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MLA Research Paper Documentation

Why do you need to cite sources?
Most of what you write will be summaries and paraphrases of what someone else has already said or written about. Not to give credit to the original source of your ideas would be considered PLAGIARISM. Plagiarism is considered an academic crime and at most schools results in failure or expulsion.

In text citations: When you are using information that you learned from any other source, you must give credit to that source. There are 3 ways to incorporate cited information in your text:

  1. Paraphrasing - a paraphrase is taking the information and re-stating in your own words.
  2. Summarizing - is basically the same as paraphrasing but you re-state the information in a condensed summary.
  3. Direct Quotes - a direct quote is when you use the exact words from another source and set it apart with quotations. (e.g. Famous author Mark Twain says,"Adam was the only man who, when he said a good thing, knew that nobody had said it before him." )

Works Cited: Besides in text citations, a separate Works Cited page needs to list all sources that were paraphrased, summarized or directly quoted in your paper. Sources that you have read or skimmed but not used in your writing should not be included.
Resources:

Help with in-text citations and formatting a Works Cited page:

  • Check Purdue OWL for help with Paraphrasing, summarizing and quoting
  • Go to your Writers, INC. pages 260-274 for correct formatting of resources for works cited.
  • Web sites like Landmark Citation Machine can help you generate a works cited entry by typing in information for each or your resources.

    * Citation Machine is a free service by David Warlick's Landmark Project funded by the Public Speaking, Professional Development and Consulting Activities of that organization.

Help with formatting your entire paper using MLA style and sample papers:

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