Cornwell’s Writing Guide
2008 – 2009
With minor modification, Sections 4, 5, 6 and & 7 are taken from: Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism. Duke
University Libraries. 2007. <http://library.duke.edu/research/plagiarism/> Used by a Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 U.S. License.
WRITING

All formal writing assignments, unless otherwise specified, must be typed 10 or 12 point font, with 1”
margins, and double spaced.

Do not ever use the first person or second person voice (I, me, mine, my, we, our, ours, us, you, yours)
unless you are using it inside a quotation.

Write in complete sentences and paragraphs.

Proofread carefully to avoid spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors. “Wite-out” and hand written
corrections are preferable to errors.
AVOIDING PLAGIARISM
A wealth of extremely helpful advice, suggestions, and examples can be found at The Duke University Libraries
web site at <http://library.duke.edu/research/plagiarism/warning/index.html>.
CITATIONS


You MUST use INTERNAL PARENTHETICAL
citation if the sentence contains:
CITATIONS when
needed. Follow any sentence with a parenthetical

a direct quotation,

a paraphrase of another’s words or specific idea

specific information that is not widely known (as a rule of thumb, if the information appears
in most of your sources it is widely known within the field)

and ALL STATISTICS. Statistics are not just numbers; a “statistic” in this sense also
refers to words that are standing in for numbers, such as :
“most,” “many,” “all,” “some,” “few,” “often,” “never,” “sometimes,” “some of,” “always,” “the
majority,” “the minority,” and any other word or phrase which is a substitute for a specific
number or range of numbers.
A parenthetical citation appears directly after the relevant sentence(s). It may either:

introduce the material being cited with a “signal phrase” in the sentence, such as the
author’s last name, or the person’s name who uttered the quotation, followed by the page
number where that material was found in parentheses at the end of the sentence, or

follow the sentence with parentheses containing both the first author’s last name and the
page number where the material was found.. There is no punctuation between the name and
the page number within the parentheses (Cornwell 3).

The period at the end of the sentence follows the parenthetical citation. When a quotation
ends with a question mark or an exclamation point, leave the end punctuation inside the
quotation mark and add a period after the parentheses: ". . . ?" (Hacker 8).

If detective work results in no author being found for your source, use the first words
appearing in your Source List, usually the title of the article of web page. Either use the
Psychology: Kimel 2009 – 2010
complete title in a signal phrase or use a short form of the title in parentheses. Titles of
articles and web pages are in quotations marks.

For some lovely examples, go to: the website of the late Diana Hacker.
COMMON KNOWLEDGE

Did you know the information before you began this class?

Do your friends know this information?

Do you think that all of your high school teachers know this information?

