CAPITAL
HIGH SCHOOL
MLA
FORMAT FOR WORKS CITED
SOURCE
DOCUMENTATION
(Adopted
by Riverglen Junior
High)
Introduction
An often-required skill of the work place and/or post-secondary
education
is that of researching and writing on a topic. Capital High
School
has developed a sequential strategy in various curriculums to teach
students
the technical skills of researching and reporting. In research
writing,
it is important to give credit to sources that the writer includes in
his
or her paper, and there are different "styles" of how this is done
depending
on the academic discipline in which the research writing occurs.
For purposes of standardization, Capital High School has adopted the
MLA
(Modern Language Association) style of documenting sources used in
research.
The process of documenting sources is two-fold. In the text of
the
paper, the writer includes what are called "parenthetical" or "textual"
citations. At the end of the research paper, we include what is
called
the "works cited" page(s). The works cited list is what was in
years
past referred to as a bibliography. Each citation in the text
must
be accounted for in the works cited, and each works cited entry must
have
a corresponding parenthetical reference citation in the text. By
this, if a reader wishes to access any of the sources utilized by the
writer,
he or she can locate the source without difficulty.
Below are listed examples of the most commonly used types of references
for the works cited (bibliography) portion of research papers.
Each
section is headed in bold font, with examples of how the works cited
entry
would appear. In the event that a given type of reference is not
listed herein, the writer should consult the MLA Handbook for Writers
of
Research Papers, 5th Edition. Work consulted is shown in
the
following Works Cited example. 5/30/2001
I.
PRINT SOURCES
BOOKS
| Author. Title. Place of Publication:
Publisher, Date. |
BOOK---NO
NAMED AUTHOR
Blueprint for
Life.
Alexandria,
Va.: Time-Life Books, 1993.
BOOK---ONE
NAMED AUTHOR
Salisbury, Graham.
Blue
Skin of
the Sea: A Novel in Stories. New York: Delacorte, 1992.
BOOK---MULTIPLE
AUTHORS
Burnham, Robert W.,
Randall M. Hanes
and C. James Bartleson. Color, a Guide
to
Basic Facts and Concepts. New York: Wiley,
1963.
BOOK---SAME
AUTHOR(S)---USING 3
HYPHENS AFTER FIRST ENTRY.
Smiley,
Jane. The
All-true
Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton. New York: Random,
1998.
-
- - A
Thousand Arces.
Thorndike Press, 1992.
BOOK
---EDITED
The Art of Work.
Ed.
Christine LaRocco and Jim Coughlin. Cincinnati: South Western, 1996.
ARTICLE
IN
A BOOK EDITED
Brown, Charles.
"Hate Speech
Should Be Outlawed." Civil Liberties: Opposing Viewpoints. Ed.
Charles
P. Cosic. San Diego: Greenhaven, 1994. 85-89.
WORK
IN AN
ANTHOLOGY
White, E. B.
"Once
More to the
Lake." The Norton Book of Personal Essays.
Ed.
Joseph
Epstein. New York: W. W. Norton, 1997. 125.
BOOK---TRANSLATION
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander
Isaevich. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Trans.
Ralph Parker. New York: Dutton, 1963.
BOOK---CORPORATE
AUTHOR
American
Association of
University
Women Educational Foundation. Gender Gaps: Where
Schools Still Fail Our Children. New
York:
Marlowe, 1999.
MULTIVOLUME
WORK---CITING ONE VOLUME
ONLY
“Puzo,
Mario.” Major
20TH
Century Writers. Vol. 4. Ed. Kathleen Wilson.
Detroit: Gale, 1999. 2303-2306.
Gray,
James. “John Steinbeck.” American Writers: A Collection
of Literary
Biographies.
Vol. IV. Ed. Leonard
Unger. New
York: Scribner’s, 1974. 49-72.
PERIODICALS
AND ARTICLES
ARTICLE
IN
REFERENCE BOOK---UNSIGNED
"DNA."
Encyclopedia
Americana. 14th ed. 1994.
ARTICLE
IN
REFERENCE BOOK---SIGNED
Smith, Richard. "Color
and
Light." Encyclopedia Brittanica. 24th
ed.
1995.
| Author.
“Title.” Publication.
Date of Publication, Editon: Pages. |
NEWSPAPER
ARTICLE---SIGNED
May,
Clifford.
"Religious
Frictions
Heat Up in Rwanda." New York Times 12
Aug. 1994, late ed.: A1+.
MAGAZINE
ARTICLE---UNSIGNED
"Making of a
Candidate
for
President." Time 20 July 1984: 40-42.
