If you are asked to use MLA format, use the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th edition). This book is in Newbury College Library's Reference section at LB2369 .G53 2003. This page is a summary of MLA style for the research paper.
MLA format follows the author-page method of citation. The
author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation
is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference
should appear in your works cited list (see Your Works Cited
Page, below). The author's name may appear either in the sentence
itself or in parentheses following the quotation, but the
page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not
in the text of your sentence.
Examples:
Freud states that "a dream is the fulfillment of a wish" (154).
Some argue that "a dream is the fulfillment of a wish" (Freud 154).
Emet has argued this point extensively (127-36).
For nonprint (films, TV series, etc.) or electronic sources,
include the name that begins the entry in the Works Cited
page.
Sometimes you may have to use an indirect quotation, that is, a quotation that you found in another source that was quoting from the original. For indirect quotations, use qtd. in, italicized or underlined:
Milroy described himself as "a non-political politician"
(qtd.in Newley, 18).
Sometimes more information is necessary to identify the source
of a quotation. If more than one author has the same last
name, provide both authors' initials (or her or his full name
if different authors share initials).
Although some medical ethicists claim that cloning will lead to
designer children (Miller, R.), others note that the advantages for
medical research outweigh this consideration (Miller, A.).
If you cite more than one work by a particular author, include
a shortened title for the particular work from which you are
quoting to distinguish it from the author's other works.
Lightenor has argued that computers are not useful tools for small
children ("Too Soon"), though he has acknowledged that early
exposure to computer games does lead to better small motor skill
development in a child's second and third year ("Hand-Eye
Development").
Short Quotations
To indicate short quotations (fewer than four typed lines
of prose or three lines of verse) in your text, enclose the
quotation within double quotation marks and incorporate it
into your text. Provide the author and specific page citation
(in the case of verse, provide line numbers) in the text,
and include a complete reference in the works cited list.
Punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and semicolons
should appear after the parenthetical citation. Question marks
and exclamation points should appear within the quotation
marks if they are a part of the quoted passage, but after
the parenthetical citation if they are a part of your text.
According to some, dreams express "profound aspects of
personality" (Foulkes 184), though others disagree.
According to Foulkes's study, dreams may express "profound aspects
of personality" (184).
Is it possible that dreams may express "profound aspects of
personality" (Foulkes 184)?
Cullen concludes, "Of all the things that happened there / That's
all I remember" (11-12).
Long Quotations
Place quotations longer than four typed lines in a free-standing block of typewritten lines, and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented one inch from the left margin, and double-space. Your parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark. When quoting verse, maintain original line breaks. (You should double-space throughout your essay.)
Examples:
Ralph and the other boys finally realize the horror of their
actions: The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave
himself up to them now for the first time on the island; great
shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole
body. His voice rose under the black smoke before the burning
wreckage of the island; and infected by that emotion, the other
little boys began to shake and sob too. (Golding 186)
Elizabeth Bishop's "In the Waiting Room" is rich in evocative
detail:
It was winter. It got dark
early. The waiting room
was full of grown-up people,
arctics and overcoats,
lamps and magazines. (6-10)
Your Works Cited List
This list, alphabetized by authors' last names, should appear at the end of your essay. It allows a reader to locate and read any sources you cite in the essay. Each source you cite in the essay must appear in your works cited list. Likewise, each entry in the works cited list must be cited in your text.
Basic Rules
Authors' names are inverted (last name first). If a work has more than one author, invert only the first author's name, follow it with a comma, then continue listing the rest of the authors. If you have cited more than one work by a particular author, alphabetize them by title, and use three hyphens in place of the author's name for every entry after the first. When an author appears both as the sole author of a text and as the first author of a group, list solo-author entries first. If no author is given for a particular work, alphabetize by the title of the piece and use a shortened version of the title for parenthetical citations.
The first line of each entry in your list should be flush left. Subsequent lines should be indented one-half inch. This is known as a hanging indent.
Double-space all references.
Capitalize each word in the titles of articles, books, etc. This rule does not apply to articles, short prepositions, or conjunctions unless one is the first word of the title or subtitle. Italicize or underline titles of books, journals, magazines, newspapers, and films.
Basic Forms for Print Sources
A book
Author(s). Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher,
Year of Publication.
A part of a book (such as an essay in a collection)
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Collection. Ed.
Editor's Name(s). Place of Publication: Publisher, Year.
Pages.
An article in a periodical (such as a newspaper or magazine)
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Source Day Month
Year: pages.
When citing the date, list day before month. Use a three-letter abbreviation of the month (e.g. Jan., Mar., Aug.). If there is more than one edition available for that date (as in an early and late edition of a newspaper), identify the edition following the date (e.g. 17 May 1987, late ed.).