Do you believe that the average text voter for “American Idol” or “Top Chef” knows this
information?
Unless you can answer “yes” to the first three questions, the information is probably not of common knowledge.
You should verify that it is correct, and then cite the source of confirmation.
DIRECT QUOTATIONS
The author of an article on the industrial revolution expressed a key idea concisely and beautifully. You're
discussing a passage from Mark Twain, and want to analyze several sentences in detail. There are lots of reasons
to use direct quotations – the exact words of an author or other source - in your scholarly work. Quotations can
spice up a paper, tie your thoughts to a text, and provide concrete examples of what you're talking about. They
always need to be documented with full citations.
You should use direct quotations sparingly, choosing them carefully to make an impression. A paper composed
mostly of quotations from other authors runs in to the plagiarism risk called 'patchworking'. Patchworking is
NOT a good approach to writing!
A quotation can be very short – one or two words, such as a reference to another author's special way of naming
a phenomenon – or an entire paragraph or passage, which you then proceed to discuss at length. If you are
quoting a passage of four or more lines of text, you must format it as a block quotation (MLA).
Example of Quoting:
Original Text
The women in The Sopranos are, without a doubt, at least as deadly as the males – in some cases,
literally, in other cases metaphorically. Livia, Carmela, Dr. Melfi, and Janice are more dangerous than
Junior, Tony, Christopher, and Paulie because the women commandeer power while seeming to wield none.
The evidence of their powers of destruction is more easily disguised. In other words, while the women
might stoop to conquer, they do eventually and efficiently conquer their enemies.
Citation MLA Style
Barreca, Regina. “Why I Like the Women in The Sopranos.” A Sitdown with the Sopranos: Watching
Italian American Culture on TV’s Most Talked-About Series. Ed. Regina Barreca. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. 27-46.
Correctly Attributed Quotation
According to Barreca, “the women in The Sopranos are, without a doubt, at least as deadly as the males –
in some cases, literally, in other cases metaphorically. Livia, Carmela, Dr. Melfi, and Janice are more
dangerous than Junior, Tony, Christopher, and Paulie because the women commandeer power while
seeming to wield none” (37).
[email protected]
Psychology: Kimel 2009 – 2010
PARAPHRASING
It's a great idea, but the essay was written in 1910, so it's expressed in language that's a little old-fashioned. Or
it's a brilliant thought, but you just wouldn't say it that way – it's very technical and wouldn't fit into the flow of
your paper. How do you include references to ideas expressed by others without using direct quotations?
Paraphrase – and include a full citation.
A paraphrase of a sentence in an article will usually be about the same length as the original sentence – just in
your own words.
As with quotations, paraphrases should be used sparingly – a paper should be a balance between thoughts of
other scholars and your original ideas.
A paper composed mostly or entirely of paraphrases from other authors is very likely to be described as
'patchworking'. Even if you have cited every paraphrase correctly, you've forgotten to include your own analysis.
Patchworking is NOT a good approach to writing!
Example of Paraphrasing:
Original Text
In The Sopranos, the mob is besieged as much by inner infidelity as it is by the federal government.
Early in the series, the greatest threat to Tony's Family is his own biological family. One of his closest
associates turns witness for the FBI, his mother colludes with his uncle to contract a hit on Tony, and his
kids click through Web sites that track the federal crackdown in Tony's gangland.
Citation MLA Style
Fields, Ingrid Walker. “Family Values and Feudal Codes: The Social Politics of America’s Twenty-First
Century Gangster.” Journal of Popular Culture 37.4 (2004). Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale
Group. Duke U Lib., Durham. 8 Dec. 2004.
Correctly Attributed Paraphrase
In the first season of The Sopranos, Tony Soprano’s mobster activities are more threatened by members
of his biological family than by agents of the federal government. This familial betrayal is multi-pronged.
Tony’s closest friend and associate is an FBI informant, his mother and uncle are conspiring to have him
killed, and his children are surfing the Web for information about his activities (Fields).
LOYALTY TO SOURCE
You're writing a paper on solar energy, and a lot of the articles you've found keep referring to this gigantic study
the Department of Energy did in the 1970s. It looks really great – but it's 700 pages long, really technical, and
only available on microfilm, and the paper's due Tuesday. The articles summarize what it says – can't you just put
in a citation of the Department of Energy study without going to the trouble of hitting the library again?
It's dishonest to cite a source without actually having read it – or at least read the relevant parts of it. It might
not really say what everyone says it does. Shouldn't you judge for yourself, anyway?
If you aren't able to look at the original, you can still refer to it. Just do so by citing the place where Smith's
article refers to the original study, like this: "Smith characterizes the discussion of solar cell technology in the
Department of Energy study released in 1979 as groundbreaking (Smith 1984)."
If Smith quotes from the Department of Energy study, you can use the same quote, but clearly note in your
