence, clause, or phrase that contains the cited material.
Electronic and online sources are cited just like print resources in references cited in the text. However, electronic documents generally do not have fixed page numbers. If a source lacks numbering, omit numbers from the parenthetical references. If a source includes fixed page numbers or section numbering, such as numbering of paragraphs (pars.), cite the relevant numbers.
Examples
Author's name in text:
Dover has expressed this concern (118-21)
Author's name in reference:
This concern has been expressed (Dover 118-21)
Multiple authors of a work:
This hypothesis (Bradley and Rogers 7)
suggested this theory (Sumner, Reichl, and Waugh 23).
Two locations:
Williams alludes to this premise (136-39, 145)
Two works cited:
(Burns 54, Thomas 327)
Multivolume works
References to volumes and pages:
(Wilson 2:1-18)
References to an entire volume:
(Henderson, vol. 3)
In text reference to an entire volume:
In volume 3, Henderson suggests
Corporate authors:
(United Nations, Economic Commission for Africa 51-63)
Works with no author
When a work has no author, use the work's title or a shortened version of the title when citing it in text. (If abbreviating a title, omit initial articles and begin with the word by which it is alphabetized in the Works Cited list.)
as stated by the presidential commission (Report 4).
Online source with numbered paragraphs
(Fox, pars. 4-5)
For more detailed information about citing references in the text, please refer to the MLA resources listed above.
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Works Cited list
References cited in the text of a research paper must appear in a Works Cited list or bibliography. This list provides the information necessary to identify and retrieve each source that specifically supports your research.
Entries should be arranged in alphabetical order by authors' last names (surnames). Sources without titles are arranged alphabetically by title within the same list.
Capitalize the first word and all other principle words of the titles and subtitles of cited works listed. (Do not capitalize articles, prepositions, coordinating conjunctions, or the "to" in infinitives.)
The publisher's name is shortened and the publication date is placed at the end of the citation.
Use the conjunction "and," not an ampersand [&] when listing multiple authors of a single work.
In MLA style, the abbreviations p. or pp. are not used to designate page numbers.
Indentation: In MLA style, the first line of the entry is flush with the left margin, and all subsequent lines are indented (5 to 7 spaces) to form a "hanging indent."
Underlining vs. Italics: E World Publishing prefers Italics.
Books:
References to an entire book should include the following elements: author(s) or editor(s), the complete title, place of publication, the shortened name of the publisher, and date of publication.
No author or editor:
Peterson's Annual Guides to Graduate Study. 33rd ed.
Princeton, NJ: Peterson's Guides, 1999.
One author:
Nabokov, Vladimir. Lolita. New York: Putnam, 1955.
Another work: same author
---. Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited. New York: Knopf, 1999.
Two authors:
Sagan, Carl, and Ann Druyan. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors:
A Search for Who We Are. New York: Random House, 1992.
Three authors:
Lowi, Theodore, Benjamin Ginsberg, and Steve Jackson. Analyzing American
Government: American Government, Freedom and Power. 3rd ed. New York: Norton, 1994.
More than three authors:
Gilman, Sandor, et al. Hysteria beyond Freud. Berkeley: U of California P, 1993.
Corporate author:
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. A Guide to the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art,
Cornell University. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 1973.
Edited book:
Norton, Mary Beth., ed. Major Problems in American Women's History:
Documents and Essays. Lexington, MA: Heath, 1989.
Multivolume work:
Abrams, M. H., gen. ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature.
4th ed. 2 vols. New York: Norton, 1979.
Essay or Chapter in Edited Books or Anthologies:
References to an essay or chapter in an edited book or compilation must include the following elements: essay or chapter authors, essay or chapter title, book title, book editor(s) or compilers, place of publication, the shortened name of the publisher, date of publication, and inclusive page numbers of the cited piece.
Article in a book:
Kowalewski, Michael. "Jack Kerouac and the Beats in San Francisco."
San Francisco in Fiction: Essays in a Regional Literature. Ed. David Fine
and Paul Skenazy. Albuquerque: U of New Mexico P, 1995. 126-43.
Reprinted article:
Hunt, Tim. "The Misreading of Kerouac." Review of Contemporary Fiction
3.2 (1983): 29-33. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. C. Riley.
Vol. 61. Detroit: Gale, 1990. 308-10.
Article in a Reference book:
References from reference books must include the following elements: title of the article or entry, title of the reference source, edition, and date of publication. If the article or entry is signed, place the author's name first, if it is unsigned give the title first.
Dictionary entry: (Please note that dictionaries are not acceptable collegiate level sources)
"Boutique Hotel." The Travel Dictionary. New ed. 1998.
Encyclopedia article: (Please note that encyclopedias are not acceptable collegiate level sources)
Bergman, P. G. "Relativity." The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 15th ed. 1987.
Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers:
References to periodical articles must include the following elements: author(s), article title, publication title (journal, magazine, etc.), volume number, publication date (abbreviate months, if used), and the inclusive page numbers. Issue numbers should be stated as decimals to a given volume number. In the example below, the number 25.4 reads as Volume 25, issue 4. When citing newspapers it is important to specify the edition used because different editions of the same issue of a newspaper may contain different material.