An article in a scholarly journal
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal Vol (Year):
pages.
"Vol" indicates the volume number of the journal. If the
journal uses continuous pagination throughout a particular
volume, only volume and year are needed, e.g. Modern Fiction
Studies 39 (1993): 156-174. If each issue of the journal
begins on page 1, however, provide the issue number following
the volume, e.g. Mosaic 19.3 (1986): 33-49.
Basic Forms for Electronic Sources
A Web page
Author(s). Name of Page. Date of Posting/Revision. Date of Access.
<electronic address>.
List the date of access because web postings are often updated,
and information available at one date may no longer be available
later. Include the complete address for the site. Use angled
brackets around the electronic address; MLA requires them
for clarity.
An article on a Web site
Author(s)."Article Title." Name of web site. Date of
posting/revision. Name of institution/organization
affiliated with site. Date of access <electronic
address>.
List the date of access because web postings are often updated,
and information available at one date may no longer be available
later. Include the complete address for the site. Use angled
brackets around the electronic address; MLA requires them
for clarity.
An article in an online journal or magazine
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume. Issue
(Year): Pages/Paragraphs. Date of Access <electronic
address>.
Some electronic journals and magazines provide paragraph or page numbers; include them if available. This format is also appropriate to online magazines; as with a print version, you should provide a complete publication date rather than volume and issue number.
E-mail
Author. "Title of the message (if any)" E-mail to the author. Date
of the message.
This same format may be used for personal interviews or personal
letters. These do not have titles, and the description should
be appropriate. Instead of "Email to John Smith," use "Personal
interview."
A listserv posting
Author. "Title of Posting." Online posting. Date when material was
posted (for example: 14 Mar. 1998). Name of listserv. Date of
access <electronic address for retrieval>.
An electronic database (such as Expanded Academic Index or LexisNexis Academic)
Author. "Title of Article." Original source information.
Database. Database publisher. Library. Date of access
<electronic address for retrieval>.
Provide the bibliographic data for the original source as for any other of its genre. Then add the name of the database along with relevant retrieval data (such as version number and/or transcript or abstract number).
Examples for Print Sources
The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
provides many examples covering a wide variety of potential
sources. If your particular case is not covered here,
use the basic forms (above) to determine the correct format,
consult the MLA Handbook, or call the Center for
Academic Services ((617) 730-7059) for help.
Single author
Frye, Northrop. Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1957.
Two or more books by the same author
After the first listing of the author's name, use three hyphens and a period for the author's name. List books alphabetically.
Basila, Martin. Commercial Uses of Communication: Today'sEvolving Marketplace. New York: Dutton, 1997.
- - -. Media Advertising for the Masses. Philadelphia:
Merton, 1995.
Multiple authors
Gesell, Arnold, and Frances L. Ing. Child Development: AnIntroduction to the Study of Human Growth. New York:
Macmillan, 1960.
If there are more than three authors, list only the first
author followed by the phrase et al. (the abbreviation
for the Latin phrase "and others") in place of the other authors'
names, or list all the authors in the order in which their
names appear on the title page.
Corporate author
American Allergy Association. Allergies in Children. New
York: Random, 1998.
Book or article with no author named
Encyclopedia of Photography. New York: Crown, 1984.
"The Decade of the Spy." Newsweek 7 Mar. 1994: 26-27.
For parenthetical citations of sources with no author named,
use a shortened version of the title instead of an author's
name. Use quotation marks and italicize as appropriate. Parenthetical
citations of the two sources above would appear as follows:
(Encyclopedia 235) and ("Decade" 26).
Anthology or collection
Rueschemeyer, Marilyn, ed. Women in the Politics of PostcommunistEastern Europe. Armonk: Sharpe 1994.
Essay in a collection
Krutch, Joseph Wood. "What the Year 2000 Won't Be Like."
Finding a Voice. Ed. Jim W. Corder. Glenview: Scott
Foresman, 1973. 21-36.
Cross-referencing: If you cite more than one essay
from the same edited collection, cross-reference within your
works cited list to avoid writing out the publishing information
for each separate essay. To do so, include a separate entry
for the entire collection listed by the editor's name. For
individual essays from that collection, simply list the author's
name, the title of the essay, the editor's last name, and
the page numbers.
Asante, Molefi Kete. "What is Afrocentrism?" Atwan and Roberts 11-17.
Atwan, Robert and Jon Roberts, eds. Left, Right, and Center: Voicesfrom Across the Political Spectrum. Boston: Bedford, 1996.
Bennett, William J. "Revolt Against God: America's Spiritual Despair."
Atwan and Roberts 559-71.
Article from a reference book
"Mandarin." Encyclopedia Americana. 1980 ed.
