1	MLA STYLE Prepared from the 6^th edition of MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
2	WHAT WILL THIS TUTORIAL COVER? At the end of this tutorial you will:- Be aware of the importance of citing the sources you have used Learn to cite according to the MLA style Learn how to cite a variety of sources Learn how to use the MLA manual
3	WHAT IS CITING? Citing is giving credit to or acknowledging all sources of information or ideas used in your papers. Citing sources should:- Point to the source from which you got the information in your essay. Direct your reader to the full documentation in the list of Works Cited.
4	WHY CITE ? Citing or documenting information is responsible and ethical behaviour. Citing shows respect for other people’s ideas. If you don’t cite you are guilty of plagiarism. Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of another person’s intellectual efforts. It is a form of cheating.
5	WHY CITE? (cont’d) Citing is a service to those reading your paper, since it accurately points them to the exact location of the information you have used for your paper. Citing also meets the requirements of your Faculty and the University.
6	HOW TO CITE? To cite, you must choose an acceptable citation style. There are many authorized styles e.g. APA, Chicago, ACS. Use the one required by your Lecturer or your Faculty. MLA* is one of the most widely used styles. It is based on the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Check the Library’s OPAC to find the Handbook *Modern Language Association
7	CITING USING MLA There are 2 aspects to citing with MLA:- In text citing (citing within the text or body of your essay or paper) List of Works Cited (at the end of your paper)
8	AGREEMENT OF IN TEXT CITATIONS WITH LIST OF WORKS CITED
9	CITING SOURCES IN THE TEXT Basic information to be included:- Author’s surname and page e.g. (Tannen 178) OR Title of work (if no author is named) and page e.g. (Love and War 21) *NB Do not include ‘p’ or ‘pp’ before page numbers.
10	CITING SOURCES IN THE TEXT (cont’d)
11	CITING SOURCES IN THE TEXT (cont’d) It may be true, as Robertson maintains, that “in the appreciation of medieval art the attitude of the observer is of primary importance…”(136).
12	CITING SOURCES IN THE TEXT (cont’d)
13	CITING SOURCES IN THE TEXT (cont’d) Citing works listed by title only… International espionage was as prevalent as ever as in the 1990s (“Decade”). * NB “Decade” is the shortened title for “The Decade of the Spy”. Put full details in list of Works Cited.
14	CITING SOURCES IN THE TEXT (cont’d
15	THE LIST OF Works Cited Contains all the sources that you cited in your paper. Comes at the end of your paper. Lists all sources cited in one alphabetical sequence. Includes information from the source itself (e.g. the title page of a book) not from a catalogue.
16	WORKS CITED A BOOK BY A SINGLE AUTHOR
17	ACTIVITY: CITING A BOOK
18	CITING A BOOK
19	CITING A BOOK (cont’d)
20	WORKS CITED 2 OR MORE BOOKS BY SAME AUTHOR
21	WORKS CITED A WORK IN AN ANTHOLOGY
22	PAGE NUMBERS NB. MLA requires that you paginate as efficiently as possible. Therefore, if you are referring to an item that runs from pages 472-482, use 472-82. More, Hannah. “The Black Slave Trade: A Poem.” British Women Poets of the Romantic Era. Ed. Paula R. Feldman. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1997. 472-82.
23	WORKS CITED ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS
24	WORKS CITED ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS
25	ACTIVITY CITING THE PERIODICAL ARTICLE
26	CITING THE PERIODICAL ARTICLE (cont’d)
27	CITING THE PERIODICAL ARTICLE (cont’d)
28	CITING A PERIODICAL (cont’d)
29
30	WORKS CITED AN ARTICLE IN A NEWSPAPER
31	AN ARTICLE IN A NEWSPAPER (cont’d) EXAMPLES Singh, Rickey. “New row over Aristide.” Jamaica Observer 17 June 2005: 12. Newspaper editorial (no author given): “US-Libya Conflict.” Editorial. Gleaner 9 Jan. 1998: 8. Article in a section of the newspaper (e.g. section A, page 3): Bailey, Mary. “Teachers to Tackle Violence in Schools.” Sunday Gleaner 1 Sept. 1996: A3. Article not on consecutive pages (e.g. starting on pg. G1 and continuing on pg. G3): Harris, Nicole. “Airports in the Throes of Change.” Washington Post 21 Apr. 2002: G1+.
32	WORKS CITED AN ARTICLE IN A REFERENCE BOOK
33	WORKS CITED AN INTERVIEW An interview may be published, recorded or broadcast. Examples Seaga, Edward. Interview with Anthony Abrahams. Breakfast Club. Hot 102 FM. Kingston, Jamaica. 26 Mar. 2002. Walcott, Derek. “Derek Walcott interviewed by Dirk Sinnewe.” Journal of Commonwealth Literature 34. 2 (1999):1-8.
34	WORKS CITED A PERSONAL INTERVIEW
35	WORKS CITED A PERSONAL INTERVIEW
36	WORKS CITED ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS
37	ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS (cont’d) An article from the Internet Shah, Anup. “Sustainable Development” 21 April 2003 Global Issues 20 Feb. 2005 <http://www.globalissues.com/TradeRelated/ Development.asp>.