Journal article, one author:
Shefter, Martin. "Institutional Conflict over Presidential Appointments:
The Case of Clarence Thomas." PS: Political Science & Politics
25.4 (1992): 676-79.
Journal article, two authors:
Ginsberg, Benjamin and Martin Shefter. "Ethics Probes as Political Weapons."
Journal of Law & Politics 11.3 (1995): 497-511.
Magazine article:
Pirisi, Angela. "Eye-catching advertisements." Psychology Today Jan.-Feb. 1997: 14.
Newspaper article, no author:
"Study Ties Self-Delusion To Successful Marriages." New York Times,
2 Jan. 1998, late ed.: A11.
Newspaper article, one author, discontinuous pages:
Wingfield, Nick. "Unraveling the Mysteries Inside Web Shoppers Minds." Wall
Street Journal, 18 June 1998, east. ed.: B6+.
Government Documents:
References to government documents vary in their required elements. In general, if you do not know the writer of the document, cite as author the government agency that issued it.
State document
New York State. Commission on Capital Punishment. Report of the Commission to Investigate
and Report the Most Humane and Practical Method of Carrying Into Effect the Sentence of
Death in Capital Cases. Albany: Troy Press, 1888.
Federal document
United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. The Future of the Independent
Counsel Act: Hearings before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One
Hundred Sixth Congress, First Session, February 24, March 3, 17, 24, and April 14, 1999. Washington:
GPO, 1999.
International document
United Nations. General Assembly. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women. New York: United Nations, 1979.
Audio-Visual Materials:
References to
Film or video recording
Annie Hall. Dir. Woody Allen. 1977. Videocassette. MGM/UA Home Video, 1991.
Sound recording
Counting Crows. August and Everything After. DGC, 1993.
Sound recording, specific song
Counting Crows. "Mr. Jones." August and Everything After. DGC, 1993.
Electronic Media and Online Sources
MLA's recommendations for citing electronic media and online sources have continued to change as the electronic information and publication environments evolve. Presently, the most current guidelines for citing electronic and online sources can be found in the MLA resources listed above.
Citations of electronic sources, like those of print sources, should provide information that both identifies a source and allows that source to be located and retrieved again. Because there are currently few standards that govern the organization and pr esentation of electronic publications, the information that is available to fulfill these objectives can vary widely from resource to resource. In general, references to electronic works require more information than references to print sources.
References for electronic or online sources should include as many items from the list below as are relevant and available for a specific source:
- Name of the author, editor, compiler, or translator of the source
- Title of the source
- Publication information for any print version of the source, including volume and page numbers for journals
- Number range or total number of pages, paragraphs, or other sections (if they are numbered)
- Form or type of electronic media (e.g. CD-ROM )
Title of the database (e.g. Periodical Abstracts)
- Version number of the source
- Title of the online service (e.g. ProQuest Direct)
- Name of any institution or organization sponsoring or associated with the web site
- Date assigned to the document in the source (publication date)
- Date the document was accessed (with no punctuation between it and the document's URL)
- Web location, or URL (enclosed in angle brackets, and a period to end the citation)
Note: For works from a subscription service, like ProQuest Direct or Academic Universe, use the URL of the service's main page (if known). Also, if a library is the subscriber to the service, the name of the service and the name and city of the library should be included in the citation.
Listed below are examples of citation styles for several types of online resources.
Article from an online service (like ProQuest or Academic Universe)
Fox, Justin. "Who Wants to Be an Internet Billionaire?" Fortune 8 Nov. 1999: 40.
ABI/INFORM Global. ProQuest. Cornell University Library, Ithaca, NY.
15 Nov. 1999 <http://proquest.umi.com/pdqweb>.
Article from an online magazine (only exists online)
Chaplin, Heather. "Epidemic of Extravagance". Salon. 19 Feb. 1999. 12 July 1999
<http://ww1.salonmagazine.com/money/col/chap/1999/02/19chap.html>.
Article from an online scholarly journal (exists online and in print)
Shammas, Carole. "A New Look at Long-Term Trends in Wealth Inequality in the United States."
The American Historical Review 98.2, pp. 412-431. 23 November 1999 <http://www.jstor.org/>.
Online book within a scholarly project
Frost, Robert. North of Boston. 1915. Project Bartleby. Ed. Steven van Leeuwen.
July 1999. Columbia U. 29 October 1999 <http://www.bartleby.com/118/index.html>.
Professional or personal web site
Research strategy: a tutorial. Cornell University Library. 18 Sept. 1999
<http://campusgw.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/manntom2.cgi?section=help&URL=newhelp/newhelp.html>.
Liu, Alan. The Voice of the Shuttle: Minority Studies Page. 30 Oct. 1999.
English Department, U of California, Santa Barbara. 11 Nov. 1999
<http://vos.ucsb.edu/shuttle/minority.html>.
Rule, Greg. Home page. 16 Nov. 1999 <http://www.student.cornell.edu/~greg/>.
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