MLA citation styleMLA citation style

Bibliothèque Saint-Jean Bibliothèque Saint-Jean March 2012March 2012

Course plan

• What is MLA documentation style

• Academic integrity (chapter 2)

• Format of the research paper (chapter 4)

• Documentation: Citing sources in the text (chapter 6)

• Documentation: Preparing the list of Works Cited (chapter 5)

MLA citation style

• A set of agreed-on rules or conventions for formatting written work in the humanities

• Developed by the Modern Language Association (MLA), appearing first in 1951

• One of many scholarly documentation styles (a.k.a. citation style)

• The documentation style you have been asked to use by your professor– Preferences regarding documentation style will be

determined by each course instructor; be sure to check!

Academic integrity

• Intentional and unintentional plagiarism

Avoiding plagiarism and cyber-plagiarism (U of A)

• How to avoid plagiarism:

– Don’t wait until the last minute! – Take careful notes while you are reading– When in doubt, cite !

When is documentation needed?

• Paraphrasing

• Directs quotations

• Use of phrases or words coined by someone else

• Expressions / proverbs

• Well known quotations

• Common knowledge

• Content of a novel/play/story

Paraphrasing

Format of the research paper (chapter 4)

Basic guidelines :

• Standard, easily readable typeface and type size(e.g. Times Roman, 12 points)

• Leave a one-inch margin around the text

• Double space throughout the paper—including the heading, title and works cited

• Do not underline, italicize, or bold the title of your paper

• Print on one side of the paper only

Format of the research paper (chapter 4)

Basic Guidelines (cont’d):

• MLA: Do not justify the lines of your paper at the right hand margin

• ANGL instructors: This is okay to do

• MLA: Do not include a title page• ANGL instructors: A title page is usually

required

Format of the research paper (chapter 4)

• Begin the Works Cited on a new, numbered page

• Double space throughout

• Indent the second and subsequent lines ofeach individual citation.

Format of the research paper

Format of the research paper

Documentation : in text citations(chapter 6)

• In text citation(a.k.a. parenthetical references)

• Omit the publication dates in the parenthetical references

• Do not use commas or “p.”

Example – in text citation

(Family name of the cited author and page number)

(Gonthier 200)

Romanticism «took solid roots in Québec during the second half of 19th century» (Gonthier 200).

Example – in text citation

(cited page)

(200)

According to Gonthier, romanticism «took solid roots in Québec during the second half of 19th century» (200).

Documentation : in text citations(chapter 6)

Documentation : in text citations(chapter 6)

• More than four lines (or 40 words) of textin the quotation:

Elizabeth Bishop’s “In the Waiting Room” is rich in evocative detail:

It was winter. It got darkearly. The waiting roomwas full of grown-up people,arctics and overcoats,lamps and magazines. (6-10)No quotation marks

around the text

In text citations - exercise

• Lewis suggests that the textbook teaches “precisely nothing” about what it purports to teach (Abolition of Man 5).

Multiple works by the same author. Indicate which volume you are referring to by listing

the number

In text citations - exercise

• In Thomas Hardy’s novels there is a strong sense of the inevitability of character and environment in the working out of human destiny (Grimsditch 28; Abercrombie 40).

Two different works

In text citations - exercise

• Historically, literary criticism has been a much more retrograde activity than the imaginative writing it studies (Stephens et al. 224).

Multiple authors of one or collective work

In text citations - exercise

• The Oxford Companion to English Literature notes that W. H. Mallock is best known as the author of The New Republic (489).

Work listed by title

In text citations - exercise

• The Canadian Women’s Indexing Group provides a retrospective index to 15 selected English and French-Canadian feminist periodicals (130).

Corporate author. When the author is a corporation or an

organization, name the corporate author

Documentation: preparing the listof Works Cited (chapter 5)

• Include all books, articles, websites, that you have cited in the body of your paper

• Take the information from the title page (recto and verso) of the book

• Alphabetize by author’s last name, letter by letter – MacDonald, George– McCullers, Carson

• Identify type of the source (Print, Web, DVD).

Example – Works Cited

Works Cited

Arbaoui, Hakim, et al. « Measuring ground deformability with static

charge». Canadian Geotechnical Journal 43.4 (2006) :

355-69. Academic Search Complete. Web. July 13. 2007.

Berkes, Istvan. Everyday physics. 6e ed. Paris : Vuibert,

2006. Print.

Kamdem, Jean-Claude. « Personne, culture et droits en Afrique noire ».

Droit fondamentaux et spécifités culturelles. Éd. Henri

Pallard. Montréal : L’Harmattan, 1997. 95 – 117. Print.

List of Works Cited – Exercise

1. Book with one author :

The Big Book of Cats. Susan Feuer. Kansas City. 1998. Andrew McMeel Publishing.

Feuer, Susan. The Big Book of Cats. Kansas

City: Andrew McMeel Publishing, 1998.

Print.

List of Works Cited – Exercise

2. Books with 2 or 3 authors :

Pédagogie théorique et critique. Presses universitaires de France. 2006. 2e éd. Jean-Pierre Pourtois et Huguette Desmet. Paris.

Pourtois, Jean-Pierre et Huguette Desmet.

Pédagogie théorique et critique. 2e éd.

Paris : Presses universitaires, 2006.

Print.

List of Works Cited – Exercise

• Multiple authors:

• 1 author: Joubert, Jean-Louis.