Essay in a journal with continuous pagination
Flanigan, Beverly Olson. "Peer Tutoring and Second Language
Acquisition in the Elementary School." AppliedLinguistics 12 (1991): 141-58.
Essay in a journal that pages each issue separately
Nimmons, David. "Sex and the Brain." Discover Mar. 1994: 26-27.
Goodman, Laurence. "New Discoveries in AIDS Prevention." NewYork Times 27 Mar. 1998, late ed.: C3.
Government publication
United States Dept. of Labor. Bureau of Statistics. Dictionaryof Occupational Titles. 4th ed. Washington: GPO, 1977.
Pamphlet
Your Health. New York: Modern Woman, 1996.
Interview that you conducted
Lesh, Philip. Personal Interview. 12 Nov. 1996.
Television or radio program
"The Blessing Way." The X-Files. Fox. WXIA, Atlanta. 19 Jul. 1998.
Film
It's a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. Perf. James Stewart,
Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, and Thomas Mitchell. RKO,
1946.
Advertisement
Acura. Advertisement. Rolling Stone 16 May 1996: 8-9.
McDonald's. Advertisement. CNN. 4 May 1998.
Examples for Electronic Sources:
ARTstor
Malevich, Kazimir Severinovich. Black Square. 1915. ARTstor.
Newbury College Library. 12 July 2005
<http://www.artstor.org>.
Business Knowledge Research
monographic series
Koch, Janice. Thinking offshoring through. Executive action 136.
New York: The Conference Board, 2005. Business KnowledgeResearch. The Conference Board. Newbury College Library.
28 September 2006 <http://www.conference-board.org>.
CD-ROM
The CIA World Factbook. CD-ROM. Minneapolis: Quanta, 1992.
Communication & Mass Media Complete
Butchart, Garnet C. "On Ethics and Documentary: A Real and Actual
Truth." Communication Theory 16.4 (2006): 427-452.
Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCOhost. Newbury
College Library. 29 November 2007 <http://search.ebscohost.com/>.
CQ Researcher Online
Hosansky, David. "Food Safety." The CQ Researcher 12.38 (2002).
The CQ Researcher Online. Newbury College Library.
12 July 2005 <http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher>.
Electronic Collections Online
Fryxell, Gerald E., Robert S. Dooley and Wing-Sun Li. "The Role
of Trustworthiness in Maintaining Employee Commitment During
Restructuring in China." Asia Pacific Journal of
Management 21.4 (2004): 515-533. Electronic Collections
Online. Newbury College Library. 9 September 2005.
<http://firstsearch.oclc.org>.
E-mail
Mael, Debbie. "Poster Display." E-mail to Panit Satyasai-Crimmin.
13 June 2000.
Encyclopedia Britannica Online
"Saturn." Encyclopedia Britannica. 2003. Encyclopedia
Britannica Online. Newbury College Library.
18 January 2003 <http://search.eb.com>.
Historical New York Times
Weintraub, Bernard. "Hanoi Says Drive Opened New Phase."
Historical New York Times 5 March 1968, 1-2. HistoricalNew York Times. ProQuest. Newbury College Library.
2 August 2007 <http://proquest.umi.com/login>.
Hospitality & Tourism Complete
Article
Walker, Angela. "Res system opens up Paris to world of computer
users." Hotel & Motel Management 210.4 (1995): 4-5.
Hospitality & Tourism Complete. EBSCOhost. Newbury
College Library. 29 November 2007
<http://search.ebscohost.com/>.
Book or monograph
France Hotels, Restaurants and Cafes Market Profile. New
York, NY: Datamonitor USA, 2002. Hospitality & Tourism
Complete. EBSCOhost. Newbury College Library.
29 November 2007 <http://search.ebscohost.com/>.
InfoTrac database
InfoTrac databases include:
Academic OneFile
Biography Resource Center
Contemporary Literary Criticism
Educator's Reference Complete
Expanded Academic ASAP
Gale Virtual Reference Library
General BusinessFile ASAP
General OneFile
General Reference Center Gold
Health Reference Center Academic
Article
Canemaker, John. "Un Disney." Print May 2000 : 94. ExpandedAcademic ASAP. Thomson Gale. Newbury College Library.
26 October 2000 <http://www.galegroup.com>.
Book or monograph
Keeley, Carol, and David Salamie. "Starbucks Corporation."
International Directory of Company Histories.
Vol. 77. Detroit: St. James Press, 2006. 404-410.
Gale Virtual Reference Library. Thomson Gale.
Newbury College Library. 20 December 2007
<http://www.galegroup.com>.
JSTOR
Ludwig, Theodore M. "Before Rikyu: Religious and Aesthetic
Influences in the Early History of the Tea Ceremony."
Monumenta Nipponica 36.4 (1981): 367-390. JSTOR.
