MLA Style

1
Citing SourcesParenthetical References

• MLA Style

2
Avoiding plagiarism

• When you make research your own, your writing
  should sound like you. However, you dont want
  to mislead people into thinking that all these
  ideas are your own. If you do, you may be guilty
  of plagiarism the act of presenting someone
  elses research as your own.

3
Word-for-word plagiarism

• In word-for-word plagiarism a researcher repeats
  the exact words of a source without giving the
  necessary credit to the original source.

4
Paraphrase plagiarism

• Paraphrase plagiarism occurs when a researcher
  says basically the same thing as an original
  source with just a few words changed.

5
Spot plagiarism

• In spot plagiarism, a researcher uses only a
  sources key words or phrases as his or her own
  words without giving credit.

6
How do you know what to cite?

• Document facts
• Numbers, statistics, dollar amounts,
  percentages, etc. should always be documented.
• Also document facts that are not commonly known
  or that support your position or opinion. You
  should particularly document controversial facts.
•  
• You dont have to document facts that are
  considered common knowledge or facts which are
  easily verifiable.
•  

7
Would you document these facts?

• There are 365 days in the year
• It rained 210 days in Seattle in 2009.
• The increased use of antibiotics in the
  population has led to proliferation of antibiotic
  resistant bacteria.
• William Shakespeare was born April 23, 1564.
• Carbon dioxide from car emissions was reduced in
  30 major U.S. cities between 1995-2000.
• Drive-through fast-food restaurants contribute to
  the increase of obesity in America.

8
Quotations

• Document quotations from a person.
• Example
• Justice Marshall said, there shall be a time
  when the constitution is challenged on this
  issue, but it will not happen in this decade
  (Brown, 183).

9
MLA style

• The MLA handbook suggests giving credit in the
  body of the paper rather than in footnotes or
  endnotes. To give credit for words or ideas
  borrowed from another source, simply insert the
  appropriate information (authors last name and
  page number) in parentheses at the end of the
  sentence.
• Example
• The invention of the ball point pen, and its
  subsequent evolution into a common household
  item, revolutionized how we write (Chapman, 11).

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Keep in mind two points

• First, indicate as precisely as you can where you
  found the information. (Use page numbers,
  volumes numbers, acts, chapters, etc.)
• Second, make sure all or your sources are listed
  in the Work Cited section of your paper.

11
One author Citing a complete work

• No parenthetical documentation is needed if you
  identify the author in the your text.
• In No Need for Hunger, Robert Spitzer
  recommends that the U.S. government develop a new
  foreign policy to help Third World countries
  overcome with poverty and hunger.
• However you must give the authors last name in
  a parenthetical reference if it is not mentioned
  in the text.
• No Need for Hunger recommends that the U.S.
  government develop a new foreign policy to help
  Third World countries overcome with poverty and
  hunger (Spitzer).

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On author Citing Part of a Work

• List the necessary page numbers if you borrow
  words or ideas from a particular work.
• With author in text
• Bullough writes that genetic engineering was
  dubbed eugenics by a cousin of Darwins in 1885
  (5).
• Without author in text
• Genetic engineering was dubbed eugenics by
  a cousin of Darwins in 1885 (Bullough 5).

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What if there is no author?

• Use the title of the source, in place of the
  authors last name, if there is no author
  listed.
• Ex
• No scientific evidence is available to
  support the claim that cell phones cause brain
  tumors (Cell Phones Today, 45).

14
Where did this information come from?!

• Sebranek, Patrick, Verne Meyer and Dave Kemper.
  Writers Inc A Student Handbook for Writing and
  Learning. Wilmington, MA Great Source
  Education Group, 1996.