A Guide for Citing Sources in Research Papers

2014
Based on Modern Language Association (MLA) Documentation

Citing Print Sources

(Book with one author)

Stewart, Steven. Biomes of the World. New York: Harper Press, 2011. Print.

(Book with an editor)

Johnson, Stanley, ed. Coral Reefs. New York: Wiley Pub., 2012. Print.
!
(Book with 2 authors)
Andrews, Deborah C., and William D. Andrews. Prophets in the Old Testament. New York:
! Macmillan Co., 2011. Print.

(Book with 3 authors)

Alvarez, R. R., Kenneth L. Brown, and Joanne Hack. Learning to Speak Italian: A Guidebook.

Belmont, CA: Harper Pub., 2001. Print.

(Book with more than 3 authors)

Morris, Desmond, et. al. Best Loved America Poetry. New York: Stein & Stein Press., 2008.
! Print.

(Signed Encyclopedia/Dictionary Article)

Russell, Ernest G. “Arabs.” The Encyclopedia of World Cultures. 2010 ed. Print.
!
(Unsigned Encyclopedia/Dictionary Article)
“Uganda.” World Book Encyclopedia of People and Places. 2012 ed. Print.
!
(Essay/Article in collection)
Agee, James. “Comedy’s Greatest Era.” Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Alice Kazin.

Detroit: Thompson Gale Pub., 2007. 339-357. Print.

(Book with an author and an editor or translator)

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Notebook of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ed. Matthew Broccoli. New York:
!
Harcourt Pub., 2011. Print.

(Citing the Bible)

To cite part of the Bible (if not mentioned in text of paper), include the following information:
Name of the book of the Bible. Title of specific version of the Bible that is used. Place of
publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. End the citation with the word, ‘Print.”

Psalms. The New American Bible. Wichita, Kansas: Fireside Catholic Pub., 1987. Print.

!
!
 Interviews

Bush, George W. Interview with Brian Williams. NBC Nightly New. NBC. 5 April 2012.
! TV.

Lippi, Tom. Personal interview. 5 February 2011. Interview.

Magazines/Journals/Newspapers

(Magazine Article, signed)

Costello, Michael. “Who’s Teaching Our Children?” Educational Leadership. 14 Nov. 2013:
! 58-64. Print.

(Magazine Article, unsigned)

“Amazing Libraries.” Entertainment Weekly. 14 Nov. 2001: 50. Print.

(Newspaper article, signed)

Lewis, Flora. “The Bad News is Apathy.” New York Times. 9 Nov. 2006: A35. Print.

(Newspaper article/editorial, unsigned)

“Crisis in the World, 1938.” Editorial. Wall Street Journal. 9 Nov. 2008: A34. Print.

!
Photograph, map, drawing, graph or chart (Print)
!
Reemsnyder, Laurie. Human Family. 2013. Photograph. Alameda Museum, Alameda CA.

California. Map. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2010. Print.

! !
Table (Online)
United States, Dept. of Educ., Inst. of Educ. Sciences, Natl. Center for Educ. Statistics; Digest

of Education Statistics 2012. US Dept. of Educ., Mar 2012; Web. 25 February; table 28.

Illustration, graphic, photo, painting (Print or Online)

1. The illustration label and number should always appear in two places: the document main text
(e.g. see fig. 1) and near the illustration itself (Fig. 1).
2. Captions provide titles or explanatory notes.
3. Source information documentation will always depend upon the medium of the source illustration.
If you provide source information with all of your illustrations, you do not need to provide
this information on the Works Cited page.
!
!
!
n.d. stands for “no date” n.pag stands for “no page numbers”
n.p. stands for “no publisher”
 Websites, Online Library Databases and other online sources MLA
Style

To cite information you find online, give the author(s) name, last name first (if known) or the
name of the organization; the full title of the webpage; the title of the homepage, the
copyright date or update (if available, otherwise n.d.); the word “Web” and the date you read
the information. Double space every line and indent all but the first line. For more detailed
information, go to:
UCB. “General Guides.” University of California Berkeley Library. 1 Sep. 2009. Web. 4 Jan. 2010.