Newbury College Library. 26 October 2000
<http://www.jstor.org>.
LexisNexis Academic
Frantz, Douglas. "Afghan Opium Crop Declines, but Central Asians
Still Worry." The New York Times 20 October 2000: A5.
Lexis-Nexis Academic. Lexis-Nexis. Newbury College Library.
26 October 2000 <http://www.lexis-nexis.com>.
Literary Reference Center
Dickstein, Morris. "Steinbeck and the Great Depression." SouthAtlantic Quarterly 103.1 (2004): 111-131. LiteraryReference Center. EBSCOhost. Newbury College Library.
10 March 2007 <http://search.ebscohost.com>.
LitFinder
"Explanation of: "Phenomenal Woman" by Maya Angelou."
LitFinder 2005. Thomson Gale. Newbury College Library.
12 July 2005 <http://www.litfinder.com>.
Massachusetts Newsstand
Abelson, Jenn. "Hepatitis case at sub shop may have exposed up
to 600." Boston Globe 28 June 2004, 3rd ed.: B12.
Massachusetts Newsstand. ProQuest. Newbury College Library.
1 July 2007 <http://proquest.umi.com/login>.
New York Times
Branch, John. "Pulling Strings to Make Players' Rackets
Fresher." New York Times 1 July 2007, Late ed.: SP7.
New York Times. ProQuest. Newbury College Library.
1 July 2007 <http://proquest.umi.com/login>.
Online book
Child, Lydia Maria Francis. The frugal housewife, dedicated
to those who are not ashamed of economy. 2nd ed. Boston:
Carter and Hendee, 1830. Feeding America: the historic
American cookbook project. Michigan State University
Library. Newbury College Library. 28 September 2006
<http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/>.
Hegedus, Andrea M. "Health Care Costs of Seriously Mentally Ill
Patients Enrolled in Enhanced Treatment." American Journal
of Orthopsychiatry 72.3 (2002): 331-340. PsycARTICLES.
Newbury College Library. 18 January 2003
<http://firstsearch.oclc.org>.
PsycBOOKS
Pedersen, Paul B. 110 experiences for multicultural learning.
Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 2004.
PsycBOOKS. American Psychological Association. Newbury
College Library. 14 July 2005 <http://www.psycinfo.com>.
PsychiatryOnline
Book
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision
(DSM-IV-TR). Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric
Association, 2000. PsychiatryOnline. American Psychiatric
Publishing. Newbury College Library. 20 July 2007
<http://www.psychiatryonline.com>.
Article
Brent, David. "Antidepressants and Suicidal Behavior: Cause
or cure?" American Journal of Psychiatry 164.7 (2007):
989-991. PsychiatryOnline. American Psychiatric Publishing.
Newbury College Library. 20 July 2007
<http://www.psychiatryonline.com>.
Poland, Dave. "The Hot Button." Roughcut. 26 Oct. 1998.
Turner Network Television. 28 Oct. 1998
<http://www.roughcut.com>.
"Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format." Purdue
Online Writing Lab. 2003. Purdue University. 6 Feb. 2003
<http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html>.
Footnotes and Endnotes
Because long explanatory notes can distract readers, most academic style guidelines (including MLA) recommend limited use of footnotes/endnotes. Proper use of notes would include:
1. evaluative bibliographic comments, for example:
1 See Blackmur, especially chapters three and four, for an
insightful analysis of this trend.
2 On the problems related to repressed memory recovery, see
Wollens pp. 120-35; for a contrasting view, see Pyle.
2. occasional explanatory notes or other brief additional information that seem digressive if included in the main text but might be interesting to readers, for example:
3 In a 1998 interview, she reiterated this point even more
strongly: "I am an artist, not a politician!" (Weller 124).
Footnotes in MLA format are indicated by consecutive superscript arabic numbers in the text. The notes themselves are listed by consecutive superscript arabic numbers and appear double-spaced in regular paragraph format (a new paragraph for each note) on a separate page under the word Notes (centered, in plain text without quotation marks).
Paper Format
Your essay should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized
paper (8.5 x 11 inches) with margins of 1 inch on all sides.
Unless requested, a title page is unnecessary. Instead, provide
a double-spaced header in the top left corner of the first
page that lists your name, your instructor's name, the course,
and the date. Number all pages consecutively in the upper
right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with
the right margin. You may omit the number on your first page.
Then center your title on the line below the header with your
name, and begin your essay immediately below the title.
Your works cited list should begin on a separate page from the text of the essay under the label Works Cited (with no quotation marks, underlining, etc.), centered at the top of the page. Double space all entries, with no skipped spaces between entries. Notes, if any, should be formatted similarly and should appear on a page before the works cited page.
Italics and underlining are equivalent. Select one or the
other to use throughout your essay.
