MLA Citations for Sources

Books and Reference Books

One Author

Frye, Northrup. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. New York: Harper Collins, 1957.

Two or Three Authors

Gesell, Arnold, and Frances L. Wilson. Child Development: An Introduction to the Study

of Human Growth. New York: Macmillan, 1960.

Four or More Authors

Spiller, Robert, et al. Literary History of the United States. New York:

Macmillan, 1960.

No Author Named

Encyclopedia of Photography. New York: Crown, 1984.

A Work With More Than One Volume

Smith, Page. A New Age Now Begins. 2 vols. New York: McGraw, 1976.

A Work With An Editor

Swisher, Cleary, ed. The Spread of Islam. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999.

Two Or More Books By The Same Person

Boroff, Marie. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. New York: Norton, 1967.

---. Wallace Stevens: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:

Prentice Hall, 1963.

Personal Interview

Name of person interviewed. Personal Interview. Date of Interview

Example: Smith, Tom. Personal Interview. 1 March 2010.

Newspapers, Magazines, Journals, and Other Sources

A journal or magazine whose page numbers continue to the next issue (continuous
pagination)

 Deluch, Max. "Mind from Matter." American Scholar July 1978: 339-53.

 A journal whose pages start anew with each issue

Barthe, Frederick, and Joseph Murphy. "Alcoholism in Fiction." Kansas Quarterly

August 1981: 30-37.

 A weekly, biweekly, or monthly magazine

 Miller, Tyler. "The Vietnam War: The Executioner." Newsweek 13 Nov 1978: 70.

 An article in a newspaper

 Strout, Richard L. "Another Bicentennial." Christian Science Monitor 10 Nov. 1978: 27.

 An anonymous article

 "Drunkproofing Automobiles." Time 6 Apr. 1987: 37.

 An article from a reference book

 "Mandarin." Encyclopedia Americana. 1980 ed.

 A signed article from a reference book

 Coble, Parks M., Jr. "Chiang Kai Shek." Encyclopedia of Asian History.

Ed. Ainslee T. Embree. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1988.

 A government publication
 United States Dept. of Labor. Bureau of Statistics. "Dictionary of Occupational

Titles." 4th ed. Washington: GPO, 1977.

 A radio or television program

 "The First American." Narr. Hugh Downs. Writ. and prod. Craig Fisher.

NBC News Special. KNBC, Los Angeles. 21 Mar. 1968.

Electronic Sources

 E-mail

Danford, Tom. "Monday Greetings." E-mail to Terry Craig. 13 Sept. 1993.

Web site - Article in an Online Newspaper, Magazine or Newswire

"Endangered Species Act Upheld." AP Online. 22 June 1998. 5 Dec. 1999 <http://www.

nytimes.com/library/tech/98/06/biztech/articles/21voice.html>.

 Web site - Information directly from a home page

The Hemlock Society. 14 Dec. 1999 <http://www.hemlock.org>.

Web site - Information on a section of a site with a link from the home page

Miller, David. "Abolition of Slavery." Social Studies Help Center. 26 Jan. 2001. 29 Jan.

2001 < http://www.SocialStudiesHelp.com/USRA_Abolition.htm>.

Scholarly Journal Online (like from UNC-Charlotte’s Library)

Marsh, Kelly A.. “Contextualizing Bridget Jones.” College Literature 31.1

(2004): 52-72. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. UNC-Charlotte
Lib., Charlotte. 13 July 2006 <http://www.epnet.com>.

Film
The Shining. Dir. John Smith. Perf. Jack Nicholson. Paramount, 1977.

Bible
General Guidelines:  Books and versions of the Bible are not underlined,  italicized, or put in
quotation marks.  But the titles of individual published editions of the Bible are underlined or
italicized.

Example:  The King James Version of the Bible was originally published in 1611. 

Example:  The NIV Study Bible includes an introduction to each book of the
Bible.

 
Parenthetical References

 In parenthetical references, the titles of the books of the Bible are often
abbreviated. 

      Example:  (2 Cor. 5.17)                       

 A period separates chapter and verse.

 
 The first time you refer to a particular version of the Bible, include the name
of the version, followed by a comma.