MAGAZINE
ARTICLE---SIGNED
Kuhn, Susan. "A
New Stock Play
in Saving and Loans." Fortune 15 May
1995: 67-72.
EDITORIAL---UNSIGNED
"China's
Conscience."
Editorial. New York Times 19 May 1995, late ed.:
A22.
EDITORIAL---SIGNED
Brownhurst,
Marshall S.
"Rush to
Judgment."
Editorial. Wall Street Journal 5
June 1995: A14.
II.
NON-PR1NT SOURCES
TELEVISION
OR RADIO PROGRAM
“Show Title.” Program or Series
Title. Pertinent actors. Directors.
Producers.
Network, Call
Letters, City. Date. |
"Pollution
in
the Desert." Sixty
Minutes. Narr. Mike Wallace. Prod. Jock
Fenway. Dir. John Brett. CBS WCBS, New York. 6 Mar. 1994.
SOUND
RECORDING
Cite first whichever is
emphasized:
Composer. Performer. Conductor. Title.
Artists. Audiocassette. LP if not a CD.
Manufacturer,
Date. or N.D. if unknown. |
Lloyd
Webber,
Andrew. Phantom
of the 0pera. Perf. Michael Crawford, Sarah
Brightman, and Steve Barton. Sound Disc. EMI, 1987.
Marsalis,
Winton. Crazy People
Music. Perf. Branford Marsalis Quartet. Sound Disc.
Columbia, 1990.
McCourt,
Frank. Angela’s Ashes.
Perf. Frank McCourt. Audiocassette.
Audioworks, 1997.
FILM
| Title.
Director. Also if pertinent,
Writers. Performers. Format. Producer. Distributor,
Year. |
Raiders
of
the Lost Ark.
Dir. Steven Spielberg. Perf. Harrison Ford.
Videocassette. Paramount, 1982.
INTERVIEWS
INTERVIEW
(BROADCAST)
Gramm, Phil.
Interview with
Charlie Rose. Charlie Rose. PBS. WNET,
New
York. 6 May 1994.
INTERVIEW
(PERSONAL)
Kennedy,
Robert.
Personal
interview.
11 Jan. 1971.
CD-ROM
Author. “Title.” Print Publication Date
(if available). Database. Type of Source (CD-ROM or
diskette or magnetic tape). Vendor, Electronic Publication Date. |
Cinemania.
CD-ROM. Redmond:
Microsoft, 1995.
CD-ROM---PERIODICAL
ALSO PUBLISHED
IN PRINT
Bily, Cynthia
A."Across
Five
Aprils." MasterplotsComplete
1999. CD-ROM. Salem Press, 1999.
“William
Sydney Porter,” Discovering
Authors 3.0. CD-ROM. Gale Group, 1999.
COMPUTER
AND ELECTRONIC SOURCES
E-MAIL
Lovett,
Richard.
"Discussion
of Teacher Traits." Psycholoquy June 1993. E-mail.
psych@ducc
Message: Get psyc 93-xxxx.
ELECTRONIC
TEXT (WEB POSTINGS, ONLINE
TEXT, OR ONLINE SERVICE)
Author. Title.
Print Publication Date (if
available). Organization. Electronic Text Repository.
Computer Network. Access Date <electronic address>. |
PROFESSIONAL
OR PERSONAL SITE
Alcohol
Alert. National Institute
of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism . 20 May 2001
<www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa09.htm>.
Dawe,
James. Jane Austen Page.
20 May 2001
<http://nyquist.ee.ualberta.ca/~dawe/austen.html>.
ONLINE
DATABASE
| Author,
“Title.” Publication. Date:
Pages. Database. Database Publisher. Date of
access<URL>. |
EBSCOhost
MasterFILE Premier or Newspaper Source
“Banning
Boards: Rad or Bad?” Current
Events. 8 May 1998:3. MasterFILE Premier.
EBSCO. 20 May 2001 <http://epnet.com>.
Gale
Group
(GaleNet)
Biography
Resource
Center, Contemporary
Literary Criticism Select or Student Resource Center
“Florence
Kelly.” American Decades
CD-ROM. Gale Research, 1998. Repoduced in Biography
Resource Center. Gale Group. 20 May 2001
<http://www.galenet.com/>.
Gale
Group
(INFOTRAC)
Business and
Company, Expanded
Academic, General Reference or Health Reference Center
“Children:
Athletes Use Performance-enhancers
Often.” Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly, 16 Oct.
2000:8 Health Reference Center-Academic. Gale Group. 20 May 2001
<http://infotrac.galegroup.com>.
