Citations Within the Text
Below is a list of how to cite
the information you use in your paper.
The information on this page
is taken from The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (3rd Edition).
It covers many of the cases in your research papers in which you’ll
need to give credit to sources outside yourself.
Citations In the Body of
your Paper:
- When you omit the author’s
name in your sentence:
One researcher has found that dreams move
backward in time as the night progresses (Dement 71).
- When you mention the author’s
name in your sentence:
Freud states that “a dream is the
fulfillment of a wish” (154).
- When you cite more than
one work by the same author:
One current theory emphasizes the principle
that dreams express “profound aspects of personality” (Foulkes,
Sleep 184). But investigation shows that
young children’s dreams are “rather simple and unemotional”
(Foulkes, “Dreams” 78).
- When the work has two or
three authors:
Psychologists hold that no two children
are alike (Gesell and JIg 68).
- When the work has no author,
begin with the word by which the title is alphabetized in the Works
Cited:
Random testing for use of steroids by
athletes is facing strong opposition by owners of several of these teams
(“Steroids” 22).
For other cases, see Parenthetical Citations, MLA Handbook 155-60.
Dialogue Quotes:
- Suzie questioned, “Are
we going today?”
- Sam replied, “No, I
have a research paper to complete for English.”
Direct Quote:
- Black Elk’s book, The
Sacred Pipe, explains several Indian beliefs. He believed the “Power
of the World always works in circles,” noting the roundness of
the sun, the earth, and the stars. He couldn’t understand why white
people live in square houses: “It is a bad way to live, for there
is not power in a square” (Black Elk 25).
- You may omit the name of
the author in your parenthesis if only using one book and that author
throughout your Otherwise, you must use the last name of the author
page number in each quote.
Using a Quote within a Quote:
- Sometimes you will want
to use a direct quote from a writer who is actually using someone else's
direct quote. For example if you are reading by book by John Doe and
he refers to a sample done by Larry Jones that revealed "ten percent
of the air we breath is polluted," you would cite each author in
your paper and use a single paranthesis mark to note what is quoted
within the quote. See: "John Doe sited a sample done by
Larry Jones that revealed 'ten percent of the air we breath is
polluted.'"
- Here is another example
of how to quote within a quote from the Black Elk passage under the
direct quote example and how to quote it in your own paper. Here is
a quote from the"Curious Researcher" book, which has a quote
from Black Elk. Notice how to signal a quote within a quote.
- Our class book, "The
Curious Researcher," written by Bruce Ballenger contains an interesting
quote from Black Elk. The circle is important to Indian culture, “Black
Elk believed the ‘Power of the World always works in circles, and
the stars. He couldn’t understand why white people live in square
houses: ‘It is a bad way to live, for there is not power in a square'"
(Ballenger 186).
Usinge Ellipsis in Quotes:
- Ellipsis points are three
periods ( . . . ), each preceded and followed by a space. They are used
to mark an ellipsis, the deliberate omission of words or entire sentences
from a direct quotation.
Examples:
- The Moon Dance ceremony
involves two women leaders, who " . . . are elected for life in
certain families . . . " (Smithsonian 145).
- In “Drawing on the
Right Side of the Brain," Betty Edwards tell the reader, “You
may feel that . . . it's the drawing that is hard” (Edwards 110).
- Dr. Freud staes, "
. . . a dream is the fulfillment of a wish" (Johsnons 154).
If the omission is longer than
a sentence, use four ellipsis.
Example:
- The Iroquois nation has
several ceremonies, “involving both men and women . . . . One of
the most traditional is the Moon Dance . . . "(Smithsonian 303).
Paraphrasing:
You need not directly quote
all of your information. The alternative is to paraphrase information.
This means simply take the information and put it into your own words.
Example:
"The Great White Shark
is an apex predator that sits atop the foodchain in any ocean they inhabit"
(Clarke 34).
- Parahase that by putting
it into your own words: The Great White Shark is the dominant predator
in the world's oceans (Clarke 34). Be sure to still cite it at the end
of the sentence like a direct quote.
Handling Titles:
- Underline the title if it
is a:
- Book
- Play
- Pamphlet
- Film
- Magazine
- TV program
- CD
- Audiocassette
- Newspaper
- Work of art
“Put the Title in Quotes”
if it is an:
- Article in a newspaper,
magazine, or encyclopedia
- Short story
- Poem
- Episode of a TV program
- Song
- Lecture
- Chapter or Essay in a book
Works
Cited Page
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