The definitive source for information on citing sources and formatting a research paper in any discipline is a style manual. For MLA style such a manual is:
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: MLA, 2003. The manual is located in the reference section of the library; its call number is: REF Z253.G53 2003.
MLA style also has a website: http://www.mla.org/. It should be consulted for updates on citation formats, especially for documenting electronic sources.
In-Text (Parenthetical) Citations
MLA style recommends using in-text (parenthetical) citations to refer the reader to the Works Cited list at the end of the research paper. An in-text citation informs the reader of what exactly was derived from a source, and indicates the exact place inside the source where the cited material was found. The in-text citation consists of the author's last name and the source page number, and is placed inside parentheses, immediately following the cited material. If the author's name is mentioned in the text, there is no need to repeat it in the citation.
Note: The page number is not needed, if the citation refers to the source as a whole, e.g.: Internet source, book, article, motion picture, performance, or television program.
Examples:
Internet source:
The Klamath Water Users Association represents private rural and suburban irrigation districts and ditch companies within the Klamath Project (Keppen).
Electronic publication:
Sohmer expressed a controversial opinion that Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar "was expressly intended to open the new Globe theatre in June 1599" (par. 3).
Note: In case of electronic publications and web sites, paragraph numbers might be used instead of missing page numbers.
Film or video recording:
Akira Kurosawa's Ran is based on Shakespeare's play King Lear.
Note: Nonprint sources, such as motion pictures, performances, or television programs are cited as an entire work. It is preferable to include the reference to the title or creator (e.g. movie director) in the text rather than in a parenthetical citation. In case the parenthetical citation is used, the complete or abbreviated title is provided.
Books with one or more authors:
Popular music events are to be understood within an interactive ecology (Doyle 17).
Or: According to Doyle, popular music events should be understood within an interactive ecology (17).
Note: There is no comma between the author's name and the page number, and no "p."
The first requirement of almost all forms of writing is clarity (Garvey and Rivers 135-36).
Or: Garvey and Rivers (135-36) state that the first requirement of almost all forms of writing is clarity.
The career potential of a job is closely associated with the amount of work-related training on the job (Fogg, Harrington, and Harrington 142) or (Fogg et al. 142).
Book without an author:
Minors are allowed to travel on their parents' passports up until age 15 (Columbus World Travel Guide 110).
Note: A full or abbreviated title is used. If the source is an article, the title should be enclosed in quotation marks.
Entry from a printed encyclopedia:
The first books for children were lesson books ("Literature" 560).
Note: Title in parenthesis is abbreviated. The full title of the article is: "Literature for Children".
Works Cited
The Works Cited list is located at the end of a research paper, and contains complete citations of all the works referred to in the paper by the in-text citations.
MLA style recommends that the Works Cited list be arranged in alphabetical order by the last name of the author, editor or translator. If creators' names are not available, the citation is started with the title of the work. Initial articles (A, An, or The) are ignored in alphabetizing.
The list should be double-spaced, with a hanging indent. It means that the first line of each entry is made flush left with the margin. Subsequent lines in each entry should be indented one-half inch.
Examples:
Internet Sources
Document from an Internet site:
Keppen, Dan. The Klamath Project at 100: Conserving Our Resources, Preserving Our
Heritage. 1905-2005: The First Century of Water for the Klamath Project. 2004.
Klamath Bucket Brigade. 21 Dec. 2006
<http://www.klamathbucketbrigade.org/KWUA_TheKlamathProjectat100041805.htm>.
Note: MLA citation style recommends including the URL in citations. It immediately follows the date of access.
Internet site:
History Channel.com. 2006. History Channel. 9 Jan. 2007
<http://www.historychannel.com/>.
CNN.com. 2006. Cable News Network. 15 Feb. 2007 <http://www.cnn.com/>.
Note: The first date is the date of electronic publication or of the latest update of the web site. The second date is the date the researcher accessed the site.
Home page for an academic department:
Humanities. Dept. home page. Stanford U. School of Humanities and Sciences. 9 Jan.
2007 <www.stanford.edu/dept/humsci/humsci/departments/dept_humanities.html>.
Online book:
Dreiser, Theodore. Ida Hauchawout. Charlottesville, VA: U. of Virginia Lib., 1996.
Netlibrary. 21 Dec. 2006 <http://www.netlibrary.com/Reader/>.
Part of an online book:
Post, Emily. "Conversation." Etiquette. 1922. Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. 1999.
21 Dec. 2006 <http://www.bartleby.com/95/7.html>.
Online government publication:
United States. Dept. of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau. Consolidated Federal Funds
Report for Fiscal Year 2004: State and County Areas. Dec. 2005. 21 Dec. 2006
<http://census.gov/prod/2005pubs/cffr-04.pdf>.
Online manuscript:
Whitman, Walt. Notebooks. Thomas Bigg Harned Walt Whitman Collection. Ms. Div., Lib.
of Congress. American Memory. Lib. of Congress, Washington. 21 Dec. 2006
<http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wwhtml/wwcoll.html>.