Bell
&
Howell ProQuest
“Group
Runs, Sponsored By Nike.” The Oregonian. 8 Oct., 1999:10
Arts&Entertainment.
Proquest. Bell &Howell. 20 May 2001
<http://www.umi.com/>.
SIRS
Knowledge Source
SIRS
Government Reporter, SIRS Renaissance, or SIRS
Researcher
Hanrahan,
Jennifer. “Naked Truth.” Copley
News Service. 9 May 2000:n.p.
SIRS
Renaissance. SIRS Knowledge Source. 20 May 2001
<http://www.sirs.com>.
WORLDBOOK
ONLINE
Reginald
A.
Hoyt, "Zebra," World
Book Online Americas Edition. 1 Jan.
2001<http://www.worldbookonline.com>.
CAREER
DATABASES
“Elementary
School Teacher.” CIS
Idaho Career Information System. intoCareers. 15 Nov. 2001
<http://idcis.intocareers.org/>.
McLeish,
Kendra and Bridges.com Staff.
“Physical Therapist.” CX Bridges. Bridges.com Inc.
15 Nov. 2001 <http://usa.cx.bridges.com/>.
FOR FURTHER HELP WITH
BIBLIOGRAPHIES
Visit
the web
page of Mt.
Ararat High School and their MLA Reference Paper Stylesheet
For
assistance
in creating a bibliographic
entry visit NoodleBib
PARENTHETICAL
DOCUMENTATION AND THE LIST OF
WORKS CITED
Citing
Direct Sources:
The list of works cited at the end of
your research
paper is
important
for giving credit to your sources, but does not alone provide enough
documentation.
You must show your readers not only what works you used in writing the
paper, but also what information you took from each source and exactly
where in the source you found the material. Whenever you use another
person’s
words, facts, or ideas you must insert a parenthesis (including the
author’s
last name and the page the info was taken from) to give credit to your
source.
Example
of Parenthetical
Documentation
(Direct Source):
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).
Works
Cited:
Townsend, Robert
M. The Medieval Village Economy.
Princeton:
Princeton, 1993.
Citing
Indirect Sources:
If possible, get
your info from the original source,
not a
secondhand
one. But there are times when only an indirect source is available
(like
someone’s published account of another’s spoken words and ideas). If
what
you quote or paraphrase is itself a quotation, put the abbreviation qtd
in ("quoted in") before the indirect source you cite in your
parenthetical
reference. If the material used is not a quote or a paraphrased quote
simple
put the author’s name (or title if no author is given) and page numbers
in the parenthesis ("author, page").
Examples
of Parenthetical
Documentation
(Indirect Source):
Samuel Johnson
admitted that Edmund Burke was an
"extraordinary
man"
(qtd. in Boswell 2: 450). The commentary of
the sixteenth-century literary
scholars Bernard
Segni and
Lionardo
Salviati shows them to be less than
faithful
followers
of Aristotle
(qtd. in
Weinberg 1: 405, 616-17)
Works
Cited:
Boswell, James. The
Life of Johnson. Ed.
George Birkbeck
Hill
and L. F. Powell. 6 vols.
Oxford: Clarendon, 1934-50.
Weinberg,
Bernard. A History of Literary
Criticism in the
Italian
Renaissance. 2 vols. Chicago:
U of Chicago P, 1961.
PUNCTUATION
RULES FOR WORKS CITED OR BIBLIOGRAPHY PAGE
Remember:
- Always underline the title of the work
cited
(except for
a short
story, or article within another work – these have quotation marks
around
them).
- Alphabetize by the author’s last name.
- If there is no author, alphabetize by title
(ignore
"A," "An," or
"The"
if it starts the title)
- Always indent the second or third lines (5
spaces).
- In the past, you were supposed to leave 1 space
after
commas and
2 spaces
after periods and colons. In the latest version of MLA (5th
ed.), you can leave just 1 space afer periods and colons (as well as 1
space after commas). Check to see with your teacher which he/she
prefers.
- Always double space each line in research paper
(including header
and works
cited page)
Example:

***If a citation takes two or
more
lines, double
space
each line and indent five spaces for all the lines after the first one.
SPECIAL
NOTE ABOUT COVER PAGES:
Using a cover page for a research
paper is not required
for proper
MLA
format. However some instructors do ask for them. A cover page includes
all the information that normally goes in the upper left-hand corner of
the first page. Then the first page of the actual paper can simply
include
your last name and the page number (1 in this case) in the upper right
hand corner. If asked to create a cover sheet, please check with
your
instructor on how exactly he/she want it to be set up. Instructors do
differ
in their preferences.