Citing and Plagiarism

The 8th edition of the MLA Handbook lists nine core elements needed to create a citation:

(pay attention to the order and punctuation!)

1. Author.
2. Title of source.
3. Title of container,
4. Other contributors,
5. Version,
6. Number,
7. Publisher,
8. Publication date,
9. Location.

Notes:

• Authors-
  • the first author is Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. 
  • the second author is First Name Middle Initial. Last Name.
  • if there are three or more authors, use the first author and add et. al. Last Name, First Name, Middle Initial., et al. 
  • Do not use titles (Dr., Sir, Saint, etc.)
• Source-
  • if citing an entire book, then the book title is italicized followed by a period
  • if citing a book chapter or journal article or a webpage from a website  - do not italicize, use quotes instead, follow with a period
• Container-
  • usually the title of a book, journal, periodical, entire website -italicized followed by a comma
• Other contributors-
  • directed by, edited by, translated by, illustrated by, general editor First Name Middle Name or Initial Last Name
  • if more than three people perform the same function then use the first person mentioned followed by et al., 
• Version- 
  • edition (abbreviate ed.), version (abridged version, unabridged version, authorized version)
• Number-
  • volume number (vol. after a comma, Vol.  after period) and issue number (no.)
• Publisher-
  • name of publisher 
  • not needed for periodicals- journals, magazines, newspapers, a website whose name is the same as the publisher, not websites that host services like YouTube 
• Publication date-
  • usually the most recent date or the date that is relevant to the source you are looking at
  • examples DD MMM. YYYY 25 Mar. 2018, MMM.-MMM. YYYY Mar.-Apr. 2018, MMM YYYY Mar. 2018, YYYY 2018.
• Location
  • where the information is found
  • p. (page number), pp. (range of page numbers), URL (web address), DOI (for online publications), place name (museum, archive, etc), city of publication
  • date of access for online works- Accessed 25 March 2018.

• In-text citations tell your audience briefly where you found your information and act as a pointer to the complete reference in your Works Cited page.
• In-text citations usually contain 2 parts: the author's last name (unless you have 2 authors with the same last name, then use first initial and last name) and page number. Ex. "quotation here" (Poe 25). Or According to Poe, "quotation here" (25).   
• If you use two sources by the same author, include the author's last name, "title of work" page number. Ex. (Poe, "The Raven" 25).

How to Cite in Your Works Cited Page

General Format (remember to format with a hanging indent!)

Author Last Name, First Name, Middle Initial. Title of source. Title of container,  Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.

*Tip: If you tried to find a piece of information and you cannot find it (for example other contributors, version, or number) then skip over that part

*Tip: Make sure that your Works Cited list is formatted with Hanging Indents

Examples:

• Book- Single Author, No Editor, Entire Book

Tan, Amy. The Bonesetter's Daughter. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2001.

• Book- Author with Contributing Author, Other Contributor, One Chapter
  • (note: Homer wrote The Odyssey, Bernard Knox wrote the Introduction and Notes, Robert Fagles translated The Odyssey)

Homer, and Bernard Knox. "Athena Inspires the Prince". The Odyssey, Translated by Robert Fagles, Viking, 1996, pp.77-92. 

• Book- Anthology, One Work, One Author, Volume, Edition

Woolf, Virginia. "Professions for Women". The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women: The Traditions in English, 3rd ed., vol. 2, W.W. Norton & Company, 2007, pp. 244-247.

• Book- 2 Authors, No Editor, Entire Book

Bloom, Jonathan, and Sheila Blair. Islam: a thousand years of faith and power. Yale Nota Bene, 2002.

• Chapter from an Online Book from a Database
  • (note: Ian Walker wrote the book, John Moncure Daniel wrote the contents of the chapter, square brackets are part of the chapter title and are  included, punctuation of publisher included from database source information)

Walker, Ian, and John Moncure Daniel. “Chapter 48: [John Moncure Daniel], Introduction to ‘The Raven’ in the Richmond Examiner.” Edgar Allan Poe, Taylor & Francis Ltd / Books, 1997, pp. 145–147. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=17104241&site=ehost-live.

• Article from database- 1 Author, no publisher, volume number, issue number, page number, electronic location

Knight, Denise D. "The Dying of Charlotte Perkins Gilman." ATQ: 19th century American literature and culture, vol. 13, no. 2, 1999, p. 137. Literature Resource Center, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A55266783/LitRC?u=pemb33391&sid=LitRC&xid=824a0ea8. Accessed 19 Nov. 2019.

• Article from database- 3 Authors, no publisher, volume number, issue number, page number, electronic location

Sumner, Rachel, Maclen J. Stanley, and Anthony L. Burrow. "Room for Debate (and Derogation): Negativity of Readers’ Comments on Black Authors’ Online Content." Psychology of Popular Media Culture, vol. 6, no. 2, 2017, pp. 113-122. ProQuest, http://ez-srv.rcbc.edu:2048/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1694706865?accountid=9798, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000090.

• Webpage from a Website, No Publication Date, Other Contributors, Publisher/Sponsor 

"Walt Whitman." Edited by Ed Folsom and Kenneth M Price, The Walt Whitman Archive, Center for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, https://whitman-prod.unl.edu/biography/walt_whitman/.

• Research assistance - help finding sources, evaluating sources

• Online workshops for citing and plagiarism are held throughout the semester. To request a citing workshop, please email library@rcbc.edu