(Websites of Organizations)
!
Catholic Charities USA. “Climate Change and Poverty.” Catholic Charities USA. December
! 2009. Web. 23 March 2010.

(Opposing Viewpoints, EBSCO, HighBeam or other online library databases)

!
Lanken, Dane. "Who Shall Inherit the Earth?" National Geographic March 2008: 66-72.
! EBSCOhost. Marin Catholic High School Lib. Web. 12 Jan. 2010.

(Article in a Newspaper or Magazine published online)

!
Markoff, Jane. “The Voice on the Phone is not Human.” New York Times June 2007. Web. 4
!
Jan. 2010.
!
(Print Book published Online)
Churchill, Mary, and Brittany Diego, eds. Biology: How Life Works. New York: McMillan, 2013.
!
http://whfreeman.com/biologyhowlife works/How20%/life20$/Works20%.form.pdf.
!
(Online Encyclopedia)
“World War I.” Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. 2009. Encyclopaedia Online School
! Edition. Web. 16 Jan. 2011.
!
(Personal Home Page)
Valdez, Christopher. Designing Course Reports. 28 Mar. 2013. Web. 15 May 2013.
!
(Image, photograph, painting published Online)
Cosgriff, Malcolm. “Sacraments.” Drawing. Best Theological Graphics 2011. 4 April 2011. Web.
!
9 Aug. 2011.
!
1. The illustration label and number should always appear in two places: the document main text
(e.g. see fig. 1) and near the illustration itself (Fig. 1).
2. Captions provide titles or explanatory notes.
3. Source information documentation will always depend upon the medium of the source illustration.
If you provide source information with all of your illustrations, you do not need to provide
this information on the Works Cited page.
(Email)
Hall, Chloe. "Re: Preserving Writing." E-mail to Denise C. Callen. Web. 21 May 2011.
Parenthetical Documentation of Print resources

The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, sixth edition, provides the following
guidelines. See the MLA Handbook, sec. 6.1 – 6.2 for more detailed information.

Usually the author’s last name and a page number(s) is enough to identify the source. ex:
Medieval Europe was a place both of “raids, pillages, slavery, and extortion” (Townsend 10).

If the author’s name is referenced, include the author’s name and the page number. ex: This
point has already been argued (Tannen 175 – 85).
!
If the author’s name is mentioned in the text, you do not need to include parenthetical citation.
ex: “Dr. Lippi established that searching for information in online library databases is excellent
preparation for your college studies.”
!
Parenthetical Documentation of Online resources
Parenthetical references of online sources are cited just like printed works. For any type of
source, you must include information in your text that directs readers to the correct entry in the
works-cited page (see the MLA Handbook, sec. 5.2).
Web documents generally usually do not have fixed page numbers. The author’s last name or
the name of the organization is sufficient.
! Example of In-text Citation of an online source:
!
Researchers have found that the risks of infection from travel were small compared with the
risks from poor hygiene (Center for Disease Control).

Example of In-text parenthetical citation of sources within sources!!

!
Bennett (as cited in Rudman, 1999) defined Biomass as …!
!
(Works Cited of the item cited above)!
Rudman, R. (1999). Energy Resources Management in New Zealand. (3rd ed.). Auckland, New !
!
! Zealand: Addison Wesley Longman, 2012. Print.!
! !
Example of in-text citation of Online Photograph, map, drawing, graph or chart
Label “Figure” (Fig.) + arabic numeral + author/artist + title of work + source + date created

+ Web + date of access.

Works Cited

Gilardi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: The Modern
! Language Association, 2009. Print.
!
Russell, Tony, et al. “MLA Formatting and Style Guide.” Purdue OWL. 2012-05-09. Web. 25
! February 2014.
!
Walker, Janice R., and Todd Taylor. The Columbia Guide to Online Style. New York: Columbia
! University Press, 1998. Print.