citation that you have taken the quote from Smith's article (Department of Energy 1979, cited in Smith 1984, p.
37).
RESPECTING THE AUTHOR'S INTENT
[email protected]
Psychology: Kimel 2009 – 2010
You watched this great political speech on C-Span, and the politician said something in passing that made him
sound like a raving liberal, when actually he toes the Republican party line – the speech was all about welfare
reform. Can you take that sentence out of context and use it in your paper to prove that the Republican senator
from Wyoming is actually Ted Kennedy in disguise? Why not? It's not like you're quoting inaccurately – he really
said it!
When making a reference to the work or ideas of another, it is very important to characterize them accurately.
This includes respecting the overall message of a speech or article, and not selectively snipping out a quotation
that seems to support what you want to argue.
If you can't find any scholars who support your position, but you still want to argue that you're right, take the
time to examine the opposing viewpoint and construct a detailed argument against it. It's not fair to 'massage'
the record and use edited statements that seem to support you when, taken in context, they really don't.
LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED
Here are some instructions for those tricky bibliographic (works consulted) entries for works which are first
published in hard copy, then republished electronically.
As far as possible, include the following information for the work:
1.
Name of the author, editor, compiler, or translator of the source (if given), reversed for alphabetizing
and, if appropriate, followed by an abbreviation, such as ed.
2.
“Title of an article, poem, short story, or similar short work in the Internet site” (enclosed in quotation
marks). Or title of a posting to a discussion list or forum (taken from the subject line and put in
quotation marks), followed by the description Online posting
3.
Title of a book, underlined
4.
Name of the editor, compiler, or translator of the text (if relevant and if not cited earlier), preceded by
the appropriate abbreviation, such as Ed. – this is usually needed for a collected volume of works by a
variety of authors
5.
All traditional publication information for the print version of the source – title of work if different
from electronic version, publisher, date originally published.
6.
Title of the Internet site (e.g., scholarly project, database, online periodical, or professional or personal
site or, for a site with no title, the words Home page, underlined
7.
Name of the editor of the site (if given)
8.
If there is a version number of the source (if not part of the title) or, for a journal, the volume number,
issue number, or other identifying number
9.
Date of electronic publication, copyright, or the latest update, of the site (whichever date is most
recent)
10. For a work from a subscription service, the name of the service and--if a library or a consortium of
libraries is the subscriber--the name and geographic location (e.g., city, state abbreviation) of the
subscriber
11. For a posting to a discussion list or forum, the name of the list or forum
12. If there are numbered pages are within a specific URL, then the number range or total number of pages,
paragraphs, or other sections that you used.
13. Name of the institution or organization sponsoring the site if not cited earlier
14. Date when you accessed the source
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Psychology: Kimel 2009 – 2010
15. <URL> of the source or, if the URL is extremely long and the site has a search feature, then, the URL of
the site's search page. Or, for a document from a subscription service, the URL of the service's home
page, if known; or the keyword assigned by the service, preceded by Keyword; or the sequence of links
followed, preceded by Path. The URL is always placed in angle brackets [<>].
These are all acceptable citations for the same Federalist Paper, given what can be gleaned from the site where
the Paper was accessed. The main thing is that all possible available information is listed.
Publius [James Madison]. "The Same Subject Continued: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and
Insurrection." New York Packet. 23 Nov. 1787. Thomas. The Library of Congress. 26 April 1996. 8 Oct. 2008.
<http://thomas.loc.gov/home/fedpapers/fed_10.html>
Publius [James Madison}. “The Same Subject Continued (The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and
Insurrection) From the New York Packet.” 23 Nov. 1787. The Federalist Papers. Sec. 10. Eds. Alexander
Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison. 1788. Electronic Text Center. University of Virginia Library. 6 July
1995. 8 Oct. 2008. <http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/HMJFedr.html>
Publius [James Madison}. Federalist, No. 10. 22 Nov. 1787. In Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay.
The Federalist. Ed. Jacob E. Cooke. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1961.The Founders'
Constitution. Volume 1, Chapter 4, Document 19. The University of Chicago Press. 2000. 8 Oct. 2008.
<http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch4s19.html>
These are some web sites that may be helpful for your particular list(s) of works cited or bibliographies:
Valencia Community College Library
http://www.valenciacc.edu/library/west/research/doc_mla_electronic.asp
Bedford/St. Martins Press
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite5.html
Diana Hacker’s Research and Documentation Online
http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/
[email protected]