• 2 authors: Joubert, Jean-Louis, et Irena Turnau.

• 3 authors:Joubert, Jean-Louis, Irena Turnau, et Anne Beaubien.

• More then 3 authors:Joubert, Jean-Louis, et al.

List of Works Cited – Exercise

Atwood, Margaret. Alias Grace: A Novel.

New York: Doubleday, 1996. Print.

---. The Robber Bride. New York: Doubleday,

1993. Print.

3. Two books by the same author:(a) Margaret Atwood. New York. 1996.

Doubleday. Alias Grace: A Novel.(b) Margaret Atwood. The Robber Bride. 1993. Doubleday. New York.

• An edited work :

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Barbara A.

Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York:

Washington Square-Pocket, 1992. Print.

List of Works Cited – Example

List of Works Cited - Exercise

Allende, Isabel. Daughter of Fortune. Trans.

Margaret Sayers Peden. New York: Harper,

2000. Print.

4. Translator. Margaret Sayers Peden. Daughter of Fortune. Isabel Allende. Harper. New York. 2000.

• A translation

Beowulf. Trans. E. Talbot Donaldson. Ed.

Nicholas Howe. New York: Norton, 2001. Print.

Hildegard of Bingen. Selected Writings. Trans.

Mark Atherton. New York: Penguin, 2001. Print.

List of Works Cited – Example

List of Works Cited – Exercise

A Book of boy’s stories. London: Blackie,

1937. Print.

5. Without an author:

A Book of boy’s stories. London. Blackie.

Documentation: preparing the listof Works Cited (chapter 5)

• Article (print)

Trumpener, Katie. “Memories Carved in Granite: Great

War Memorials and Everyday Life.” PMLA 115

(2000): 1096- 103. Print.

Documentation: preparing the listof Works Cited (chapter 5)

• Reference book:

«Feudalism». Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate

Dictionary. 11th ed. 2003. Print.

Documentation: preparing the listof Works Cited (chapter 5)

• Article (electronic format):

Arbaoui, Hakim, et al. «Measuring ground deformability

with static charge». Canadian Geotechnical Journal

43.4 (2006): 355-69. ProQuest Science Journals.

Web. July 13 2007 .

Documentation: preparing the listof Works Cited (chapter 5)

• Web site – short article :

Author. Title of the article. Web site title. Date of publication. Editor of web site (if available).

Type of source. Date of access.

Morin, Judith. « Nomenclature of plantes ». Le carnet

horticole et botanique du Jardin botanique de

Montréal. Jan. 23 2006. Jardin botanique de

Montréal. Web. July 16 2007.

Documentation: preparing the listof Works Cited (chapter 5)

• Entire Web site:

Title of the web site. Editor/author/organization. Date of

publication/update. Type of source. Date of access.

GlobalWarming.org. Cooler Heads Coalition, 2007.

Web. May 24 2009.

Documentation: preparing the listof Works Cited (chapter 5)

• DVD (movie):

Title. Editor/author/writer. Director. Performers.

Distributor. Date of publication. Type of source.

Like Water for Chocolate. Screenplay by Laura Esquivel.

Dir. Alphonso Arau. Perf. Lumi Cavazos, Marco

Lombardi. Miramax, 1993. Film.

Documentation : Course notes

• Course notes - student:

– MLA does not impose any official rules

– Cite your colleague or co disciple in your text, without using parentheses at the end of the sentence/phrase

– Do not list it in your Works Cited list, but give enough information within your text

During his presentation on cognitive processon October 5 2004, Irwin Weiser said that « ...

Documentation : Course notes

• Course notes distributed by your professor (printed documents or PowerPoint presentations) :

– MLA does not impose any official rules

– It is recommended to include these notes in your Works Cited list

Documentation : Course notes

Professor’s name. "Title of document / presentation." Course notes. Title of course. Department, University. Type of source. Date of

reception of course notes.

Mandin, Lucille. «Survol de littérature jeunesse de

langue française » Course notes. EDUM

302. Campus Saint- Jean, University of

Alberta. Print. Aug. 25 2008.

Documentation : Course notes - example

• Notes available on line (PDF, PowerPoint, Moodle) :

Professor's name. "Title of document." Course notes.

Date of distribution (or creation). Title of course.

Course Website. Department, University. Type de

source. Date of access.

Mandin, Lucille. «Survol de littérature jeunesse de langue

française. » Course notes. Jan. 2 2008. EDUM

302. Course website. Campus Saint-Jean,

University of Alberta. Web. 5 mars 2008.

Documentation : Course notes

• Today’s presentation source:

Russell, Toni, et al. “MLA Formatting and Style Guide”.

The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab.

November 16 2010. Web. 5 oct. 2011.

OTHER RESOURCES

Purdue Online Writing Lab

MLA Citation Guide (Simon Fraser University)

Resources at the library

Remember

• Form is part of the content

• The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers is available at the Library. LB 2369 G52 2009 (Ref.)

• This presentation is not a substitute for reading the MLA Handbook

• This presentation will be available on the library website under « Cours de bibliothèque »

• Help is available—please come and see us in the library

• http://www.library.ualberta.ca/askus/chatref.html

• adriana.bugyiova@ualberta.ca ; bsjreference@library.ualberta.ca

• (780) 465-8712

• In person at the service desk

Questions?