  Example:  (New International Version, Gen. 3.15)

 

 You do not need to identify the version in subsequent references unless you
switch to a different version.

 Works Cited (like in the Annotated Bibliography)

In your Works Cited, include the title of the Bible, the version, and the publication information.

Example:  Zondervan NIV Study Bible.  Fully rev. ed.  Kenneth L. Barker, gen. ed.
                                          Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002.  Print
                                       

           Example:  The English Standard Version Bible:  Containing the Old and
                                     New Testaments with Apocrypha.  Oxford:  Oxford UP, 2009.  Print.
                                       

Tips on Correct Citations for a Research Paper

Plagiarism: This is what you want to avoid. Plagiarism means using someone else's work
and claiming it as your own. In reality it is a crime. Plagiarism can occur on purpose as
well as by accident, either way it is wrong and must be avoided. If you plagiarize by
accident the same penalties apply. The way we avoid plagiarism is by citing sources.
After the paper is written and the sources have been cited then we must create a works
cited page. If the proper format for citing sources and the works cited page is followed
then plagiarism can be avoided.
Citing Sources: Sources in these formats use the in line citation format. What this
means is that anytime you cite a source, whether it be a direct quote or a paraphrase
you must then insert an in line citation into the text of the paper. Typically the in line
citation would consist of the authors last name followed by the page number with the
entire citation in brackets. Here is an example: (Winthrop 24). The sentence period comes
after the citation.

Paraphrase: A paraphrase is an important part of writing a paper. Simply put the

paraphrase is when you read another authors work and put it into your own words. It is
also considered paraphrasing when you use statistics and research from another source.
This is the most common citation in a paper. This does not mean changing a few words
around. It means taking the authors ideas, summarizing them into your own words and
then using them. Of course you must cite every paraphrase with an in line citation.
Paraphrases are mostly used to summarize paragraphs and main themes. Paraphrases are
also used to cite statistics and other information. YOU DO NOT USE QUOTATION
MARKS WHEN PARAPHRASING.

Direct Quote: A direct quote is when you use other person’s words directly in your
paper. Knowing when to use a direct quote is important. Do not quote everything you
want to say. Most things should be paraphrased. Use a direct quote when you want the
reader to read an important historical line or it is something someone said that is
important. Use direct quotes sparingly, there should only be a few in the paper and they
better be good ones. The key difference in citing a direct quote is that you must put
quotation marks around the sentence and then cite at the end.

Citing A Paraphrase A PARAPHRASE IS:

 your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else,
presented in a new form.
 one legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow
from a source.
 a more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single
main idea.

Here is a sample paraphrase:

Original Text: (From Ron Bachman, "Reaching for the Sky." Dial (May 1990): 15.)

While the Sears Tower is arguably the greatest achievement in skyscraper engineering so
far, it's unlikely that architects and engineers have abandoned the quest for the world's
tallest building. The question is: Just how high can a building go? Structural engineer
William LeMessurier has designed a skyscraper nearly one-half mile high, twice as tall as
the Sears Tower. And architect Robert Sobel claims that existing technology could
produce a 500-story building.

Paraphrase:
How much higher skyscrapers of the future will rise than worlds tallest building, the
Sears Tower, is unknown. The design of one twice as tall is already on the boards, and an
architect, Robert Sobel, thinks we currently have sufficient know-how to build a
skyscraper with over 500 stories (Bachman 15).

Your paper will more or less be paraphrase after paraphrase linked together by your own
words and analysis. You need to introduce, analyze and put into context the paraphrases
you use. This is the nature of the research paper, after all, you are not the expert, they are.
If you cite from the same author in the very next citation you do not have to put the
authors last name in the in line citation, just the page number.

Example:

How much higher skyscrapers of the future will rise than world’s tallest building, the
Sears Tower, is unknown. The design of one twice as tall is already on the boards, and an
architect, Robert Sobel, thinks we currently have sufficient know-how to build a
skyscraper with over 500 stories (Bachman 15). As a matter of fact the architect William
LeMessurier claims he designed a skyscraper that is over a half a mile tall (15).