Articles from Periodicals
Journal articles with one or more authors:
Ratliff, Ron. "A History of Literary Criticism: From Plato to the Present." Library Journal.
131 (2006): 118-22.
Note: For citing authors' names follow the recommendations given for books.
Sohn, Steven H., and John B.Gamber. "Currents of Study: Charting the Course of Asian
American Literary Criticism." Studies in Literary Imagination. 37 (2004): 1-16.
Note: Initial articles in all periodical titles are omitted.
Hawisher, Gail E., Cynthia L. Selfe, Yi-Huey Guo, and Lei Liu. "Globalization and Agency:
Designing and Redesigning the Literacies of Cyberspace." College English. 68(2006):
619-636.
Newspaper article:
Tommasini, Anthony. "Music at the Service of American Poetry." New York Times. 4 Dec.
1997, natl.ed: E5+.
Note: Plus sign is used after the first page number when paging is not in sequence. The names of all months except May, June, and July are abbreviated.
Magazine article:
Ruvinsky, Jessica. "Brain scientists find single cells that can think." Discover 6 Jan.
2006: 46-49.
Review:
Brantley, Ben. "High-Flying Epigrams Whiz by Like Arrows." Rev. of Lady Windermere's
Fan (Theatrical production), by Oscar Wilde. New York Times 7 Nov. 2005: E1-E7.
Full text journal article from a library database:
Stevens, Cynthia. "Of Cabbages and Kings." British Heritage. 27 (2006): 63-64. Academic
Search Premier. EBSCO. Oregon Institute of Technology Lib., Klamath Falls, OR, 27
Sept. 2006 <http:web2.epnet.com>
Note: If a database provides only the starting page number of an article, give the number followed by a hyphen, a space, and a period: "192- ."
Newspaper article from a library database:
Horsley, Paul. "Celebrating the work of Paul Creston: Top American Composer Born 100
Years Ago Has Ties to Kansas City." Kansas City Star (MO). 1 Oct. 2006. Newspaper
Source. EBSCO. Oregon Institute of Technology Lib., Klamath Falls, OR, 22 Nov. 2006.
Books
Books with one or more authors:
Doyle, Peter. Echo and Reverb: Fabricating Space in Popular Music Recording, 1900-
1960. Middletown: Wesleyan UP, 2005.
Note: Publisher's name can be abbreviated, e.g.: "UP" instead of "University Press".
Garvey, Daniel E., and William L. Rivers. Broadcast Writing. New York: Longman, 1982.
Note: Only the name of the first author is reversed.
Fogg, Neeta, Paul Harrington, and Thomas F. Harrington. The College Majors Handbook.
Indianapolis: JIST Works, 1999.
Note: There are two ways of citing books with more than three authors: the way presented above, or using "et al." (Latin for "and others") after the name of the first author.
Book without an author:
Modern American Literature. Detroit: St. James, 1999.
Book with a corporate author:
American Psychological Association. Graduate Study in Psychology. Washington, D.C.:
American Psychological Association, 2007.
Note: In case of a professional organization being the author, the name of the organization is repeated twice: as the author, and as the publisher.
Edited book:
Wagner-Martin, Linda, ed. A Historical Guide to Ernest Hemingway. New York: Oxford
UP, 2000.
Note: Most literary anthologies and compilations are cited this way.
Chapter in an edited book:
Beegel, Susan F. "Eye and Heart: Hemingway's Education as a Naturalist." A Historical
Guide to Ernest Hemingway. Ed. Linda Wagner-Martin. New York: Oxford UP, 2000.
20-25.
Note: This is the way to cite an essay, a short story, or a poem within an anthology.
Article in a printed encyclopedia or dictionary:
Anderson, Carolyn. "Apprentice." Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor. Ed. Robert
E. Weir and James P. Hanlan. Westport: Greenwood.
Note: For a less known reference book full publication information is required.
Article in an online encyclopedia or dictionary:
"Maugham, Somerset W." Encyclopedia Britannica Online". 15 Dec. 2006
<http://www.britannica.com/>.
Government publication:
U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Environmental and Public Works. Captive
Primate Safety Act. 109th Cong., 2nd sess.: 109-263. Washington: GPO, 2006.
Other types of sources
Film or video recording:
Ran. Dir. Akira Kurosawa. Video recording. New York, N.Y: Fox Lorber Home Video,
[1998].
Death of a Salesman. Dir. Valker Schlondorff. Perf. Dustin Hoffman, Kate Reid, and
Stephen Lang. 1985. DVD. Image Entertainment, 2002.
Painting, sculpture, or photograph:
Constable, John. Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds, ca. 1825. Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York.
Bartholome. Degas in Old Age. Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. Impressionism. By Pierre
Courthion. Trans. John Shepley. New York: Harry N. Abrams, [1972]. 38.
Note: For photographs of people or of creative works complete publication information of the source is required.
Interview:
Jones, T.A. Personal interview. 12 June 2006.
Note: Included information: the interviewed person's name, the kind of interview (personal, telephone, e-mail), and the date of the interview.
Last modified: April 2007.