Citation Hints

DOCUMENTING YOUR SOURCES

WHAT SHOULD BE DOCUMENTED? What distinguishes an analytical or research paper from an original short story is that you have done research and are expected to use the words and ideas of other people. Research and analysis become plagiarism when you present someone else's ideas or words as your own. This means that whenever you quote or paraphrase something from a source you have read, you mark the sentence or paragraph with a footnote, endnote or parenthetical note. It is not unusual for an analytical or research paper to be footnoted in every paragraph.

When do you put someone else's words in quotation marks? A good rule of thumb is that if you use three or more consecutive words from a source you should enclose those words in quotation marks and cite the source with a foot-, end- or parenthetical note.

Information which is considered common knowledge does not have to be footnoted. How do you know if something is common knowledge? Ask two friends who you consider of average intelligence if they know the fact you wonder about; if they do, chances are the fact is common knowledge. If they don't, use a citation. If you are in doubt, use a citation! You can always delete it later.

WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF PLAGIARISM? Depending on the seriousness of the case, plagiarism can result in an "F" on the assignment, a permanent blot on your academic record, and serious consequences when you apply for college. In other words, if you are in doubt, document your sources

How to Cite Electronic Sources in the "Bibliography" or "Works Cited" Section of Your Paper

WWW Sites (World Wide Web)
To Cite files available for viewing or downloading via the World Wide Web, give the author's name (if known), the full title of thw work in quotation marks, the title of the complete work if applicable in italics, the document date if known and if different from the date accessed, the full http address, and the date of visit.

Troncale, Anthony, "About Lewis Wickes Hine," The Miriam & Ira Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs:Photography Collection, New York Public Library. 1996. http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/art/photo/hinex/workport/biography.html . (26 Feb. 1999).

Infotrac Or Other Online Sources Of Full-Text Articles
To cite full-text articles appearing in online resources such as InfoTrac, MenloSelect, or SuperTOM, list the name of author (if given), title of article, title of journal (or other kind of resource), colume and issue number, date of publication, numer of pages or n. pag (for no pagination), publication medium (Online or CD-Rom), name of the computer network (Infotrac, Menlo Select, SuperTOM), date of access (the date that you actually discovered the material). No http address is necessary.

Anderson, J. "Keats in Harlem." New Republic 204.14 (8 April 1991): n.pag. Online. SuperTOM. 26 Feb. 1999).

E-Mail, Listserv, and Newslist Citations
Give the author's name or alias (if known), the subject ine from the posting in quotation marks, the date of the message if different from the date accessed, and the address of the listserv or newslist, along with the date of access in parentheses. For personal e-mail listings, omit the e-mail address.

Bruckman, Amy S. "MOOSE Crossing Proposal." Mediamoo@media.mit.edu (20 Dec. 1994).

Thomson, Barry. "Virtual Reality." Personal e-mail (25 Jan. 1995)

Seabrook, Richard H. "Community and Progress." Cybermind@jefferson.village.virginia.edu (22 Jan. 1994).

Does Punctuation Go Inside Quotation Marks?
Yes, almost without exception!!! "Like this."

MLA

The MLA was developed through the Modern Language Association of America. MLA is commonly known all over the literate world, specifically in government, business, industry, media, and humanities fields.

Purpose of Use

As a student you will be asked to write several research papers in your college career. Citing where you received your information is important to note when writing your papers. Citing your source, giving credit, is the standard method of conduct in writing around the world. Anything else is PLAGIARISM and is against the law. Note, you must cite not only facts and quotations, but ideas and opinions as well. Paraphrasing, restating an original idea in your own words, must also be cited properly.

How to use

The MLA documentation style recognizes or acknowledges the source in the text and then lists the source in a works cited at the end of the paper. Citing your source in the body of your text allows the reader to quickly find out the exact source you used. The reader, if they so desired, could look to your works cited to find where they can locate the information. Below is an example of a citation:

The game of golf is ten percent skill or talent, and ninety percent mental (Norman 39).

The citation in the works cited would look like this:

Norman, Greg. "Mental Game of Golf". Golf Magazine. Sept. 1995:39.

Note: If you are writing a scientific paper, where current research is prevalent, it would be better to use the APA style. The APA gives more emphasis on the dates of publication. The MLA discards the date, since it is used more for humanities and business. The MLA style allows for easier reading.

Works Cited

In writing your research papers, you are going to have a variety of different sources. The most common sources are going to be books, journals, and magazines. Even though you are done writing the text, you are NOT done with your paper. You must have a complete and correct works cited. The works cited comes at the end of your document and explains to the reader the who, when, and the where facts of your sources. Below are models of common occurrences that can be followed when completing your works cited.

Books

Single Author

Johnson, Martha. Martha's Guide to Cooking. New York: Random, 1992.

Two or Three Authors

Jones, Matt, Sam Smith, and George Miller. Golf of the 90's. Minneapolis: Oxford, 1990.

More Than Three Authors

*Use the first Authors name and place an et al. at the end of the name.

Smith, Jack, et al. The Development of Golf. New York: Miller Institute, 1993.

Corporate Author

India National Council. Annual Report, 1993. New York: India National Council, 1993.

No Author Listed

Encyclopedia of Golf Terms. St. Cloud: Ham Davis, 1922.

Article in Reference Book

"China History." World Book Encyclopedia. 12th ed. 1988.

Pamphlets are cited the same as books

Periodicals

Article From a Newspaper

Smith, Glenn. "Cash Out E-Money In." Star Tribune 22 Oct. 1992 B12.

*The B12 in this case is specified by section, instead of a page number

Article from Weekly Magazine

Simon, Sam. "On the Edge of the Digital Age." People 4 Aug. 1990:15-17.

Article from Monthly Magazine

Zimmerman, Ann. "Baseball Wife Story." Glamour Oct. 1993:35

Anonymous Article

"A Day in the Wired Life." Life Sept. 1994: 38-54.

Editorials

Smith, Kelly. "Here is to My Health." Editorial. Health Magazine. 12 May 1991: 54.

The above listings are a quick reference. There are complete lists of citations in the MLA
Handbook, or any other reference book. Also the above citations are completely fiction, they were made with the intent to show example.

Works Cited

Givaldi, Joesph, and Walter S. Achtert. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 5th ed. New York: MLA, 1995.

MLA Documentation. The Write Place: SCSU, 1988.

Annotated Bibliography

It is your responsibility to utilize a variety of sources for your research. These sources may include:
Book
Magazine/journal (use Search Bank in the library to find relevant journals/magazines)
Primary source
Reference work (Encyclopedia, biographical dictionary, text book)
Web Site
Interviews
Film
Newspaper

1. read the sources you find and take notes.
2. compile an annotated bibliography of at least five sources. Each annotation should be one paragraph long.
3. At the END of the annotated bibliography, write a sentence or two about your narrow topic. What is the question that you are going to present the pro and con side for on your website.

TENTATIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE:
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE: