MLA Source Citation
(MLA = Modern Language Association,
a formal group of professors who set the standard for academic integrity)
GENERAL NOTES
 To Cite means to provide bibliographical information identifying the source of ideas
that are not your own.
 Failure to cite sources properly is automatically plagiarism, and therefore it is
better to cite something, even if you are not sure it is necessary or correctly done.
Remember, whether you failed to cite a source accidentally or on purpose, it looks the
same to the person grading the paper.
 There are two places where sources must be cited:
1) In the sentence where information is quoted or paraphrased, a short notation of
the source is given in parentheses at the end of the sentence. The need for citation
is considered sentence by sentence, not paragraph by paragraph.
2) On the last page, the Work Cited page, all the specific, detailed
bibliographical information is given. This page used to be called a bibliography
page, it is now called a “work cited” page.
 Typically, there is usually at least one citation in almost every body paragraph.
 There are three ways to use information from research or texts in a paper:
1) a direct quotation that is part of a sentence
2) a block quotation
3) paraphrasing
 Avoid beginning or ending with a quotation, both in the essay as a whole and in each
paragraph.
“ “ = quotation marks
 Keep a 1:3 ratio in mind: if you quote one
line, be sure there are about three lines of
your own words discussing, explaining, or
connecting the quotation to your thesis.
‘ ‘ = single quotation marks
( ) = parentheses
[ ] = square brackets
. . . = ellipsis
< > = angled brackets
{ } = curled brackets
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1) A DIRECT QUOTATION THAT IS PART OF A SENTENCE
 Place quotation marks around the information.
 At the end of the sentence, write the author’s last name and page number in
parentheses.
 The period is placed after the closing parenthesis.
 An internet source has no page number. Simply use the author’s name.
 If there is no author for the source, use the first distinctive word in the work cited
entry.
For example:
a typical use of
a quotation
internet
citations have
no page number
When Oedipa learns about the Schurvhamites, she is also
exposed to a different expression of anarchy or chaos. Within the
Schurvhamite beliefs, the opposite of the will of God is “Some opposite
Principle, something blind, soulless; a brute automation that led to
eternal death” (Pynchon 128). This thing has no direction or guidance,
and could easily be responsible for the loss and despair Oedipa
encounters.
In the process of looking at how fast information can be transferred and
how much information can be transferred, information theory is also
interested in “the distortion and losses that may occur during
transmission” (Dutta).
An exception:
if the author’s
name is given as
part of the
sentence, there is
no need to repeat
it at the end.
Even though Tolkien’s work is set in a world of fantasy, it is his use of
common, everyday objects and activities that humanize and universalize
his stories. For a good example of this, one need go no further that the
first page of The Hobbit, where Bilbo’s door has “a shiny yellow brass
knob” and his hobbit hole is filled with “bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars,
pantries, wardrobes, kitchens, [and] dining rooms” (3).
The page number is still
included at the end.
A closer look:
The sentence should
flow smoothly into the
quotation, they must
become one. It is like
you are marrying them
together!
When using a quote, pay attention to the punctuation, and “do not use a
period until after the closing parenthesis” (Smith 123).
The closing quotation
mark goes after the
last word and before
the beginning
parenthesis.
the period goes here!
Use only the
author’s last name
and page number,
like so.
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2) BLOCK QUOTATION
When a large amount of information is quoted directly from a source, it is written as a
block quote. A large amount of information would be a quotation more than two lines
long. When block quoting, different rules apply!
 Do not use quotation marks.
 Begin the quotation on a new line and indent the entire quotation one inch (two tabs).
 After the period at the end of the quote, write the author’s last name and the page
number in parenthesis.
 Continue the paragraph on the line after the blocked quote, but do not indent the line,
because you have not yet begun a new paragraph.
For Example:
Probably the most profound and paradoxical passage in The Chosen is
Danny’s attempt to explain what he has discovered about silence during the
do not use
quotation
marks!
years he could not speak with his father. Danny tells Reuven,
You can listen to silence, Reuven. I’ve begun to realize that you
can listen to silence and learn from it. It has a quality and a
dimension all its own. It talks to me sometimes. I feel myself
indent the
whole
quotation 1”
or two tabs
alive in it. It talks. And I can hear it…You have to want to listen
to it, and then you can hear it. It has a strange, beautiful texture.
It doesn’t always talk. Sometime—sometimes it cries, and you
can hear the pain of the world in it. It hurts to listen to it then.
But you have to. (Potok 249)
In the above passage, there are an extraordinary number of ideas packed into
continue on
the next line
with no
indent, it is
still the same
paragraph
those few lines. First, Danny begins with the premise that he can listen to
silence because it talks to him. This is a difficult beginning because it is
metaphorical and not literal…
put the period
before the
( ) !
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3) PARAPHRASING
Paraphrasing is putting the information from your research into your own words.
Paraphrasing is fine, as long as the source is still cited.
 When paraphrasing you MUST STILL CITE the source.
 The only information that does not need to be cited is common knowledge. It is
always better to be safe and provide a citation than to assume something is common
knowledge that may not be.
 Do not use quotation marks when paraphrasing.
 At the end of the sentence, write the author’s last name and page number in
parenthesis.
For Example:
A great example from Persepolis comes from the chapter called
“The Trip.” The raw emotion experienced by Marji and her family
when they were verbally assaulted in the streets can be
Here ideas from
the source are
put in the
writer’s own
words, so only
the original
author and page
are given.
experienced by the reader, both directly through the illustrations
and indirectly through the reader’s own visualizations created by
the narrative itself. Also, this particular section points out the
graphic novel’s ability to show the reader different points of view
(Satrapi 72). If this particular chapter came from a more
traditional novel, it would be told from the first person limited
point of view meaning that the events of the story, including her
mother’s pain, would be depicted based on Marji’s own
observations. Marji’s visions of political renegades being
executed, punished, or mysteriously killed are both innocent and
haunting.
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THE LAST PAGE (THE WORK CITED PAGE)
 The Work Cited page should be a separate page.
 The Work Cited page should be alphabetical by the first word of the entry.
 Each entry on the Work Cited page should have a hanging indent (the first line
begins at the margin, but all the following lines are indented).
 The author’s name is written “last, first” only when it is the first item in an entry.
 Every piece of information on the Work Cited page should be separated by
punctuation.
 Every entry on the Work Cited page should end with a period.
 The Work Cited Page should be double spaced exactly like the rest of the essay.
 There should not be extra spaces between entries.
 There is a specific format to each entry, and specific information is required. For
these details, please refer to the Work Cited Page Bibliography Formats handout.
For Example:
Title the page “Work
Cited,” not
“Bibliography”
Works Cited
Dutta, Anindita. "The Paradox of Truth, the Truth of
Entropy." The Modern World.com.
Hanging
Indent
11/10/03.<http://www.themodernworld.com/
pynchon/papers_dutta.html>.
Potok, Chaim. The Chosen. New York: Fawcett,
1987.
Alphabetical
Pynchon, Thomas. The Crying of Lot 49. New
York: Perennial Classics, 1990.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. New York: Pantheon
Books, 2003.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit. New York: Houghton
Mifflin, 1997.