38	ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS (cont’d)
39	ACTIVITY CITING THE ONLINE ARTICLE
40	AN ARTICLE FROM THE INTERNET
41	AN ARTICLE FROM THE INTERNET (CONT’D)
42	ACTIVITY CITING THE DATABASE ARTICLE
43	AN ARTICLE FROM A DATABASE
44	ARTICLE FROM A DATABASE (cont’d) The correct citation is:- Nelson, Carlos, and Hermon George. “White Racism and ‘The Cosby Show’: A Critique.” The Black Scholar 29.2 (1995): 59-62. ProQuest. 12 Apr. 2005 <http://proquest.umi.com>. Indent from the margin for all lines after the first line. Brackets <> must enclose the URL or web address. *End the citation with a full stop.
45	EXAMPLE OF WORKS CITED LIST
46	REMEMBER… You have just been introduced to sections of the MLA style. For citing other types of resources and exceptions to the general rules check the MLA Handbook, Brief Holt Handbook or Keys for Writers. Visit MLA’s website for tips. Click here. There are other styles available e.g. Chicago, APA, ACS (Check your faculty requirements) Use the style requested by your tutors. Be consistent. You will not retain everything, so use the style Manual.
47	ADDITIONAL EXERCISES You will need to use the MLA Handbook for the following exercises.
48	TIPS ON USING MLA HANDBOOK The MLA Handbook shows you how to cite resources in the text of your essays as well In your list of Works Cited. It also provides details on writing styles, use of abbreviations and a variety of other helpful resources. USE THE INDEX TO GUIDE YOU TO THE ANSWERS YOU NEED.
49	TIPS ON USING MLA HANDBOOK The index
50	USING MLA HANDBOOK
51	USING MLA HANDBOOK
52	ADDITIONAL EXERCISES When citing according to the MLA Handbook, titles of books or periodicals are:- a. Underlined b. Italicized c. Made bold
53	ADDITIONAL EXERCISES If you were citing an Internet article by Leon Marshall in your list of Works Cited, which one would be correct? Leon Marshall. “Crocodile, Scientist ‘Communicate’ by Mobile Phone.” National Geographic 16 Dec 2003. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/12/1215U 031216_callingcrocs.html> 20 April 2005. (b) Marshall, Leon. “Crocodile, Scientist ‘Communicate’ by Mobile Phone.” National Geographic 16 Dec 2003. 20 April 2005 <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/12/1215U 031216_callingcrocs.html>. (c) Marshall, Leon. Crocodile, Scientist ‘Communicate’ by Mobile Phone. National Geographic 16 Dec 2003. 20 April 2005 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/12/1215U 031216_callingcrocs.html
54	ANSWER The correct answer is “b”. “a” is incorrect because the surname of the author should come before his first name. Also, the URL (not the date) should be last element of the citation. “c” is incorrect because the URL should always be enclosed in brackets < >. Additionally, the title of articles should not be underlined, but should be enclosed in quotation marks “ ”.
55	ADDITIONAL EXERCISES Which of the following is the correct MLA format for incorporating a quotation by M. Scott Peck within the text of your essay? “Discipline is the basic set of tools we require to solve life’s problems” (Peck, 1). “Discipline is the basic set of tools we require to solve life’s problems” (Peck, p. 1) “Discipline is the basic set of tools we require to solve life’s problems” (Peck 1).
56	ANSWER The correct answer is “c”. “a” is incorrect because there should not be a comma between the author’s surname and the page number. “b” is incorrect because p. is not used to indicate a page number. Additionally, there should be a full stop to complete the citation.
57	ADDITIONAL EXERCISES Cite the following book in your list of Works Cited according to the MLA Style. Author: Eva Illouz Title: Oprah Winfrey and the glamour of misery Subtitle: An essay on popular culture City: New York Publisher: Columbia University Press Year: 2003
58	ANSWER Illouz, Eva. Oprah Winfrey and the Glamour of Misery: An Essay on Popular Culture. New York: Columbia UP, 2003. If the publisher is a university press, abbreviate University Press with UP. Therefore, Columbia University Press becomes Columbia UP. Capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle, and the first letter of every word in the title except for a, an, the, and, to, … (see MLA page 103 for full list)
59	ADDITIONAL EXERCISES Cite the following online newspaper article in your list of Works Cited according to the MLA Style. Author: Greg Evans Title: Educational tourism as a business Subtitle: Lessons from Guatemala for Jamaica Newspaper: The Jamaica Observer URL: Date accessed: May 1, 2005 Date of article: April 24, 2005
60	ANSWER Evans, Greg. “Educational Tourism as a Business: Lessons from Guatemala for Jamaica.” Jamaica Observer 1 May 2005. 24 April 2005. <http://jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/ business/html/20050423t1600000500_79225_obs_ educational_tourism_as_a_business.asp>.
61	A FINAL WORD Now that you’ve seen the light… Do it RIGHT! CITE!
62	THE END COMPILED BY Mona Information Literacy Unit The University of the West Indies Mona Library © September 2005 Clipart courtesy of: Microsoft Design Gallery Live© Sanford Art Adventures ©