Whenever you draw on another's work, you must provide documentation. Parenthetical notes must be used after: direct quotations, paraphrases of someone else's words or ideasm and facts and figures. Representing the words or ideas of another as your own is plagiarism and can result in a failing grade.

MLA documentation requires a brief parenthetical acknowledgment in your paper wherever you incorporate another's words, facts or ideas, usually in the form of the author's last name and the page reference.

Example: Ancient writers attributed the invention of the monochord to Pythagoras...(Marcuse 197)

The citation "(Marcuse 197)" refers to a sentence from page 197 of a work by Marcuse, and the complete citation for this source will be found in the works cited list.

If the author's name appears in the text, only the page number appears in the citation.

Example: According to Marcuse, ancient writers attributed the invention of the monochord.....(197).

If more than one work by the author is in the list of works cited, a shortened version of the title is given: (Marcuse, Survey 197).

References in the text must clearly point to specific sources in the works cited list.

The list of works cited appears at the end of a research paper on a new page entitled "WORKS CITED". Begin each entry flush with the left margin and if necessary, indent susequent line (s). Double-space the entire list both between and within entries. Alphabetize entries in the lsit of works cited by author's last name; if the author's name is unknown, alphabetize by title.

Book by a single author:

Marcuse, Sibyl. A Survey of Musical Instruments. New York: Harper, 1975.

Book by two or more authors:

Jakobson, Roman, and Linda R. Waugh. The Sound Shape of Language. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1979.

Newspaper Article:

Feder, Barnaby J. "For Job Seekers, a Toll-Free Gift of Expert Advice." New York Times 30 Dec. 1993, v 143: C1.

Magazine Article:

Begley, Sharon. "New Hope for Women at Risk." Newsweek 20 April 1998: 68-70.

Magazine Article from an Online Database:

Begley, Sharon. "New Hope for Women at Risk." Newsweek 20 April 1998: 68-70. Academic Search Premier, 22 Aug. 2001 . <http://search.espnet.com>

Journal:

Scotto, Peter. "Censorship, Reading and Interpretation: A Case Study from the Soviet Union." PMLA 109 (1994): 61-70.

An Entire Web Cite:

Peterson, Susan Lynn. The Life of Martin Luther. 17 Oct. 2002. 22 April 2002. <http://www,susanlynnpeterson.com/luther/home.html>.

From an Online Database Article:

"Fresco." Britannica Online. Vers. 97.1.1 Mar. 1997. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 29 Mar. 1997 <http://www.eb.com:180/>.

***For more information on citing electronic sources please refer to the MLA Handbook, 6th ed., pp.207-235 or go online to http://www.mla.org/style_faq4

Try a Citation Generator!

Try a citation generator for help with creating your works cited page. However, use these at your own risk! You will still need to proof your citations and make sure they are correct.

• Landmark's Citation Machine http://www.landmark-project.com/citation_machine/cm.php
• Noodle Tools Quick Cite http://www.noodletools.com/quickcite/
• IMSA Citation Wizard http://21cif.imsa.edu/cite
• OSLIS Citation Maker

Click here for more help with Works Cited pages and MLA citation. This site offers lots of useful information and may come in handy when it comes time to create your Works Cited page. Remember, when in doubt CONSULT YOUR MLA HANDBOOK or visit http://www.mla.org.