Internal Citations

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Internal Citations

• MLA Format

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Placement and Punctuation

• Place a citation at a natural pause the end of a
  sentence or after a phrase or clause.
• In fact, the fate of man hinges on the
  willingness to communicate (Showdown).
• A full scale blockade generally has been
  interpreted as an act of war, the Miami Herald
  reported (Blockade), and everyone feared what
  might happen.

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More

• Place a citation at the end of a text sentence
  BEFORE the end punctuation mark.
• WRONG Fearing nuclear attack, people stocked up
  on groceries. (Grunwald 12)
• RIGHT Fearing nuclear attack, people stocked up
  on groceries (Grunwald 12).

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Sentences ending in quotes

• Place the citation AFTER the quotation marks, but
  BEFORE the end punctuation.
• Ill not vote for him, a New York salesman
  commented, but Ill support him. His reaction
  was long overdue (Robertson).

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Long Quotes

• A long quote takes up more than THREE lines when
  typed.
• Introduce the quote with a colon.
• Indent the entire long quote 10 spaces.
• The citation appears AFTER the period.
• EXAMPLE
• Finkelstein notes that there were secret
  government plans
• At the White House, plans were finalized for
• an evacuation of key governmental personnel and
  their families if Washington came under attack.
  Special passes were distributed and an assembly
  area was designated at the Reno Reservoir in
  northwest Washington, where a motorcade would be
  formed to transport people to the relocation
  areas. (85)

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General Rules

• Citations include the first item in the Works
  Cited citation and the page number. Do NOT
  include a comma or pg.
• WRONG (Finkelstein, pg. 85)
• (Cesar Millan, no page)
• RIGHT (Finkelstein 85)
• (Cesar Millan n.p.)
• If the source information appears in the text,
  write only the page number in parentheses.
• According to Finkelstein, the President was
  alarmed by the crowds reaction (87).
• An article titled, Cesar Millan, refers to
  Millans training methods as calm and assertive
  (n.p.).

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Signal Phrase Key Words
notes observes points out reasons
refutes rejects reports responds suggests thinks
writes

• acknowledges
• adds
• admits
• agrees
• argues
• asserts
• believes
• claims
• comments
• compares

• confirms
• contends
• declares
• denies
• disputes
• emphasizes
• endorses
• grants
• illustrates
• implies
• insists

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More

• If you refer to a complete work, omit page
  numbers.
• In 1990, a series of documents were distributed
  to officials (Security Checklist).
• If there are two authors, cite both authors last
  names.
• (Cragen and Smith 89)
• If there are three authors, include all three
  last names.
• (Bullock, Smith, and Trombley 608)
• If there are more than three authors, use et al.
• (Brown et al.)
• NOTE Use the format you used on your Source
  Card.

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Need More Help?

• Check the links on the Wiki
• Go to www.mla.org for more specific rules